《The Monarch》


 Chapter 1: warning -

    Chapter 1 - warning ChapterRead all warnings! Important!


    If you are looking for a story where the character has no development and has the same personality from the first Chapter to when he reaches the divine level, this is not the story for you.


    If you are looking for a story with epic and idiotic moments where the protagonist survived through the power of protagonism, this story is not for you.


    These warnings are for people who are not mistaken later


    Hello everyone, I''ll try not to expand this note too much, but it''s going to be important. This is my first novel, the first few Chapters are a little bad, I admit, but after reincarnation it will get a little better. This is not a novel where the protagonist is born under Power and it will not be a clich¨¦ of rapid and repetitive development, it intends to make a new story. he will not offend any millennial family and will easily kill them ks if you know what I mean or save someone off the street who is the son of a god. sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden is a boy, sorry if sometimes the machine translates him as female


    I''ll be reading all the comments, leave your opinion please, and above all believe a little in this story I promise it will surprise you over time. I''d also like to make it clear that English is not my primary language, so there could be many, many grammatical errors, sorry /:


    01/08/2024


    Note from the author of the future: it has been 4 months since I wrote the notes and I saw the need to add this one more, the story is not a shallow story where the character is reborn strong and already has an iron mentality and goes out fighting against families thousands of times stronger than him and survives on the strength of his protagonism, Kayden is a villain, he has three great moments in this story, the normal phase, the anti-hero phase, and later the villain, if you are looking for someone who has never had great experiences of life and is born killing someone in cold blood out of nowhere this story is not for you. kayden will have a mentality development that accompanies his power I want to bring a story that matches reality and not just write epic moments and describes hot women competing for Kayden to win readers , that''s why the story has a slow pace until Chapter 140, after that it''s faster


    I know there are still a lot of grammatical errors, but I''m working two jobs and going to college. So I don''t have time to review every Chapter I post. Sorry about that.


    "I would like to thank all the readers who persevered through the first Chapters and saw some value in my story. Thank you all. Special thanks to three people who have been following me for a long time and continue to donate rocks and support me:


    1) King_of_Death


    2)ISEKAI_JPRD


    3) Sarbu

 Chapter 2: The beginning

    Chapter 2 - The beginningJanuary 2035


    "Kayden, hurry up! Your father and I are already ready and if you don''t come soon, you won''t have ice cream "Lorena hurried his son. Kayden was a boy at the height of his 6 years old, he had no worries in life other than having fun and playing. He was small and had brown hair. Matching the color of his hair, his eyes were also brown. It can be said that he was a copy of his father, the only difference was age.


    Quickly packing the toys into a small suitcase in his room and sloppily putting any clothes on, Kayden hurried to the lower part of the house. He was already used to going out with his family on Friday nights and he knew how not to piss off his mother.


    "Took a while, huh, son? We almost left you" Lucas joked, but his son knew they weren''t going to do that, at most they would leave him without choosing the ice cream.


    After a little chatting, they went to their favorite ice cream parlor. Kayden quickly chose the chocolate flavor, by far his favorite. They spent a few minutes watching the movement in the street while they ate. At that moment, his parents were arguing quietly, but Kayden didn''t notice. He was focused on his ice cream.


    After the ice cream, they decided to take a walk in the park, as they always did. With his son walking in front of them nonchalantly, the adults began to argue with no regard for Kayden being overheard.


    "He is asking for money again, saying that as he is family I must send him an amount in this time of crisis."


    "I told you your brother is just taking advantage of you. He has never worked in his life and lives only on his parents'' inheritance."


    "I know that, but he''s still..."


    "Dad, look at that tree, how cool! Its petals are roses!" - Even as a child, Kayden noticed the heavy air of the conversation and tried to distract his parents in a way that only a child would think.


    His father began to explain the beauty of the ip¨º trees to his son, and with the magic that only a child can do, the matter was forgotten by the adults. After walking and eating ice cream, they decided to return to their home in the countryside. That was a good family night, nothing could go wrong. Returning normally by the usual path, without worrying about many things, the family hummed some songs from the moment they were playing on the radio. When they were in one of the last neighborhoods to leave the city, Lorena saw a car in the rearview mirror. She was driving at a controlled speed, but the car was going too fast. She tried to pull to the side to make room for the other driver.


    But it didn''t seem like he cared. It was as if his goal was to cause an accident. It was getting madly close to the bumper of Kayden''s family car.


    With a loud crashing sound, the crazy driver slammed into the family''s bumper. This resulted in the sum of speeds and made Kayden''s family crash at more than 100 km / h into the wall of a house. In moments, the calm road was taken over by the screams of residents going to see what happened. Many called the police and fire department when they saw the mess of metal on the wall and tried to see if there were any survivors.


    In a few minutes, the fire department approached the scene and removed 3 bodies from the vehicle, completely bloodied. Only one breathed. Some residents were thrilled to see only a few-year-old child breathing. Quickly, the ambulance arrived and directed them to the nearest hospital. Taken to the hospital, the doctor in charge gave his verdict quickly.


    "Two dead and a child in a vegetative state. He''ll probably never be able to move a muscle below his neck again if He can get out of the coma he''s in."


    June 2035


    Without a doubt, the last 6 months of Max''s life were the best in years. His sister died, leaving only his nephew alive, and as he was only 6 years old, the inheritance fell into his lap easily with the excuse of looking after the future heir''s assets. his sister has worked a lot in this life. With just the amount of money Max could get his hands on, he''ll never have to work again in his life, and with any luck, his nephew won''t ever wake up.


    He had just bought a house in the richest neighborhood in the capital. Absolutely nothing could ruin his day, or he thought nothing could. Around 11 pm, he received a call from an unknown number. Without even thinking twice, he declined the call, but the number kept calling non-stop, not even a moment. The third time, he answered.


    "Hello Mr Max, alright? This is Albert Einstein Hospital. Your nephew has just woken up from his coma. As the only relative, we called so you can come and take care of him and discuss what will be done with the doctor."


    " Of course, in a few minutes, I''ll be on my way there. Thank goodness my nephew woke up " Max''s sweeter tone said the words that felt bitter in his mouth, and he cursed in his mind that he should have paid less if he''d known this would have happened.


    In no hurry, he took a shower and put on one of the best suits he could buy, by the way, worth a car. He drank an even more expensive wine and headed for the hospital. He went straight upstairs to the doctor in charge and asked about Kayden''s condition.


    "He will likely remain in that state for the rest of his life, not even his eyesight was spared. He can only speak and listen "The doctor exchanged a few more words in a melancholy tone and thanked the doctor for his service, all the while celebrating as if he had won the lottery. Then he went to talk to his nephew.


    "Kayden? Hey, big boy, it''s me, Max."


    "Uncle? Where is Daddy? Or Mom? I don''t remember anything that happened and I can''t move."


    Max quickly told everything in an insensitive way what happened, but he did not stop showing deep regret, even crying with emotion. Receiving this information was a shock for a 6-year-old, it was shocking, making Kayden cry and scream like never before in his life. Max hugged his nephew from beginning to end, touching the surrounding medical team. Max spent the day comforting his nephew and the next morning he ran away on business, leaving his devastated nephew alone to face something no child should have to go through.


    August 2035


    Today it''s been two months since Kayden was awake from his coma in the hospital. His uncle came every day to visit and spend time with him. At first, he spent days comforting his nephew, and as time went on, his visits became shorter. The medical team told stories to the child all the time, trying to leave him alone as little time as possible. They even proposed that Max hire someone to stay with his nephew all the time, but he claimed he didn''t have the money for that.


    His uncle''s visits became sporadic and short; he would come and stay the whole time messing with his cell phone. Simultaneously, the medical staff began to spend less and less time with Kayden. This resulted in Kayden having only himself and the television for company, which was practically a radio as he could not see things at the time. It was slowly driving the child crazy. The minutes and hours began to look the same; it was almost impossible to feel the passage of time. His only moments of joy were when he could hear a story on TV, which was rare, as most television programs need your eyesight to be seen. There was nothing he could do, there was no entertainment, there were no distractions; it was just Kayden and his mind.


    October 2035


    It''s been 4 months since Kayden was alone; his uncle no longer came to visit him, and the medical staff no longer spoke to him. Furthermore, he was moved to a shared room upon his uncle''s allegations that he could not afford a single room, clearly a lie, as the inheritance his sister left easily covered the tens of millions. of dollars. This was perhaps what kept Kayden from fully collapsing, emphasis on fully, as a part of his mind was already collapsing from the long period of isolation. Now he had two other roommates.


    Sometimes they were children, sometimes adults or teenagers. Kayden preferred adults, they took pity on his condition and told him stories and happenings in the world. The kids even tried to talk to him, but their worldviews were different, while they talked about toys and sports, Kayden couldn''t share anything about it. So as time went by, Kayden quickly figured out how to talk to adults and teens alike, and accumulated an impressive repertoire of stories and topics. He also discovered how short each encounter was, lasting a few hours or days. The friends he made were never seen by him again.


    January 2038


    Kayden was now nine years old and for the past 3 years, his life had consisted of waking up, talking to strangers, and sleeping. He never had contact with his uncle again, his life was monotonous and boring. His only happiness was discovering new stories and talking to other patients.


    His mental age evolved rapidly, and his long period of isolation made him have a forced progression of his mentality and way of communicating. These days, he had no problem holding a conversation for hours on any topic, as in 3 years he had roommates of all types and personalities, from homeless people to exemplary university professors.


    On a certain day, a teenager was in the bed next to his. As usual, Kayden was going to try to talk him out of it, but to his surprise, he started muttering to himself about his problems.


    "These bullies, you''ll see, the police will catch. I was quiet in my corner reading, just because I''m chubby and I wear glasses, they hate me."


    "What bad friends do you have, huh? " Kayden tried to bring up the subject.


    "Go get you fucking cripple! Friends are the idiots, these little shits! "The teen quickly offended Kayden and the bullies in thousands of different ways within seconds, almost as if breaking the penal code was a habit.


    Kayden was extremely surprised, he had never been treated that way, it was always with pity and melancholy that they spoke to him. Kayden had no idea how to proceed now and tried to change the subject to something every teenager always enjoys: manga and novels.


    "I see... Do you happen to like novels or manga? My favorite is One Punch Man."


    "Wow, (take this as a surprise please). I love this one too. My name is Nicolas and you?"


    With a 180-degree transformation, the teen quickly got into a conversation with Kayden, telling him about his favorite novels and stories. Kayden kept asking him to talk about them, Nicolas was never one to talk much, mainly because he was bullied at school, which prevented him from having friends.


    That day, the two spent the entire night talking about stories from the worlds of magic and cultivation. Kayden liked Nicolas'' personality and his stories. When he woke up in the morning, there was no answer when he called Nicolas, which quickly turned to sadness as he realized that history was repeating itself.


    Late in the afternoon, Kayden heard someone sitting down in the chair next to his bed.


    "Hey, cripple, I came to see how you are."


    That was Kayden''s first friend and Nicolas came to visit every day in the late afternoon, but not as often as he got a job. Still, it was a huge relief for Kayden to have someone to talk to and share stories with.


    January 2039


    Kayden was in the prime of his 10s. His life was still sad and listless, but lately, he had his fun days. His one and only friend came to visit whenever he could, it wasn''t happening very often as Nicolas got a job, but it was still a few days a week. Kayden fell in love with the worlds of magic and cultivation. He asked the artificial intelligence on television to describe the stories of the moment, but only the free readings, as he didn''t have access to a real one in his pocket.


    One random night, he was awakened by the sound of someone sitting down in the chair next to him quite audibly. Not knowing who it was, Kayden exclaimed:


    "Hello? Can I help you?"


    "Maybe, maybe not, hehe " a drunk voice reached the young man''s ears.


    "Uncle Max? Why are you here?"


    Kayden has had his contacts with drunk people, mostly patients who smuggled in booze to support their alcohol addictions.


    "Today I came to tell you the truth " hiccups (read this as a hiccup kiosk) "You know those ***** of your parents? I was the one who killed them, that bitch mother of yours didn''t want to help his poor brother, hic, so I had to do something, hic, too bad a piece of trash as you survived."


    "Uncle? This is a joke, right? " Kayden felt the truth, he knew that was probably what happened, but the shock prevented him from processing what he heard. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    His uncle laughed like a madman and said:


    "Unfortunately for you, it isn''t. Now, because of you, I''m being investigated in court, since I didn''t spend much time taking care of you, but that''s okay, I just need to buy justice, right?"


    Kayden started to cry remembering his past; the memories of his parents were already blurred in his mind and came back like a whirlwind, he barely remembered that time of his childhood, only that he was extremely happy.


    "Now I''m going to finish what I started, and first you''re going to suffer a little for the trouble you caused me."


    That night, Kayden experienced for the first time in his life the pain of being beaten and unable to do anything. No matter how much he shouted, nobody came; the torture seemed to last for hours until Kayden passed out.


    When he woke up the other day, he realized he was alive and his whole body was in pain. Unable to even move, he chuckled in his mind; at least he was alive, a cold and melancholy laugh expressing all the sadness of recent times, it was as if something broke inside him. No use calling the police or anything, his uncle had money to buy the truth; even if he killed Kayden, nothing would likely happen to him. Kayden asked the doctors not to let visitors in anymore. He knew it wouldn''t stop his uncle from doing anything, but at least it wouldn''t let Nicolas see him in this state.


    Time continued to pass, and Kayden learned more and more about philosophy and great thinkers. It kind of became a habit to run away from your traumas and fears. He feared that his uncle would return, but he never heard from him again.

 Chapter 3: A good story

    Chapter 3 - A good storyJune 2045


    Kayden hadn''t seen his uncle in years and hadn''t heard from him. That day, Nicolas came to tell him that he was engaged. Kayden was happy for his friend and discussed details about the wedding and the like. Without a doubt, his relationship with Nicolas went far beyond simple friendship. He considered him like a brother and would do anything to see him happy, even if he couldn''t do much in his condition.


    " I also started a cool soap opera, the story goes like this:"


    Start of the first arc


    (think of it as Nicolas counting)


    On planet Earth, humanity developed slowly, conquered the air and seas, and made rapid progress with science. What she least expected was the emergence of mana, which transformed men into beings capable of doing the impossible. Who needed a plane when you could fly yourself?


    Society quickly changed. Now, the strong ruled, no matter gender, race, or anything, only strength was respected. Gigantic cities were created and the world expanded at an accelerated rate, both in terms of culture and size. The scientists were impressed, the Earth was increasing almost 1% a day and in one year it reached the value of 17 times.


    But not everything is a bed of roses. One hundred years after the emergence of magic, Earth received the first contact from outside:


    " Hello beings of planet Earth, we are part of the council of this sector and we came to inform you that we will clean up the living beings of this planet and select some beings that stand out. These beings will receive the best treatment our solar system can offer. You have one last month of courtesy before you are eradicated."


    This message from the unknown caused panic among the inhabitants of planet Earth. A planet that in 100 years grew 300 times its size and had the truth revealed. They saw that the size of the planets and the known laws of physics were false. In 100 years, the number of inhabitants on the planet has not increased that much, at most it has doubled. Most of the Earth was wild and teeming with magical beasts and plants.


    Many understood that this was the end. The greatest magicians on Earth spoke saying that they did not understand how that message was passed and could not even feel the presence of the other magician.


    Most governments collapsed. Attacks by long-standing rivals began spontaneously, wars with no intentions broke out on all sides, and countries with extremely radical leaders like the United States attacked their rivals with all their weapons. However, only patriotic soldiers stayed at the exercises. There was a loud stampede from all echelons. S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "We inform you that the messages are false and that this was a government test " Messages like this were passed on in different places on the planet to reduce panic.


    Unfortunately, the truth quickly emerged with panic in elite families.


    A month quickly passed and there were collective outbreaks of suicides and violence. Governments themselves proved useless in containing the chaos, and many genocides were caused by mad mages. However, in the last week, there has been a strange silence from all the inhabitants, as if they are just waiting for the end as if they are at peace and tired of everything.


    On the last day, the inhabitants could see huge spaceships and beings floating around the planet, just waiting for the right moment to eradicate an entire civilization and return for their afternoon snack.


    Ships of colossal sizes, easily reaching the length of cities, could be seen circling the planet''s atmosphere.


    "Hello, hello everyone, we''re going to start eradicating sector number 234. Would anyone like to object? " the voice laughed " Well n..."


    At that moment, everyone saw a man riding alone. Every screen on the planet magnified its image. He was wearing a white robe that seemed to have a light of its own, it didn''t look like there could be even a single speck of dirt on it. The uncovered head revealed an old man with a white beard cropped close to his face. His every move felt like it had been done a thousand times.


    His face, despite being old, showed a sign of delicacy and perfection that should not match a human being, almost as if he had been carved by hand. And his eyes were the most impressive thing, they were completely golden and seemed to have no end, almost like an abyss.


    "I object." An utterly clean voice that seemed to carry the weight of the heavens came out of the figure, with a frightening enchantment arose in everyone''s minds.


    The weaker beings didn''t feel it, but those at the top of the fleet''s power could see the pressure the mage caused in space, almost as if the mana bowed to him, however, he didn''t have a level enough to scare the leader of the troop, it only alarmed him, but his blind arrogance prevented him from expressing any warning signs.


    "A mere low-ranked archmage thinks he can stop the entire council? " together with his words he began to laugh along with the entire fleet, it was audible to everyone on the planet the mockery and contempt shown by the invaders.


    "How about letting me cast a spell, as a courtesy?" the wizard asked with a crooked smile, infuriating the commander.


    " As a courtesy, I will let you cast up to 100 spells in my fleet, we will only defend ourselves " The commander made clear his contempt for this mage, only allowed to increase his fame among his men.


    Immediately the man began to manipulate the surrounding mana and began to speak.


    " Hello everyone on Earth, my name is Adam, I''ve been alive for approximately 4 thousand years, I was responsible for generating many myths in our civilization " laughed the old man with an air of nostalgia " I started learning magic long before I even had it. the collapse of mana. I can guarantee to be the first human magician " he laughed again in a cheerful tone.


    That phrase caused an uproar in the raiding fleet. Mages awakened before the mana flow are extremely rare and usually represent the pinnacle of a civilization. One awakened is worth more than entire planets, as they represent an entirely new path in the wizarding world.


    Before the awakening of mana, the world had something called dormant mana, which is extremely difficult for people unfamiliar with magic to manipulate. Entering the path of magic by this method is the most difficult and laborious, and even among geniuses, the success rate is lower than finding a needle in a solar system.


    The commander gave orders not to kill Adam and capture him after his spell.


    "During that time I taught myself magic, I created an organization called the Garden of Eden, where only those capable of defying their destiny were allowed to join. I took a lot from this planet and gave little. Today I come to repay my debts, I ask that humanity follow my clan, they were instructed to guide the next steps of our civilization."


    At that moment, an entire planet''s mana surged within Adam''s reach, it was like a black hole sucking in everything, it was unimaginable to everyone present that such a large amount of mana could be manipulated.


    "ATTACK! IN FULL POWER! STOP THIS MAN " the commander shouted desperately, he recognized what was being done, the will of the world was helping Adam.


    "I will buy 1000 years for mankind to rise again. I have learned two things in my 4000 years of life: human greed has no limits and that humanity has no limits.


    Adam''s magic was coming to an end. Everyone could feel a monstrous level of spell-building. An entire civilization''s attention was on just one man, his back could be seen on every camera and screen on the planet, and he only felt one thing: unwavering.


    " MY NAME IS ADAM AND I AM THE FIRST PILLAR OF HUMANITY " Only one finger was raised above it " AND LET IT BE A LESSON TO NEXT GENERATIONS " The mana of an entire planet gathered on Adam''s finger " HUMANITY DOES NOT KNEEL, WE RULE.


    At that moment, the commander ordered everyone to withdraw, and even though barely a second passed between the orders, he knew it was too late. Adam''s body was engulfed by an explosion of mana, it was so strong that for a moment all living beings in the region felt as if the world had stopped for a moment, the sounds silenced.


    Then a small barrier appeared on Earth, extremely thin, but golden in appearance and transparent, almost impossible to notice. The commander ordered everyone to attack, the attack was carried out for 7 days and 7 nights, and during that time humanity did not rise, no one spoke, no one celebrated, everyone waited to see what happened and nothing of the barrier broke, no matter who it was brought by the council.


    Finally, humanity is celebrated. On that day, a new calendar was started by the organization that quietly took over. It was declared a world holiday on the day of Adam''s sacrifice and...


    "Wow, Nicolas, this soap opera looks cool," commented Kayden, excited to hear the rest of the story.


    " Unfortunately, there''s only one Chapter released and it''s from years ago. It was probably abandoned by the author " Nicolas said, showing a certain level of sadness. Without a doubt, it has already reached a level where there are few well-made novels to be read.


    Nicolas squirmed in his chair and continued to chatter on and on with Kayden until he was chased away by the hospital staff.

 Chapter 4: A new beginning

    Chapter 4 - A new beginningAuthor''s note:


    Hello, I hope everyone is well. I came to thank the novel for reaching the first thousand views, I also ask that you leave a review so I can improve my writing, a small detail, there will be no gods and things like that, so don''t think too much about limbo, see you later


    I am aware that Kayden was referred to as a girl in some parts, this is a machine translation error, sorry.


    March 2049


    Kayden was in his 20s and no longer felt like living. Most of his life has been spent lying in a bed without even seeing, only being able to feel by touch and in a very limited way.


    His only happiness was talking to other people, and even that began to bore him. In all these years, he realized that most people were just copies of each other, most just repeated their culture and personality based on other people in society.


    One day, Nicolas came over to tell him, all happy that he was going to be a father and that they were saving up to clean up the house they were in so that they could welcome another member into the family. One of Kayden''s few blessings over the years was his friendship with Nicolas, which has withstood the test of time without a problem. No matter how long they didn''t see each other, it was as if not a day had passed between them.


    "What will your daughter''s name be?" Kayden asked curiously.


    "It will be Lorena, in honor of my deceased mother-in-law " Nicolas replied.


    "It wasn''t you who chose it, was it? " Kayden was sure that, if it was Nicolas, it would be a strange anime name.


    "Shut up crippled mouth, I liked the name " Nicolas raged "My wife chose " he spoke softly at the end.


    This caused a ripple of laughter between the two. The conversation naturally went on for a while and today was particularly lively. They continued arguing late into the night, even with the hospital staff asking Nicolas to leave.


    The sound of a door being opened and the sound of someone walking were heard by the two. They didn''t worry too much, thinking it was just the hospital staff again, but it started to get weird, because it looked like someone very unbalanced, bumping into everything in front of them. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Suddenly, startling them both, Kayden''s bed curtain was abruptly thrown open, and a visibly drunk man holding a revolver was exposed to their view. Nicolas even screamed in fright, since Kayden didn''t understand what was happening because of his blindness.


    "Hello Kayden, your beloved uncle is here for you, hic, I see your little friend is here with you, the hospital staff told me about this little shit "Max was visibly drunk and surprised Nicolas to the point that he didn''t know what to do " justice has finally seized all my money for neglecting a good-for-nothing like you, not that there''s much left anyway."


    " Mr. Max? Please, calm down... " Nicolas tried to speak calmly with an armed man, bad idea.


    "Shut up, you piece of trash " Max snapped, pointing the gun suggestively at Nicolas " Today I came to finish what I should have done a long time ago, I can no longer lead a comfortable life and I will probably be arrested in the next few days, and better still, I''ll take your little friend along with us " Max laughed like a mental patient.


    "Uncle, please let Nicolas go, he has nothing to do with us, I barely know him " Kayden begged quickly for his brother''s consideration.


    "That''s right, beg your uncle " Max continued laughing like a madman and without anyone expecting it, he shot Nicolas in the leg.


    Nicolas was pushed back with the force of the shot, it was done so quickly and randomly that he didn''t even have time to scream, only after he realized what had happened did the pain register. Kayden heard Nicolas''s gunshot and screamed and panicked. This was worse than the other time, seeing his only friend suffering because of him was tearing his heart apart.


    "Look how cool, Kayden, I''ll let you hear your friend die before I finish you off and, if you say any word, I''ll kill you now " At the same time he said that, Max shot Nicolas in the head " Oops, my finger slipped.


    Kayden heard the sound of Nicolas''s head bouncing on the floor and knew without a doubt that his friend was dead. At that moment, Kayden hated himself like never before, hated his uncle, hated this pathetic, unfair world, and screamed until his lungs couldn''t take it anymore.


    "Is it over, you little shit?" Max hit Kayden in the head with the butt of the gun.


    Kayden didn''t even feel the pain of the blow, his mind was breaking on its own, nothing else mattered, everything was ruined in a single moment by his uncle.


    "You''ve screamed enough, vegetable " Max quickly shot Kayden in the head.


    At that moment, everything seemed to be moving in slow motion for Kayden, he found himself above his body and, for the first time in 15 years, he was seeing the scenery around him, he even had control over his body, but somehow he understood that there was no way to interfere with anything, it was as if he existed and did not exist at the same time.


    Kayden saw his uncle raise the gun and point it at his head, he saw how in seconds the man who destroyed his life ended his own without any remorse, he didn''t know what to feel, was he avenged? But it didn''t seem like enough. He was feeling his vision go black and erasing, it was out of his control, like everything else in his life, and in the end, he was unable to even protect his brother.


    "Goodbye, Nicolas, sorry for everything " Kayden cried to himself.


    ???? in ??? place ???


    Kayden opened his eyes and quickly closed them, not used to the light in the hospital.


    "Clarity? Wait..."


    Like a whirlwind, the memories came back to him, the night his life ended came back in seconds to his mind, the pain, the sadness, the anger, everything came back at once, almost driving Kayden crazy.


    After screaming for a long time, he pulled himself together and realized he was on a gigantic lawn, a plain that stretched as far as the eye could see. He was lying on the grass, he tried to get up... and he fell, his sense of balance was all wrong.


    "I don''t even know how to use my legs.


    An identical copy of himself appeared in front of him without him even noticing and watched the young man who could barely stand up.


    "Hello?"


    A voice coming out of nowhere scares any human being, and that made Kayden act on instinct, getting up quickly and turning to the owner of the voice, but he couldn''t recognize him, it''s been a long time since he''s seen himself in a mirror.


    "Hey? Where am I? I think I got lost on the path of reincarnation " Kayden expressed his doubts without knowing very well how to communicate with the person in front of him.


    "Relax, Kayden, you''re in something like limbo, a temporary place for souls. Here you are left to resolve your issues with yourself and try to follow your destiny in peace. Usually, souls take a few years or decades, it depends on how your life was."


    "Hm... got it. And how can I do this?"


    "Hoho, it''s very simple. I''m going to ask you some questions, and you must answer them honestly for yourself."


    So it started, in the beginning, it was simple things like what is the correct ethics in such an action for you, the being made it clear that there was no correct answer, the right thing would be, to be honest with yourself.


    (The next few paragraphs would be Kayden daydreaming about himself, as if answering questions directed at him.)


    ''I have no resentment towards my parents, in life, they took care of me as best they could.''


    ''I don''t think the world is fair, or that humans are good, they are a disgusting race for the most part, thinking only of themselves and repeating ideas from other beings.''


    ''The sense of life? The money would be the last of them, even success depends on the point of view, how many billionaires have existed and will exist, and how many of them will history remember? What''s the point of having millions and being erased from history like everyone else? Life has an end in itself, the meaning is to find your way.''


    ''How many are capable of transmitting their knowledge and their name through generations? Few. Humanity is mostly made up of sheep. Few beings can stand out from the herd.''


    ''I hate myself? Yes? Why? Never had control over my destiny? Even so, was I able to elevate myself mentally? I think so. I didn''t have a superb and accommodating mind, I tried by my means to reach new heights.''


    ''Was I jealous of Nicolas? I have to admit that yes, having a life, being able to walk and interact with other people was a deep desire of mine.''


    ''Hate Max? Yes, with all my strength. Is this hate correct? Yes maybe? Why should I hate a weak being? Is someone a slave to your desires and desires? Servant of your mind? Maybe, in the end, it doesn''t matter.''


    ''Nothing makes any difference in life, the end is the same, insecurities, envy, grudges, none of that is capable of matching the stillness of death, in the end, it all boils down to nothing.''


    "Congratulations, Kayden, you managed to be honest and bury all your problems from your past life " a voice scared Kayden again.


    Kayden entered a meditative state where he lost sense of his surroundings, only his mind was able to process thoughts and nothing else, his sense of time was cut off, and he wasn''t sure how much time had passed.


    "Hello, how long did it take me? " Kayden asked with genuine curiosity, in his head barely a few hours had passed.


    "It''s been 3 years, 7 months, 23 days, 3 hours, 52 minutes, and 3 seconds since you entered deep meditation, by the way, a relatively short time for the troubled life you''ve had."


    "And now? What do I have to do?" Kayden asked curiously.


    "I will give you two options, you will be able to choose only one of them. You can go back in time with all your knowledge to the date of your parent''s death and prevent the accident from happening and subsequently lose those memories or you can randomly reincarnate."


    This situation took Kayden by surprise, but within moments he was right about his decision.


    "I wish to randomly reincarnate "This quick decision surprised the being who asked.


    "Why didn''t you choose the first one?"


    "In my world, there was a philosophy that says that if you don''t go through everything you''ve been through, you wouldn''t be yourself, as much as my life is rubbish, I believe I''m the best version that could come out of it, I wouldn''t want to change to myself."


    "I see, I hope you are happy in your new life, good luck, Kayden."


    "Wait, I still have a question... " Kayden was unable to continue his speech, his vision quickly went black and his senses nullified.

 Chapter 5: Being born

    Chapter 5 - Being bornAuthor''s note: Thanks to olivertheoliver, Ryan_ls, and joao_marcus_3370 for donating their stones, I didn''t expect to get this return so soon, thank you very much


    January 430, Earth


    In a hospital room in the kingdom of the sun, there was a woman and a medical team, to be more precise in a birthing operation, they seemed to be fighting for the child''s life, the mother was red and barely breathing, as if she had fought a war.


    With a lot of effort, after long hours of delivery, the child came out, the doctor quickly got scared by the child''s eyes, they looked like big black gems, totally without color, it was shocking only for a moment, as in recent years it has become more the birth of eyes with different colors is common. matching his look his hair was also dark, it even seemed to be dyed, this was noticeable even though he only had small baby tufts


    Kayden felt a very strange sensation, everything was dark and suddenly he was pulled by strong hands and he felt the light of


    "Let me hold my son, doctor, "asked the mother, visibly depressed by the delivery, the doctor quickly wrapped the child in a blanket and presented him to the mother "Your eyes are beautiful, they are not mine or your father''s, boy."


    While giving attention to his son, she knew that she didn''t have much time to live, old injuries had already worn her body down for a long time, and, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, she hugged the child to her body, kissed his forehead and said:


    "Good luck, Kayden, may the mana be with you." As she said that, the woman closed her eyes, never to open them again. sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden was confused by his surroundings, his mind seemed strangely slow, as if he were a newborn, things didn''t seem to flow properly, it just seemed like he had lapses in attention.


    The language he heard sounded strangely like the English spoken in his homeland, but it had small changes that made it difficult to distinguish, he only understood a word that was his name in his past life, and by deduction, it was also in this one.


    After a few minutes, he noticed that he was in the body of a newborn baby, and the person holding him must have been his mother, but she appeared to be lifeless, which scared Kayden, it wasn''t possible to be born twice without luck, right?


    Kayden suddenly felt drowsy, as if using a grown person''s mind in that body was wearing him out too much. After the baby fell asleep, which again surprised the team, it was not normal for a baby to fall asleep at birth, normally they cry a lot.


    Unbeknownst to Kayden, doctors took him to the government, who then sent him to one of the local orphanages for adoption. Kayden might even consider himself lucky this time, it was an environment supported by an elderly retiree, who undoubtedly had no money problems. It was a 3-story house, with about 4 rooms per floor, normally it only accepted newborns, as according to the old man it was easier to educate.


    Kayden was placed on the first floor in one of the free rooms, a room with a baby bed, a window, and a ceiling fan. The inhabitants soon came to see the newborn that was being cared for by the old man.


    "Hey old man, who''s that?" What is your name? "asked Ryan to the old man, no one knew the name of the old man, since they remembered, he was known as an old man.


    Along with Ryan, there were 7 more people, it was not a new event for most of them, who spent their whole lives in this place, they were between 4 and 12 years old in their majority.


    "The civil servant said his name is Kayden, no last names or any other information.


    " Wow, his eyes are really pretty."


    "They are, they seem like an endless abyss, and his crying is endless, I had even forgotten how babies are."


    The old man quickly sent everyone outside, it was late at night and they would have class the next day. The next day, Kayden woke up confused, vaguely remembering what happened after falling asleep in the doctor''s hands, the first thing that jumped into his eyes was the blue ceiling and small walls around him.


    He understood that he was in a baby crib, he felt his face wet, but he didn''t remember having cried the day before. Could it be that when he was away, his body acted like a normal newborn? It seemed odd, but it made sense when you thought your body could revert to mindless mode when you didn''t have a mind capable of managing it.


    At that same moment, it also dawned on him that Kayden had been reborn, not only reborn but still had his memories, all of them, this caused doubts in his head, was it an error in the reincarnation system? Or was it on purpose? Putting his doubts aside, Kayden promised himself that in this life he would conquer everything and, with the support of his memories, he would start early on the path to the top, but before that, he needed to fight sleep again, his vision began to close involuntarily.


    When Kayden fell asleep, the door to his room was opened by the old man. He came to check why the baby stopped crying out of nowhere, normally newborns can cry for a long time without stopping. The old man closed the window thinking that the cold must have scared the baby.


    "So small and at the same time capable of crying so loudly, isn''t he tiny "The old man spent some time playing with the child.


    After a while, Kayden found himself in the same situation again, it had become clear that his baby body was not able to withstand the wear and tear of a mind developed in him, this time he was in the room, more precisely in the hands of the old man near a fireplace. It looked like the little old man was telling stories to the children around, Kayden noticed his surroundings this time, he was getting used to having small lapses of consciousness and wanted to try to make the most of these small intervals.


    It was in a large room with about 4 3 seater sofas around it, in each seat a child sat who seemed to be listening intently to the story, Kayden wasn''t able to see much because of the angle he was at, the fireplace burned so warm and cozy, but he couldn''t tell what material was burning.


    He also noticed the language that was being spoken by the old man, it was a kind of English, Kayden did not doubt that, however, few words could be perceived by him, and there seemed to be a strong accent that prevented him from differentiating the words.


    The old man''s words were very rhythmic, it looked like he was reading a book, but his two hands were on Kayden, it looked strange and didn''t make much sense, he tried to straighten up and fidget to get another position, that moment he saw a book floating.


    ''A book floating what a cool, wait, book! floating?'' Kayden screamed in surprise for a moment, startling everyone around, it was so sudden that the old man even threw Kayden in the air.


    "What a little fright "laughed the old man awkwardly, at the same time, Kayden didn''t know how, but he was standing at the top without falling, almost like magic, he was ready to try to investigate what was going on, however, again he was assaulted by a strong drowsiness and was not able to resist sleep.


    The people in the room continued their leisure activity as if nothing had happened, they knew that laughing at the old man caused an increase in the workload in the house.


    Sometime later, Kayden woke up looking at the same blue ceiling again, and after a brief moment to collect his thoughts, he freaked out again.

 Chapter 6: What to do

    Chapter 6 - What to do''MAGIC!! Or advanced technology?'' Kayden had never believed in any deity, even though he was reborn he still didn''t have an attachment to religion in any way, but at that moment he hoped from the bottom of his heart that it was magic.


    Based on his knowledge of the previous life, magic was the manipulation of mana, and this, in turn, was a highly complex form of energy, normally it was around everything, but his question was how to feel this mana. And did she exist or was it all in his head?


    ''No, no, let''s think positive'', Kayden had a great perception of his senses since he spent years only using them to live, he tried to feel his surroundings and... S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Anything. Absolutely nothing different, but he didn''t give up, he knew that magic must be something difficult and logically he wouldn''t be able to use it automatically. He tried again to feel something different, but there was nothing, absolutely nothing. Without realizing it, his short time delay was used up again, and Kayden was sucked into the sea of sleep against his will.


    These small lapses in consciousness weren''t able to make Kayden learn much or be able to feel the mana, but he kept trying his best, he was willing to give 200% of himself in this new life. At times he was in his bedroom and at others in the kitchen or other rooms in the house. Over time, he realized that he should be in an orphanage and of good quality still, he never saw any of the children looking malnourished or with torn clothes after a long time of use.


    The issue of language became easier and easier, he was able to differentiate words and learn their meaning through repetitions, and, in addition, as he grew up, he was able to maintain consciousness for longer.


    1 year later...


    "Smile for the picture, children, " the old man asked with a camera in hand, there were several children in a room, more specifically in the orphanage''s party room, there was a large table in one corner of the wall capable of accommodating several people, and in the center of it had a cake.


    This was the scene that Kayden faced when he got his consciousness back. In the passing of that year, he had already learned the "English" of this world, it wasn''t difficult or complex, it was just a variation of the vocabulary of his old world. With this knowledge, Kayden learned a little about this planet, but unfortunately, he didn''t get anything concrete, just fragments of ideas and conversations. But he was sure of one thing: this world was magical. Countless times he was able to see the old man doing impossible things, like carrying a couch in the air or magically disappearing to receive visitors. Not only that, but the kids were able to levitate him.


    Kayden discovered that there were levels of power in this world. The children seemed to be at the wizard''s apprentice level, as for the old man nothing was discovered. The levels also seemed to range from 1 to 9, most of the young children were at level 1 or 2, and the few above seemed to be over 10 years old. Kayden had no idea what came after the 9 levels or the difference in power between them.


    "We''re going to cut Kayden''s birthday cake now, I don''t want any fuss, you hear? " grumbled the old man with the knife in his hand and the cake levitating in front of him, at that moment the knife levitated and in less than a second he divided the cake into some pieces that were then placed on plates in the air and taken to each child in the place.


    " Uncle, my piece is too small."


    "Mine too, I want a bigger one."


    Complaints like these exploded in all directions the moment the cake was served.


    "I don''t want complaints, you can''t eat too many sweets at that age "The old man quickly cut off any attempt to make a mess and prevented the complaints from turning into a small rebellion, it had been a while since he dealt with the little ones and knew their capacity.


    Kayden realized that he had been in this place for a year and slowly began to feel a sense of belonging, especially to the old man, who always tried to give them a good life and childhood. Little ones might not notice, but as an adult, Kayden quickly noticed the little details, like throwing a 1st birthday party for a baby who wouldn''t even remember it.


    Unbeknownst to him, the old man tried to give the children a "normal" life, as he never had the opportunity to have one when he was younger. After everyone ate the cake, the old man told everyone to go to sleep. He took Kayden in his arms and left with him too.


    He arranged Kayden normally in his bed and, as he was leaving, he received a call. Out of habit, he answered quickly and threw a kind of protective barrier around the room. Kayden assumed it was a sound barrier from the situation. That little magic only strengthened his resolve to sense the mana.


    "Hello Lucian, how are you?" Kayden couldn''t hear the other part or know who it was, there was never a Lucian in the orphanage "I''m fine too, thanks. Ah yes, you still haven''t found your way? I have already told you that it takes time to find your path and individuality, it is not an easy thing, and few human beings have achieved this."


    At that moment, Kayden realized that maybe the old man wasn''t just a little old man who ran an orphanage. This path seems to be something very advanced in the magical world.


    " I''ll explain it to you one last time, Lucian, you''re already getting on my nerves, were what? 6 times or 7 I have already explained this "The old man looked annoyed "The path is necessary to pass the 3rd realm, you must try to feel what resonates with you and what you seek for yourself in this life, forget about relying on others, the path must come from you and there can hardly be many equal paths, only variations.


    3rd kingdom? This piqued Kayden''s curiosity. In a matter of seconds, he found out about two realms and how to reach the fourth.


    "No matter what realm you''re in, if you know your way around, you''ll be unrivaled among your peers. Yes, yes, there are ways to ascend to the 4th realm without the path, but you would be cutting your future short.


    They chatted for a few more minutes about other topics, but unfortunately for Kayden, they were useless. At that moment, drowsiness began to call for Kayden, he didn''t even resist, he already knew it was no use, sleep was relentless.


    The next day, as soon as he woke up, Kayden put what he knew in check and discussed its possibilities. He concluded, his quest to sense mana was not 100% profitable, he was mostly wasting time, but there was something he could pursue now that would undoubtedly affect his future. The way.


    The mana and magic would come in time, but the path would not. It was better to suffer for now than in the future. From that day forward, Kayden began debating his path, what did he want? Who was he? What are your wishes? And so on.

 Chapter 7: Mana baptism

    Chapter 7 - Mana baptismAfter 6 months...


    Kayden was in his room, like every other day. At 1.5 years old, he was already able to move around to a limited extent, like most babies his age. Other than that, nothing had changed; it was still the same blue ceiling and the same baby bed.


    Without realizing it, he was also becoming attached to the old man like a father. In his previous life, he was not mature enough to know or value a father''s brotherly love, but in this life, the impact on his mindset was evident.


    As Kayden thought about his progress over the past year and a half, his body began to behave abnormally, particularly in the area of his head. It got to the point where it felt like it was in a sea of flames. Unconsciously, Kayden began to scream and cry as if his life depended on it.


    Hearing the baby''s desperate cry, the old man quickly went up to the room. In moments, he was able to realize what was happening: it was the baptism of mana, but that surprised the old man. It didn''t make sense to him now; normally, baptism came only at the age of 2.


    In seconds, the old man organized the mana from the environment so that it was better absorbed by Kayden. However, that was the most he could do; the rest was a natural process and could not be stopped.


    "Well done Kayden looks like you''re going to be a great wizard, early awakenings are great signs," the old man told the baby cheerfully. Unlike his joy, Kayden was feeling one of the worst pains of his life, every inch of his body felt like it was burning, but at the same time, he could feel his existence evolving into something superior as if every second in hell brought him closer to the end. Paradise. Perhaps his past experiences allowed Kayden to maintain at least a minimal level of rationality.


    His body seemed to be expelling dirt and heating up as a result. It felt like his veins were being enlarged; every second he could feel his blood rushing at insane speeds enough for him to be able to feel movement. Its flesh seemed to be being consumed, but at the same time, it remained in its place.


    In a moment of epiphany, Kayden tried to direct the fire... to no avail. Wasn''t able to change anything. After what seemed like hours, his body slowly began to cool down. Forcing himself to stay awake through the entire process took a toll; his body and mind were exhausted, but even so, Kayden felt a sense of accomplishment.


    "Congratulations little one, you have been introduced to the world of mana. May mana be with you," were the last words Kayden heard before collapsing from exhaustion. Then the old man placed a small pair of bracelets on Kayden''s wrist.


    The next day, Kayden woke up as usual, looked up at the ceiling, tossed and turned to try to get some more sleep, and rubbed his wrist. Without a doubt, those bracelets were giving him itches. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''Wait... BRACELETS????'' Kayden was startled to wake up from his dazed state; he was pretty sure he never wore bracelets. In his fright, he tried to get up quickly on instinct, but he was so quick that he found himself dangling over the edge of the bed.


    Kayden was extremely confused; he was never that strong. His body normally barely responded to his attempts to move. Organizing his thoughts, he remembered his last memory, more specifically the baptism of mana mentioned by the old man.


    He paid more attention to himself and realized that everything was clearer and sharper in his vision, his sense of smell seemed to perceive odors that he had never been able to even imagine, his touch revealed details that seemed impossible before, and even his hearing became a little clearer. , it seemed that before he heard the sounds underwater.


    Even his thoughts were slightly clearer; at that moment, Kayden felt a small energy around him. I didn''t know how to explain it; it felt like it was always there. It was a feeling he had never felt before. There was no way to spell it out in his vocabulary; it was akin to explaining a 4D dimension to 3D beings.


    Kayden tried countless ways to manipulate this energy, but nothing seemed to work for sure. Most of the time, it only caused a slight change in mana, and every time I tried something, the bracelets got hot and heavy. They were probably restraining handcuffs. It made sense to have this on babies so they don''t use mana in a way that harms them.


    Collecting his thoughts, a few things became evident. First of all, he had gone through an experience that probably no human being has, as one hardly has memories of that period of their lives. Second, mana was capable of increasing physical stats; that is, perhaps this world is not restricted to mages only; there may be warriors. And third, Kayden couldn''t let this opportunity to get ahead pass him by; in this life, he would be king, and no one would stop him.


    1 year later (Kayden is 2 and a half years old)...


    By now, Kayden was already walking and talking normally, at least for his age. He tried to speak as little as possible so as not to show his "intelligence", since his awakening, he had no more drowsiness attacks and managed to stay 100% awake.


    He quickly became attached to the residents of the orphanage and, whenever he could, he was playing with them. Most of his time was spent thinking his way through; Kayden was focused on not giving up on this, as it would make a difference in his future.


    It turned out that after baptism, he was considered a level 1 apprentice, but that was about the way of magic. According to the old man, he would only learn other things when he entered school at the age of 4; until then, you shouldn''t care about it. Only the old man didn''t know that Kayden was desperate to continue on his path.


    He tried asking the other kids for information, but they couldn''t explain it in a way that Kayden understood. His explanations boiled down to telling Kayden to accumulate mana in the core, but since he had the bracelets, he wasn''t able to do that.


    As such, his main objective remained to figure out the path and try to manipulate mana in a better way. Each time he tried to change the energy around him, he had little success and if he tried too long, he ended up becoming mentally exhausted. But for every day that passed, he was able to do more with less effort.


    At that moment, they were in the kitchen making lunch. This time, the old man let Kayden choose what they would eat. In that era, typical foods of his time were practically disappearing, and if there was something he wanted to eat forever, it was pizza. It was hard to explain what it was to the old man, but with a little drill down, he was able to get down to the most basic form of pizza: dough and cheese.


    "That seems strange, Kayden", the old man had serious doubts about the palate of a 2-and-a-half-year-old child, even if he had a certain strange maturity at his age.


    "Now we put corn and chicken". It wasn''t a chicken, but a kind of wild chicken that grew in the surrounding forest. Kayden knew next to nothing about this world yet.


    When everyone was at the table, the old man began to cut the pieces into small squares. "No, no, no, cut into triangles from the center, please." Kayden imagined an angry Italian appearing out of nowhere and beating the old man up for this crime.


    Waiting for an opportune moment to ask the old man one more strange question, something that has become commonplace lately. Kayden tried to ask general, spaced-out questions, sounding like a child would ask.


    "Okay, Kayden", nodding, cut it into weird triangles and tried to taste the taste, "okay even".


    Without a doubt, the old man was a tsundere to the letter, because in his head angels were singing with the taste of this food. He had never eaten anything like it before and it was strangely good. And for some apparent reason, it was supposed to be eaten with the hands, without the aid of cutlery.


    "Old man, what is the name of the country where we are?"


    "Kayden, later you and I will have a private talk", the old man spoke with an angry face, scaring all the children around.

 Chapter 8: A new friend

    Chapter 8 - A new friendA few minutes later, Kayden was led to a room he had never entered, in the basement.


    "This is where my library is, Kayden," the old man said with a devilish smile. "From today onwards, you can come here whenever you want, all your questions can be answered here."


    "I don''t understand, old man?" - Kayden, at first, was happy with his answer, but then he thought about a big problem: he didn''t know how to read. He always tried to speak as little as possible and slowly, to try to match his age. How would he know a baby''s way of communicating???


    "Listen well, little one, I won''t repeat it. We live in a kingdom where it is forbidden to teach any knowledge before the child turns 4, that..."


    "Why, uncle?" - Kayden asked quickly, just like a curious child would. This earned him a quick slap on the head from the old man.


    "Don''t interrupt me! As I was saying, in the past there were several experiments on children to make them grow faster on the path of magic. Unfortunately, this broke their minds, and since then the government has prohibited any knowledge from being taught or tested on children. under 4 years old." With the same devilish smile on his face, the old man said: "Therefore, I will give you access to this library, as long as you promise not to fill me with questions again, agreed?"


    "Yes, uncle," Kayden responded hastily. Even if I didn''t know how to read yet, I was sure that, with time and learning the syllables, I would be able to. Unbeknownst to the old man, he was setting a trap for him so that he would stop chasing him for answers. Where have you ever seen a two-year-old read? He laughed to himself thinking he made a good ruse.


    "You can come whenever you want, but only alone. Here''s the key." The old man gave Kayden a necklace. "Just open the door when you have that necklace. Now, I''m going, good reading, Kayden."


    As soon as the old man walked out the door, Kayden ran to the first book he saw and... didn''t understand a word of the book. After thinking for a few minutes, Kayden had a brilliant idea: what if he asked about the other kids'' homework? Certainly, in some of them, there was something about literacy.


    Running to the study room, he sat down on a chair and watched the residents. Minutes passed and... nothing. Absolutely nothing. Kayden saw that this was going to be an arduous task, learning to read on his own was not easy.


    After a few weeks camping in the study room, he learned a few things, like how to pronounce the syllables and what they mean. His progress was slow but steady; In a few months, he would be able to read everything that old hack, Kayden, had thought for himself.


    Out of his knowledge, the old man had accompanied Kayden since the first day and was surprised by the child''s thinking. He never imagined that Kayden''s desire to learn was so great. He knew that this 4-year government restriction was pure bullshit; he just didn''t want to accelerate the child''s development and hoped he could have a normal childhood, picking up snot and eating sand.


    In his head, the child would give up in the first few days or even the first few hours, but Kayden stayed for weeks doing the same thing. The old man knew that at one time or another, he would learn to read on his own. Furthermore, the old man refused to take a step back, his tsundere personality did not allow him to do so under any circumstances. Over the next few days, he was busy altering the library''s magic so that certain books were blank when opened.


    After 6 months


    That''s how long it took Kayden to teach himself how to read and write. Without a doubt, he had to make a great effort to achieve basic understanding. He was never a genius, neither in this life nor in the previous one, but if there is something that his last life taught him, or rather, burned iron into his flesh, it was to pursue his goals, whatever the cost.


    Today was the day he was going to go to the library. Kayden had been there before, but he had a lot of words and grammar rules that prevented him from having a correct progression of ideas in the books. Therefore, he preferred to learn as much as possible before really delving into reading the books.


    Going down the stairs, he stopped in front of the door. He checked to see if he had the necklace on and then gently opened the door. Without wasting time, he went to what had occupied most of his thoughts in recent years: where was he? And what was the history of this world?


    The first book he picked up was called "A Brief History of Our History". What soon had nothing, easily reached thousands of pages. However, this did not discourage the boy, he was prepared to get the answers he always wanted. He remained in that isolated room for a few hours and, without realizing it, a boy walked in the door and was surprised to see another person there.


    The new member of the room was called Heimer, he had shoulder-length curly hair and wore small glasses, which resembled many diving glasses. I rarely saw other children in the library; most were more concerned with playing or practicing magic, and theoretical study was, for the most part, too boring for their age.


    "Hello?" That simple word made Kayden jump from his seat. Hours of silence broken without warning could scare more than a horror movie.


    "Ah!! Hi, who are you?" Talking to other children, Kayden wasn''t afraid of appearing more mature, they didn''t care much and wouldn''t care about it.


    "My name is Heimer, I don''t think I''ve ever seen you in the library before."


    "I learned to read so recently, I wasn''t able to come here before. My name is Kayden." Kayden responded embarrassedly, seeing children younger than him knowing how to read left a bad impression on him.


    "I see, you must be in the second year of the mandatory basic course now, right? I remember that only during this period was I able to go down and understand something from the books here." Kayden had never heard of foundation course levels but quickly understood that it should be the equivalent of elementary school.


    "Actually, no, I haven''t started school yet." This information left Heimer frozen for a moment, not knowing what to do.


    "Yeah... but... So, I get it. Wait, how were you able to read then? Did the old man teach you? That pickaxe never teaches me anything, I have to beg him for any scrap of knowledge." That seemed like the most logical answer in Heimer''s mind.


    "I taught myself by watching other kids do their homework." Heimer was recognized as the orphanage''s little genius and hearing this from Kayden made him rethink what he was doing with his life.


    "That''s... impressive. How old are you now? I''m 8 years old and I want to be a wizard specializing in arrays." A small feeling of recognition began to well up in Heimer at that moment, at the orphanage he normally felt alone, because, while the path of magic was his greatest interest, for the other children, it still didn''t make much sense. Without a doubt, genius had a price.


    "I... ah... I haven''t decided what I want to do yet, I''m 3 years old at the moment, but I want to keep learning about the magical world." Kayden noticed that this child was different from the others. "What level are you?"


    "I see you don''t have much knowledge. I can help you with that, but first, you must take a brotherly oath with me." Heimer would accept no answer other than yes to that offer. The old man taught him when he was little that if you find someone who should be tied to you, you must love him in such a way that it is impossible to untie the knot.


    This proposal surprised Kayden, children that age shouldn''t even know very well about brotherhood and other topics like that. Regardless of his surprise, Kayden would not pass up an opportunity to improve himself.


    "Alright, I accept. From today onwards, we are brothers." His acceptance was quickly matched by a request and oath from Heimer.


    "Very well, first let me make it clear that it is extremely rude to ask a mage''s level, it is almost insulting. But as I am your brother, I can tell you, I am at the 5th level of apprentice." Heimer said proudly, his level surprised Kayden, he had only seen residents with a level between 1 and 2 under 10 years old. If before he had a hunch, now he was sure, Kayden was facing a genius, a true genius. Well, by your standards, of course. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I can''t tell you much yet, just little things. If I try to tell you too much, the old man will appear to fight me. I''ve already tried to influence other children on the path of magic and that earned me a beating from the old man. So we have to wait for you to enter school, then we can say that your knowledge comes from there."


    "Is that a promise, Heimer?" Kayden tried to tie the child with his word, he already knew that the old man didn''t like to introduce children too early in life, especially because of the law (a few pages ago I talked about the 4-year-old law that the old man invented).


    "It''s a promise, Kayden."


    Author''s note: thanks to gameking_fedde for pointing out a crucial error in this Chapte

 Chapter 9: School and talent test

    Chapter 9 - School and talent test1 year later...


    In that time, Kayden managed to learn an incredible number... 0 things. It felt like every book in the library was blank to him. The only ones who had anything talked about stories of men slaying dragons and other childish drivel. Kayden wasn''t sure they were true; they looked like a fairy tale. Hypocrite, right? Kayden doubted magic in a magical world.


    It wasn''t very successful in finding its way either, it was almost like looking for something that doesn''t exist. On the other hand, his ease in manipulating the surrounding mana has improved to absurd levels. Now, even using the current, he was still able to move it for a few minutes at a time. He was eager to get those shackles off and see where his potential lay.


    During that time, he also became attached to the old man even more. Often, while reading a book, he would sit with the old man in the living room or accompany him in the kitchen. Perhaps because he was the only adult in the household, it allowed Kayden to have "kids" time with his childish behavior. In addition, each birthday was celebrated with gifts and cake from the old man. Kayden couldn''t remember anyone being so fond of him in his two lives.


    His parents don''t count in that equation. Their memories were extremely blurred, not even his name was remembered by him. His life started in the hospital in his head. Today was one of the first days of January, it had been a few days since he had completed his four years.


    After waking up, he went straight to get something hot to drink while sitting in the living room. Like every day for the last 4 years of his life, the old man was there drinking the same coffee in the same position.


    "Good morning, old man. Did you sleep well?" Kayden asked sympathetically.


    "I fell asleep. Now stop bugging me." The old man answered as rudely as ever, but that didn''t startle Kayden. He knew the old man was a big tsundere. He had a hunch, at least. He couldn''t try so hard for the children if he didn''t like them.


    Unbeknownst to Kayden, the old man loved these morning moments and their warmth. It made him feel loved, but even so, the old man would rather die burned than admit that kind of feeling for a second.


    While the two were having their coffee, Heimer entered the room and greeted the two cordially.


    "Good morning, Heimer," Kayden replied cheerfully.


    "Day." Short and blunt answer, the old man''s favorite.


    The friendship between the two surprised the old man at first. Usually, children bonded with similar age. It may not seem like much, but the difference in mentality between a 4-year-old and an 8-year-old was huge. But something quickly became evident to the old man: geniuses relate to geniuses.


    Heimer was his most talented child in recent years and had no doubts that he would be able to get into the imperial academy (oops, spoiler hehe ). But to date, Kayden has not demonstrated an equal level of talent. His only achievement was learning to read. At his age, Heimer was already capable of manipulating mana in ways superior to bracelet suppression. But that didn''t matter to the old man either, talent meant nothing to him.


    "Old man, when can I start the gym? I feel like you''re stringing me along." Indeed, the old man was winding Kayden up these times, but not without reason. He was choosing which gym to put Kayden in. I was waiting for some sign from him so I could get him into the same elite academy as Heimer, but they had high standards and Kayden wasn''t meeting them.


    "Since when do I owe you satisfaction, huh? In the next few days, I''ll be taking you to the nearest public academy." The old man expected to see disappointment on Kayden''s face and questions like "Why can''t I go to the elite academy like Heimer?" but there was none of that. Kayden just nodded and said thank you.


    "Remember to choose your path to power well. I always gave the orphanage children freedom for that. I don''t want them to be stuck only in the ordinary", the old man reminded Kayden for the thousandth time. At the base academy, they were taught many things, and one of them was how to progress in levels, something Kayden was extremely eager to find out.


    "Will there be books that aren''t just children''s stories in the academy library?" Kayden jabbed at the old man, who in turn coughed as if he weren''t with him.


    February 1st...


    The day had finally arrived when Kayden would go to the academy. That day, he woke up especially early. I was anxious, excited, and happy. He drank his coffee and greeted the old man. It didn''t matter when he woke up, the old man would always be there first. This day was also special in another way, as for the first time he would leave his home in the countryside.


    The orphanage was out of town, in the middle of nowhere. The old man prevented the children from going too far too, the maximum limit being the edge of the forest. This gave them something in the diameter of 1km and a half for them to play with, it was a lot of space.


    Kayden had already realized that this was a modern world with advanced technology, similar to his old world. But he never saw anything other than the old man''s cell phone, not even a TV.


    Children usually took the train into town. Normally, the train came at 8 am and the class started at 9 am, but that day the old man said they would go another way. Kayden assumed it was a car. Heimer said he would surprise the boy, but Kayden didn''t care, he had been in a car before.


    "Are you ready Kayden? Got your backpack and notebooks and such?" The old man asked in an unpretentious way, but his concern could be seen in the tone of his words.


    "It''s all here, old man." Kayden went through every item in his small backpack at least 3 times.


    "Alright, off we go then." Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Aren''t you missing something, old man? Like a car?" Even as he spoke, Kayden heard the old man chuckle and at the same time, his feet left the ground. That was a very strange feeling. Kayden likened it to what astronauts went through in zero gravity.


    Quickly, Kayden''s surprise turned to shock as they began to rocket skyward. They accelerated quickly and then came to a slow stop. His cry of desperation soon turned to pleasure, it was one of the craziest extreme activities Kayden had ever participated in.


    "Kayden, I like to go on the first trip with you to explain some basics. You''re a little more mature for your age, so I won''t wind it up too much or embellish it to make it easier to digest," the old man said as he guided the path without paying too much attention.


    "We''re going to base academy number 7. You''ll stay there for about 10 years and then you''ll be able to take the test to enter the real magic academies. The base ones are for you to learn about our world and its history. You too will understand a little about the ways of magic and the different levels of power in society.


    "Only there is one annoying little detail, your talent level will be tested..."


    "How, uncle?" Kayden was unaware of this detail and interrupted the old man.


    "I told you not to interrupt me, kid. The test is performed by seeing how much mana your body is innately able to manipulate. Don''t take it too seriously, an average result is already able to take you very far. There are 5 levels of talent, starting from the lowest, which is 1, up to 5. An average talent is considered to be 3, 4 is enough to make you stand out, but still not very rare. Level 5 is only for a few people per generation. "


    "What about levels 1 and 2?" Kayden asked out of curiosity.


    "Level 2 is for those who are destined to serve for life in our society. They hardly make it out of apprentice level. Level 1 is almost as rare as level 5. They don''t make it out of 2nd level. apprentice."

 Chapter 10: The test result

    Chapter 10 - The test result"I hope I rank high", the old man wasn''t worried about that, Kayden''s premature awakening was already a sign that he would rank high.


    The remainder of the trip was uneventful, Kayden quickly got used to flying and enjoyed the feeling of seeing everything from a higher angle. It was only a few kilometers away from the city, so the trip didn''t take more than a few minutes.


    By the time Kayden saw the city, he was out of breath. A wall at least 50 meters high could be seen. There were guard posts every few meters away, at each one of them it was possible to see wizards in white and gold robes guarding the entrances to the city. They were large stone gates that were open during the day, their size was colossal, reaching more than 300 meters in width each. They made Kayden rethink his entire understanding of size and architecture.


    The city had a modern and medieval-style model. The streets were normally one-sided and could fit a maximum of 3 cars together. He also saw large entrances of trains that passed inside the walls.


    Kayden couldn''t see much else. When he was rambling, the old man started to go down to a rectangular-looking building that occupied an entire block, easily reaching 500 meters of construction. It had two stories and full windows on both sides of the building, it was almost a glass school. S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Once again Kayden felt small compared to the buildings around him. When they got out, they went straight to a line at the entrance to the building. The line was relatively long, but as Kayden got closer, he saw that most of them were parents and friends who had come to watch the children test.


    Upon entering the courtyard, they could see a woman holding a small round device in her hands and, in a matter of seconds, she was able to give a classification result.


    "Kayden, go wait in line over there on the side, I''ll be waiting for you here after your test."


    Without delay, Kayden nodded and headed for the front of the queue. He couldn''t lie, he was anxious to know his result. He saw several children having their bracelets removed and their results were expressed by the device.


    "Tier 3 talent, next. Tier 3 talent, next. Tier 2 talent", while the official was speaking the ratings, the people around were chatting and debating the result. The moment the level 2 talent was revealed, some adults made a disgusted and pitying face. Without a doubt, that child''s life was going to be difficult in the future.


    As soon as her results came out, the child began to cry and refused to move. Cases like this were common and school officials quickly sent the child to their classroom. After waiting for a few seconds, Kayden finally had his turn. With just a few simple movements of the officer''s hands, Kayden had his handcuffs released.


    The moment they fell from his wrist, he felt the world around him different. It seemed to be full of mana, what used to take a lot of effort could now be done with medium effort. It was a refreshing sensation, similar to pulling out a thorn that had been bothering you for days.


    "Level talent... wait, I''ll take a new measurement, the device seems to be giving error", hearing that, Kayden felt strange. Was it his fault? But the old man knew that the girl was probably not believing the result that was given by the device, and this resulted in the old man''s anxiety exploding to insane levels. Was Kayden a top-notch talent? That would be magnificent.


    "It doesn''t seem to have any mistakes at all, near level 1 talent," the girl said with a bit of surprise. His revelation caused a deathly silence to fall on the people present, almost no one there had seen a level 1 result in their entire life, and even those who had already witnessed it still did so through videos.


    The old man took a while to think, the shock left him speechless for several seconds. Kayden was no different, only this one was able to recover faster. He was already happy to be in this world, and he would make it to the top, even with this "little" setback.


    In a matter of seconds, the audience turned into a fire of parallel conversations, all criticizing the child. If even the lowest of society are Level 2''s, what''s a Level 1 to do? Not even beggars were of that level. The old man hurried to Kayden.


    "Kayden, Kayden, it''s not a problem, you can still go a long way, talent doesn''t define anyone''s future", the old man even got out of his tsundere role, hugging Kayden.


    "Stop fooling him, this child is going to be a failure," one of the people shouted from the crowd.


    "Quiet", the old man only said one word, but it seemed to carry the weight of a mountain. His voice was filled with anger, it was the first time Kayden had seen the old man break down. All the people in the area felt like they were carrying a backpack weighing tens of kilos on their backs, some even fell to their knees.


    The officer even tried to speak, but he couldn''t even whisper a word. Then the old man conjured a white barrier around him and Kayden. Still holding Kayden, he tried to comfort him again.


    "You''ll still get to live a comfortable life, and on the bright side, you won''t need to get involved in conflicts or risk your life, will you..."


    "Uncle, I''m not sad."


    "Oi? It''s okay to deny it, Kayden, no need to play strong", the old man didn''t believe the boy''s words.


    "Seriously uncle, I''m going to climb to the top, it''s just going to take a little longer." At that moment, the old man looked into Kayden''s eyes and saw not an ounce of doubt or confusion, almost as if the boy was stating an already-known fact.


    "Alright, let''s take you to your class", as he spoke, the old man removed the barrier. When he left, he saw that the audience was more restrained. The officer recognized the old man''s strength and tried to apologize.


    "Sorry if we offended you, elder," the officer bowed low to the ground. He knew that if the old man killed everyone there, with his level of power, it wouldn''t have very big consequences and probably the government would just hide this case.


    "Don''t worry, it was just me losing control", the old man said just that and didn''t go any further, that was a benefit of the strong, they don''t need to justify themselves. "Kayden, escort your teacher to class."


    After saying that, the old man quickly left the place. Kayden walked to a teacher in the hallway that was opposite the entrance. Her teacher seemed to be used to the craft, she was fat and short, almost like a standard movie teacher.


    After greeting the student, she led him to a room on the first floor and introduced a few places in the school as she went. The canteen easily had room for 500 people to eat at the same time. Snacks were served at the entrance and exit of classes.


    "Your class starts at 9 am and ends at 3 pm. You''ll learn about a lot of subjects here and make a lot of friends", she started chattering non-stop, just like she does with children to get their attention. After a while, Kayden just started ignoring her and just nodding in agreement with her lines.

 Chapter 11: The magic classes

    Chapter 11 - The magic classesThey quickly reached the classroom, which had at least 40 children, their classroom was 1"C. Most of the levels were 3s, and only a few were level 2s. Kayden was eager to learn about everything, he didn''t care much for making friends, and the age gap was too big for them to have anything in common.


    Kayden found a seat right at the front and noticed that most of the children avoided sitting at the front, he didn''t quite understand why. After waiting a few more minutes, the room filled up with all the students.


    "Welcome everyone, my name is Ashe Harley and I will be your first-year teacher. Let''s start with a little game of presenting the names..." That was Kayden''s first day at school, he didn''t learn anything, it was just an introduction to the school''s places and a basic idea of how the school year would be.


    After class, Kayden went to the cafeteria. Many his age were walking in small groups, but he remained alone. Today''s lunch was some kind of fried fish, but it was strangely sweet.


    At the end of the period, Kayden waited in front of the gate for the old man. Today he decided for himself, he would take the old man as his real father. The old man''s reaction this morning made it clear to him that no one in this world cared more about him than the old man.


    After waiting a while, Kayden saw the old man appear at the school''s entrance. He went to Kayden and took off to fly home, on the way he asked Kayden how his day at school was.


    "It was easy dad, we just learned about how the school works, nothing too complicated or difficult." The old man stopped listening after the word "father" and was momentarily speechless.


    "I am not your father, brat."


    "You raised me from birth and took care of all my needs, you are a father to me, can I call you that?" Kayden was already ready for the old man''s refusal, but he also knew the old man was soft at heart.


    "Do what you want", the old man said snorting as if he didn''t care, but inside he was freaking out with happiness, he hadn''t been called father for a long time... bad memories, he quickly locked those memories in the back of his mind.


    The rest of the trip was uneventful, Kayden spending it all thinking about how he would progress on the path of magic now. He wondered what differentiated talent levels and the old man said the body could naturally absorb and manipulate mana.


    Three months later


    At that time, literacy was intensively taught at the school, which was almost the entire focus of the teachers, but at times they also taught how to manipulate mana around them, but they were very basic things that Kayden had already learned by himself.


    Kayden was getting better every day at manipulating the mana around him, but he realized that his evolution was at the pace of a turtle. Everyone in his class had a similar level of progress to him. And that was ridiculous when you think that he had been training literally for years.


    This made him think that he would have to take another measure. The standard way of magic would only slow your progress. The problem is that so far they still haven''t taught how to get out of the first apprentice level. Kayden understood that they did this to have a linear progression of knowledge in the students.


    Since he managed to get into school, the library books began to have other subjects. The book Kayden was reading now was about the history of magic and he finally understood what world he was in. It just seemed like a lot of coincidence in his head, because it was the same thing Nicolas had told you a long time ago. The only difference is that, in recorded history, Adam fought an hours-long battle against the invaders and struck enough fear that they never returned.


    It seemed that the "winners" did what they always do, they wrote the story they wanted. According to the book, Kayden was in a country called the Solar Kingdom and there were 4 other kingdoms around it. By estimation, each kingdom was the size of the Asian continent of the past, that is, this world was ridiculously large.


    Kayden didn''t get much detail on the other countries or what was outside of them, but he did estimate that the magical animals and plants must have taken over the rest of the planet, as they reproduce much more quickly.


    Today Kayden was finally going to have class on the ways of magic, he was itching to figure out what to do next. The old man only took him on the first day of school, the next he would take the train with the children from the orphanage and go to school, which was a few minutes'' walk.


    Arriving at school, he went to the auditorium. The teacher said that it would be a joint class with the other classes, as it would need a demonstration by specialists in each path to answer the children''s specific questions.


    After having his coffee alone again, Kayden headed towards the auditorium. It was underground and looked like a movie theater, able to comfortably accommodate about 500 people. The decor of the place was red, with the chairs being dark black. Kayden quickly went downstairs to take one of the seats at the front. After a few minutes, the auditorium was nearly full. On stage were 6 people: the principal Kayden had met before, a teacher from the last years, a conventional wizard, a magical swordsman, a knight, and a beast tamer.


    "Hello everyone, let''s begin our lecture on the ways of magic. I will introduce the speakers first, we have a conventional magician, a magic swordsman, a knight, and a beast tamer", said the teacher. They were all wearing the same dark robe, it was impossible to tell each of them apart. "For some reason, we will have to keep the identity of each of them hidden. We''ll start with the conventional image."


    Then one of the figures was seen to get up from the chairs and move towards the front of the stage.


    "Well, as everyone should know, a conventional mage utilizes the mana in his core to perform different types of magic, from offensive to healing magic. We evolve accumulating mana in our core, in the first 3 levels, the mana is in the gaseous form, in the next 3 it is in the liquid phase, and then in the solid phase. The advantage is that our class has the most human beings, so we have many different techniques and ways to progress."


    After finishing speaking, the man sat down, and then another man who had the robe close to his body showing that every inch was sculpted with muscle stood up. S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Hi everyone, I am a magic swordsman. We focus on increasing our body stats, and for that, we use our own body as a core. In the first 3 phases, we change the muscles, in the 3 intermediate ones the organs are changed, and, in the last ones, we have to polish the work, we remove the imperfections until the body and mind are in sync and the advance happens smoothly. Magic is still used in a secondary way as a strengthening or utility in itself."


    This class even interested Kayden, but he thought it would be even worse for him, how would using his level 1 body as a core work? It would be a total disaster. Then the knight path speaker stood up, he was ridiculously big, even wearing the biggest robe possible you could still see his gigantic muscles underneath.


    "Good morning, I''m from the knight class. Similar to the swordsman, we also focus on the body, the only difference is that we utilize mana to upgrade it to 100%. We don''t learn spells or anything like that, we''re a class focused on strength and speed, it may seem strange, but even with my current size I''m still faster than a swordsman of similar rank to me."


    Kayden liked that style, at one point, it was an all-win class, meaning she was going for all or nothing. The problem was the same as the swordsman, his body would not be able to progress beyond the basics. Then it was the turn of the beast-tamer class lecturer to stand up.


    "Hello, I am a tamer, my class specializes in raising magical animals and strengthening them through spells. We make a blood and soul pact with the animals we choose and gain a share of their strength as a result. We don''t have a difference in levels, just the animals move up in the rankings and we go together."


    This class even interested Kayden, but he was tired of depending on others for his decisions, this class was denied for personal reasons, and Kayden didn''t even have to think twice.


    He knew that he would have to follow something new, these classes could not help him at all. Kayden spent some more time listening to the doubts that the other students tried to remove, it helped a little, but nothing relevant.

 Chapter 12: Training

    Chapter 12 - TrainingKayden returned home, wondering what to do. Any path would result in stagnation little by little. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head: where did men''s inspiration always come from? What is the origin of everything? Of course, it would be nature and animals. That thought brought doubts to Kayden.


    How do magical animals dominate most of the planet if they are mindless? How does your evolution engine work? Kayden decided to clear his doubts with the old man; he should know something about it. Arriving home, he went straight to look for the old man.


    "Dad, do you know how magical beasts rank up?" asked Kayden. The old man was taken aback by the tenor of Kayden''s question and replied, "That''s classified information, Kayden. I can''t talk about it with you."


    "Dad, I need this. I''m deciding which class to choose, and this information would be very important to me", insisted Kayden, determined.


    "Is it that important?", the old man had his doubts, but since he saw Kayden''s talent, he was more softhearted towards him. "You can see if you can find something in the library, near the 3rd shelf."


    Kayden knew that was as much as he could get out of the old man; normally, he would even have refused to teach or lend books. Kayden never understood the old man''s refusal to teach the children; it was clear that he was strong and very strong at that.


    Going down to the library, Kayden searched the 3rd shelf for books on magical animals. He found one on the anatomy of beasts and decided to study it.


    It took him a few days to read the entire book, but once he did, he got some clues about magical beasts. First of all, they don''t have a core, but a heart of mana that pumps mana everywhere in the beast''s body. It is similar to the mage core, only it works 24 hours a day; the beast practically depends on mana to live.


    But on the other hand, their stats were far superior to mages of the same level. The advantage of mages was being able to think and cast different spells; if it were for that, probably the whole world would be dominated by beasts.


    To level up was very simple, they just needed to eat other things with a lot of mana, and over time, they would pass rank. That''s what Kayden learned in this book.


    Right now, his focus was on continuing to learn how to manipulate mana and thinking about which path he should choose. Furthermore, there was the other "path" leading to the fourth rank, which he should also think about. That was at the top of his priority list, as his body couldn''t harm him there. sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    After thinking for a few hours, Kayden had another idea as well. What was, in all novels, the classic wizard problem? Your weak body. In most of them, wizards only learned magic and that was it. In that sense, Kayden decided that he would try to start doing exercises aimed at gaining strength and endurance. He knew this would take time, but he had time. He was only 4 years old and a few months old.


    He was going to start doing some push-ups and jogging before heading to class. Other than that, his priority was to find a class that, even with his low-level body, he could progress through the ranks. Her other priority was to find his "way", because even with his weak body, if he found his way, he would be able to stand out.


    In order of relevance, it was the path first, class second, and body last. Kayden knew it would be difficult, but he was determined to succeed in this life, whatever the cost.


    The next day, Kayden woke up a little earlier than usual. He had a big cup of coffee, knowing that without a lot of nutrients, his body would never be able to progress. He left home determined to give 101% of himself to the exercises.


    As he didn''t want to be disturbed and lose focus, he went to a clearing nearby. Usually, the kids played there, but it was too early so there wouldn''t be any problems.


    He started with some push-ups and... He barely completed 5. He knew he was weak, but he thought he could do at least 40. Saitama managed to do 100, why couldn''t he? He waited a while and did another 5 again. And then another 5. Until he couldn''t lift his arms anymore.


    Then he tried to do some sit-ups and did it in the same style. From series to series until you can''t take any more. Then he did the same with squats. All this time, he felt like throwing up, but he held it in, as he knew he couldn''t afford to lose the nutrients.


    When he finished his series, he went running around the property. It didn''t take even 1 minute to run out of breath, and even holding it, he wasn''t able to stop his body from throwing out everything he had eaten earlier.


    He was lying near the path that led to the train, to recover he leaned against a random tree and breathed deeply repeatedly. As he rested, he heard the sound of running footsteps. It didn''t take long and he saw a shirtless boy running too. The moment their gazes met, there was an awkward silence.


    "Hello? I''m Kayden," said Kayden, vaguely remembering the boy but not knowing his name. The boy was at least 1.70 tall, his eyes were green and in a clich¨¦ way, he had golden hair, very magazine cover style.


    Kayden wasn''t very sociable with the children in the house, and in addition to the other residents'' study and workload, he hardly ever saw many children. As he clapped one eye on the boy, he could tell he was going to follow the path of a knight. His big, tufted muscles made that clear.


    "Hi, I''m Ryan. Want help there? You look like you need it," Ryan said with a strange look in his eyes. He kind of had an idea of what happened there, when he decided to follow the path of a knight, he also made that mistake.


    "No need, I''m fine. I just threw up a little bit from running too much, I''m not used to that kind of activity," admitted Kayden sheepishly.


    "You ate too much too, right? I did that when I decided to be a knight. This is a classic mistake in the life of every swordsman and knight," said Ryan in a friendly manner. "If you want, I can help you a little. How old are you?"


    With that brief interaction, Kayden realized that Ryan was very friendly and that the frightening amount of muscles and his model good looks added up to a very snooty teenager, but his true self was the exact opposite of that.


    "I don''t plan on being a knight or a swordsman, so I don''t think your tips would be very helpful to me," Kayden said after thinking for a few seconds.


    "But then, why are you training so hard?", Ryan shook his head in confusion. "Wouldn''t it be better to focus on learning magic or whatever wizards do?"


    "I just want to get a little stronger. I feel that mages are very reliant on magic," Kayden explained his line of reasoning.


    "Got it, it makes sense. I had never stopped to think about it", Ryan seemed to have discovered something new with this conversation. "But if you want, I can help you a little bit with some exercise and diet. Doing anything and eating wrong greatly diminished your results."


    At that moment, Kayden realized something. He wasn''t into an action story. This was real life. If he tried to copy something from the comics, he would probably just get hurt in the process. He felt like a complete idiot.

 Chapter 13: After basic school

    Chapter 13 - After basic school"I would love your help," Kayden asked with a smile, "what time would you be available to teach me a few things?"


    After debating a bit, Ryan said, "I have class in the morning and in the afternoon I go to a gym. I only get home around 6:00 pm, everything would be dark by now, but I can still give you a good theoretical basis for you to start your training."


    "Okay, that''s settled then," Kayden got up from the floor, "I''ll be waiting for you in study hall."


    "I hate that place," Ryan quickly cut Kayden off, "Let''s go to my room, but before that, take a shower please, you stink of puke..."


    After talking with Ryan some more, Kayden headed for a shower and scrubbed his body as if his life depended on it. After his shower, he had a normal day at school and waited for Ryan in the kitchen as agreed.


    As soon as Ryan arrived, it was Kayden''s turn to tell him to shower. He was reeking of sweat. Once everything was ready, Kayden found himself in a room full of posters of knights and men ripped to the extreme. There was only a 3 seater sofa in the room...


    "Don''t you have a bed by any chance?" Kayden was curious. He saw Ryan making an expression that had told these stories thousands of times before.


    "When I was younger, I broke my bed practicing magic, as punishment the old man made me sleep on the couch for 1 month, the problem was that I got used to sleeping on it and I couldn''t go back to a bed normally."


    That was weird. But that''s okay, everyone had their quirks, Kayden could accept that normally. They both sat down on the couch, and Kayden pulled a bottle of soda from his pocket.


    "How do you have it? The old man would be crazy to see you drinking soda out of the weekend," Ryan was surprised, at the orphanage the food was regulated to be healthy.


    "I have been saving it for a while, now can we start with the theory class you were going to pass?" Kayden urged the boy on. He was curious to know what he could do to gain muscle and strength.


    Ryan was silent for a moment, gathering his thoughts and distributing what was important to pass on to Kayden.


    "Well, come on then, first, no soft drinks, that''s not healthy..."


    "You''re drinking right now," Kayden pointed out his friend''s hypocrisy, and his friend in turn played dumb.


    "Yeah... moving on, you should prioritize protein-rich foods like eggs and meat, eat plenty 3 to 4 times a day, which should be enough. Regarding the exercises, I''ll give you a spreadsheet that I received when I started exercising."


    Then Ryan grabbed a book that was under the couch. This surprised Kayden, he didn''t expect Ryan to pull a book out of thin air. He passed the book to Kayden, the name was "The Way of Bodybuilding". It looked ancient, almost like it was from the last century.


    "This book has a step-by-step of free exercises to do, in the beginning, you can do them here at home, but with time you will need more specific exercises to increase your strength, it will not help to do thousands of times the same exercise, you will need it."


    Ryan taught Kayden a few more basics, but there wasn''t much he could talk about on the theoretical side. He offered to help Kayden in the morning every day but asked in return... soda. The same one he crucified a few minutes ago. Kayden liked the drink but knew that certain "sacrifices" were necessary.


    The next day, they found themselves in the same clearing where Kayden started his exercises, and the first sentence Ryan said was, "Today is a beautiful day to train until you die, isn''t it, Kayden?" With a devilish smile, their day began.


    After 6 months...


    Kayden had been training for 6 straight months without a day off. At first, it was painful. Every day he would wake up with pain in all parts of his body, even in places he had never thought could be painful.


    Now he could easily run a few kilometers without tiring too much. Doing push-ups no longer became impossible for him either. His body slowly got used to the exercise and the large amount of food he introduced into his diet.


    His muscles weren''t yet apparent, but there was a slight indication that Kayden was exercising. He noticed that when he finished practicing his exercises, it was a little easier for mana to circulate through his body. According to Ryan, the knights would do several sets of exercises and then circulate the mana in their bodies in a specific way to increase their rank.


    Kayden discovered that Ryan was on the cusp of the 4th realm and hoped to move into the 5th before he turned 14. It was interesting to see the knight class, with each passing day Ryan grew bigger, both in height and in muscles.


    So far he hasn''t found any classes that are capable of overcoming his body''s limits, nor has he succeeded in finding his "path". As I was thinking about that, the teacher in front was explaining what would come after finishing elementary school.


    "There are 3 levels of universities after basic education, they vary from the 1st to the 3rd grade and have great differences between them, for example, in the 1st-grade academy you finish at 18 and must already enter the labor market of society, it offers qualification only for basic jobs, without much remuneration or opportunities."


    As she spoke, the teacher showed on the blackboard some jobs related to this level of education, they were store attendants, electricians, builders, and other jobs that did not require a high level of magical knowledge.


    "Then there''s tier 2, which most people aim for, where you can try jobs in the army, you can try your luck as a hunter or become an alchemist. The possibilities are limitless here, the difference is that here you end up in your 20s. The pay for most high school college jobs is good enough to easily support a family with a good lifestyle." S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Again he demonstrated professions on the blackboard that fit this university. This time, those classic novels like Alchemist, Hunter, and Warriors appeared. But there were also a few others like teachers and doctors.


    "Lastly, we have Grade 3, this one is only for the elite of the elite in our realm, less than 1% manage to get into it. When you finish this university, you will be 25 years old. The jobs are the same as at high school, the difference is that you will always have priority in everything, you get a small government card called the Golden Card, with which you can use various government devices for free. Normally, people who leave it arrive at the job market already employed and receiving a very high salary."


    The teacher demonstrated the same jobs, only this time she showed only famous and rich people. As if to emphasize the difference between the faculties.


    "The requirements for the first and second are very simple, in the first you just need to be in rank 1 to 3 of the apprentice level, in the second you will normally be between 3 to 6, but here you must perform some additional tests depending on the place you are in. who chooses."


    As he spoke, a chart appeared showing the percentage of people in each of the colleges. In the first, there were about 55% of the population, in the second 44.9%, and in the 3rd degree there was such a small number that it was not even shown in percentage, it was just <1%.


    "At the last academy level is not a requirement, but only those above rank 6 can think of entering and even then there are some additional tests of ridiculously high difficulty. I do not recommend that you dream too high, choose a high-end level 2 college if you are confident or only do the basics of level 2. I believe that most have the potential to pass at least the worst of the worst of level 2."


    As he said that, he glanced at Kayden. It was obvious that he would only be able to pass a level 1, his progress in almost 1 year was the same as all the children, but that was for now, the moment the other students started to struggle, they would leave Kayden dozens of kilometers back.

 Chapter 14 - 2° rank

    Chapter 14 - 2¡ã rankThe class continued with a demonstration of some good colleges in the region and ended with a show by the professor to entertain the students. Their show was intended to feature Academia do Sol. She was the most coveted grade 3 academy in the kingdom. It usually got hundreds of thousands of applicants every year, but only a few thousand were able to get into it. It was a long way from where Kayden lived, deep inside the capital.


    Returning home, Kayden wondered which one of his friends would enter. Ryan seemed to only be able to apply for a rank 2 and maybe a high level, but already Heimer was at the impressive rank 6 of the apprentice level. The most surprising thing is that he was only 10 years old. With those 4 years to go, he could probably go further, maybe reach rank 7 or 8.


    It looks like he grew a lot from level 1 to 6, but actually, the real difficulty was going up from level 6 onwards. Every 3rd level was a game-changer for magic practitioners. At the moment, I was deciding to go with the conventional mage style, as it was what I could most easily switch to other classes in the future.


    Upon arriving home, he went to practice mana manipulation. Recently, Heimer has been helping him with this practice, but even so, the results have been very low. Kayden wanted to reach rank 2 soon. Only above level 1 could he truly do magic. He was at the peak of level 1, there was very little left for him to go up.


    "I already told you that you should always mentalize your request to the mana, it has its own will and only when you put your own will in it can you get that ''residue''", Heimer was teaching Kayden in the clearing, while Kayden gave his life to train. He was reading a book comfortably.


    At times, Heimer felt it was wrong to choose Kayden as a brother when considering the genius factor. But in all other respects, he had no regrets. And even if I could, I would make the same choice again. Kayden was, without a doubt, his best friend. He never minded that he was a genius and didn''t even treat him differently for it.


    "I''m trying, Heimer, but she doesn''t listen to me. It''s almost like she ignores me", Kayden couldn''t even feel that "will" of mana that Heimer was talking about.


    "Keep trying, let''s try to circle it again. Make as many turns as possible with the same mana, try not to lose it."


    They continued to practice for a while, but Kayden''s progress was excruciatingly slow.


    Six months later, Kayden was currently 5 years and a few months old. Within 6 months, his body gained more muscle and started to get a little frame. Kayden was satisfied. He knew that the process of gaining mass was time-consuming, even more so at his age.


    What didn''t make him happy were his other two goals. About his path, he had no idea yet, and his ability to manipulate mana was still bad. But today, he would finally break through to the second rank. S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    In the same clearing where it all began, Kayden was sitting in the lotus position. Heimer was with him, guiding him through the process. Kayden doubted he could do it alone. Heimer was maintaining a constant mana loop around Kayden.


    At the moment, he was circulating mana through his core at an accelerated rate, trying to raise his rank. Heimer told him that when he got promoted, he would feel a small increase in all his stats and a slight euphoria.


    After a few incessant minutes, Kayden felt his core begin to crack, but in a good way. He felt a slight burn and then his entire body had a small moment of bliss. It was like using very strong drugs, it was addictive.


    For a moment, he lost track of space, it was as if he didn''t even exist. After that ecstasy, Kayden fell to the dirt floor. He was haggard and deathly tired but with a sense of accomplishment. Finally, I could start to learn. It only took about 5 years. His classmates had already managed to reach the second rank in the first month of back to school.


    It was a small step forward, but a big moment for Kayden.


    "Are you going to sit there forever? Let''s go to the municipal library", Heimer had agreed to show Kayden the city library as soon as he reached rank 2, in order not to fill the library, the city maintained a rank restriction to be accessed.


    Not just rank but status. Those who had already left school had to pay to use the services present there, while for students it was completely free. Kayden stood up and mentally composed himself.


    "Come on, I''m excited to learn everything," he said cheerfully.


    "First you''re going to take a shower, that''s all," Heimer complained. It was normal, in advance, for the body to expel certain components of itself. The purpose of this was to cleanse the body so that it could be improved.


    Returning to the orphanage, Kayden was congratulated by the old man and some acquaintances. He took a quick shower and headed to the stop to catch the train with Heimer. The trip was smooth as usual.


    On the way, Kayden tested how much progress he made and it was relatively big. He estimated that he was at least 25% better at manipulating mana and was now able to even faintly feel the will of mana.


    Getting off the train, Heimer guided Kayden to a classical-looking building. Right at the entrance it was possible to see several giant pillars. Without a doubt, this structure was capable of imposing admiration on anyone who looked at it. It looked like one of the Roman temples on Earth.


    "You will need to prove that you are a student and where you study, after that you will be released to read on the first floor", Heimer explained as he walked. "This building has about 4 floors. The first one you go to has only entertainment stories and about 10% on basic spells. But that''s enough for you to learn a lot."


    After climbing the steps to the entrance, Heimer produced his student ID and asked Kayden to do the same. The two were given a small metal plate with a number on it. Kayden''s had 1 and Heimer''s 2. Kayden noticed this detail and asked:


    "Heimer, what''s the difference between the numbers?"


    "It''s about level access to floors. I have access to 2 as I passed the library knowledge test, but don''t think about it too much. The second floor won''t be useful to you right now."


    Upon entering the large door, Kayden saw an elevator on the left and right. There were at least 3 on each side. Entering, it was like a classic library, with several shelves filled with books. The impressive thing was that, even though the first floor was divided into two floors, there was a large central staircase to go up to the top of the first floor.


    As they walked, Heimer introduced a little about each section and how to find books in the library by book code. They walked until they reached a bookcase that appeared to have little movement.


    "Here we have the hidden gold. These books only serve for rank 2 to 3 and most people in that rank are at an age where they barely know how to read properly. Therefore, you will hardly find the book you are looking for", Heimer said, running a finger across the shelf. I could even see a small line of dust on some of the books. "I''ll get a book to read while you explore the library. I''ll be waiting in the chairs. If you want to take it home, just ask the librarian. You can keep it for 7 days."


    After passing a few more hints to Kayden, Heimer left. Left alone, Kayden went from book to book on the shelf. Some caught your eye. For example, a book that talked about defensive spells every mage should know and the like. In the end, he got one called "How to be a good offensive mage".

 Chapter 15: The gym

    Chapter 15 - The gymThen he went to sit with Heimer at the available tables. He started to read the book and soon discovered something that had not been talked about in school. In the book, it said that mages can learn spells from different elements, but normally people couldn''t go beyond two elements.


    There were no major elements or rarer elements. The rarity was determined by the difficulty in finding techniques to practice with a certain element. For example, it is easier to find fire techniques for sale than light techniques, as fire is easier to learn and has more practitioners. Normally, each element had its peculiarities, such as healing, defense, or attack.


    After reading for a while, they heard a knock on the table. The sound echoed through the entire floor. Kayden looked up, startled, to see a smiling Ryan staring back at him. Before either of them could say anything, an old man magically appeared beside them, wearing a black robe and the library''s logo. He said with an orderly tone:


    "Out, the three! And Heimer, I expected more from you." After saying that, he withdrew as silently as he arrived. An awkward silence fell between them. Heimer interrupted him:


    "Let''s go out. If he repeats that, he''ll send the three of us flying. I''ve seen that madman throw an elderly man off the fourth floor for making too much noise while eating," he said with a strange expression.


    Three children were seen leaving and one of them was red with embarrassment. Arriving at the stairs, Heimer gave Ryan a mild scolding, but as soon as he remembered why he was there, Ryan lost his embarrassment and came back with his excited smile.


    "Kayden, now that you''re ranked second, I can take you to the academy. There you can learn to fight by practicing with others. The owner of the place was once a national champion in non-magic fighting." As he spoke, Ryan looked more and more excited. I could see his body vibrating with his words.


    Kayden had already heard about Ryan''s gym. He knew it was from a friend of the old man, so it was free for the children at the orphanage. He wanted to go from the beginning, but with the excitement of ranking up, he forgot.


    "Come on, we still have some time before dark," you could tell he was just as excited to see the place.


    As they headed there, Heimer came up with a rather weak excuse to get rid of the duo. Like a true wizard, he hated any intense physical exercise, so he had no interest in going to the gym with the two of them.


    After walking for a few minutes, they arrived at a small, two-story building. It was a yellow building.


    "Isn''t it too small?" Kayden wondered.


    "I know you must be thinking it''s too small. I had the same impression when I first arrived here. The master lives upstairs, the dojo is in the basement." This answered Kayden''s question, as the building was barely 5 meters by 5 meters.


    Upon entering the door, they found themselves in a blank room with a trapdoor. Going down through it, there was a ladder. It took a few minutes to come down. It was pretty deep. As soon as they finished descending the stairs, Kayden was impressed for the second time that day. The place was huge, at least 200 meters from one end to the other.


    At one end there were sofas and some food available. It also had a pool table. It reminded Kayden of Brazilian bars. There were several people practicing duels in small circles, with a barrier around that prevented the magic from escaping. It was impressive. At least 100 people were training there, from children to adults.


    "Here there are mainly knights and some magic swordsmen. You are the first magician in this place, hahaha." Ryan guided Kayden over to a middle-aged man playing pool.


    The man was athletic looking, he looked to be in his early thirties, but what caught the eye was his dark blue hair. It stood out among so many people.


    "Master! Today I brought Kayden to the dojo. He just moved up to the second rank," Ryan introduced him to the man. In no time he took his eyes off the game and even replied without looking:


    "Hello, Kayden. My name is Shawl. Congratulations on reaching the second rank. You are welcome to use my gym facilities." The fact that the man played and talked at the same time made Kayden feel strange. "Ryan, go introduce him to the coach."


    As he pulled Kayden to one side, he commented:


    "Don''t care too much about the GM not even looking at you when talking. He probably bet again on the pool. That makes him focus 101% only on the game." This seemed to be a common event in this place.


    "As the owner of the place, he must be good, right?", Kayden commented.


    "He''s the best swordsman in this place, but when it comes to his pool skills... he sucks. In almost 8 years here, I''ve never seen him win a bet," Ryan said quietly. "But never say that in front of him, or he''ll make you a punching bag using some excuses like private practice." S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Ryan winced as if remembering an unpleasant thought. This did not go unnoticed by Kayden. He made a mental note never to criticize Shawl about his pool skills. As they walked, Kayden observed several people using different weapons, from gigantic swords to short daggers.


    He also saw some swordsmen with their weapons on fire or covered in lightning. This impressed him once more on the day. He felt admiration and, above all, a desire to reach that level as well. The walk was short and they came to a gigantic man. On the day of the class presentation, Kayden was away from the knight, so he didn''t pay much attention. But now that he got close to one, he saw how big they were.


    With his hair shaved and shiny, the man looked to be at least the size of three people comfortably. If he told Kayden it was over a ton, he wouldn''t even doubt it. He was shirtless and wearing baggy blue pants.


    "Look, Ryan, who is this?", the man greeted in a friendly way. His friendly, smiling manner was practically the same as Ryan''s. Now Kayden knew where the boy''s inspiration came from.


    "Hello, coach. This is Kayden. He just got to the second rank, so I decided to bring him here for you to torture him... I mean, train him. That''s right, train him", Ryan seemed to be hiding something. from Kayden, but Kayden didn''t think much of it. I was still impressed by the size of the trainer.


    "Nice to meet you Kayden. My name is Raul and I''m the trainer for this place. Do you have any specific goals in mind?" At the same time as a greeting, he extended his hand to the boy. As soon as the two hands met, the coach shook it vigorously.


    "My pleasure. My goal is to learn to fight. In the future, I want to be a combat mage", Kayden said excitedly. The coach''s energy was infectious. "If I can, I''d like to start combat training today."


    Coach gave a satisfying laugh.


    "You''re still green, boy. You need to go through physical training first." Kayden tried to explain that he already had good conditioning, but Ryan gave him a nudge and a look that said "Don''t do this, don''t make that mistake". "Come on boy, I''ll train you personally for now."


    The moment the trainer said that Kayden saw Ryan sneaking out, intending not to be noticed. That was weird, it felt like Kayden had walked into a trap. Ryan was training somewhere nearby, he was using a big broadsword. It was the first time Kayden had seen Ryan use a weapon.


    As they reached one of the circles, the trainer turned to Kayden and asked:


    "How far does your will to win go?" It seemed to be a very serious sort of question from the man''s tone. After some thought, Kayden decided to come up with an answer that he believed matched his actions to date:


    "I don''t know, I never made it to the end to find out."


    "Hahaha, today you''ll find out, kid."

 Chapter 16: Limits

    Chapter 16 - LimitsAs soon as they started training, Kayden understood why Ryan quickly disappeared from them. The trainer was a wolf in sheep''s clothing, no matter how many times Kayden fell he kept ordering him to continue the exercises and so far it was just push-ups and stuff like that.


    After a few minutes, Kayden was no longer feeling any muscle in his body. Coach told him he would heal any injury he had, so it was up to Kayden to give 101% of himself. "The boy has already passed 10 minutes, I don''t think he makes it to 15, want to bet?" Conversations like this started around Kayden; he was too busy to even pay attention.


    Ryan knew Kayden from afar and knew the boy was determined. When it was his turn, he reached 25 minutes. Level doesn''t matter much, the trainer has enough experience to exhaust all ranks to the same extent.


    "I''ll bet you 1 silver he goes past 30 minutes." That amount was all he had saved in the last 2 years, so it was a good thing Kayden lasted.


    Thus began a wave of betting, the majority being against Kayden. Veterans knew that the average lasted less than 15 minutes the first time, but with time most managed to reach the value of 1 hour.


    As the minutes ticked by, when it reached 20 minutes, Kayden''s body wasn''t able to stand on its own anymore, only his mind was doing the work. By that time, some had already lost money and Ryan looked anxious. He was biting all his fingernails. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    By the time 25 minutes had passed, Kayden was doing squats. His arms were already unable to move. Every second was torture. He thought about giving up now, but the coach said a sentence that made his resolve burn like dry wood.


    "Break your limits or break yourself, there are no alternatives boy." It seemed silly, but it made Kayden think.


    "Am I giving it my all? Or all my body can handle?" With those thoughts, the minutes passed again.


    For every 60 seconds, someone cast a curse. Few crazy people bet that the boy would go beyond 25 minutes and those who bet more than 15 only did so because they saw the boy with Ryan.


    In the 30 minutes, even maintaining consciousness was proving difficult for Kayden. At one point, while doing a jumping jack, he simply passed out on his feet, but as if his mind refused to give up, his body continued to do the jumping jacks for a few more seconds before toppling forward.


    Seeing Kayden lean forward, the trainer rushed to catch the boy. Once he confirmed that he was unconscious, the man muttered something and a ball of water appeared and trapped Kayden. It always shocked people. A man who was a knight was capable of using magic, let alone healing magic. Few know, but the trainer was a mage and only converted his way long after solidifying himself as a healer. It''s like they say, the bones of the trade are hard to forget.


    While some wondered how the boy trained so far to have such a good result, the coach was assessing his condition. Unlike other people, he knew that Kayden didn''t have a high level of training, it was obvious from his physique.


    "Three tendons torn, two ligaments torn, and almost every major muscle injured," he exclaimed in surprise. He hadn''t expected the boy to go this far just for some random training.


    When Ryan heard the coach''s exclamation, he stopped counting the incredible money he had won and ran to see his friend. He wasn''t a mage specializing in healing, so he had no way of telling Kayden''s condition. He looked fine, but Ryan knew the damage was internal.


    "Can you heal him smoothly? The old man will kill me if he finds out I crippled Kayden on his first day." At that moment, Ryan felt guilty for betting on his friend.


    "Don''t worry, I''ve seen worse," it seemed to be a compliment to itself, but healer mages were famous for being able to regrow even a lost arm.


    They spent a few minutes talking until Kayden started showing signs that he would wake up. His body squirmed a little and then he opened his eyes. He was in mild momentary confusion after being knocked unconscious, but he quickly remembered where he was.


    First of all, he began to check his body and noticed that there was no pain. He clearly remembered feeling pain that was not muscular. He looked brand new.


    "What happened? How is my body okay again?" He quickly voiced his doubts to the man beside him. The coach laughed as if this situation had happened thousands of times before. Still laughing, he explained to Kayden:


    "Even though I''m a knight, I have a strong command of healing magic, but you still need to eat after being healed. I just speed up the work your body would naturally do over time." As he said this, the man passed some cereal bars to Kayden.


    Kayden was impressed yet again that day. It was a day full of surprises. He witnessed healing magic for the first time and it was firsthand. But that popped an idea into his mind. Doesn''t training and healing endlessly mean endless progress? He expressed this doubt aloud.


    "Not necessarily, there comes a point where your body reaches the limit of what can be achieved naturally without mana. From that point, onwards, this method has no value anymore." Shaking his head, the man thought about how amazing it would be to have no limits to improve and depend only on his will and physical effort. Sweet illusion.


    After eating the bars, Kayden noticed an embarrassed Ryan beside him.


    "Ryan?" Kayden didn''t know what had caused this in his friend.


    "It''s nothing, Kayden. Let''s say I owe you an ice cream, okay? Don''t tell the old man anything about what happened here, please." Ryan was no fool, he knew that if the old man found out he would beat them both up. Kayden readily agreed, he was no fool either.


    "Coach, can we go again? Until I reach that limit you said?" Kayden finally found something where effort alone could bring progress.


    The man scratched his head not knowing what to do. Normally, after people go through this torture... I mean training, they tended to never try again. After some thought, he decided to see how far Kayden would take it.


    "We can do this twice a day at the most. More than that, your body will take some wear and tear that I won''t be able to heal. Meet me here after school every day starting today, okay?" That was the best solution he could find.


    Cheerfully, Kayden said with twinkling eyes, "Count on you to help me through this journey, thank you." While expressing his gratitude, he bowed slightly to show respect and, with a goofy smile, asked, "Can we do it again today then?"


    Thus, Kayden''s first day is in the second rank.


    One month later


    It took about a month for Kayden to be able to perform his first spell. He decided to start with something basic. He attempted to light small flames at the tips of his fingers.


    In the same clearing, as usual, Kayden could be seen with Heimer. While one was lying in what looked like a hammock slung between two trees, the other was working hard like a lunatic to light his fingers on fire. Depending on the point of view, it was lunatic stuff.

 Chapter 17: Weapons(1)

    Chapter 17 - Weapons(1)In the past month, Kayden''s body has progressed at an alarming rate. You could already see the muscles bulging around the shirt. However, unfortunately, due to his age and size, he appeared to be just a normal kid.


    A month ago, spending 30 minutes in training was a feat; now he was able to get up to 35 without any problems. Well, that depends on whether you consider some injuries and fainting to be no problem. The advantage of the rigorous training was that Kayden was slowly getting used to the pain and managed to maintain greater rationality even though he was injured in several places.


    Returning to the subject, Kayden was gathering mana and asking it to light up in his fingers. Very basic spells didn''t need words or gestures, it was simply a matter of asking for mana.


    After a few minutes passed, one of Kayden''s fingers caught fire. It was so fast that he screamed and fell to the ground. As if by instinct, he tried to extinguish the fire with his hand, but it wasn''t working. Quickly he panicked and started banging his hand on his shirt and the floor.


    Meanwhile, Heimer was reading his book and, upon hearing Kayden''s scream, he was faced with a moment that every mage goes through: discovering that he cannot be hurt by his mana. After a few minutes of thrashing and screaming, Kayden calmed down. Heimer approached him with a smile.


    "It finally stopped," he chuckled. "Congratulations on making your first spell. Now ask the mana to stop burning, or you''ll expend all of your body''s mana without realizing it." I could see that Heimer was enjoying this moment.


    Kayden followed his friend''s advice and managed to stop the burning on the second try. Then he looked at his friend, who hadn''t told him everything he needed to do. Heimer quickly made a fool of himself and explained why Kayden wasn''t harmed. He also said a little more to divert Kayden''s attention.


    "Now it just lacks the basic magic of other elements. You were fast; it normally takes the entire second year to learn these things. Let''s see how soon you finish." In some ways, Kayden had the upper hand, even with his underpowered body. His hard-working mentality set him apart from most kids his age.


    **After 6 months...**


    Kayden was in the tenth month of his sophomore year. That was also how long it took him to master all the basic spells. He could fill a glass with water, set his fingers on fire, dig a hole in the earth, and blow a light breeze; there were some other spells as well, but there were too many to describe.


    For all his progress, he was still only a month ahead of his peers. This still surprised his teachers. With his talent, it was even hard to imagine that he would reach the second rank, let alone that he would master all the basic magics before his peers.


    In those six months, Kayden achieved a chiseled physique. Every inch of him was worked on. It wasn''t fully proportionate, as its focus was on efficiency rather than aesthetics. His training time also went from 35 minutes to 60 minutes. This also surprised the coach; it usually takes a year to reach that result, but Kayden worked at least twice as hard as any other student the man ever had.


    Even though it wasn''t his main focus, his body was slowly taking on Greek proportions. his abdomen was marked by buds, his shoulders proportionate to his waist, which in turn was thin.


    Kayden was excused from school and was no longer required to attend for that year. This allowed him to focus on something he had been neglecting lately: his class, or rather his custom class. Lately, he''s been visiting the old man''s library a lot and reading books about magical animals and plants. He has the thought that the real secret is in nature, as the progress and ability of the beasts were too great to be measured. S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Lately, the old man had been letting Kayden lose more and more. Unbeknownst to Kayden, the old man was trying to help him with his desires, as he felt bad that Kayden''s talent was so low. One of the biggest shocks was learning of Kayden''s excellent performance in learning the basic spells. In his mind, it was clear: Kayden was a genius bound by his body, like a phoenix that could never fly because it had its wings clipped.


    Today, Kayden was in the library at the orphanage, reading yet another book about magical beasts. But this one was a little different in that it was written by a scientist named David Nakir. The title was "Heart of Beasts and Heart of Mana".


    He put forward a theory that beasts had a heart that pumped mana into their bodies 24 hours a day. However, with the current level of humanity, we weren''t able to find it, and we often mistook it for cores. Along with it, there were many vessels separate from normal blood vessels.


    That got Kayden''s attention. If he could turn his core into an irrigation pump to cultivate his body every second of the day, that would be fantastic. Reading was quick; it was a book from 10 years ago and there wasn''t much information.


    Over the next few days, Kayden searched like crazy for any information about the mana hearts but found nothing. When he asked the old man, the old man laughed and said that this had been a joke for a long time in the scientific community and that few even believed it.


    on this, for it has never been proved. No matter how hard humanity tried, it was labeled a prank.


    But the book seemed to be real. Kayden decided to follow his instincts and asked Heimer to help him find the author. Heimer said he had his means, but it would take a few weeks at the very least.


    That was something Kayden could handle. Wasn''t he waiting for almost 6 years? After talking with Heimer, he headed to the gym along with Ryan. His friend was practically living in the gym, training for his college test.


    He would try one in town anyway; he was practically one foot inside the top tier of rank 5, and that would be enough for him to get into a good college of his choice.


    Arriving there, they went to greet the master, and as usual, he was losing at the pool. Then Ryan went to train alone and Kayden went to the trainer. The man was performing squats using a barbell loaded with weights. His every movement was of maximum amplitude and felt strange to watch. There were at least 500kg on each side, and the man was crouching down like a paper barbell with weights on it.


    "Hello Coach, I''m ready for one more session," Kayden greeted happily. Without a doubt, this was one of the only activities that paid off, and it excited him deeply.


    Hearing the boy''s voice, the man elegantly lifted the weight from his shoulders and placed it on the ground. Kayden was sure that if the floor wasn''t reinforced it would eventually give way and crack. The trainer put on his usual smile and greeted Kayden.


    "Hello, Kayden. This time, we''re not going to do our usual training. With you approaching the 60-minute mark, there''s not much else to do. If you start trying to get past that, I won''t be able to heal your body." The man looked embarrassed as he said he was incapable of doing anything. It didn''t match his confident demeanor.


    This phrase took the boy by surprise and quickly made him sad. He wouldn''t go down the path of a knight or a swordsman, so he couldn''t put mana into his body to progress physically. The man noticed the boy''s sad look and came up with a ready-made solution.


    "But I can teach you how to use melee weapons." As he spoke, the man gestured as if he were wielding a sword. "From small weapons to massive ones, I can teach you how to use any of them."


    author''s note: I''m going away this weekend, so we won''t have Chapters until Monday

 Chapter 18: Weapons(2)

    Chapter 18 - Weapons(2)Kayden thought for a moment and decided to accept the man''s proposal. Without school, he had time to do something for leisure like this activity. It wouldn''t harm him at all and might make him have a fun time learning something else outside of magic.


    "I would love to, but I don''t have any weapons and I don''t have the wherewithal to buy one", that was true, Kayden never had money or cared about it. The man seemed to expect that kind of response from the boy.


    "Don''t worry, we''ll use the warehouse," as he spoke, he guided Kayden to one end. There was an almost camouflaged door, it had the same color as the wall. The trainer opened it, and as Kayden poked his head through the door, he found himself in another square room, only this time much smaller, about 10 meters wide, with several weapons hanging on the walls.


    "You can choose anyone to train here, you just have to remember to return it at the end of training", from that sentence, the man began to explain the difference between each weapon in the warehouse.


    After a few minutes of being presented with all the possibilities, Kayden chose one that was his love from another life. Since Nicolas started listening to the novels, he fell in love with the katana. There was always a character in some work using it.


    "I want the katana ", as soon as Kayden said that, the coach promptly handed him one of the katanas. It had a standard style with a yellowed wooden handle and a silver blade. Its blade was approximately 70 centimeters and, with the handle, reached an incredible value of 90 centimeters.


    "This is a good choice, but it is difficult to learn how to use it, its techniques are from another era, one already lost by humanity", the coach approved the boy''s choice and presented the weapon to him. "The katana has an extremely sharp and curved blade, which allows for precise and effective cuts. The curvature of the blade helps to distribute the force of the blow along its surface, increasing the efficiency of the cut."


    After taking it in his hands, he realized that the weapon weighed something around 1 kg. He tried to swing it and... almost fell over with the sword. The man took a slight leap to the side. It wasn''t today that rookies messed up. If he wasn''t careful, Kayden''s weapon could have wound him.


    "Sorry, I''m not used to it. She looks light, but when she''s shaken, her weight becomes heavy," Kayden apologized quickly, embarrassed.


    "Don''t worry, for anyone who has never used a weapon it''s normal. They tend to make these mistakes. Come on kid, I''ll teach you the basics and give you some exercises," the trainer hustled Kayden out of the room and closed the door. They returned to their starting position.


    The man took the sword and began to explain the details to Kayden.


    "First, remove it by lifting the back slightly and then pointing to the ground, unsheath the blade", he showed the correct way to remove it.


    "Second, grip the katana with both hands, leaving the thumb and forefinger of the left hand extended and the other fingers encircling the hilt. The right hand should encircle the hilt just below the left hand, with the thumb over the blade." As he spoke, he demonstrated the footprint.


    "Now I''m going to teach you the art of sword known as Kenjutsu. We don''t know who invented it, but it was in our world long before magic. Experts say it even predates several great constructions and empires." (All information is true (: Hope you enjoy a little knowledge).


    The trainer passed the katana to Kayden and asked him to try the same moves he demonstrated. At first, Kayden was clumsy, and as the minutes passed... he was still clumsy.


    "Don''t be discouraged, the art of the sword takes years to be polished", the trainer encouraged the boy.


    Unbeknownst to him, Kayden already knew this. In his past life, he had contact with a novel where humans fought against the gods in a tournament, and, in one of the moments, a swordsman carrying a katana was put to fight. When he appeared, he was old and wrinkled. The audience even booed and asked if there was a mistake. But he just replied:


    "Why would I be young? I''m not at the peak of my age, but I''m at the peak of my ability."


    Returning to the present, Kayden continued training only in removing the blade and wielding it. He never wanted to be a swordsman, but after a few hours, he felt something inside him change. He enjoyed wielding the weapon.


    The problem is that it would be even more difficult for him to progress in this path than that of a conventional image. This raised some doubts about what he should do, and again the magical animals came to his mind. There were numerous examples of animals with strong physical and magical strength.


    After finishing practice, Kayden returned with Ryan. The whole way there, he was silent and thoughtful. He didn''t know what to do, he seemed more and more confused. There was no path he could safely explore, all known alternatives lead to failure in the end.


    "Is that it? Was I born a second life to be mediocre? Just one more in the crowd? I refuse to believe this, I''m going to make it through this life, whatever the cost." As soon as he got home, he immediately went to the library, he would read every book there in search of answers.


    1 month later...


    During that time, Kayden practically lived in the library. He halved his mana training and just carried on with the trainer as normal. He read every book about magical animals that existed in the place. There were 2 to 3 titles per day. Heimer taught him speed reading techniques to accomplish this feat. Every second he spent there, he was more certain that this was the answer to his problem.


    He also slowly fell in love with the art of swordsmanship. His skills were still average at best. From the beginning, he only managed to learn one more move of the coach''s technique. But that was all right with his conscience, he knew the progress was slow but palpable. Other than cultivating your core, it felt like the effort fell into an endless and meaningless abyss.


    Kayden was at the library as usual, devouring a few more books. The book in particular demonstrated how theoretically the beasts could consume mana to improve their own body. Unfortunately, there was no proof and it was just a theory. At that moment, Heimer came through the door and addressed Kayden.


    "Kayden..." Before Heimer could continue, Kayden let out a small cry of fright.


    "Jesus, Heimer, please don''t scare me like that." Kayden had his heart in his mouth for a moment. This drew a small smile from Heimer, who loved to get into these little pranks.


    Sitting down in a chair lazily, Heimer leaned across the table. The boy was 11 years old and was getting closer every day to reaching rank 7. Seeing that Kayden had his attention on him, Heimer said:


    "I found David Nakir. He lives in a town to the south, about 3 hours away by train. He has a small mansion outside the city." Heimer took a while to find the guy, it was like he didn''t want to be found.


    S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 19: David Nakir (1)

    Chapter 19 - David Nakir (1)Being a genius had its benefits, you didn''t need to have money or power. Only the promise of favor could get most people to agree with his requests. Kayden felt surprised, he barely remembered it, but it came at just the right moment. He was almost done with the books he was interested in in the library, there weren''t many books on the subject. There were few mages capable of studying magical animals and even fewer those with the curiosity and scientific spirit to do so.


    "That''s good, Heimer," Kayden was gleeful, but then he got a little jolt of reality. He was just a 5-year-old boy, how was he going to find the man on his own? "But how can I go there?"


    Heimer was already prepared for that question as well.


    "Ask the old man to take you. He''ll deny it at first, but just tell him it''s extremely important for your growth as a mage," it seemed that Heimer had done similar things before. "And if he still denies it, just cry. He''s weak at heart."


    Kayden hadn''t thought about it, he was always doing everything himself, but his dad was someone he could rely on. You just had to be smart not to reveal too much about yourself to him.


    "Just don''t let the old man go with you there, he ends up scaring most people because of his magic level," Kayden always had a doubt and decided to take it away now. Closing the book and getting up to put it away, he asked: "Heimer, what is the rank after apprentice and what is the rank of old man?" Kayden was always focused on his goals and it never crossed his mind. He had an idea that the next rank was a mage, but that was where his knowledge ended.


    "The next rank is the mage, and as for the old man''s rank, I don''t know. But I''ve never seen anyone stronger than him until today, and I''ve talked to many powerful mages," Heimer said sincerely. This was also his question. The old man never said anything about his magic level or his life before the orphanage.


    After exchanging a few more words with his friend, Kayden headed upstairs to look for the old man. The man was making lunch for the various children at the orphanage. Kayden enjoyed the old man''s cooking, probably over time he got a great deal of cooking experience.


    While frying some eggs in several floating pans, the man was also stirring something in a giant pan. Unlike his cold and tough air, he wore an apron with some flowers. He claimed it was a gift from a friend, but no one believed that.


    "Hi Dad, how are you?" Kayden greeted cheerfully.


    "Hi Kayden, I''m busy right now, kid." Even with the gruff tone, Kayden knew it was just a front. Also, the man seemed carefree when cooking. It could hardly be called busy, he didn''t even make an effort to carry out the various activities at the same time.


    "I need your help with something, it''s really important to me, have a chance to help me with my rank," Kayden expressed his wishes in a determined way.


    "What do you need?" Before even knowing what it was, the old man had already decided to help the boy. He knew that the child was a genius trapped by his low-rank body, and he still felt bad from the shock of the test years ago.


    Seeing that his father was willing to help, Kayden quickly explained that he wanted to meet the author of the book "Heart of Beasts and Heart of Mana". The old man laughed and explained again to Kayden that this topic was a joke, but the boy refused to listen and insisted that he needed to meet David.


    After some insistence, the old man agreed to take him the next day. It was a Sunday so it was perfect. He needed some time to find someone to look after the children at the orphanage. Finishing arranging the dishes, the old man called the children to lunch and said:


    "Prepare yourself with notes and things you''ll want to take. We''re going by train. The trip should only take a few hours, but you never know what could happen. Always prepare for the unexpected." After confirming the old man, Kayden thanked him and went back to the library. He would reread David''s book to have something to talk about with the author.


    The next day, Kayden woke up early and checked his backpack with some extra clothes and a notebook to take notes. He performed his mana training and went down to have coffee with his father. sea??h th§× ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    After a few greetings, the old man asked Kayden to accompany him to the train and gave the boy some directions. It might not look like it, but the old man was nervous about it being Kayden''s first long-distance trip.


    "Don''t talk to strangers and don''t go to uncrowded places. Avoid being alone with anyone else anywhere without me. I''ll drop you off at his place, just like you asked, and I won''t interfere or let him see me," the old man kept giving information over and over, like a doting mother.


    Before getting on the train, the old man gave Kayden a bracelet and said it was for protection. He didn''t give more details or anything like that. This item was the first magic item Kayden had ever seen, and he couldn''t see any difference from a normal bracelet. But he decided to trust the old man. The man would hardly lie to him without reason.


    Kayden was already used to riding the train, but this time it was different. After leaving the part of town, the train entered a kind of transparent funnel and began to accelerate.


    crazy air. For a moment, Kayden felt pressed into the seat, but he quickly stabilized. Seeing the boy''s curiosity, the old man explained:


    "This funnel is so that nothing gets in the way of the train. Right now we are moving at over 500 kilometers per hour. That kind of speed is only allowed in places outside of human circulation." The environment outside was changing rapidly. In a few moments, they were in a forest of gigantic trees and then below a river.


    Kayden felt delighted. He saw deserts, rivers that looked like seas, and giant trees. At times, I was even able to see some giant animals around, but they were rare. Usually, they avoided this iron giant.


    After exactly 3 hours, Kayden arrived at a city that was inside a gigantic jungle. The city was surrounded by trees in every way. And oddly enough, there were no walls. The houses were mostly small. It seemed to be something more cultural than a necessity.


    After getting off the train, Kayden came across a standard train station. It seemed that they were the same everywhere, from the center of a city to the countryside. The old man brought Kayden to a quieter spot in the station and went over what he had said earlier. Then he ordered a taxi for the two of them. This generated a little doubt in the boy.


    "Why don''t we go flying, Dad?" Kayden still remembered the excitement of his first day of school. Feeling the wind hitting your face and the ground passing your feet was an amazing feeling.


    "Flying gets a lot of attention in cities. That''s not something I want." Minutes later, the taxi arrived. The two went inside and the old man gave the address that Heimer had found.

 Chapter 20: David Nakir(2)

    Chapter 20 - David Nakir(2)As he watched the street, Kayden noticed that there were many people with different animals. It was a very large amount, almost half of the people had at least one pet with them. Kayden voiced this to the driver.


    "Our city is known as the home of tamers, we have the highest percentage in the entire kingdom, and since we have a gigantic jungle around, we always have a constant flow of magical beasts," the native explained happily. You could see the pride in his speech.


    After a few minutes, the two were seen getting out of the taxi in a rural area of the city. It appeared to be abandoned, there was only one house on top of a hill. There was grass all around, growing wildly. It looked like it had no inhabitants for a long time.


    "I''ll be waiting for you somewhere nearby, when you leave I''ll know. Take your time, okay?" As soon as he gave Kayden directions again, he withdrew to some shade and made a wooden bench to sit on.


    After some thought about how to introduce himself to the man, Kayden walked up the hill. The house was large and oddly shaped. Its base was square, but its top was enclosed in a half circle of glass.


    Arriving within 50 meters of the house, his vision darkened and he found himself staring at the ground. It was so fast that he couldn''t react. He gave a startled scream and, when he turned to see what was happening, he saw the old man beside him and a giant dog floating in the air.


    "I told you to be careful, kid", as he spoke, he kept holding the dog in the air. He knew he was too fast for Kayden''s level to even be able to react. "I''ll call the man for you."


    Before he could realize what he said, they saw the door open and a man wearing a white coat came out. He appeared to be middle-aged, in his early 40s. His hair grew carelessly, his beard like a rat''s tuft. He appeared to be a mad scientist incarnate. As soon as he left, he was surprised to recognize the old man.


    "Sir Han, it''s an honor to meet you, but would you please let go of Cerberus? He just wanted attention, but he doesn''t know how to regulate his strength very well." This was the first time anyone recognized the old man, and it was also the first time Kayden had heard his father''s name.


    Hearing the scientist''s friendly tone, the old man released the dog. As soon as he hit the ground, he lunged at Kayden again and... gave him a stinking dog lick. Then he turned over on his stomach, asking for affection.


    " Cerberus , come here. I already told you that you are supposed to be fierce, you mongrel, fierce." It looked like this wasn''t the first time the big dog had been overly friendly. As soon as he was called, Cerberus quickly came to his owner''s side. S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Meanwhile, Kayden finally got up and looked right at David. There was no doubt about it, David was a mad scientist, just like in the stories of his past life. Cleaning up his clothes, he introduced herself to the man.


    "Hello, Sir David. My name is Kayden. I came to meet you so we could have a chat about one of your books." Kayden didn''t try to approach and waited for a signal from the scientist.


    When the scientist was about to answer, the old man interrupted as he left:


    "I''ll wait for you downstairs, kid. Remember to wear the necklace if you need to, and don''t say anything about me. That man is dead." The truth was, the old man didn''t even need to be there, the necklace would probably defend Kayden from anything in this place. But the old man reacted automatically. Quickly, as it came, the little man left.


    "Hello, would you like to come in? I''m David, David Nakir. It''s nice to meet a friend of Mr. Han." The scientist seemed disappointed that his hero was gone but decided to show hospitality to his companion.


    As he approached, Kayden noticed that the scientist was very respectful of his father, not enjoying being just a random acknowledgment.


    "Did you know my father?" This phrase gave David a slight fright, and he decided to double down on education. He might be a little crazy, but he wasn''t stupid.


    "I''m sorry, but Mister Han asked me not to say anything, so I won''t talk about it. But let''s go in, come in." David called out to Kayden as he entered the house himself. The boy followed David inside.


    As he walked through the door, he was directly faced with what looked like a laboratory. It suited the man''s style well, but what didn''t match was the level of organization of the place. Every tool was perfectly aligned and clean, not an ounce of dirt. On the ceiling was written "Nosce te ipsum". Kayden recognized the Latin translation, for in his past life he had studied many philosophers. The phrase said, "Know thyself".


    There was a rectangular bench full of plants on one side and a cauldron on the other. At one end of the room, it was possible to see a spiral staircase that probably led to the second floor of the house.


    While Kayden was looking around, the man appeared with two chairs and asked Kayden to accompany him to the second floor. Climbing upstairs, Kayden found himself in a room with only a double bed in the middle and a wine cellar. Unlike his expectation, the glass did not let the sun in and made the place unbearable.


    Placing the two chairs in


    On a kind of porch at the end of the room, David called Kayden to a seat. At the same time, he opened a bottle of wine and poured it for Kayden.


    "I''m only 5 years old yet..."


    "...." The man hadn''t noticed that and quickly made up an excuse. "Both are for me." With that said, he filled both glasses and poured a third with water for Kayden. "So what do you want to ask me about?"


    At this point, Kayden had already thought a lot about his path in magic and various ways to best combine all of his abilities. And you came here for one purpose only, to find more information and perhaps a helper.


    "I want to create a heart of mana in myself." For a moment, the scientist was silent, as if he didn''t understand what the boy said, and then he burst out:


    "What the hell? What do you mean by creating a mana heart? We don''t even know if animals still have it. Are you making fun of me, boy?" The man thought it was a joke and a very bad one at that.


    Kayden was at first confused by David''s outburst, who seemed so calm but understood that the man had probably already been screwed too much for his work.


    "I''m serious, Sir David. I''ve come to seek your help for more information, but I''ll do this with or without your help. It''s a matter of necessity for me." Kayden tried to reassure the man that it wasn''t a joke and it seemed to work.


    "Why? Why would you risk your life for something you don''t even know will work? And besides, you''re just a kid. How did you come up with all of this?" As he spoke, he stirred his glass with interest.


    "I was born with a body of Level 1 talent, I''m doomed to fail at everything mankind has known. I need to take a new path or I won''t make it to the top of the wizarding world." This phrase came from Kayden''s heart and expressed all his sincerity. He had been thinking about the heart of mana for a long time.

 Chapter 21: David Nakir(3)

    Chapter 21 - David Nakir(3)When looking into the child''s eyes, the man saw no doubts or uncertainties. It was just cold determination. This scared David. These eyes were not found in children, only in adults who fought hard for something and achieved that they would win, regardless of the consequences.


    Knowing the boy''s power level also surprised David. This level was rare, almost no one was naturally born like this. Normally, these people didn''t live past 18, as they ended up taking their own lives or isolating themselves from the world.


    "Well, I''ll start by telling you who I am first, okay? And then you decide if you trust me." David stirred the glass again, it seemed to be a small habit. "I''m an animal tamer and scientist. I''m labeled crazy in the scientific society. All my books come from personal tests and experiences." Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    It seemed to be a delicate tone for him to argue.


    "Nowadays I am also excluded from all research circles, as they say, that my research is useless and that my discoveries are a failure. Logically it is because my works do not yield money or power to others, only knowledge." He stirred the glass again.


    "Now I''m going to ask you two questions and, depending on your answers, I''m going to help you, boy. Would you trust some crazy person considered arrogant and petty to help you with your life''s work?" The man asked with curiosity in his eyes, but it was also possible to see a certain expression of embarrassment behind them.


    Kayden thought for a moment about what David told him. As he thought, he remembered the phrase in the laboratory and what era it came from. This made his doubts disappear.


    "I only know I know nothing." As soon as Kayden said that phrase, the man recognized it. "I saw the phrase down there, I know you probably recognized what I said too. So yes, I would leave my life''s work in the hands of a man who studied Socrates enough to recognize his ignorance."


    David laughed as he identified with what Kayden said.


    "I didn''t expect a boy like you to recognize ancient philosophy. Nowadays, it''s practically dead. Very well, I liked your answer. Now the last question, consider it as an analogy." Seeing that his glass was empty of wine, David took the other one he had filled.


    "Let''s say you are with a group of people on a ship. You are the captain and they are looking for new lands to be colonized, this is your life''s mission." As he spoke, the scientist gestured. "One day, after traveling a lot, you find a piece of land. When you go down, you soon come across scary beasts, but you manage to defeat them. They come across several poisonous fruits and tortuous paths."


    This story was a little familiar to Kayden, but he couldn''t remember where he heard it.


    "It was clear that it would be an extremely difficult place to conquer and that it would only be through many casualties and suffering that it would be eliminated. Now, as captain, what do you do?"


    There were several answers that David expected, such as setting up a shelter, testing the local food, etc. But unlike what David thought, Kayden already had the answer ready. In his other life, he heard a similar story.


    "I...would burn the ships." This was the correct answer, that is, they would overcome their challenges regardless of the difficulty. It was almost like "die or win", there was no alternative.


    David laughed in surprise at Kayden''s firm response. It was something that pleased him.


    "Very well, you answered both questions correctly." David straightened his hair a little, but it didn''t make much difference to the state it was in. "We can start with you explaining a little about what your goal is and what led you to it."


    Kayden was silent for a moment, collecting his thoughts.


    "I need something that will allow me to keep progressing indefinitely, and that''s the only thing I think I''m capable of." Kayden sat up straighter and continued. "Furthermore, I have thought and have a theory about the best progression path."


    After reading many books and thinking for years, Kayden''s ideas were strongly solidified in his mind. There were dozens of books and research on the subject. David was curious and asked Kayden:


    "And what would your theory be? If it''s not personal, please tell me." Some wizards didn''t like sharing too much of their work, so David asked politely first.


    "I think the way the beasts progress is the correct way because as they are irrational, it is nature that does that. And if you notice, most follow the same pattern. I believe that the path they follow is infinitely superior to the standard styles that we have today."


    David had never heard of this theory before, but quickly realized it could be true. Of all the animals on Earth, the only ones who are out of line are humans and they are not even the supreme rulers of Earth. They talked a little more about this theory and David arrived at another point.


    "How are you going to make a mana heart?"


    "I intend to compress my core so that it fills with mana and, when it is about to burst, release it inside my body automatically, thus creating a cycle." It seemed very simple, seeing how Kayden said it, but it definitely wasn''t, or else someone would have already done it. "But I''m not aware of many points, so I came to you."


    "I can


    help him, but you would need to have a high degree of mana control and also memorize how to do this procedure impeccably." David doubted this was possible, but his passion for knowledge was even greater than his common sense. "Come live with me, boy. In 3 or 5 years we will be able to do this."


    Kayden was surprised by the scientist''s proposal. It was very sudden. He was still at school. This caused him doubt for a moment. On the one hand, the school still had a lot to teach him, but this knowledge would be useless without the strength to use it.


    "I need to talk to my father and I can stay for a maximum of 2 years. I still have to graduate from school and I don''t know if I can do both." Kayden expressed his doubts to David and added at the end. "Besides, I... don''t have any money."


    "Don''t worry about money, I don''t lack that. Go talk to your uncle and come back in a week. I will gather books and articles on the subject, even if you don''t come, I will still deliver them." David seemed more excited than Kayden himself to undertake this project.


    Kayden finally began to see a small ray of hope. Quickly getting up and exchanging a few parting words, Kayden ran out of the house. Within seconds, he was outside.


    The old man, or rather Mr. Han, had been sitting in the same position since Kayden left. He was cross-legged, reading a small paperback book. Her pose was strangely elegant, strange because the bush and dirt setting didn''t match her impeccable attire.


    Seeing the boy running down the hill, the old man thought something had happened to the boy. He put away the book and quickly stood up. But all his worries were dispelled when he saw the happy smile on Kayden''s face. The old man unpacked the chair and waited for Kayden to catch up.


    "Dad, I did it. I finally have a glimmer of hope." Happiness made Kayden unconsciously loosen up. Even though he didn''t even know if it would work, he now had a ray of hope. It''s been years of banging my head.

 Chapter 22: Contract

    Chapter 22 - Contract"What did you get, boy?" Happiness piqued Han''s curiosity. He liked the boy more than he would admit and seeing the progress would be great.


    Kayden had thought of a situation like this before, and he knew he couldn''t tell the old man the truth. The man would never allow the boy to risk his life on something not entirely reliable.


    "Sorry Dad, but I can''t talk about it. Let''s just say it''s a secret for now," Kayden said with a serious look on his face that made Han recognize that the boy wouldn''t say anything.


    "Alright then, let''s go back to the orphanage. We''ve been gone for a while now." As he said this, the old man began to call a taxi to take them back to the train station. At that point, Kayden decided to come clean with him about being out of the house for a while. There was no point in postponing this conversation; it would have to happen at some point or another.


    "Dad, I will..." He wasn''t quite sure how to say this. "I need to be away from home for about 2 or 3 years. I need to be with David to do my research..."


    Before Kayden could say anything else, the old man snapped,


    "No, I don''t." The old man quickly refused. Kayden was barely 6 years old; he couldn''t be alone for that long. But for the first time he could remember, the old man heard the boy retort.


    "Dad, I need this. It''s going to make a huge difference in my life," as he spoke, Kayden fidgeted with his hands, visibly nervous. "I''m asking for your permission, but I''ll do it even without it if I need to. Even if I have to run away from home."


    Han was speechless for a moment. Kayden was disobeying him, something that had never happened before. He was about to give the boy an earful and an earful, but when his eyes met Kayden''s, he understood. They were the eyes of someone willing to take his words to the last consequences.


    "I need to think, I''ll give you an answer later." It was the only alternative he found at that moment. I didn''t know what I was supposed to do.


    After waiting for a few minutes, a taxi arrived. During that time, the old man said nothing more; he was deep in thought. This state of doubt lasted until they returned home. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The entire path was walked in silence; Han pretty much did everything automatically. Kayden gave the old man a break, he knew what he asked was sudden and the man needed time to process everything.


    Back at home, Kayden went about his days normally while waiting for the old man''s answer. During that time, he thought about what he would do. He still had some doubts about changing his life like that, but they were buried deep in his heart.


    At that time, he also organized to leave. He said goodbye to some acquaintances, such as the coach and people with whom he had contact during those years. He didn''t go into much detail about where he was going or why. I didn''t want to get into trouble with the government regarding the protection of minors.


    He enjoyed life there; he was laid back, and even if he didn''t have many friends, the ones he did have were true. He was also prepared in case he needed to escape from the orphanage.


    About 4 days later, the old man called the boy into his office, which was also in the basement. Kayden had never been there before, and when he walked through the door, he found himself in a room very much like that of a college film professor.


    There was a couch in the middle of the room, across from it a barrier, and then a table with an office chair. But the most amazing thing was the walls; they were covered with books from beginning to end, hundreds or even thousands of them laid out there.


    The old man was sitting on the couch in a black suit and didn''t notice when Kayden opened the door and walked in. He seemed lost in thought.


    "Dad? I''m here," Kayden called softly so as not to startle the old man. It took a while, but Han looked up at the boy.


    "Come, sit here. I''ve thought it over and I''ll give you an answer today," as he spoke, the man appeared with two cups of tea, seemingly out of nowhere. Okay, Kayden was used to magic he didn''t understand.


    "I''ll let you go, but there are some conditions," Han said in an adamant tone. "First, you must come back every 30 days and spend a day here. I will cover your transport costs. Second, you can only stay 1 year there. That''s as long as I can give without the government asking why you''re not in school."


    Unlike the land of his previous life, here the government was extremely strict when it came to the education of minors. They had a progression-at-all-costs mentality, and if the bottom didn''t improve, the top wouldn''t either.


    Kayden thought about what he was told and quickly replied:


    "We have a deal, Dad!"


    Seven days after Kayden met David.


    Time passed quickly for them to meet again, and Kayden was again with the old man in front of David''s house. He was carrying two giant suitcases full of books and clothes. His luck was that the old man charged them with magic.


    This time, Han used mana to summon the scientist. As soon as David appeared in the doorway, he looked worse than the other day. His hair even had cobwebs this time.


    The scientist was happy to see them there and, when observing the


    Kayden''s happy face, he had an idea that his venture had worked. But Han had a kind of...angry look in his eyes. It looked like it was trying to kill the scientist with its eyes.


    It scared him for a moment. He couldn''t even dream of surviving if the old man wanted to kill him. Before anyone could say anything, the old man withdrew a parchment from his pocket and tossed it to David.


    "He will stay with you for one year. Here are the rules. Sign the mana contract, that''s not an option." Han even released some of his aura to pressure... advised David to make the best decision.


    Upon looking at the parchment, the scientist was satisfied with the demands. They were:


    1. Do not directly or indirectly harm Kayden.


    2. Help the boy with his basic questions about magic.


    3. Provide food and meet their basic needs.


    There were a few more lines, but they weren''t abusive either. Taking a pen out of his hair, David quickly signed the contract. As soon as he lifted the pen from the paper, the parchment burned to ash in the air.


    This was the first time Kayden had seen a mana contract. He had studied about them in school. Typically, they were used in negotiations where the two sides were unknown. The contract obliged both to fulfill what was stipulated. If anyone tried to break it, they would have their mana core blown out.

 Chapter 23: Present and beginning of a new period

    Chapter 23 - Present and beginning of a new periodThey were something very useful, they prevented many scams during these years. The problem was that it wasn''t directly accessible to everyone. Few knew the processes needed to manufacture it and of these, few had the skills to do so. Seeing the man sign the contract without throwing a tantrum, Han was a little less worried. Turning to Kayden, he pulled a box out of thin air. It had a polished wood material and was at least 1.5 meters long.


    "Kayden, as you won''t be able to train at the dojo, I decided to give you a small gift on your journey", saying that, the man opened the box. Inside was an 80 cm katana, its blade was black and seemed to be unable to reflect any light, its hilt was white and had a small golden ribbon on the tip. It was really impressive. Next to it was a scabbard of the same length in black.


    "Its name is Abyss and it was made by a friend of mine," Han passed the gun to Kayden as he spoke. Its weight was beyond what Kayden expected, it was about 5 kg, five times the weight of his usual weapon. Looking at the base of the blade, he saw something written that caused a small shiver. It sounded like something a god facing Olympus would say.


    "If the sky falls, I''ll hold it in my hands", is a catchphrase.


    "Thanks, Dad. I loved it and will make good use of it", Kayden was happy with the gift and hugged his father. Han was taken aback and didn''t have time to return the boy''s hug.


    "Okay, now I''m off. If you need anything, let me know. I''ll send the money for the tickets on weekends", Han quickly said goodbye to prevent the two of them from seeing him. Kayden''s hug caught him off guard and resulted in a small spurt of embarrassment from the old man.


    Seeing the man simply take flight suddenly left them both momentarily speechless. Until the silence was broken by David. While ruffling his hair, the scientist said:


    "Come on Kayden, I fixed the basement for you." That phrase caused Kayden to feel a little apprehensive. The man was a madman, what would his hold be before? A place of torture? A prison?


    Entering the house, they descended the same staircase that led to the second floor. As soon as he entered the basement, he saw that he couldn''t judge a book by its cover. The room was clean and had gray walls, while the floor was smooth stone. There was a bed in one corner and a small table next to it. There was also a wardrobe on one wall, on another there was a shelf to put books and next to it a door to what appeared to be a bathroom. Placing the boy''s bags on the floor, David turned to him.


    "I''ll give you some time to pack your things, take a shower or whatever, then go upstairs so we can discuss our project." David gave a crazy laugh, he looked so excited.


    Once the man was gone, Kayden packed his things and put the books on the shelves. He took a shower to calm his body from the long trip and went upstairs. He found the scientist stacking books on the lab bench. There were at least a few dozen there and more on the floor.


    "Are all these books about mana hearts?" Kayden doubted there was that much information on the subject. David stopped stacking the books and turned to the boy.


    "Not all. Many here are about advanced mana manipulation, things you''re going to need to learn if you want to be able to do everything we need to." David thought the second most difficult thing about this endeavor was the boy''s skill and the first was the project itself.


    "Sir David, please see if you can''t find any books on the anatomy of the heart and how it works." Kayden presented his ideas. "We need to practice building it several times and if we know how it works better, we will have a greater chance of success."


    "Well done boy, I hadn''t thought of something as simple as that, but it really will make a difference. And please, just call me David. We''ll be spending too much time together to waste time on mere formalities."


    That day, the two spent the entire afternoon and evening looking at the books and debating the alternatives. David was impressed with Kayden''s effort to do the rather boring part of the job and how the child had ideas and was able to discuss them maturely.


    The next day, Kayden woke up early and was studying the books again. David was still sleeping. While the boy went to bed early and woke up early, the man worked late and woke up late. Around noon, Kayden heard the sound of someone coming down the stairs. When he turned around and faced David, he saw him holding a ball of yarn. The color was purple and it was bigger than a basketball. David finished down the stairs and came over to talk to Kayden.


    "Good morning, Kayden," David yawned, looking like he''d just woken up. "I brought this magic item for you to practice." He passed the ball that didn''t seem to have anything magical. "You must be imagining that it''s an ordinary ball of yarn, right? But that''s a silly mistake. If you feel the mana, you''ll see that there''s a small trail on each thread."


    Kayden did as the man said and there was, it looked like a ball of mana. sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Good morning, David, what''s this for?" Kayden was curious, what could he train with this?


    Catching


    the skein and demonstrating how to use it, David began to explain what it was and what its purpose was.


    "This skein was made for children to practice mana manipulation. You must undo it without using physical touches, just guiding the mana threads to come loose", David began to disassemble the skein. "You must not have seen this as it was discontinued in the last century."


    Kayden noted how difficult it was and required meticulous mana control to accomplish the task. Certainly, training with this skein would bring satisfactory results, but he was in doubt about why it was discontinued.


    "Why don''t we use this more in schools?"


    "The process is slow and takes hours to train. Children don''t have this patience when they are young and when they get older, they don''t need it anymore. As you increase your rank, mana manipulation doesn''t become as necessary. You already are capable of doing what he needs to do at a mediocre level."


    Kayden quickly understood what David was trying to say. For most people who didn''t have big goals, it was useless to train with the ball as it wouldn''t help them momentarily. The ball was an investment for the future. Certainly, the great families of wizards forced all children to use balls of yarn from an early age.


    "I''m going out to buy books on the anatomy of the heart. Good luck with your training Kayden, you''re going to need it," the man had a smile on his face as if he''d been there before.


    Taking the skein, Kayden began to try to unravel the threads and... failed. He hadn''t expected it to be so difficult, each time he pulled one side out, the thread would wrap itself around another. He spent hours on it, he even forgot to read the books or do his exercises.


    His fruitless practice was only interrupted when the front door opened and David came in with piles of books floating in the air. At that moment, Kayden realized that it was night and that he hadn''t eaten even a grain of rice all day.


    "David, what are we having for dinner?" Kayden''s stomach found this the perfect moment to growl.


    "I forgot about it," the scientist''s stomach also roared in response.


    In the end, the two had to make do with leftovers from David''s last meal, the scientist didn''t even know when it was.

 Chapter 24: Goals

    Chapter 24 - Goals1 month later


    Kayden was entering his 7th year, also supposed to be his 3rd year of school, but he was currently training and studying like crazy with David. It usually started at 6 am and only stopped between 11 and 12 pm.


    He read dozens of books that month, being able to explain the details of a heart practically at the level of a doctor. Things that ordinary people couldn''t even imagine were studied, like how many beats a day? How does size relate to this number?


    His progress on the ball of yarn was also evident, he spent at least half of his time tinkering with it and the other half reading books, putting his katana aside this month to focus on something that would give him more results in the long run.


    Today he was back at the orphanage for a little while, he greeted his old acquaintances and went to talk to Heimer about something he had forgotten during that time.


    Kayden found Heimer reading in the clearing in his hammock. The boy didn''t even notice his friend''s arrival, he was concentrating on his book.


    "Heimer? How are you?" Kayden greeted his friend happily. Heimer was slowly turning into a teenager, his hair was still long and he still maintained his intellectual nerd air.


    Heimer took a little fright and nearly fell out of his hammock. Looking up, he saw Kayden and greeted him warmly as well.


    "I found out the old man''s name, David called him Mister Han when he first saw him, do you know anyone with that name?" Kayden explained what he knew to his friend.


    "Off the top of my head, I don''t remember any, but I''ll do some research on it. The identity of the old man has intrigued me for quite some time."


    After a while, Ryan learned that Kayden was also at the orphanage and went to meet them in the clearing. They debated the old man''s identity with the newcomer, but he didn''t know much either.


    Ryan said he was going to take the college test in a few days and chose a good level 2 horseman. The minimum requirement was to be at level 5 and Ryan was one foot away from entering level 6.


    After talking for a while, Heimer also said something that shocked both of them for a moment:


    "I want to join the Academy of the Sun. I think I''ll take the test when I''m 13. I should have enough capacity by then." Heimer spoke as he adjusted his glasses. His sentence was said as if it were a fact and not just a dream.


    If it had come from someone else, they might have treated it as a joke, but coming from the boy it did seem to be something lucid. In the last year, the boy reached the 7th rank, and he still had 2 years to go.


    "I still don''t know what I''m going to do in college, I haven''t even chosen my class correctly yet." Kayden wailed to his friends.


    After spending the entire day at the orphanage with his friends and spending time with his father, Kayden took the train back to David''s house. On the way, he thought about his conversation with Heimer and Ryan. Which college to choose? A median? Or a bad one just to have something to do afterward?


    But would he accept having a mediocre life? Working with something random all day, just waiting to die? No, he couldn''t do that. He wanted to be on top of this life, he was tired of mediocrity. He made a promise to himself, that he would pass the sun''s academy too, whatever the cost.


    What was supposed to be just a casual visit became a defining day for Kayden. He already had motivation before, but now he was obsessed with achieving his goals.


    It may seem that there is no difference, but there is a huge gap between one and the other. For example, the difference between a hero and a villain was extremely thin. A hero sacrificed his dream for the greater good and a villain sacrificed the greater good for his goals. That was, metaphorically, the difference between being driven and obsessed. Of course, that was Kayden''s design.


    3 months later


    Kayden was only sleeping about 6 hours a day, or even less than that. His day consisted of waking up and doing exercises with the katana for 2 hours. Then it was reading for half the day and then practicing with the ball of yarn. In just 3 months, Kayden was able to unroll at least 50% of the skein.


    This progress startled David. Many geniuses would be left behind if they were compared to the boy. David was right that Kayden was a genius. The problem was his body that tied him to mediocrity.


    Today was supposed to be a normal day like everyone else, but Kayden asked for something different. He finally learned the bare minimum with the katana. He thought it was time to have some real battles, not just pretending with friendly opponents.


    The good news is that he was in an area surrounded by magical beasts. It was just asking David''s pets to bring some low-level beast, one incapable of manipulating mana, and progressing would be perfect.


    The two were outside. David at first refused Kayden''s request, but the latter insisted to the point that the scientist was unable to work undisturbed. Around 11 am, the two could be seen outside the mansion.


    Kayden had his katana in its sheath. The wind was very strong that day, with a pleasant Sun. It looked like an excellent day for outdoor training. David was sitting next to Kayden. He made a wooden umbrella and fan to sit on.


    The two were waiting for Cerberus. The dog was responsible for bringing a wolf or some unclassified animal to Kayden. After a few minutes, the two could see the giant dog accompanied by a wolf. The wolf was about 1.20 meters long, reaching 90 centimeters in height. It was an adult wolf for its dimensions.


    He was a true gray wolf, his entire body that color. It was walking with its tail down, it was evident that it did not show the slightest attempt of rebellion against Cerberus.


    Seeing them close, Kayden drew his katana. It felt a little heavier than usual in his hands. When the two got within 10 meters of Kayden, he felt his palms sweating. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    His heart started to race and he realized that his body was anxious. It was a natural reaction when facing another predator and this time it wasn''t just a workout. There was a chance he could be hurt or even killed. If David couldn''t react in time, he couldn''t do anything.


    "Are you ready, boy?" David could see the boy''s nervousness, but it was natural. This was supposed to be his first real battle. David remembers having his first in college, aged 14.


    "I am." Kayden might be nervous and even his body felt anxious, but he knew this was a necessary step in his growth as a mage and swordsman. It was a matter of losing the fear of fighting.


    "Cerberus, order his to attack, Kayden."


    As soon as Cerberus snarled at the wolf, he started to run forward. His speed surprised Kayden, but he was prepared. His posture was to be able to make cross-cuts and gain space.


    The wolf came first to the right and began circling Kayden. He was growling to instill fear. This was an age-old tactic of its kind. He was expecting a mistake on Kayden''s part. Unlike humans, the animals'' patience was extremely good.


    Kayden was in a cold sweat and gripping his sword far more tightly than necessary. Every second he waited for the wolf to act seemed like an eternity to him. The boy couldn''t hold back and tried a sideways slash at the wolf, but was easily dodged and left his body exposed to the wolf.


    As a natural predator that has been through many battles, the animal did not miss this chance and jumped with its mouth open on the boy''s arm. Kayden felt every muscle in his arm snap and then his bone snapped in two.

 Chapter 25: Life or death, an inexplicable feeling

    Chapter 25 - Life or death, an inexplicable feelingIt was unbearable pain and for a moment his vision was blurred by tears. The wolf knocked him to the ground and was about to finish the job when he found himself being lifted into the air.


    "Daisy, please heal him," asked David. Upon that request, a small plant emerged from the ground and slowly grew into a small tree with legs. His body was formed by tree trunks and looked like a straw doll.


    Meanwhile, Kayden was beginning to come to his senses, and he felt his arm remodeling with frightening speed. His bones and muscles returned to their normal state before he stopped taking in the pain.


    Sitting on the floor, it took him a few seconds before the shock wore off. That was traumatic. David was waiting for the boy to recover. Kayden got up and saw the wolf standing next to Cerberus. His body began to shiver involuntarily.


    "Is that... fear?" Kayden looked down at his hand, which was shaking. Before David could say anything, Kayden opened his mouth. "Let''s go again."


    With that sentence, he picked up the katana that was on the floor, took a deep breath, and tried to concentrate. He knew he had to overcome his fears then and there, or he would likely develop permanent trauma to his psyche.


    "Are you sure? We can take a break or wait for you to progress further in the ranks."


    "No, I need to do this." Kayden would overcome his fears one way or another. He wasn''t willing to have scars that could get in the way of his future.


    " Cerberus, order the wolf to attack again." The wolf did the same thing again, and it was clear the beast had no ego. Even though she won the first match, she still opted for the safe approach.


    This time, Kayden didn''t lunge at the beast abruptly and tried to wait for its mistake. He also tried to show initiative with a few false steps to the sides. It appeared to be a game of solitaire. That game took a few minutes until Kayden made a misstep that resulted in a lunging attempt by the wolf.


    Dodging to the side, Kayden brought the katana down hard on the wolf''s back. He landed a direct hit, but he hadn''t counted on the animal''s tenacity. Even though he was cut, he didn''t give up and grabbed Kayden''s legs. Again, his teeth demonstrated the incredible power they had and snapped Kayden''s tibia in two. This time, the boy was prepared for the pain and managed to get another thrust at the wolf.


    But it still wasn''t enough, and he found himself falling into the same position as when he started, only this time his senses weren''t as confused. He saw the wolf being levitated in the air and a small wooden doll appearing out of nowhere.


    "Daisy, please heal him again." This time, even in excruciating pain, Kayden felt his muscles mending in seconds and his bones growing again. It was a very strange feeling.


    "Again," Kayden got up and picked up his katana from the ground. The pain was vivid in his memory, and his body wouldn''t let him forget it. His hands shook and sweated uncontrollably.


    David knew that arguing with the boy would accomplish nothing. But he found his obsession unhealthy. Any child, or rather anyone who had their bones broken and crushed would not seek out the thing that hurt them again.


    An hour later, the floor was already covered in dried blood. Kayden had 5 fights with the wolf and was in his sixth. In all, he had some part of his body broken, but he got up every time to face him again. Each time he managed to last longer and land more punches.


    The wolf was also being healed, so it was a fight with both 100% every time. The daisy even provided the nutrients for recovery. Most importantly, Kayden lost his fear of the wolf. His hands no longer shook, and he managed to remain calm the entire time.


    In the sixth fight, the wolf was doing the same scheme as in the beginning. He circled Kayden expecting a mistake, but the boy had learned to deal with it. He was also in constant motion. Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    At one point, Kayden faked a misplaced lunge at the wolf. When the animal jumped at him, the boy dodged and landed a blow on the wolf''s side. The cut was deep and long. The wolf even tried to continue, but with his wound, he lost a lot of mobility.


    Kayden filled him with small cuts, and after a few minutes, the wolf just fell over and didn''t move. Seeing this, the boy also sat up and tried to catch his breath. That was his first real fight.


    The pain, the fatigue, everything made him realize that it wasn''t as simple as it was shown on entertainment programs.


    "David, please heal the wolf and let him go back to the forest. He helped me a lot, and I don''t want him to die for it."


    Hearing the boy''s request, David felt that he looked like a wise old man, but this impression was momentary. After healing the wolf, Daisy disappeared underground. David considered talking to Kayden, but the boy seemed lost in thought. So much so that when the scientist walked away, the boy didn''t even notice.


    Kayden was going over the fights in his mind, what he did wrong, and what he could improve on. He decided that he would hold a fight every 3 days. it should be time


    enough to fully analyze the battle and work on correcting your mistakes.


    The next day, Kayden woke up and did his usual fencing practice. This time, he tried to correct minor errors in a posture that made him lose speed or strength. Afterward, he had his normal day, studied the books, and practiced with the ball.


    David and Kayden could be seen sitting on the lab bench. While Kayden was practicing with the ball, David was reading about the anatomy of the heart. The scientist was still completely messed up. Kayden was amazed that the man didn''t stink, even though he never showered. He didn''t even have a bathroom in his room.


    "David, I think I should finish the ball within 5 months. It will be completing 6 months that I will be here." David nodded in agreement with the boy''s words. "We must implement training to simulate a heart in the last 5 months, and in the last one, we must experiment."


    "I think we''ll need a few more years, Kayden." David doubted they could pull it off in such a short time.


    "I can''t wait a few more years, David. As long as we have a chance above 50%, I will try." David didn''t answer. He knew the boy was stubborn when he made up his mind.


    5 months later


    Today marks 6 months since Kayden was away from home and working like crazy. His battles made his physique take another leap in quality. He was still the same person in appearance, but he developed muscles in specific places that only a real battle could produce.


    katana''s skill was at its peak. He progressed to taking on 2 wolves at once with a 70% injury-free win rate. Kayden was no longer nervous or anxious. Slowly, he developed a cool and calm mentality in combat.


    They finished reading all the books they had on the subjects of heart, mana, and magical animals and their anatomy. For the past few weeks, they''ve just been waiting for Kayden to finish the skein. David did not follow the boy''s progress, as he did not believe he would be able to finish in just 6 months.


    But, out of His expectations, today Kayden appeared in front of his. He had bags under His eyes from sleep, but they had become part of His look over the last few months. His sleep was not a priority.


    Placing the disassembled skein on the bench, Kayden turned to the scientist and said:


    "I am ready to proceed with part two of our project." The boy flashed a proud smile. David was speechless for a few seconds.


    "That...was impressive, Kayden. You should now have the same mana manipulation level as a 9th-rank apprentice. I will supply mana, and you will train in heart shaping."


    It was really impressive what Kayden accomplished, but David doubted any kid would work eight hours a day on the ball. So, his progress was understandable. Perhaps only elite kids could compete with him in performance.


    Saying that the scientist took a 3D model of the heart from a drawer and presented it to Kayden. Then he drew a heart in the air himself and explained to Kayden the step-by-step of how to model with pure mana.


    "You have to focus on imposing your will for the heart to function independently", David explained a few more procedures that Kayden should be aware of when modeling.


    Once he was done, David made the heart vanish into thin air and began gathering free-willed mana for Kayden to use. Kayden had never realized it, but his mana manipulation was much better than before. He practically only touched the ball of yarn and didn''t notice that detail.


    Molding the heart was difficult, the mana would get loose or not obey what he asked. This would be a time-consuming process, but with enough effort, it should be possible.


    Kayden knew he had to make his heart work like a mana pump, pumping his body. Furthermore, he was supposed to create mana veins that would act as capillaries. That was the hardest part, shaping the heart was simply a matter of practice.


    Over the next few days, Kayden was able to shape the heart and sustain it using a constant flow of mana. Since he managed to do that, his focus was on making the heart obey small commands, like beating or releasing mana by a certain point.


    Author''s note: I don''t know when you''ll read this, but it''s 08/20/2023. I have more than 100 daily readers, that''s cool for me, I started having 3 or 5 a day lol.


    Today I had my 4 resources, web novels support those who are starting. so I thank everyone who is reading or has read this far. Thanks

 Chapter 26: Obsession and secrets

    Chapter 26 - Obsession and secretsEvery day, Kayden got better at shaping the heart, but something was always missing for it to work on its own. He was reading books about artifacts and magical things that had autonomous functions, but it wasn''t helping at all. His only other activity was training against wolves and other forest animals; it was more like something to distract the mind. David was also trying to do this himself, but no results were found.


    During that time, David came home a few times and found that Ryan had gotten into the college he tried. Not only did he succeed, but he was among the top ten riders.


    Three months later, Kayden decided to focus entirely on the heart. He hadn''t trained in fencing for about two months. His routine consisted of waking up and studying how to make the heart work. This ranged from reading books on the subject to watching videos of 3D hearts. He was dangerously close to going crazy, all his efforts were futile. It was a year thrown away. Your third year should be about learning the basics of many different elements so you have more options at the end. There was a consensus that one should master the basics of certain magic before progressing to more advanced levels. But Kayden hadn''t even started it. He had only two gains this year: his mana manipulation and his combat ability.


    Today he decided to do something different. He spent the day watching Cerberus and trying to see what it was about him that wasn''t present in the design. What was the animal doing that it couldn''t replicate? His intuition once again indicated that he was on the right path. He spent the next few days watching the animal. However, his daily life was limited to lying down, sleeping, or running after an animal that got too close to the house.


    He decided he would either give himself two more months or give up on this project altogether. This made him very down and depressed. He no longer knew what to focus on to progress. "Am I doomed to a mediocre life? To failure as a mage? I can''t accept that. I''d rather kill myself than live a miserable life again." Kayden was determined to succeed in this life. Your little reflection brought a dose of motivation to continue focusing on the project.


    He began observing other animals in the forest and watching documentaries about their habitats and ways of life. He even tried meditating in the middle of the forest to better connect with nature.


    Two months later, Kayden was at rock bottom. He knew he had little time. David promised to continue the work, but he was also discouraged. A year passed without much relevant progress. Kayden hadn''t slept more than five hours a day for months. He was completely obsessed, only resting when his body refused to wake up, even with the alarm clock.


    Today he was back at the orphanage and decided to take a little drastic measure. He would ask the old man, but he wouldn''t broach the subject directly. Kayden was walking down the stairs to Han''s office. Every step made his heart beat faster. It might seem like a simple conversation, but if the old man didn''t have an answer to his problems, he would have to give up on this project entirely. Every second felt like an eternity. Finally, he reached the door and knocked lightly. After waiting a few seconds, he heard the old man inside:


    "Come in," his tone was neutral.


    As soon as he entered, he saw the same sofa and the old man in the same position as before. It felt almost like a rerun of his first visit to the office. However, this time the old man wore a fluffy purple robe. Even with that attire, he still looked like an elegant man.


    "Hello Dad," Kayden Han greeted and walked over to one of the sofa seats. Once seated, the old man produced two cups of tea and offered one to Kayden. After taking a drink, Kayden prepared to start the conversation, but the old man interrupted his thoughts:


    "Boy, I know you have a problem that''s been keeping you up at night. I''ve seen countless cases of mages like that. Just say what you need," said the old man authoritatively.


    Kayden shifted a little in his seat, wondering how to start this conversation. After the old man''s speech, his plans went down the drain.


    "Dad, for some reason, I can''t openly tell everything", Kayden hoped that Han would accept this excuse, and seeing how the old man didn''t say anything, he continued. "Say I create a robot that looks like a cat. All of its body functions are the same. A normal person would never be able to tell the difference. So would it be a cat?"


    Kayden used this analogy to try to understand what was wrong with animals that have a heart of mana. The old man scratched his chin a little and replied:


    "No, it wouldn''t be, because it would lack something basic and very important: the life given by nature." He was silent for a moment and added: "Don''t ask me how I know, but we''ve had cases of cloning in magical experiments and the clone never lived more than a few days."


    "Why?" The subject deviated a little from the main theme, but it caught the boy''s attention.


    "The answer humans have found is simple: we can''t bring something to life. Even though it''s identical, something is still missing. The clone doesn''t have the essence", the old man explained calmly and sipped his tea.


    Kayden was thoughtful for a few minutes, digesting this information. The old man realized that the boy needed to think about the matter and was silent for a moment. Kayden looked up and was ready for the next question:


    "Say I have an organ of a human being modeled in mana. Why can''t it perform its functions normally?" Here is your main question.


    Again, the old man was lost in thought. After a few seconds, he got up and walked over to the desk in his office. As soon as he returned, Kayden saw a scroll in his hands.


    "I can give you that information, but you must sign a mandatory silence contract." As soon as he said that, he passed the contract for Kayden to read. It had only one line written on it: "Keep it a secret or lose your life in the slightest attempt to expose what will be told to you." The boy didn''t know what to do for a few seconds. It was very sudden; he didn''t expect to get into secrets so big that they needed contracts.


    He already knew how to perform a contract. It was very simple. All you had to do was put your mana into it and then guide the mana that the scroll would release in response to its core. Kayden needed this information, and the silence rule wouldn''t matter to him. Kayden signed the contract and turned to the old man.


    "Father, who are you? An ordinary person wouldn''t have access to all that kind of information you have, not even the strength." This was a doubt that the boy had for a long time.


    The old man took a deep breath, his eyes lost in memories of the past. This lasted for a few seconds. At times, his eyes shone with happiness, and at others with sadness.


    "After you found out my name, Heimer was able to find out who I was. I didn''t let him tell you, but I think that sooner or later you will. So, after our conversation, talk to Heimer. All I ask is that you keep it a secret. , Kayden. I don''t like to dwell on my past." The old man''s tone sounded sad.


    Kayden sensed his father''s dismay and regretted asking, but it was too late for that now. The best he could do was change the subject.


    "Can you tell me about the secret from before, Dad?" He returned to his objective, at the same time reaching for his cup and asking for more tea. His nervousness made him drink the liquid like water on a hot day. S§×ar?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Han filled the two''s container again, thought for a few seconds, and started his story:

 Chapter 27: Hope

    Chapter 27 - HopeAbout 2 centuries ago, mankind started secret experiments. Their goal was to create mana organs. The problem was the lack of volunteers, so the government used prisoners en masse. The case was hushed up at the time but reached more than 100,000 missing prisoners.


    "Lab rats?" Kayden wasn''t surprised, he knew the human being''s ability to perform acts of this type. How many cases in your past world were made public years after the event? Thousands? And how many never saw the light of day?


    "That''s right, the problem is that everyone died. What they found is that the lower the rank, the easier it is to be accepted and that for some reason the organs and limbs do not survive outside the host, they only function when they are with them. "


    Han took a break to drink his tea and continued:


    "We believe that it is something similar to the immune system of humans, the higher the rank the greater your body''s ability to recognize and fight foreign elements, even if they are made of your mana"


    Kayden didn''t know much about this subject as he never really had the opportunity to go to school in his past life and in this one he gave little thought to subjects that weren''t magically related.


    "So the main factor was the body''s difficulty in accepting foreign mana. They estimate that the person would need to make their organ and perform the surgery on himself. The problem with this is that people with low rank are weak in manipulating mana and the pain of the process is unbearable for anyone to remain sane."


    After finishing his report, Han was quiet, watching the boy''s reaction. At first, Kayden expressed disappointment, but upon hearing the ending, there was a small glimmer of hope in his eyes. The old man thought it was just the boy''s curiosity, never, not even in his wildest dreams, had he imagined that the child wanted to do what he detailed in himself.


    After a few seconds of reflection, Kayden energetically stood up, bowed to Han, and said:


    "Dad, thank you. This conversation has opened my mind countless times." He bowed twice more with excitement. With a little conversation, he was able to find a light on his path. How much time would he lose if he didn''t dare to turn to the old man? Years or decades?


    "Okay, now get out of my office, brat. I have a lot to do." The old man returned to his tsundere mode.


    Kayden quickly left the room and headed after Heimer, since he was at the orphanage, he might as well ask the boy about his father. After a few minutes, he found him lying in the usual clearing.


    "Hello, Heimer. The old man told me you found out. What a friend you are, you didn''t even tell me that little secret." He put on an Oscar-worthy look of disappointment. Heimer got nervous, he didn''t like to lie, but he had to this time.


    "I had no choice, Kayden. The old man made me. He said he wouldn''t take me to the college test. Sorry." Heimer spoke in a hurry, the boy''s nervousness was visible.


    Kayden considered playing hard to get but noticed Heimer''s nervousness and sincerity. So he decided to just ask what he wanted to know from the beginning.


    "The old man said you can tell me. I understand you couldn''t before. Don''t worry." Kayden sat on the floor and was ready for a good story.


    "Well, come on. He''s known as Han, the wall...


    100 years ago, humanity was facing the first big wave of magical beasts. Millions were invading the borders of various kingdoms. The human race had never faced anything of this level before. Many kingdoms were abandoning gigantic cities for lack of ability to defend them. In the sun realm, the government was only being invaded from the north side. In this region, there were 4 large cities, each with inhabitants in the tens of millions. At that time, people''s morale was very low, as they could sleep and wake up with everything being destroyed around them.


    Food was expensive, and few people wanted to risk transporting the roads and have the chance to meet a high-ranking beast that had managed to break through the defenses. One day, the government discovered that it would have a wave of beasts different from normal. It would be something like their last attempt. How they discovered this was never reported, but information about the wave leaked out and spread like wildfire across the kingdom. S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Days later, the king made a special statement in all available media. The king was a middle-aged man with a neat black beard and low-cut hair with a small topknot on top. He wore a black tuxedo, had no crown or scepter, and looked defeated.


    "The news that we will have a wave of beasts is true. We don''t know the exact day, but it will come. Unfortunately, we only have enough soldiers to protect three cities. Me, as a king and a man..." It was possible to see him turn away. kneeling. "I apologize to the townspeople of Nakami ."


    The statement was just that, there was absolutely nothing else. Panic was quickly established. Everyone in town knew they couldn''t try to leave, as the beasts were already too close to do anything.


    Slowly, the days passed. People said goodbye to their loved ones. The streets became silent, there were no more loud noises, and it was like a ghost town. The inhabitants were on the verge of committing collective suicides. They clung to a thread of hope that the elders said existed, but there was nothing.


    Finally, the day arrived. All the inhabitants squeezed into the wall, even though it was an impossible mission, they still wanted to try to defend themselves. The wall and the ground beneath it were full of wizards. From low-ranking mages to high-ranking mages, everyone had the same fire in their eyes. Your goal was to defend your hometown and loved ones. Most who were there were willing to die for it.


    The hours of the day passed, and each minute was a storm for the humans. His heart was getting heavier by the hour. Around 2 pm, the ground began to shake slightly and some roars could be heard from afar.


    "They are 30 minutes from here, according to our information. I ask that everyone prepare themselves," the mayor shouted. At that moment, the atmosphere dropped to deadly low levels, the end was approaching.


    Mages could be seen gathering mana, and swordsmen and knights polishing their weapons. Right now, everyone was sharing whatever information they had, from secret techniques to enhancement potions.


    While everyone was getting ready, a man was seen flying toward the center of the wall. His hair was brown and his eyes were bright red, they looked like they were on fire. His face was square like a soap opera character. With an average height, he didn''t stand out much. But coming to the front, he clapped his hands imbued with mana to increase the sound. This caused a small moment of silence in the room.


    "Hello everyone, I am a general in the army. I am currently deserting my position to come and defend this city." As he spoke, he showed some of his aura. That was enough to quell the screams of mockery and rage in people''s throats. "I know the kingdom may have given up on this place, but not me. I will fight this fight alone."


    For a moment, silence prevailed in the place. It was clear the man was strong, but would it be enough to fight tens of thousands of beasts? Most believed not. The mayor spoke...


    author note: hi, it''s me again, hope this is not getting annoying. My novel is at 82 collections, if we reach 100 by Saturday I will release 3 Chapters on Saturday or Sunday depending on your time zone. thanks for your support so fa

 Chapter 28: Han , the Bulwark.

    Chapter 28 - Han , the Bulwark."I''m sorry, elder, I''m not doubting your ability, but aren''t that many beasts for you to face alone?" Most people nodded in agreement.


    "I''ll go first and when I fall, you can take over, okay? If I die, it won''t make any difference to what happens, but I ask for a constant flow of pure mana every 1 minute."


    After a little reluctance, the mayor silenced the voices that started to speak and agreed, that it wouldn''t hurt and he could help them a little. A group of people was quickly organized for the requested task, but the general said that it needed to be at least thousands of people.


    At that moment, the mayor became apprehensive. That was a lot of mana they were going to waste. The general had to use some good old-fashioned persuasion of the strongest to get what he wanted. After that, he sat in the air meditating.


    Not long after, closer footsteps and roars could be heard. At some point, several beasts appeared on the horizon. There were thousands, from packs of wolves to packs of birds.


    Giant worms, fire crows, raging bulls, giant snakes. Practically a zoo of animals.


    The man opened his eyes and every person in the city felt like a colossus had risen. He began mumbling unintelligible words and making small movements with his hands.


    The beasts were quickly approaching, but when they reached 3 kilometers, they felt the general''s aura. The high-ranking ones were the first to stop, as they felt the strength of the faster man. A line stretching for miles was formed in front of the city.


    After a few seconds of hesitation, they started forward again. At that moment, thousands of fire spells could be seen being cast around the general. There were so many of them that he looked like a sun shining in the air. Some people could hear him speak:


    "I, Han, will not shame my ancestors. Their tombs will not be desecrated in my lifetime." As soon as he finished his sentence, he climbed even higher and the inhabitants could see where so much confidence came from.


    "The sun serves my will." After that sentence, thousands of fire spells started to head towards the herd. It looked like a curtain of flames, but each one was something different, from swords of flames to balls of fire.


    The animals did not expect such a swift attack. The first few hundred meters were charred to ash in a matter of seconds. For a moment, everyone froze. The humans were in shock and the animals were in fear.


    Hope welled up in the mayor''s eyes.


    "Quickly, find more people willing to share mana. We need to help that man at all costs." As soon as he shouted that, he started to gather pure mana along with the pre-selected group of people.


    Thousands of people could be seen simply sitting down and starting to gather mana, practically shutting themselves off from the outside. A beast could come within millimeters of a few''s necks and they would go about their business.


    "Mana," Han shouted and a whirlpool formed beneath his feet. A frightening amount of mana was gathered in seconds. Again he started the strange signals and mumbling.


    The high-ranking animals already had a certain degree of intelligence and saw that the same attack was being prepared again. Quickly, they urged the herd to continue attacking.


    As soon as they started running again, they saw the same scene repeat itself. A sea of flames rushed towards the invaders and turned thousands to ashes. The level of the magic was unreal as it needed to cover at least a dozen kilometers wide.


    The beasts weren''t willing to give up and kept sending more animals. They had millions and they didn''t believe that a single human could hold them back for long.


    Seconds ticked by and turned into minutes. Every person capable of gathering mana was sitting on the city''s ground, concentrating to the best of their abilities. Han remained unshakable in the air, his back as straight as a mountain was visible.


    A wave of flames was released every 30 seconds and Han asked for mana once or twice a minute. This was only possible because millions of heads were gathering mana for him.


    Minutes turned into hours. The situation began to be broadcast on the internet. The funny thing was that it seemed to be without sound from the inhabitants. There was just absolute silence in every corner. Some realized that it wasn''t exactly silence, but rather the sound of a race fighting for its survival.


    After 12 hours, the beasts stopped advancing. Not even orders from superiors were able to make them proceed. They saw how each wave was turned into nothing more than ash.


    The fighting in the other cities had barely begun, but in this one, it was over. Why? The answer was simple. Fear. A man imposed absolute fear on all the animals that were there.


    It wasn''t a rational fear, it was something instinctual, strong enough to prevent any chance of retaliation. The herd was seen returning in the direction from which they came. After not hearing Han''s orders for a few seconds, those who still hadn''t passed out from exhaustion opened their eyes.


    The once-green horizon was gray. There was not an inch of life left in kilometers. As soon as they realized what happened, people started screaming with happiness. Very


    They were awakened by the screams and quickly joined in.


    The deputy mayor opened his eyes when he heard the screams and, realizing what had happened, he ran to talk to his father. Upon reaching there, he saw a dead man gathering mana. For a second, he couldn''t believe it.


    Your father died of mana exhaustion. He forced himself to do his duty until the last second of his life, and even in death, his body still honored his wishes. Placing the corpse on the ground, the man said:


    "Father, rest. You may not be here, but I will make sure your memory is eternal." Tears could be seen dancing in his eyes, but the man swallowed back his tears and looked for the general who had saved the city.


    Han was lying on the ground about 50 meters from the city. When the deputy mayor reached his side, he saw every inch of his body exuding steam, similar to a manica that had overheated. Quickly, he called a doctor.


    After a few seconds, a healer arrived to provide care. It stirred up Han''s body a bit and sent a flow of mana to some parts.


    "I have never seen this in my life. I don''t even know how he''s breathing. Every inch of your body has been used beyond measure. Your mana core doesn''t even exist anymore. He used every drop, and that''s already over 2 hours. He was in this state of pain the entire time." The doctor began to run a hand through his hair as he spoke.


    Meanwhile, on the internet, the general has been given a new name. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Han, the Bulwark.


    In the present day


    "That... is the father that person? He''s practically a living god." Hearing that story made Kayden''s blood boil. One man against millions, that shouldn''t even be possible.


    "I was also surprised. After that, the city took an unbelievable turnaround. First, they erected statues for each of the thousand people who died from mana exhaustion that day." Heimer began counting on his finger.

 Chapter 29: The heart

    Chapter 29 - The heartAuthor''s Note: Special thanks to


    Maloztska24 who showed me a huge error in this Chapter


    "Second, they changed the name of the city to Esperan?a and, finally, the people of the city began to exchange their techniques with each other spontaneously. Today, they are in the top 10 of national championships."


    Kayden was shocked for a few seconds. His father, who seemed like a nice old man, was a legendary hero. Not only that, but he even returned to cultivating after such an injury.


    "This is insane..." Kayden muttered.


    "Really," Heimer grumbled back.


    Back at David''s mansion, Kayden was waiting for the man in the kitchen. While eating, he organized his thoughts so as not to violate the contract by telling him the news. In a few moments, the door was opened by David.


    "Kayden, hello. I didn''t see you coming back," the scientist greeted him cheerfully. The boy was very eager to chat and got straight to the point.


    "I found a way to make it work. I had to sign a contract, so I can''t give you the details. What we needed was for the heart to be in someone for it to work. It has something to do with laws, I couldn''t understand it very well."


    The scientist needed a few seconds to understand what the boy said and, after it hit him, he dropped everything in his hands and smiled from end to end.


    "Come on, tell me everything I need to know." Kayden summarized what he learned and what he could tell without breaking the contract.


    "We will practice how to do the transplant for the next three weeks and try on the first day of the fourth week," Kayden said firmly. David already knew the boy and didn''t even try to argue with the boy.


    Three weeks later


    Today would be the day they would perform the transplant. Everything was fine: the heart was capable of carrying out all the micro-actions necessary for its functioning; Kayden already knew how to expand veins to control the flow of mana after the heart was transplanted.


    He trained thousands of times to be able to mold his mana into the correct shape and impose his will. He was able to do the process with his eyes closed.


    They were both in David''s laboratory. The scientist closed all entrances to the laboratory and used sound insulation in place. Even the light was designed so as not to disturb the process.


    "Are you ready, Kayden?" David brought a bottle of pills forward. "Take a capsule. These are caffeine pills. They will stop you from feeling mentally tired."


    The boy took a capsule and sat in the lotus position. After concentrating for a few minutes, he signaled David to start gathering mana. Kayden was calm, a turning point in his life, and he was ready to go all out.


    Failure was not an option. Today, he would revolutionize the world or die in the attempt. After concentrating, he began drawing mana into himself. The first step was to open up your core and reshape the base of your heart on top of it.


    Kayden finally understood the level of pain he was going to go through. It was unnatural for his body to wreak havoc on itself. Every movement made every nerve in his body scream in pain.


    A cry of pain came from the boy and startled David. It seemed to be a cry from the depths of his soul. After a few minutes, Kayden finally enlarged his core enough to use as a base.


    At that moment, it began sucking up the surrounding neutral mana and directing it into itself. He started by building the smaller cavities and then moved on to the ventricles. During the entire process, his body continued to burn.


    After about 40 minutes, he finished the places where mana would be stored and his mind was already heavy. He didn''t even remember a world without pain. His sense of time was broken. Did seconds pass? Hours? Days? Kayden didn''t know. Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Another 20 minutes passed and he was finally ready to start the smaller details of the organ''s physical appearance. With the mitral valve and liners, every detail has been crafted with perfect precision.


    After 2 hours of this process, Kayden was already lost. He wasn''t able to feel his body, only one sense was present at all times: pain. Every second the burning continued.


    Details were complete, from valves to interior and exterior cladding. David continued to place mana around Kayden, who was instantly pulled back. The boy had already used it enough to break through the apprentice level a few times.


    Now he began to impose his will on the heart and make it follow various laborious processes, such as pumping mana at a certain speed and pressure. Another 2 hours passed in this process, but Kayden couldn''t take it anymore. He had long since passed his limits.


    His body had given up, but his mind was more alive than ever. All processes have been terminated. Now was the final part: integrating his heart into his body and mind.


    There were no studies or data on this. It has never been performed before. He started by making the heartbeat and pumping mana from one atrium to the other. There were still no mana veins.


    His body was rejecting the new organ. He already had one heart, why the hell would he need two? It was impossible to explain to his own body that one of them had nothing to do with his physiological needs. It was time-consuming. At all times he had to stop his body from exploding his heart from the inside out.


    After an hour, he was at the final moment. Now it was time for the truth. He would destroy what was left of the core and cleanse it from his body. That was the most painful part. It was like pulling out a piece of the soul.


    The degree of pain this resulted in was inexplicable. His body was screaming for him to stop, his mind was beginning to show signs of fatigue, and without Kayden noticing, there was a slim chance it could break.


    One last point of residual mana was missing. He knew that as soon as he cleaned his up, his new heart would automatically begin its work and be taken over as a new core by his mind.


    "Burn the ships," Kayden shouted to himself as he cleaned the last remnant of his core. As soon as the work was finished, the child passed out on the floor.


    David was startled. He didn''t know if the boy was finished or if he couldn''t complete the process. Quickly, the scientist supported Kayden on the laboratory bench and called Daisy.


    Instantly, the small wooden puppet appeared and began fussing with Kayden. David was anxious. Did it work out? What happened at the end? After a few seconds, he received a message through the spirit link.


    "He lives, but he is completely exhausted. He pushed his body way beyond its limits. It should take a few days for him to wake up." David let out a sigh of relief and dropped to the floor.


    He started laughing like crazy and crying with happiness.


    "Finally, how many years have I spent studying, finally."


    AN: Sorry for the short Chapter, I have a test tomorrow


    AN: Thanks for power stone ISEKAI_Fan


    I know it sounds strange I thank the simple power stone, but even this encouragement already helps me a lot, Thank you very much

 Chapter 30: The sweet taste of triumph

    Chapter 30 - The sweet taste of triumphA week later, as soon as Kayden woke up, he tried to get up. Today was another day at work and he couldn''t waste time. But before taking any action, he smelled a very strong sour smell. Looking down for the source of the odor, he found nothing. Ignoring this situation, he went to the bathroom and after splashing some water on his face, he woke up completely.


    Like a bolt of lightning, memories flooded back to his mind. The first thing he did was check his body. His mana heart was beating and had grown a small path of veins that barely reached 5 centimeters inside his body. But that meant the experiment was a success, as it was running autonomously. He tried to circulate the mana through his body and noticed that he still had the same difficulty as when he was a rank 1, but this time it was slightly easier.


    As he began to impose mana on his heart, he noticed that it started to beat faster and push the veins a little faster. It was a strange process, as the boy was able to feel the veins growing inside his body. Stopping taking tests, he decided to get ready to see David. He didn''t know how long he slept and he was starving. After taking a shower, he noticed that the bad smell had come from him. Kayden had no idea why.


    While getting ready, He looked in the mirror for a moment and started. His face had changed, it was somewhat more detailed, and there were no dark circles under his eyes that always accompanied him. Taking heart as a side effect, Kayden went upstairs to see David. As soon as he walked through the door, he saw the scientist eating soup and reading a book.


    "Kayden?" The scientist was startled by the appearance of the boy. "BOY, come here, let''s run tests, I''ve been waiting for this for a week." The scientist was so excited that he threw his plate of soup back and didn''t even bother with the sound of it breaking, just set the waste on fire.


    "One week?" It took a while for the boy to sink in. He had been sleeping for quite some time. "Wait David, I need to eat something first." As if to prove his point, the boy''s stomach rumbled.


    David disappeared and reappeared holding a plate of soup, which he placed in front of the boy and urged him to eat. The problem was that it was hard to concentrate on eating when you had someone surrounding you with their eyes to get you to finish it quickly. Once Kayden had eaten the last spoonful, the scientist simply burned the plate and silverware to ash and peppered the boy with questions.


    "How are you feeling? Are you in pain? Have you tested your mana yet?..." Kayden was bombarded with questions, so many he couldn''t even remember the first ones. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Calm down, David, let''s break it down. I haven''t tested it in depth yet, but I''m back to first rank with a slight improvement in the ease of gathering mana." Then the two began doing various tests. A few hours later, Kayden asked for some time to rest and organize his winnings.


    His heart gathered mana while he was doing other activities and condensed it into it. The creation of mana veins only occurred when the heart was overloaded with mana. For better use, he had to decide for himself the paths of the veins. He could control where the growth would go by redirecting the mana. Each cycle took 30 minutes and increased by 0.1 centimeters in length in a single direction. That''s what they managed to find out in a few hours. David was reading books and thinking about the results, and Kayden was sparring with the sword.


    Stepping outside, he began his usual routine of basic exercises. After a few minutes, he noticed that he was stronger. It was barely noticeable, but he managed to swing the sword 2 times more than before. That was a success, not only did his mage rank increase, but his strength was also gradually improved.


    The next day...


    Kayden was organizing his things to go home. The time his father gave him to pursue his goals was finally over. He didn''t have much, it was just clothes. Kayden finished his suitcase and took a deep breath, remembering everything he''d been through in that house, how much he''d had to fight to achieve what he set out to do. Making a small bow to his room, the boy walked out the door.


    "David, it was a pleasure working with you." Kayden liked the scientist''s style. "I hope to stay in touch..." Before he could continue, David, who had been drinking coffee, abruptly stood up.


    "Of course, you''ll keep in touch, kid. I want every detail of your progress documented for me to study." The scientist exploded. Laughing a little, Kayden replied, "Okay, David, just remember we have to keep this a secret until I''m strong enough to defend this secret." This was a topic they had already decided on together.


    "Relax, kid, I know how the world works." The scientist was depressed for a few seconds.


    After a few minutes of talking, the two heard the doorbell ring. Kayden got up and grabbed his bag. David opened the door and saw Han. As soon as the old man''s mana senses touched Kayden, he noticed that the boy had dropped in rank, but didn''t notice anything beyond the ordinary beyond that.


    "Kayden, what happened?" While saying that, he let some of his mana leak out, scaring the scientist. O


    boy hurried to resolve the misunderstanding.


    "Calm down dad, I was the one who chose to regress. I needed this for what I wanted." Kayden didn''t go into too much detail, but he was keen to stress that this action was necessary.


    The old man glared intently at David for a moment. As soon as he calmed down, he called Kayden to leave. "Come on, you tell me what you want along the way." The man levitated Kayden''s suitcase and walked down to the cab that was waiting for them.


    "Bye David, I''ll keep in touch by letter." Kayden hurried to follow his father. David didn''t even have time to respond and found himself alone in the lab.


    As soon as he got in the car, he noticed the sound barrier that the old man put up and went straight to the point. "I succeeded. I think I will surpass all my peers within 1 year." Kayden said confidently. The old man had never seen that air of unwavering confidence in the boy before.


    "Very well, I won''t ask you in detail what you did, but I hope you can demonstrate that you didn''t waste any time." The old man nodded and pulled out a book to read. Kayden stayed the rest of the trip organizing his future.


    A month later, Kayden returned to school and was in his fourth year. Unfortunately, due to going back to the first apprentice rank, he was unable to attend classes and was dismissed until he reached at least the second rank. Most of his peers were at the peak of the second rank or, a minority, at the third rank.


    Most people felt sorry for the boy, even his classmates thought he was too pathetic to bully him. But none of that even scratched Kayden''s mental stability. His progress was ridiculously high, he was once able to extend his veins up to 5 centimeters in 5 directions. The most laborious was not the expansion, but the detailing of the veins to support the passage of mana.


    Today, Kayden was having a small memory lapse. His situation had happened to him before. The boy was in the clearing and Heimer was gathering mana for him. Similar to his advancement as a conventional mage, he was gathering mana in his heart. The difference is that now the man went to each vein and back, similar to an electrical circuit.


    On his first time, it took him a while to get the hang of it, but the breakthrough came naturally. This time he had already used twice as much mana and still nothing.


    AN: Hello hello , it''s me again with my daily thanks, this time I want to thank Kyle_Beatty_6817 and ISEKAI_Fan

 Chapter 31: Progress and a surprise

    Chapter 31 - Progress and a surprise"Keep moving around, Kayden, one brick at a time builds a house," Heimer encouraged the boy.


    "I don''t know what happened to him, but I would bet my life that Kayden is a genius, just not a wizard genius," Heimer thought in his mind with a hint of pity.


    A few minutes later, and spending almost 3 times more mana than the first time, Kayden felt his heart constrict and his veins quickly dry up. An indescribable pain assaulted the boy''s body, but he remained calm. Pain was an old friend.


    "Kayden? Are you okay? This wasn''t supposed to be painful," Heimer muttered and continued sending mana to the boy. He trusted his friend''s judgment.


    Watching the progress that spontaneously occurred in his body, Kayden saw his heart getting somehow a little more potent at sending the manas through the loop. At the same time, his veins began to accept a greater amount of mana with the same space.


    10 minutes later, Kayden collapsed to the floor exhausted. His heart and veins were unusually painful, similar to the sensation of feeling a phantom limb. When he caught his breath, he got up with the biggest smile he had:


    "Pain is necessary for what I want, don''t worry," Kayden reassured his friend.


    "Don''t try to overwhelm yourself for momentary gains, Kayden," Heimer thought the boy was circulating more mana than he should have to force a more powerful rank 2.


    This was a theory often used by those who reached the end of their lives, as pushing mana beyond what is needed causes a destabilization of the core''s foundations in exchange for more strength than its peers.


    "Relax, Heimer, I''m coming back now. I need to digest my progress," Heimer did not continue the discussion. He knew everyone had their secrets.


    The advance consisted of two main steps. The first and most basic was to move forward, and the second was to digest what was gained by moving forward. Typically, this should be done after the base has fully stabilized.


    Back at the orphanage, Kayden was considering writing a letter to David, sharing his progress. Walking without paying attention, the boy came face to face with the old man. Reflexively, Han cast a mana barrier, causing Kayden a minor accident.


    "Watch where you''re going, kid..." At that moment, he noticed that Kayden had advanced to the second rank. Not only that, but he felt that the boy''s body carried at least twice as much mana as a standard level 2. "Congratulations Kayden on your breakthrough."


    Looking at the old man, who didn''t even apologize for the accident, the boy smiled and thanked him for the congratulations.


    "Come to the living room tomorrow at 9 am. Let''s see something interesting." The old man refused to give the boy any more details. Kayden only knew that the government had declared a 3-day holiday, but nothing more.


    "I''ll be there, Dad." Kayden knew something big was happening. It probably should have been public, but this last month has been spent focusing on one thing. He didn''t have time for gossip or anything like that.


    He went to his room and started writing the letter to David. Even though cell phones and communication technologies existed, scientists refused to use something like that for this purpose. It was a secret capable of causing wars.


    The next day...


    The day started normally for Kayden. He ate his breakfast and practiced with his sword. He was getting stronger every day. He had no way of estimating it precisely, but he believed that he had 80% of the strength and speed of a knight of the same rank.


    That might not sound like much, but it was insane when you consider that his main class was pretty much that of a conventional mage. That is to say, he was better than a mage of the same level and almost on the same level as a physical fighter.


    Returning from his training, he saw the old man arranging several sofas outside the house and using a giant holographic TV on a stone wall. That kind of television was something Kayden had never seen. It consisted of two open bars at each end of an invisible rectangle.


    Coming closer, he addressed the old man. "Dad, what''s all this for?" It seemed like a lot for something trivial.


    "You''re too laid back, Kayden. I''ll tell you since there''s little time left." The old man began to create a table with treats. "For the first time in history, the government will broadcast the Sun Academy admission test."


    A slight surprise took over the boy''s face, which was soon replaced by curiosity. What is a continental-level genius capable of doing? What''s the average? What sets them apart from the rest?


    Questions like these popped into his head. Kayden hurried to shower and change into something comfortable. When he returned, he saw several children sitting expectantly on the sofas. His eyes glittered with impossible dreams.


    "Kayden, here!" Heimer screamed. The genie had saved a spot for his friend on the front sofas. S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Upon joining him, Kayden noticed Ryan and the old man on the same couch. Nobody said anything. Everyone was waiting anxiously. Within minutes, the screen received a different image. There was a man in a room typical of the narration of many sports games.


    Dressed in a suit, he introduced himself and began the broadcast: "Good morning everyone, My name is Draven and I will be your narrator for today." Unbeknownst to Kayden, this man was the most famous narrator.


    requested from the kingdom. "I know many must be anxious, so I won''t be long."


    As he spoke his words, the video was switched to an ordinary room. "Academy entry consists of three phases: the test of innate talent. This will not be broadcast. The second is the 100-Step Ladder." Leaving the image of the room that referred to the first test, he was passed to a huge staircase.


    "Made entirely of marble, it is 1 kilometer wide." This caused a ripple of murmurs among viewers. It wouldn''t even fit in the recording. "Each step on that ladder represents a different attack on your subconscious, from panic attacks to rage."


    A series of examples were demonstrated on the screen. "It sounds simple, but you must remember that you cannot effectively defend against attacks on the subconscious. You can train yourself against pain, but not against anxiety and depressive thoughts."


    The image changed to a tiled dais. He was round and there was nothing else around him. "Here is the third test. It consists of a free choice test. You can ask for a battle, make potions, practice healing magic." An example was given for each of his lines. "The most important thing is to demonstrate something that differentiates you from the rest."


    "However, only some of the best performances will be recorded. This will not be live, unfortunately." The presenter made a sad face. Kayden had to admit the man was charismatic.


    "In the end, you can bet on the highlight of the year and try to get some extra money." The man gave a sly smile. "Without further ado, let''s start with the ladder."


    The screen changed to an image of thousands of people climbing step by step. At first, most were fast, but the speed slowed down considerably from the 10th step onwards. As the teenagers were shown, a little about them was presented: name, level, and rank of innate talent.


    Logically, they could not show all of them, but the main ones were disclosed. The amount of 4th and 5th-rank innate talent was frightening. It made it look like there was one on every corner.


    AN: Hello , unfortunately, we did not reach the goal, but today was a very good day for me, so I will release an extra Chapter, I hope you like it

 Chapter 32: Sun Academy and the tests

    Chapter 32 - Sun Academy and the testsConsidering the academy was the apex of a kingdom, it''s not that abnormal. When it got close to 5 minutes, some participants started to float in the air and the narrator appeared again.


    "Those who do not reach step 20 within 5 minutes are considered incapable of continuing the selection process." The man was pointing at a blackboard as if explaining a lesson. "About 95% fall at that point."


    The test lasted another 20 minutes, and had participants on all levels, with the highest occupied by a boy holding a violin. Strangely, he was not introduced and was on the 80th step.


    The vast majority remained on floors below 50. Innate talent and rank didn''t help much in this test. Again, the narrator appeared.


    "Now that you understand how this test works, let''s just go through the main competitors of each wave." The man showed a bored face.


    Then several participants were shown. The surprising thing was that most were above apprentice rank 7, and a few even reached the ninth and final rank. That was impressive.


    Kayden got a reality check with this performance. His worldview was broadened to varying degrees. He already expected something insane, but not to the point where there were so many eighth and ninth ranks.


    The video lasted another two hours and presented several details of the participants and curiosities about the selection process. The number of participants reached 1 million. It was ridiculously loud.


    After those two hours, another man was introduced on stage. He was mounted on a dragon and dressed in formal golden clothing. The moment he appeared, Han whispered: Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "The king''s brother." It was low enough that only those close to him could hear it. With a dragon roar, the golden-haired man spoke:


    "Hello everyone, My name is Leonardo Sol and I am the director of this academy. Right now and for the next 2 days, we are going to begin the true test of our institution." The man clapped his hands and the dragon began to fly. His face was that of someone in middle age and represented a sense of power to viewers.


    "This test has only one goal: to find geniuses. We don''t want mere resource-produced mages. Any vermin reach the ninth rank with money. We want the true geniuses among geniuses."


    The emotion in his speech was visible, and he managed to convey it to others in a 100% authentic way.


    "We want you to show why you are the elite in our society. Only the top 10,000 will be accepted. Good luck." His speech was short, but it accurately represented the wishes of the academy.


    Then some battles began to be presented on the stage, and the narrator gave an idea of \ what was going on.


    "The academy, through a test, selects those who can go on stage. To do this, they must have had an exceptional result in one of the first tests. Only the best will be seen on national television; the rest will have a normal test."


    At that moment, the boy with the violin came on stage. He was dressed in an orchestra conductor''s outfit and had a determined look on his face. When he reached the middle of the arena, a voice asked:


    "What are you going to demonstrate to us?" the judge asked. Many were curious; mages who used non-standard things were rare.


    The screen demonstrated its characteristics. His name was Beethoven and he was in the 8th rank of apprentice magician. His path was marked as a conventional image.


    "Before I order my test, I have one request." The green-haired boy knelt. "My king, I know you are watching. Insolently, I ask that you hear my request."


    The boy''s speech seemed to have been trained several times. There was no hesitation or fear. Against everyone''s expectations, the boy received his reply:


    "Go ahead." An imposing voice resounded. Seeing that he got an answer, the boy continued. I could see his emotion.


    "My king, my mother lost her hearing when I gave birth. She was a music lover like me. We tried different methods, but nothing was able to cure her." The boy''s voice shook with emotion. "I won''t be humble right now. I know I''m a genius and I want to trade my life for her cure."


    Decision shone in the boy''s eyes, a passion that came from the deepest part of his heart.


    "I ask that if I surprise Your Majesty with my presentation, your Highness may consider having me as a slave to the kingdom in exchange for my mother''s healing." The boy''s head touched the ground.


    His sentence moved viewers. The love and determination to do anything for her mother moved the audience. You could see tears falling to the ground. There was a deafening silence for a few seconds.


    "Very well, as long as you surprise me, a man who has seen many things in this world, I will help your mother heal and I will not charge you anything for it." The imposing voice emerged and relieved everyone who was moved by the boy.


    "I want a battle against a peak ninth rank." This phrase surprised many. Normally, a peak ninth-rank mage apprentice was able to fight against 10 starting ninth ranks.


    It was a completely different level, and considering Beethoven was ranked 8th, it was a difference of at least 15 times. Some people who had already bet on the boy, trying to get a quick return, were disappointed.


    plow. A genius was about to commit the only sin capable of making them lose everything: vanity.


    Upon his request, a person covered in black robes and a mask was seen appearing in the arena. He carried a huge axe, making it clear that he was a knight. Perhaps the worst thing a novice could fight, as their spells were time-consuming and mana-consuming.


    "Okay, we''ll start in 1 minute," the judge proclaimed.


    The boy brought the violin to his chin and closed his eyes. Music began to come out of his fingers, conveying a strong emotion of sadness, like that of a sailor lost at sea.


    Seeing this, Han muttered, "That boy is a little monster." That sentence made Kayden pay more attention to the video, but he couldn''t notice anything. The minute passed quickly. The only sound during that time was Beethoven''s violin.


    "Begin," the judge ordered. The ninth-rank mage was just a normal person. He wasn''t a genius and gambled on his best chance. He removed the ax from his back and stepped forward to begin his run.


    The boy continued playing with his eyes closed as if reality couldn''t affect his music. The melody had its rhythm increased; she was frantic as if the boy''s pent-up emotions were being heard by everyone.


    Every step the knight took made people wonder why the boy wasn''t reacting. He quickly approached the boy, but he sensed that something was wrong and tried to sense the mana around him. Anything. It was as if the boy had given up.


    The knight kept trying to figure something out. The only difference was that the music was speeding up. This caused anxiety for him.


    After a few seconds, he finally decided to charge in, leaping in close and bringing his ax down in a decisive blow. Viewers closed their eyes; surely the boy would be split in two.


    "Beethoven wins," the judge''s voice resounded as the knight was suspended in mid-air.


    ''What the hell was that?'' That was the phrase that at least half of the people thought of in their minds.

 Chapter 33: Explanations and choices

    Chapter 33 - Explanations and choicesThe boy finally stopped playing and opened his eyes, making a small bow towards the camera. He descended from the arena, and a ripple of murmurs broke out across the realm. That had been a flagrant robbery, hadn''t it?


    At that moment, the narrator appeared with a smile and said: "I know that many are curious and thinking that this was a scam, but let''s demonstrate what happened. What happened is this..." Draven''s image was paused and then overlaid with another video of Draven.


    "We''ll be back tomorrow everyone. Thanks for watching." With a smile that made it clear he knew exactly what he was doing, the presenter ended the program.


    As the screen cut to black, the children at the orphanage erupted in conversation about what happened. Was it a robbery? Why did they stop like that? But one thing was clear to them: tomorrow was a day when everyone should be present.


    "I don''t know what happened," Heimer muttered. If not even the number one genius at the orphanage knew, imagine the other people.


    "You still can''t see it, but tomorrow they will demonstrate the mana flow of the battle. It will become clearer for you", the old man explained as he left the place.


    Kayden didn''t say anything and just retreated to his room. He was also curious to know what happened, but more importantly, was for him to assimilate his progress from the day before.


    The next day, Kayden started the day with his exercise routine and a good breakfast. At the same time as the previous day, the same set was set up, and Kayden was sitting again in the same position.


    Once the correct time arrived, the narrator returned: "Sorry for the suspense, guys. I''m still learning how to use these technologies." It was obvious that this was intentional, but the narrator knew how to hold the audience''s attention.


    "Let''s get started then." As soon as he said that, the scene from the day before was replayed. "Many couldn''t see it, but let''s highlight the battle mana flow now."


    The battle resumed, and for every note Beethoven played, a small transparent string was released from his violin. At first, there were few, but over time, they became dozens.


    By the time the knight approached the violinist, there were hundreds of strings in the air. With each step the knight took, more threads joined his body. When the man leaped with the axe, the threads wrapped around every inch of his body.


    "Now you could see what happened," Draven chirped in the paused video. "If the knight had taken one more step, he would have been turned into a lump of meat. And luckily for everyone, Beethoven''s hearing has returned."


    Then several other battles were shown, but none were as impressive as this one. Others also did the same as the violinist, but none managed to deliver such a shocking performance.


    Kayden took every minute of the video to learn how the fighters fought, what strategies the geniuses used and other information he could absorb. His conception of the world was rapidly expanding. He didn''t even know that apprentice wizards could exert so much strength, nor that swordsmen could be so fast. It was really impressive for him.


    The recording lasted another 4 hours and featured about 40 fights, something around one every 5 minutes. By late afternoon, Kayden was reflecting on everything he saw. Many things didn''t make sense to him. How did the candidate cast two spells at the same time? How did he move so fast? And questions like that.


    With that in mind, he went to the old man''s office. He knocked on the door and entered when the old man called him. The place was still the same, with hundreds of books and a study atmosphere.


    "Dad, I have some questions about today''s battles," Kayden said.


    "Sit here", the old man offered the same tea as usual. "I could spend hours explaining what each person did there, but most things are just the basics honed to an excellent level."


    The old man seemed lost in thought as he remembered the recording. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Only one fight was impressive, that of the violinist. He was able to generate a trickle of mana with no element and with energy cost so low that not even a peak ninth rank was able to feel it."


    "How did he do it?" Kayden was curious. It was the first time he had seen the old man so amazed by something.


    "I don''t know," the old man chuckled to himself. "That''s the purpose of the test, to find true geniuses, people who are willing to find new avenues of power."


    Kayden had a small epiphany over this conversation.


    "Genies don''t have an increase in the amount of mana or the speed of progress, do they? It''s actually about quality," the boy expressed his thoughts.


    "Yes," the old man sighed. "It''s very easy for a kingdom to cultivate talent to the top, but then what? That''s the question. The government is looking for people capable of going beyond the top." This confirmed Kayden''s suspicions.


    "What level is Beethoven on, Dad?" Right now, that person was the biggest reference Kayden had ever encountered.


    "I can''t say. It''s been a long time since I stopped keeping track of these things", the old man stopped to think for a while. "But I can say with certainty that the boy''s mana manipulation talent is at the final levels of the mage realm."


    Kayden finally understood that the two were on completely different levels.


    , but that was temporary.


    ''I will catch up and surpass him in 7 years'', the boy promised himself and returned to training with rekindled determination.


    Two days later, Kayden was finally back in the classroom. He hadn''t been there for over a year. The boy was eager to learn as much as possible. The day before, the show had talked about secondary occupations like blacksmiths and alchemists.


    This time, Kayden wasted no time watching. It didn''t interest him in the least. Instead, he focused this time on fully assimilating his breakthrough. He had managed to completely stabilize himself on the second level.


    In the same room, there were several groups of students talking around. His return caused some surprise but was soon forgotten. After all, the boy was seen as a failure, someone who did not deserve attention.


    After a few minutes, the teacher came through the door. She was the same person she''d been since Kayden''s first day, a small, chubby lady, almost like the teacher in a teen movie. She walked to the board and wrote the words: "Specializations."


    "Good morning, students. As we spoke at the beginning of the year..." At that moment, she noticed Kayden. "Oh Kayden, I didn''t know you were back. You''re welcome, kid. Class, I''ll explain to Kayden what we''re discussing. Give me 5 minutes."


    The teacher called the boy out of the room for a moment. If there was one thing Kayden had to admit, it was that the government did a good job with children''s education. It was apparent that educators were instructed to allow all children to develop to their greatest potential, and even those with less talent should be treated equally.


    "You''ve been gone a long time, haven''t you, little one?" the teacher said friendly. "Well, what we''re learning about is the magical specialization. At the beginning of the year, I asked the students to pick one or two elements that they liked the most."


    She began demonstrating various elements and their basic representations.


    AN:thanks Saksham_Tomar_3960 and ISEKAI_Fan for the stones

 Chapter 34: Ray

    Chapter 34 - Ray"But why not train them all? The answer is simple. Imagine you are building a city. The more people you have, the easier it is to gather even more. However, people with very different cultures don''t get along very well."


    Kayden already understood what she meant. It was easier to learn advanced spells of a certain element if you already knew a few things about it.


    "It''s the same with the elements, Kayden. The more you know about fire, the easier it is to do more fire spells. I''m not going to lock you up here to waste your time", the teacher had a pitying look at the boy. "Go home and think about which element you are going to choose."


    Kayden was politely dismissed again, but the message was clear: the teacher didn''t think he was up to the task at this point.


    He decided not to go home directly, but to stop by the gym. Since he had gone back to level 1, he hadn''t been able to train with the trainer again. In a few minutes, he was in place.


    Seeing the same door brought back memories for the boy. Time had passed quickly. It had been two years since he had first set foot there. Going down the stairs, he went directly to greet the knight in charge of the place.


    "Hello, Coach," the man looked the same as ever and cheerfully greeted Kayden.


    "Oh Kayden, long time no see. How have you been?" The trainer slapped the boy on the back, nearly dismantling him in two.


    "I''m doing fine," the boy coughed after the slap. "I''m finally ready to get back to training."


    "Show me what you''ve learned during that time, boy." The man picked up a wooden sword from the ground and positioned himself.


    Kayden knew this was not the time for words. It was time to show what he had learned, fighting for his life. He began by inaudibly withdrawing his sword from its scabbard. This has already generated a compliment from the coach.


    "Congratulations, Kayden. I see you haven''t been idle."


    Then the boy started with his favorite position, holding the sword raised in both hands. With a quick step, he approached the coach and delivered a side blow.


    The blow was easily parried by the wooden sword, but it was evident to the trainer that it was just a blow to test the opponent''s strength. Then came many more, but none were strong or intended to harm.


    The coach, realizing that the boy was just waiting for an opening on his part, decided to join Kayden''s game. Drawing his sword up, he tried to land a horizontal slash towards the boy.


    Kayden dodged to the side and, with a swift flick of his blade, sent the trainer''s sword crashing to the ground. Before a breath, Kayden''s katana was already in the man''s chest. It was obvious to Kayden that the trainer had purposely left an opening.


    "You''ve improved, boy. Back in the day, you wouldn''t even have been able to draw your sword properly, let alone take advantage of an opponent''s opening." A smile appeared on the man''s face.


    "I can say that you finally entered the path of the sword. Now you can call me by name, I''m Jarvan." The man held out his hand to the boy.


    "Thanks, Coach. Hope you can keep teaching me." Kayden shook the man''s hand in a friendly way.


    For the rest of the day, Kayden spent sparring with the knight. He couldn''t take advantage of any more openings; in fact, he found himself at a disadvantage in every fight that took place. S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Upon returning home, he began to think about the elements he could choose. There was a wide variety, but he wanted something strong that could boost his current stats.


    What was your fighting style? Neither did he. Was he a magic swordsman or a conventional magician? Thanks to his heart, he could be both, so he needed an element that could deal with damage and add basic attributes like speed or strength.


    Fire was pretty much just an attack spell, it wouldn''t be much use to him. The land? It would be defense-oriented and low on mobility, something Kayden disliked; it was very average.


    The wind would increase his speed and agility, maybe it would be strong in the future, but at the moment it wouldn''t be useful. Water was discarded; although her main purpose was healing, make no mistake, she could also perform frightening offensive spells. The problem is that they were in the minority.


    He went through the variant options and discarded them one by one. It was clear that he was looking for something that dealt damage and could keep up with his skills as a swordsman. Ice wouldn''t do. The heat was a weaker variation of fire. Acid didn''t seem very helpful. Magnetism seemed to be more useful on the magic side. Poisons? They required a lot of prior knowledge.


    After a few hours of thinking, he was left with two choices: Lightning or Magma. The first was a pure element, which would increase your damage and speed, but that''s about it. Magma would be a mixture of earth and fire, offering some protection from the earth element and some damage from the fire element. However, it didn''t feel right for Kayden.


    He could also choose to use both, reaching a balance in all four areas. But that was something he quickly dismissed, since very early on he realized something reading novels: balance is the mastery of fools. If you''re going to choose something, just do one thing and be the best at it. It is not possible to dedicate yourself completely when attention is divided.


    It''s a matter of time management.


    In the end, he chose lightning. It was a destructive element, which would increase his speed and agility. He could even use it on his katana to deal melee damage. Also, it was a common element, which would make it easier to find techniques.


    Kayden came to think of elements like light or dark, but the problem was finding techniques for them. It would be very difficult to progress, and Kayden had no talent or predisposition for them.


    The next day, as soon as he woke up, Kayden went to the library to look for examples of mages who used lightning. Thanks to its flashy nature, there were many examples and spells available. At his level, he was only capable of learning element manipulation. He would need to reach at least third rank to be able to use lightning-related spells. Therefore, he decided to continue cultivating and training. It would be pointless to devote time to anything other than that. Other elements could learn spells at second rank. The elements were fire and wind, among others. Its main feature was the low initial mana cost.


    Another thing Kayden has overlooked lately is the path he heard when he was younger. He knew he had to dedicate a little more time to this or he would have problems in the future.


    He decided to start some self-knowledge and meditation exercises. It was the best option he could think of. At that moment, Kayden was on his way to the academy again. He got there and addressed Jarvan once more.


    "Hello, Coach. I''d like to train again," Kayden got straight to the point, as usual.


    "Hello, kid. Today we''re going to do something different. You''re going to fight other people of your level. If you''re just fighting me, you won''t gain enough experience." It was true, the difference in skills between them was too great.


    "Could be, but against whom?" Kayden was curious to see how he fared against someone of his level.

 Chapter 35: Rank 3

    Chapter 35 - Rank 3"Yan, come here," called Jarvan, a boy sitting on the ground. He had yellow hair and eyes the same color and carried an ax almost as big as himself. "This is Kayden, he will be your sparring partner for now."


    "Hello, Kayden. I''m 12 years old and ranked 5th. My class is Knight," said the boy, holding out his hand with pride for his rank. Kayden shook his hand and replied:


    "It''s a pleasure to meet you. I''m Kayden, I''m 7 years old and I''m in second rank. I haven''t decided on my class yet." Upon hearing Kayden''s age and rank, Yan made a small look of disgust.


    Normally, if you had a little talent, you''d reach 3rd rank quickly. Only after that would the speed of progress slow down. Yan reached 3rd rank at age 6 but only rose to 4th at age 10.


    "You two can start sparring. Don''t worry about injuries, I''m capable of healing anything and if it''s fatal, I''ll stop the battle", said the coach, and the two positioned themselves.


    Yan wasn''t taking this battle too seriously. His body was at least 2 times stronger than the boy''s. Out of respect for the trainer, he assumed the battle stance, but he was oblivious.


    Wanting to get this over with, he landed a low-side slash. Kayden dodged back and lunged at the boy. By reflex, Yan managed to dodge a full blow, but still received a long slash on his arm.


    For a second, he didn''t believe that a mere 2nd rank was capable of hurting him. It infuriated him. His sword came down on Kayden in full force. The boy reflected the sword to the ground, curving its blade, and then placed it on Yan''s neck.


    Fast, efficient, and deadly. These three characteristics were what defined Kayden''s fighting style. When fighting wolves, he slowly got into the habit of making every blow kill his opponent. Every blow had to be quick and deadly.


    Even with the difference in strength between the two, Yan lacked something fundamental: battles with the risk of death. He never risked his life. It seemed silly, but it made all the difference in battle.


    As soon as Yan came to, he looked at Kayden and said, "Let''s fight again. I was distracted on this one." It was obvious to those with experience that the boy fought emotionally and therefore lost.


    "Alright, let''s go." After the trainer healed the boy, the two positioned themselves again. This time, Yan would take it seriously.


    And the expected happened: Yan beat him in just a few exchanges. This time, it was Kayden who asked for a rematch, and... he lost again, and again, and again. It looked like the kid had a burning desire to lose fights.


    They fought for about 1 hour. After that, Kayden''s body was no longer able to keep up.


    "We''re going to fight again tomorrow," said Kayden, feeling he learned a lot that day. Every time he lost, he thought about why and what he could have done better. This was an excellent exercise for the boy.


    The next day, the same thing happened again. The next week was the same way, and the one after that too. Kayden was having the time of his life. For every day he spent cultivating, his mana veins increased.


    The sense of progress was rewarding, something he had never had the opportunity to feel before. At that time, he was also managing to fight Yan with a 50% winning percentage. Considering the age and rank difference, it was simply unbelievable.


    Kayden was sure that if they were on the same level, Yan wouldn''t be able to catch a move from him. This is all thanks to your heart of mana, strengthening both your body and your ability to cast spells.


    Another month passed, and Kayden now had a 70% winning percentage against Yan. He wasn''t able to learn anything else useful from his struggles. The boy''s victories were merely due to his superior strength.


    Kayden asked the trainer for a new opponent and met a spear user. Her name was Samira and she was only 10 years old and ranked 4th. The difference in strength wasn''t too big this time.


    The main problem was the spear reach, which was ridiculously high. Kayden started with a 50/50 chance, but in less than a week, he was already winning 80/100. Once again, he went in search of another opponent.


    It had been about 5 months since Kayden moved to 2nd rank and started fighting other people. During this period, he faced melee fighters, clubs, swords, and axes. They all became sparring partners and were slowly surpassed by the boy.


    It didn''t matter if they were older or of higher rank. Kayden has always compensated with technique and dexterity. None of their opponents had the will to fight to the end of their strength. He attributed this to their lack of life-or-death struggles.


    When he realized this fact, he understood that he would have to look for this type of fight over time or he would stay in his comfort zone and stagnate. Today was also a special day: Kayden would finally reach the 3rd rank.


    His heart was no longer able to support the amount of mana he was channeling. That was a sure sign that he was going to step forward at any moment. So he took the day off and asked Heimer for help.


    In the same clearing, as usual, Heimer was gathering mana for a Kay


    den in lotus position. 5 minutes. 10 minutes. 20 minutes. 25 minutes. Close to the 30th minute, Kayden finally felt his heart begin to crack.


    He had already used up at least 3 times more mana than would be considered normal for a breakthrough. Heimer considered this normal, given Kayden''s talent. It was surprising that he was ready to break through to rank 3 at that age.


    Kayden felt the same sensation as before, his heart felt like it was being squeezed and his veins dried up completely. Again, pain spread throughout his body, and a moan escaped his lips, startling Heimer.


    As he had already witnessed this, the boy said nothing and just waited. After a few seconds, the process ended, and Kayden was able to feel his heart renewed and pumping out more mana than before. His veins were already coursing through almost all of his upper limbs. S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    By circling the mana, he felt that he was at least 50% more efficient and estimated that he should be at the level of a 3rd peak rank despite being at the top of that rank. Kayden estimated that he should be able to beat all of his opponents now, without losing once.


    "Thanks, Heimer. I made it through," Kayden remembered thanking his friend as he got to his feet.


    "No need to thank me, Kayden. We''re friends," said Heimer, looking like he was holding back to say something.


    "Go ahead," Kayden said, also sensing his friend''s embarrassment.


    "Kayden, I know you want to progress, but you''re digging yourself a hole by accelerating progress like this," Heimer said honestly. His concern for his friend was visible.


    An: thanks to ISEKAI_Fan and Louvor_O_Sol_5937 for the stones

 Chapter 36: New skill repertoire

    Chapter 36 - New skill repertoire"Relax, Heimer. I''m doing everything right. I don''t want to harm myself," Kayden assured the boy. "Now I''m going to start learning lightning spells in the library."


    Saying goodbye to his friend, the boy went to the city library. He needed to find lightning spells for swordsmen or mages. Arriving at the place, he had to ask for a card to access the second floor. It was a quick process, he just had to show his core. The examiners didn''t even realize it was a heart. The library was still monstrous, and Kayden walked to the first elevator on the right and went up.


    As soon as the door opened, he was faced with only one floor full of bookshelves. No doubt there were fewer books than on the first floor. This was obvious, considering that the more knowledge you have, the less you have of it. Kayden began to navigate the elemental symbols on the shelves. The problem was that the place was huge. It took him a few seconds to find the shelf of lightning. In it, there were spells from the 1st to the 9th rank of apprentice mage. Kayden chose the book "The 10 Spells Every Lightning Mage Should Know". It took the boy 2 hours to read it all. Spells were mostly attacking and focused on explosive damage.


    Of the 10 spells, Kayden found only two useful. One was called "Concentrated Lightning", which was nothing more than a single beam launched at the opponent. The other was a cloud of lightning that would deal area damage. The problem was that at level 3, the second would be ridiculously weak and waste a lot of mana.


    The boy realized that finding what he wanted would not be easy. Life wasn''t going to hand it to him on a platter. Kayden spent the next week just reading the books and looking up spells. He read at least 50 books in that time. In the end, he listed the top 3:


    1) Concentrated beam


    2) Acceleration


    3) pop flash


    He studied at least 400 spells; many of them were too cumbersome to be useful in the short term or not very efficient. After choosing between the options that would be most useful for his fighting style, he was left with these 3.


    The concentrated beam was something that would deal you damage from a distance and with a good amount of force. Acceleration could increase your speed by 5% if used correctly. It seemed little, but it was one of the most basic spells of this element. Pop flash was meant to be more of an auxiliary tool. Its function was to cause a small blinding in the opponents. It was something very simple: Kayden needed to use two beams together so that they collapsed and caused a strong flash.


    His set is designed to maximize his current best skill: sword fighting. He was eager to see how much better he would get by using these tricks. Today, he started practicing the spells in the same clearing as usual. It was difficult at first, but over time he got the hang of it. It started with the simplest and most useful, pop flash. The hardest part was compressing the two beams enough for them to collide.


    It took Kayden 3 days to get this done. He considered it to be an average time, as his mana manipulation was way beyond his rank. Then he decided to use concentrated lightning. Since his body was constantly being improved, he didn''t need speed at the moment, but rather something to attack from a distance. He felt that, as he had learned to use another lightning spell, this one was slightly calmer. It took Kayden 2 weeks to master the concentrated ray. What was to be an easy task became difficult when he discovered that he had no control over the beam when casting it, that is, the mana needed to be dosed correctly for it to reach the desired target.


    Lastly, Kayden decided to learn acceleration. In the same clearing as always, he was sitting in the lotus position. This time, he went by the book and got it on the first try, but something didn''t feel right. He got up and started doing some basic exercises. Quickly, he realized what was wrong: every part of his body was accelerated differently. When trying to run in one direction, he ended up falling to the ground. Heimer, who had just arrived, witnessed the scene and started laughing:


    "Slipped Kayden? Want help?" I could see the boy''s hidden smile.


    "No need, I''m learning a lightning class spell. The problem is that it accelerates my body differently," Kayden explained to the boy.


    "That''s normal, you just need to practice more," Heimer knew that it wasn''t easy to learn spells initially. Experience was lacking to connect the missing dots.


    Kayden kept trying, but it was just too weird. His muscle memory couldn''t keep up with his body''s new speed. He tried to speed it up a bit at a time to get used to it and it got a little better.


    The improvement at first was minuscule; this acceleration barely reached 1%. However, when he focused on a specific limb, he was able to reach 2%. He arrived at these conclusions through simple tests of the time it took to do an activity before and after accelerating.


    Kayden decided not to focus entirely on accelerating practice, but to introduce it into his morning workouts. In time, he would get used to using the spell automatically. Today, he also decided to finally go back to school. Teaching was very free for students. The school offered


    size and that''s it, but it didn''t oblige anyone to learn. Kayden went back to school only to practice fighting conventional mages.


    Arriving in the classroom, he went to his desk and waited for the teacher to arrive. Seconds later, a chubby woman was seen walking through the door. As soon as she walked in, she started calling out various names on the list. sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Any questions, Antony? No? Everything is in order." As he spoke, he was scratching on the clipboard. " Elizabeth? Neither, very well." It took a few minutes and some doubts cleared before it was Kayden''s turn. "Kayden? It didn''t come again..."


    "I''m here, Professor," Kayden held up a hand.


    "Oh, didn''t see you there, boy. What do you need?" she asked with a smile on her face.


    "I need to fight conventional mages." The answer surprised the teacher. The boy didn''t seem to be able to do much.


    "Are you sure, little one?" Kayden nodded. "Then go to the gym in the first basement and tell them I sent you."


    Kayden grabbed his things, or rather just his katana, and headed towards the gym. He had never been inside and didn''t even know there were floors there. Walking a little way, he arrived at a giant rectangle with an oval cover. It was a typical high school gym. Kayden walked through the door and looked for a teacher. He spotted a middle-aged man teaching a group some sword moves. He waited for the man to finish talking and asked for directions. The man pointed to a door at the end of the gym and said it was just down one flight of stairs. As soon as he went down, Kayden was faced with several circles of mana raised to prevent spells from leaking.

 Chapter 37: Emotions

    Chapter 37 - EmotionsHe was probably in the right place. Looking again for a teacher, he found a woman who looked like a witch out of a fairy tale. She wore a purple tunic and a pointed hat. Kayden approached her resting spot. The area had several couches and some snacks for the students to eat. Indeed, it was a very professional government service.


    "Hello teacher, my name is Kayden, I''m here to spar against conventional mages," the teacher was surprised by Kayden''s rank. Normally, students would wait for rank 4 to start.


    "Okay, just head to one of the arenas, and on the next rotation, a mage will enter it. You just have to leave when you lose." The rules were quite simple: defend your position and if you lose, attack one to take it for yourself.


    Kayden thanked him and walked to one of the circles. After waiting a few minutes, he saw another child appear in front of him. There was no conversation or introduction, the circle simply turned red and the opponent started shooting gusts of wind at it.


    Kayden was surprised and didn''t even manage to withdraw his katana before having his arm cut deeply. When that happened, he dropped his sword and the circle considered him to have lost. All wind spells were nullified in mid-air and Kayden''s arm began to heal with the naked eye. Kayden recovered from the shock and watched as his arm healed. It was a strange process.


    "Hey kid, get out of the arena," his opponent called. Kayden was lost in thought and didn''t even remember it. When he left, he headed for the nearest arena. In it was a teenage girl wielding a staff. It was the first time Kayden had seen a wizard using an instrument.


    "Hello," Kayden greeted amiably. There was still time before the next rotation.


    "You''re Kayden, right?" the girl smiled.


    "Yes, but how do you know?" Kayden was surprised.


    "How could I not know the name of the biggest trash in our school, or rather, in the city?" the girl gave a disgusted laugh. "A level 1 talent should be killed in order not to proliferate."


    Kayden was shocked by the girl''s aggressiveness. Heimer had already told him that there was an extremist group that believed in purification by talent. It was a crazy idea, but it was quite strong in the noble mages group. The boy didn''t take it seriously and just started ignoring her. He has lived long enough to have good emotional control. He decided not to use acceleration yet, it might do more harm than good.


    Withdrawing his katana, Kayden waited for the circle to turn red. He was deciding what to do when he heard the girl say:


    "I''ll hit you hard enough to put you in a coma and spend the rest of your life like a vegetable in bed." That phrase triggered memories in the boy. What he thought he had overcome came back with a vengeance, each day spent in solitude, each week without talking to anyone. His death, Nicolas''s death. Everything came back like a whirlwind. Without realizing it, his breathing became heavy and his hand tightly gripped the katana. Anger. An indescribable feeling of anger swept over his body. But not an explosive rage, but a cold one.


    The moment the circle turned red, Kayden used Pop Flash. The girl was startled and momentarily blinded, using a concentrated ray that hit the girl''s exposed chest squarely. He advanced to finish the service. His sword came down hard on the girl''s arm and opened a deep wound. The girl hadn''t let go of her staff and Kayden aimed for her neck. His bloodlust was palpable. He''s never felt like this before.


    Before Kayden''s sword could touch it, he found himself upside down in the air. When he recovered, he saw the girl crying on the floor. There was a pool of blood on her body, but the circle was healing her quickly.


    "I see you''ve lost it a bit, Kayden. Don''t worry, that''s part of Yasmin''s spell," the teacher appeared in the arena out of nowhere. "Yasmin, remove yourself from the arena." The teacher saw everything that happened and didn''t blame Kayden for it.


    Kayden grabbed his katana and left the arena as well. Even though he won that round, he still felt like he came out hurt more than the girl. His memories came back very strong. He needed to do something to vent these feelings. Something that would stop you from thinking. Anything. Training wouldn''t help. Reading would be even worse. He needed to fight again, but these controlled fights were pathetic. It lacked emotion. They didn''t have that sense of achievement when they won. His opponents were mere children with powers. Kayden wasn''t thinking very well. His thoughts were clouded.


    Before he could leave the gym, the teacher submerged him in a bubble of water. Like magic, his thoughts gradually returned to normal. Your memories became less frightening.


    "You needed to clear yourself of the mana spell. You had a little trace on you, boy," the woman warned him with a smile. S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden pulled himself together and replayed the situation in his mind. It was a strange moment, it felt like his emotions were magnified thousands of times. He headed to another arena. He started to fight again. This time, everything went smoothly. It was a fire user. Kayden received


    some burns on his arms, but he managed to win. His speed was far superior to the other opponent''s reaction time.


    In his next fight, he couldn''t do anything. The opponent simply rained blades of ice in his direction. Kayden didn''t have time to take a step forward. Another fight was with an earth element wizard, he created giant barricades and threw boulders at high speed at the boy. Again he lost. Kayden realized that if he let mages use his spells, he would lose. The boy needed to take the initiative or he would be swallowed up before he could react.


    After several fights, Kayden returned to his home. The time sitting in the wagon brought thoughts of his second fight back. Why did he react so strongly? Was your past still a trauma? What is the meaning of uncontrolled anger? To whom was his anger directed? Your uncle? No, he had already realized this before, but he buried it deep in his mind, the hatred that he still carried, the bitterness, all those feelings that he thought he had overcome in limbo. None of that had been overcome. He just learned to live with it. But one question kept repeating itself in his mind over and over.


    ''Why?''


    ''Why?''


    ''Why?''


    ''Why?''


    He got home and went up to his room with the same thought reverberating in his mind. What''s the point of seeking strength if things so far away and small come back to haunt your mind?


    Did he hate life?


    God or gods? The hospital staff?


    His mind went through everyone he''d ever met. Where did so much hate come from? The girl''s magic should only increase existing feelings and not create them. Who did he hate?


    Minutes turned into hours, hours into days. That question was on his mind. It didn''t matter if he was training or studying, his mind came back with that loose end. Sitting in the lotus position, just listening to the sounds of nature on a random hill, Kayden thought about his two lives so far and how he magically discovered the answer. His hatred, his anger, and all his feelings had only one culprit.


    Just a person who couldn''t change anything. A slave of fate. Doomed to just observe everything against his will. His hatred had a name and a face.


    ''it is me''


    It''s always been him. Since your past life. It was never your uncle or some random god. He was always the source of all his negative thoughts.


    AN:this is a Chapter that I really enjoyed writing, I like to deal with my main character''s psychology and how situations change him

 Chapter 38: rank 4

    Chapter 38 - rank 45 months later


    Kayden spent his entire fourth year just fighting non-stop in the arena. His day would start with early morning training and then about 10 to 12 hours at school. His progress was insane, he learned how to fight different types of elements.


    He still wasn''t able to win most duels. Unlike fighting melee fighters, Kayden couldn''t use his experience to beat ranks above him. His technique wasn''t very useful either, as if he approached, the fight was over, and students usually gave up at the slightest sign of pain. He also hasn''t learned any other lightning spells.


    He preferred to specialize in the ones he had at the moment. Which proved to be the ideal choice. His Pop Flash was able to be instantly performed anywhere on his body. His mana control allowed him to choose, for example, above his head, so he wouldn''t be caught in the light. Another achievement of the boy was being able to use acceleration at full strength, he gained 5% in full body now.


    He no longer had imbalance issues, not only that, he was able to alter the technique to cause an overload for a brief moment and achieve 10% additional speed. The concentrated lightning was mixed with his sword for him to be able to deliver a slash at the same time as unleashing lightning. It could be said that Kayden didn''t have anything spectacular in his repertoire, but every skill was being utilized to the fullest to be the best effect.


    His mana heart was also finally ready to reach 4th rank, the problem was that Heimer was busy training, and Kayden practically never found him at home.


    He would go to David, the scientist had already offered his help before, and this time the boy accepted. His relationship with David was very good, a secret capable of causing a continental war was a good bringer of people.


    After asking his father''s permission, Kayden resumed on a path he hadn''t taken in over a year. The trip was strangely the same as usual, it seemed like nothing had changed since he first came two years ago.


    When he arrived at the station, Kayden saw David waiting for him. The scientist was still the same, with hair like a mouse''s nest and wearing an impeccable white lab coat that didn''t match his body.


    "Hello, Kayden, come on, hurry up, the taxi is waiting", the scientist could barely stand to test everything he could with Kayden. He didn''t even let the boy speak until he got in the car.


    "Hi David, how are you?" Kayden tried to talk to the scientist, but the other was too anxious and any talk from him would be about their secret. So he held on until he reached the foot of the mansion.


    As soon as the two passed through the door David activated the alarm and security mechanisms of the house. Turning quickly to Kayden, the man said: Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Come on, show everything, cultivate, use mana, everything you can do, I want you to show me", Kayden came ready for that and had already asked to stay here for two weeks.


    Your second objective in coming here was to have some real battles against beasts. Only the mock ones were starting to stall his progress, Kayden missing the real danger of a battle.


    "I just need to eat first, David," Kayden''s stomach rumbled in agreement with his statement.


    "I only have leftovers from... someday", the scientist said and this statement caused Kayden to feel d¨¦j¨¤ vu.


    ...


    The two spent the rest of the day trying out different things with Kayden''s heart. Total storage and mana release speed, restoration speed, and how much the body has been fortified.


    The tests lasted about three days, and hundreds of data were collected, some strange that Kayden had no idea could exist, such as the speed at which hair grows, his was slightly faster than the average human.


    Finally, the day came when he reached the 4th rank, It took a long time if you consider the boy''s entire 8 years of life, but if you consider it with a new heart, he went from the 1st to the 4th realm in 1 year, that was completely absurd if compare with the cultivation speed of other children.


    Kayden was sitting in the lab at the same experiment table where he had the surgery a year ago.


    "David, I need at least 3 or 4 times more mana than a mage of my rank", Kayden repeated to the scientist.


    "I know, kid. Do you think I would forget something simple like that?"


    Kayden said nothing more and began the process. He felt ready to pass, it was the same feeling as other ranks. Mana began circulating through his heart and veins at an accelerated pace.


    Minutes passed and Kayden was still on the same landing. 10 minutes and 2 times more mana used than a normal mage. 20 minutes. 30 minutes and 3 times more mana. The process was still far from over.


    Kayden knew it wouldn''t be simple this time. Advancement every 3 ranks was a micro-realm advancement. It was a quality difference. Close to 40 minutes, Kayden had already used 4 times the normal mana.


    His body was heating up, it felt like he was going to catch fire. His heart was like a drum. The pain came before he could make progress. Kayden bit his teeth and continued.


    He had already come too far to give up now. Every second he felt he was closer to breaking through. His body burned more and more. 45 minutes. The pain was unbearable.


    When he reached 50 minutes, he used the equivalent of 5 times normal mana. His body heated up to the point where smoke started to come out of his skin. His heart squeezed painfully.


    This time, he couldn''t even sit still. Kayden dropped to the floor like a rag doll.


    "Kayden!?" David was startled and went to hold the boy, his skin was burning to the touch. Still holding the boy, he felt the boy''s body begin to progress.


    His veins dried up to the last drop of mana. This time, his heart began to transform differently. It felt like it was expanding at an accelerated rate, its mana vessels were also stretched beyond what it was.


    His body started to develop the vessels for his legs and they only stopped when they reached his thighs. He had at least a 30% increase in the size of his vessels. This was very gratifying, it was becoming more and more difficult to increase the size of his pots.


    Finally, Kayden felt his body stop heating and aching. The process was a success. His veins were smaller and stronger. His heart was able to pump out much more mana than before.


    He still hadn''t tested his body, but he believed that it was at least at the peak of rank 4 in terms of strength. And if it used acceleration, it could reach the base of the fifth realm for a few seconds.


    When the boy came to, he noticed a sour and disgusting smell, it looked like an animal had died at the scene. Looking at his body, he noticed a black goo impregnated on his clothes.


    "Go clean up, Kayden. This is the impurity of the advancing process of knights and swordsmen. We''ll have to burn the clothes", David explained to the boy with his nose plugged to avoid the stench.


    A few minutes later, Kayden returned wearing a new outfit. The boy had to admit that that goo was persistent, he had to rub it several times to get it off. It felt like he would be glued to his body for the rest of his life.


    "David, I''m going to take today to stabilize myself in the fourth rank. Tomorrow and the following days, we can carry out the tests", Kayden expressed before the scientist wanted to place him as a lab rat indefinitely.


    David agreed and left to do other things of interest. Seeing the man leave, Kayden sighed in relief. He feared that the scientist would confine him. David''s excitement was simply unnatural.


    Kayden began to farm and watch his gains from this breakthrough. In a matter of hours, he had already theoretically stabilized his rank. Now, there were only a few fights left to effect its stabilization and practical form.


    Over the next few days, the two measured various data again. Some had a considerable increase and others did not change at all. After the tests, Kayden was in the lab with David.


    "David, can you explain to me the differences between geniuses and normal people? Or talented people? Quantitatively, the same as we did in the tests?"


    He had always heard that a genius was worth 10 ordinary people, but how far that was true, the boy had no idea.


    "Let''s get some lunch, this conversation might be a little long", David was ready to give the boy an expert-level lesson.


    The two took a pizza prepared by David from the fridge. Since the boy taught the scientist the process of this delicacy, he practically transformed his diet into something based almost 100% on pizza.

 Chapter 39: Plans for the future

    Chapter 39 - Plans for the futureHe reminded Kayden of a modern teenager. Sitting down at the table, David began:


    "Well, first you should know that the amount of mana in the dash doesn''t mean much." This was something he had asked before. "Normally, a talented or genius person uses 2 times more mana than an ordinary person when advancing." David stopped talking.


    The man continued his irritating habit of pausing in his lines.


    "But that doesn''t have any direct facts with the strength that the person has. We have cases of people using 10 times more mana and having the same strength progress as a person who used the usual amount." This time the man stopped to open the wine.


    "What we consider as a factor of genius and talent is the amount of mana a person can store more than one of the same rank. Usually 2-3 times is talented and 3-6 is genius."


    "But does that alone help with rankings?" Kayden had his doubts. If someone cultivated a technique that expanded the core, he would be considered a genius even though he wasn''t.


    "Not. We also have the comparison in average strength, casting speed, and mana expenditure per spell." This time, the man didn''t stop and vomited dozens of times more than he normally did.


    "David, David, stop. You are confusing me." Kayden had to pinch the man to get his attention.


    When the scientist got excited about something, he didn''t pay attention to anything else around him.


    "I wanted to know if there''s any way I can spot a strong opponent as soon as I see one." Kayden voiced one of his main concerns. It reminded David that the boy was still an apprentice.


    "Mana Sense," David said without expressing doubt. "Right now, you might not even know what that is, but once you reach mage rank, you''ll be able to feel the vibration people cause to the mana around you. The more she causes, the stronger she is."


    It sounded simple in theory, but Kayden knew that a lot of what David said couldn''t be taken literally.


    "Not much to explain to you." David noticed the confused look on the boy''s face. "Believe me, it would be like explaining what colors are to a blind man. You have no basis for imagining."


    David paused to swallow a piece of pizza, then resumed his monologue:


    "But you won''t find genius people. Usually, they go to the big 10 universities..." David was interrupted by Kayden.


    "I''m going to Sol Academy, David," Kayden said without a hint of doubt. That was a decision he made in his heart when he reached the 4th realm at that age.


    At his age, Heimer was ranked 5th, but Kayden knew it was only a matter of time before he reached higher ranks. His determination would do that and if she couldn''t get him where he needed to be, his obsession would.


    "A Tier 3 university is a really good goal, Kayden..." At that moment, David realized the boy''s words. "SUN ACADEMY!!?? Fuck boy, that''s a very high level. It''s not enough just to have rank."


    The number of teenagers reaching the ninth rank was not so absurd in just one city, but if we consider that the kingdom has thousands of cities and each one easily reaches a few million people. Just a few dozen per age already make the number reach the hundreds of thousands.


    "I have no doubts, David. What we created here is enough for me to enter on research merits, but I want more, I want to pass on my skills." The boy''s eyes seemed to be on fire, there was no doubt about it. David felt a feeling that Kayden always passed on to him again:


    Do or die trying.


    "You''re going to have to work hard for that, Kayden." David sighed.


    "I will make it happen." Kayden reaffirmed.


    "Very well, then I have some tips." David retrieved everything he knew about the subject in his head. "First, you should try to participate in the national grassroots championship." David was interrupted by a question from Kayden:


    "What is it, David? I never went or paid attention in class." Kayden expressed in an embarrassed manner.


    "Jesus, kid, what are you going to do there? Eat free lunch?" David snapped at Kayden and squeezed his temples. "Well, in short, every town has a championship between the schools in different fields, yours is combat, I believe."


    "Yes, no doubt," Kayden confirmed to David.


    "Five students per college are chosen between the 5th and 10th grade, below that most don''t even know what they''re doing." David seemed to be deep in memories. "It''s a group battle between the different schools in the city in the first half of the year, and in the second half it starts between the states."


    Kayden was at base school number 7, as far as he knew, in his city there were about 400 schools, not counting private ones like Heimer''s. But even though it was private, Heimer paid nothing, exceptional students were exempt from fees.


    Considering it was just one school in a state with thousands more, the number was frighteningly large.


    "I don''t think you have any difficulties, David. I have already fought other students in my school who are ranked 5th or 6th, usually I only lost by strength and sometimes I even won." Kayden foolishly expressed his confidence, which earned David a smack in the head.


    "Idiot, you''ve only fought useless students so far, the real challenges are those who are in the institution''s closed training, Moreover, you''ve probably never fought those from private schools." At that moment, Kayden realized something, he was always fighting expendable students, that is, he never faced the real cream. Seeing his understanding expression, David continued.


    "With your strength and talent, you should be able to enter closed training now in the 5th year even, but only in the next few years should you be part of the chosen 5."


    ''Did Heimer participate in this?'' Kayden thought in his mind. It seemed quite possible, he until now had never seen another free scholarship student from elite schools like his friend. Probably Heimer was even training to fight in that championship. His friend was always busier this January period. Kayden had never really paid much attention to anything other than his training.


    "Your focus here is to gain experience, and fight hundreds of talented people from different places, This will be your best gain, don''t care about victories or titles." David finished talking to Kayden.


    The two finished their lunch in silence, each lost in their thoughts. Kayden wasn''t sure how he would go about what David proposed, but he was willing to try, this action would probably make a huge difference in the future. sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    A few hours later, the two could be seen outside waiting in the sunshine. Strangely, the day was similar to his first fight against wolves years ago. The wind was constant and the sun pleasant.


    The difference is that this time his hand wasn''t sweating, his heart was still beating fast, but it wasn''t from nervousness or anxiety anymore. His body yearned for the fight, for the feeling of being alive that only when facing something with the danger of life he was subject.

 Chapter 40: An old friend

    Chapter 40 - An old friendA few minutes later, a wolf similar to his first opponent appeared. The wolf was about four feet long, reaching three feet in height. It was an adult wolf for its dimensions.


    Its only difference was tiny white streaks in its fur. They looked similar to small lightning bolts running through their fur. Kayden voiced this observation to the scientist and the man explained:


    "This is an authentic 2nd-rank gray wolf, your species has evolved to control lightning like you, and this causes your body to be slightly altered. Wolves in ninth rank have small lightning bolts swirling in their orbit." David looked excited as he explained.


    The two opted for a second rank this time, as Kayden was already more developed in the mana path. They decided to start low, as normally magical beasts were insanely strong for their ranks. Hardly an apprentice mage can fight on an equal footing. This issue only goes away at mage rank with the addition of fast spells.


    The wolf approached where they were. Its tail was lowered, showing submission to Cerberus. Within seconds, the two were standing ten meters from Kayden.


    "Are you ready boy?" Kayden already had his katana drawn and nodded. "Then come on, Cerberus, send the beast to attack Kayden," David ordered his mate.


    Hearing his order from Cerberus, the wolf cautiously advanced. It started circling Kayden and slowly got closer. The boy was already used to this technique and waited for the wolf to get closer.


    In the past, he used false strikes and various cuts to win the fight. But time has brought significant changes to his fighting style, and his time against conventional mages has made those changes even more evident.


    When the wolf was 5 meters away, Kayden used the focused beam to distract the animal. From the distance, the wolf managed to dodge smoothly, but when he turned to Kayden, the boy was already 2 meters away from him.


    The wolf knew this was not a time to cower. He prepared a lunge for the boy. Its teeth were bared and its paws pushed the ground for its leap. At that moment, Kayden used a Pop Flash that caused the wolf to go blind.


    The animal yelped but continued the attack with determination. Unfortunately for him, Kayden wasn''t irrational enough to go head-to-head. The boy used acceleration on his legs, and for a moment, he surpassed the normal 4th-rank speed and dodged to the side.


    His speed hadn''t even reached rank 5 yet, but he was in an impressive middle ground. David couldn''t remember seeing someone on his level with such high speed. Logically, if you consider families with high-level techniques, the boy was far behind. However, that was just his body being used with a low-level technique.


    Like a breath, Kayden''s katana swept across the wolf''s neck and sliced thinly. The boy didn''t need to damage an opponent he had already lost. The animal fell to the ground yelping and began to run away. Wounded and blind, his last concern was with that fight, his survival instinct screamed louder than anything else.


    "Wow, that was fast Kayden, he didn''t stand a chance against you." David was impressed, it was evident that Kayden had spent a lot of time gaining battle experience to get the most out of every skill he had.


    Keeping the katana in its sheath, the boy thanked the scientist for his compliment:


    "Let''s try a 3rd rank now, David." Kayden wanted to go straight for the beast''s fourth rank but decided not to try to bite more than he was capable of. Arrogance was the most deadly disease on the face of the earth.


    David ordered Cerberus to bring another wolf. While they waited, he approached Kayden with questions about the heart''s performance. Finally, he asked about his abilities and the element chosen by him.


    "Lightning gives me damage for conventional mage spells and speed mixed with damage for swordsmen. I believe it was my best option. All my skills are the most basic of my element."


    That was true. The Pop Flash could be made by an idiot with a little practice. Concentrated ray was also at the same difficulty level. His hardest skill was acceleration. But it just required a little more practice.


    "You planned every detail, didn''t you boy? Your fighting style and skills are almost like a killing machine." That was true at one point. Kayden only made investments in things that would pay off.


    A few minutes later, the next wolf was brought before the two. Its body was practically the same as the previous one, the only difference being that its fur had even more white streaks.


    "Kayden, be careful. At this level, they can use lightning on their paws and teeth. That''s their only ability, but it can cause massive damage to your body." David warned as he ordered Cerberus to release the animal on Kayden.


    Kayden didn''t respond and concentrated on his battle. The inexplicable feeling was felt again. His heart sped up. The wolf was getting closer. It was pretty much the same battle mode as the previous ones.


    Kayden has fought this type of beast hundreds of times. Using the same strategy, he went after the animal. It was practically a repetition of the previous fight, everything was going well. Kayden used the Pop Flash and the wolf was blinded. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    So far, everything was running smoothly. But the world is not a strawberry. The wolf was much faster than the last one and was there before Kayden could dodge. Kayden had to abandon the idea of attacking him.


    This caused the wolf to be able to regain his vision in time to see the boy approaching again. When Kayden''s sword came down, the wolf was already springing against his arm.


    By Kayden''s minor miscalculation, the animal''s teeth sank into his arm, breaking bone and muscle. This feeling was not strange for the boy. But even though he''d been through it dozens of times, he wasn''t a fan of the situation.


    Also, this time the boy felt his arm going completely numb. His sword still caught the wolf''s side and threatened to cut him in two. The wolf backed away and began circling the boy.


    Kayden had his heart pounding like crazy. His arm hurt like hell, even though it was numb. His head and instinct forced him to run. But he stayed. Your sword in just one hand. Incredibly, Kayden was having one of the best moments of the last year.


    The adrenaline. The danger. Being close to death and feeling so alive was intoxicating. With an insane smile on his face, the boy advanced with just one arm. Using the same strategy as before, he attacked the wolf.


    The beast was not an idiot and understood what was happening. It was even possible to see his eyes closing. Unfortunately for him, Kayden already had another plan. A concentrated beam shot from his knee toward the animal.


    Out of his sight, he was hit squarely by the spell. This caused a small collapse of his movements. his mind lost control of his muscles by milliseconds. When he came to, he turned to Kayden in a panic and received a Pop Flash right in his eyes.


    Maddened, the beast attacked the last position Kayden was in. It was easy for the boy to dodge and cut the animal''s neck. Like the first one, this one ran wildly in a random direction.


    Kayden collapsed to the ground and David rushed Daisy to heal the boy. Without the adrenaline, pain assaulted Kayden''s body. He was unable to speak or think for a few moments. The pain was like an old friend that always comes back the same way. It didn''t matter if you knew her deeply, it would always be like the first time.

 Chapter 41: Failure

    Chapter 41 - FailureKayden chuckled to himself. He was longing for it. David, once again, doubted the boy''s sanity. A child of only 8 years old should not have these types of actions. It was kind of extreme.


    It was. For an 8-year-old. But Kayden was not an 8-year-old. He was someone who spent years in a bed just breathing. There was no way to explain the satisfaction of experiencing such intense sensations to David.


    A few seconds later, Kayden finished being healed. The process was fast as usual. The arm was like new. Kayden got up and picked up his katana. After thinking for a while, he turned to David.


    "I want to fight a 3rd rank wolf again, David." As much as he had won, the boy knew how to recognize his mistakes. It was still too green to fight a 4th rank. Yet...


    A few days later, in the same place as their previous fights, Kayden was with David. His strength made another astonishing progress. Life and death struggles were the best teachers.


    His blows were fast and efficient. There was no hesitation or unnecessary thought, and if there was, Kayden was hurt. This progress was similar to Darwin''s law: survive and pass your offspring or die. Only those who adapted could survive.


    "Are you sure, boy? A fourth rank is a colossal step. He will have an absurd transformation between 3rd and 4th rank." David asked the boy again.


    "Yes, David, please have Cerberus bring him." Kayden needed to experience the next level. 3rd rank wolves were no longer worthy opponents of their time. He should raise the difficulty or stagnate.


    David ordered his companion to bring the 4th rank animal. A few minutes later, the two beasts could be seen coming out of the forest. From a distance, the differences weren''t very visible, but as soon as the animal got close, Kayden could tell.


    The animal was at least 30 centimeters taller and 50 centimeters longer. In addition, his fur no longer had so many white tones, but small spots. This time, it was possible to see rays drawn on its fur.


    His teeth seemed to be even sharper, his body exuded a different aura. He no longer enjoyed being just a wolf but a predator born for combat. Kayden''s blood boiled again.


    "David, just step in if I am in definite life-threatening or lose the ability to fight." The scientist had already made it clear that, at the slightest sign of danger, he would interfere. Things like arms and legs could be tolerated, but damage near vital organs would not.


    As soon as the scientist ordered Cerberus to give the order and attack, he let out a sigh. He felt responsible for the boy''s pain. As soon as the wolf heard the dog''s command, he lunged at Kayden.


    There was no longer a restrained fighting style that expected gaps. It was just primitive instincts. Kayden was already prepared. When the animal reached 5 meters, it threw a concentrated beam that was easily deflected by the beast.


    The boy had already expected this and continued using concentrated beams while he kept moving. He was testing the wolf''s strength. When there was a small mistake from the animal, Kayden used a Pop Flash catching him by surprise.


    With the animal''s vision blinded, Kayden approached using acceleration and was ready to deliver a decisive blow with his katana, but at that moment, the wolf opened its mouth and released several rays in all directions.


    Kayden knew that from the sheer numbers, they couldn''t be very strong, but he chose to play it safe and backed away while dodging the attacks. When he was about to resume the battle, the boy noticed that the wolf''s eyes were open again.


    He seemed to glint intelligence, and at that moment, Kayden had the feeling that he was missing something. The answer to your question arrived in your right leg. Excruciating pain assailed the boy and a slight numbness was felt at the site.


    Kayden finally noticed what was happening. The beast could control the lightning bolts he had already released. That was insane. While the 3rd rank wolf could barely use them on paws or teeth, the 4th rank was already controlling the element.


    Seeing the boy''s weakness, the wolf attacked with everything. Kayden saw the beast''s body fill with tiny sparks. The boy tightened his grip on his sword and left acceleration ready to be activated. He didn''t know what was going on, but it didn''t look good.


    Surprising the boy once more, the wolf increased his speed by 1/4 with those sparks. It was 15% more than his acceleration could take him. The wolf got in front of him again very quickly.


    The boy steadied his footing, he was still feeling the numb sensation in his leg. He would still need a few more seconds to recover. The problem is that he didn''t have that time.


    He kept the beast at bay using several concentrated beams that were rapidly consuming his mana. The beast went for a frontal attack on the boy. Kayden wasn''t ready for this. Using acceleration, he brought his sword down on the animal.


    Its blade hit the animal''s side and, unlike the boy''s expectation, the animal only suffered a deep wound. The same strength would be able to cut a 3rd rank wolf in two. Because of this small miscalculation by Kayden, the animal managed to take his arm in one bite.


    Before Kayden could think, he saw David holding him in his arms. That was his last memory before everything suddenly went dark.


    Sometime later, the boy woke up in his bed. Kayden got up when he was halfway to starting his daily activities, and his memories returned. He was fighting the beast, what happened?


    After doing his basic needs, the boy went upstairs to see David. The scientist was the only person who could have saved him. Kayden no longer had any doubts that he had lost that battle.


    As soon as he went upstairs, he saw the man with a plate of food and a book in his hands. This was a common view of the boy, David was always learning something different every day. David noticed Kayden and turned his gaze to him:


    "Don''t even start, Kayden, I''m not going to help you with this anymore", the scientist snapped before the boy could open his mouth. S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Explain to me what happened before, please, David, I just remember being bitten by the wolf this morning", Seeing this, David seemed to have his memories back to that day and he frowned even more.


    "MORNING!!?? YOU''VE BEEN SLEEPING FOR 1 AND A HALF, YOU BOY", David looked enraged, for the first time in his life, Kayden heard the most elaborate insults that a human being was capable of uttering.


    It took Kayden a while to understand why the man was angry, but once understanding hit him, he felt mentally warmed.


    David was worried about him, which is why he had such a strong reaction. Seeing that the boy was not knowing what to do, the man said:


    "Sorry, I got a little carried away", a little was a word that didn''t fit in this scenario. "After you were bitten, the wolf discharged a high amount of electricity inside your body, You are only alive because I prevented him from being able to stick to you for a long time, half of your organs stopped working."


    The scientist was silent for a few seconds. This situation made him realize that he cared for Kayden much more than just a research buddy. He didn''t know how to express his feelings, but he looked something like an older brother.


    "Daisy had to work for almost half an hour just so you could get back to normal, I thought you were going to get better boy", This sentence shocked Kayden.


    He almost passed to his 3rd life. Fortunately, the scientist was ready to save him. Kayden should be feeling scared right now, but there was nothing. He didn''t regret it. He did what he needed to pursue his goals.


    AN:AN: I''m using a new text organizer, so if you see any errors please make a paragraph comment

 Chapter 42: Again

    Chapter 42 - Again"I would like to fight the beast again, David." Kayden''s look was one of pure determination and it enraged the scientist all over again. Kayden went through another round of curses worthy of resetting the penal code from end to end. When the scientist calmed down, the boy blurted out his ultimatum:


    "If you don''t help me, I''ll do it myself, and this time you won''t be there to help me." Kayden would do it again one way or another, but he''d rather have David''s help with him. David was silent this time, it made no sense to him. Why all this obsession?


    "Kayden, why are you so obsessed with progressing like this? To the point of risking your life for small improvements?" His question took the boy by surprise. Kayden expected another round of abuse.


    Sitting down in the chair across from David, the boy gave the scientist''s question some thought. Why was he trying so hard? With his heart of mana, he could progress slowly and lead a peaceful life.


    The minutes it was passed. David didn''t interrupt Kayden''s thoughts. Minute after minute, Kayden''s head tried to search for an answer. It wasn''t something that took a lot of time. Turning to David, he said:


    "People value their lives above their goals, but what''s the point if after living for years you can''t achieve it? You chose not to take risks and achieved nothing. I struggle out of fear. Fear of being mediocre. Afraid of wasting the only chance I have."


    Kayden''s gaze regained lucidity as he solidified his ideas and presented them to David. Today he took another step in knowing himself.


    "What''s the point of leading a life identical to that of millions of others? Being born, growing up, falling in love, graduating from college, getting married, buying a house. It looks like a mouse running around in circles. There is nothing new, just something predictable and commonplace."


    The boy''s phrase shocked the scientist again. He had never thought of it from that point of view. Unbeknownst to Kayden, David was someone who had been stuck for years. This brief conversation with the boy reignited his teenage desire to conquer the world and rise to the top.


    After a few seconds of silence, David looked into the eyes of the boy who had probably changed his life.


    "Whenever you want, I''ll be there."


    "Thank you, David."


    The wind was whipping Kayden''s robes hard. The sun shone brightly on his sword. The grass shivered with the passage of air. Birds sang in the trees. It looked like a movie scene from a rural area.


    This landscape was seen as peace for the boy. There were no problems, everything was calm, and the a steady flow of life. Kayden was there to fight a 4th rank beast again.


    David didn''t ask if Kayden was ready. Just asked Cerberus to bring the same beast again. While the two waited, Kayden replayed the last fight in his mind, trying to predict what would happen in this one. S~ea??h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    A few minutes later, the same scene as before can be seen. The giant dog was leading the wolf like a sheep being led by the shepherd. As soon as Kayden saw him, he went through something he hoped he''d gotten over.


    As in his first defeat, his palms began to sweat. His heart sped up and his throat went dry. His instinct screamed only one thing: run. Run away. Turn around and leave. Don''t fight.


    Taking a deep breath, the boy drew his katana from its sheath. His body was practically going through a panic attack, but his mind was crystal clear. There was not an ounce of doubt or hesitation.


    He knew what he had to do. Either he overcame his fears or they would consume him. Readying his battle pose, the boy nodded at David. The scientist relayed the signal to the dog and it all started again.


    The wolf took off at speed towards the boy. This time, Kayden was ready and he ran towards the animal. It was no use changing his fighting style because the opponent was stronger than him. Kayden must do what he was used to and do his best.


    Just before they met, Kayden used a Pop Flash. It wasn''t the first time the wolf had seen this trick and he recovered almost instantly. What he didn''t expect was the concentrated beam hidden with the spell.


    His body was paralyzed for milliseconds and Kayden used that window of time to get even closer to the beast. When she recovered, she saw the katana blade approaching her body quickly.


    The beast had small rays materialize in its body and dodged the blow. When she was at a distance that she considered safe, she opened her mouth to shoot lightning at the boy. Unfortunately, at that moment, she received another concentrated beam.


    The same scene was repeated, but when trying to move away, the wolf saw another ray coming towards him. He didn''t have time to dodge, he was already moving away from the sword. Preferring the bolt over the blade, the wolf continued its retreat.


    Kayden took advantage of the beast''s embarrassment and, using acceleration, quickly approached it. For a few seconds, this was repeated several times. The wolf couldn''t get off the defensive. He was faster and stronger than the average human boy, but he never had an opportunity to attack him.


    Kayden was improving the execution of his moves each time this situation came up. After a few seconds and seeing a slight sign of fatigue in the wolf, the boy tried another strategy.


    When a concentrated ray was supposed to come out, a Pop Flash came out. The wolf had no time to react and took the spell with wide eyes. This caused the beast to panic and it tried to shoot lightning in all directions again. But before he could open his mouth, he felt a tingle in his throat and the muscle went numb.


    Kayden approached using acceleration and passed the katana harmlessly across the animal''s neck. The beast, feeling the metal in its throat, lost any will to fight and began to run. If he hadn''t been blind, he could have continued fighting.


    Kayden looked down at his hands. They were shaking. The boy put the katana away and took a deep breath. His body stilled. He had won. No injuries, it was a practically one-sided fight.


    "Congratulations Kayden, that was impressive," David spoke sincerely. A minority of wizards were capable of fighting beasts and of those only a fraction could do what the boy did.


    What about 4th-rank apprentices? Probably only those who had early training. Kayden turned to David with a look of realization.


    "Again"


    **


    That was the last week of January. The college tests had all come to an end. Or at least almost everyone. There was still the one that everyone was anxiously waiting for.


    One that caused dreams in every child in the kingdom and admiration in adults. The Sol Academy. Once again, his entrance test would be shown on national television. This time, Kayden knew what was going to happen and had already scheduled himself to watch the show over the weekend.


    The days passed quickly. Without school, the boy would wake up in the morning and train until bedtime. With the day full like this, time seemed to fly by.


    Friday, Kayden woke up and went downstairs to the orphanage. He performed his morning training after a hearty breakfast and headed to the backyard. As he arrived early this time, he could see the old man levitating different sofas and food in the same position as last year.


    After offering help and being bluntly refused, Kayden sat down on the ground and started cultivating. Every second should be used to the fullest. Seeing this attitude, the old man cracked a small smile to himself.


    AN:A small special thanks to ISEKAI Fan , he has been supporting and helping the work for some time , my sincere thanks

 Chapter 43: Second test

    Chapter 43 - Second test''I don''t know what this kid started two years ago, but it has undoubtedly changed him completely, he has already surpassed all of his peers.'' That was true, at the orphanage only Heimer could be counted in the sense of talent on par with Kayden.


    The minutes passed quickly and soon everyone was sitting on the couches waiting for the program to start. Kayden had Heimer and Ryan glued to him.


    "As? I close my eyes for 1 month and you pass rank?" Heimer voiced the two''s doubt aloud. Kayden was prepared for that kind of question. Its advance was tremendously fast.


    "It''s a matter of talent, Heimer, you won''t understand." This response resulted in Ryan hitting Kayden in the head.


    "You only have a rank 1 innate talent, Kayden, what''s the catch? We''re friends, aren''t we?" Ryan was impressed, but before Kayden could say anything, the screen flashed to Draven as the presenter again.


    "Good morning ladies and gentlemen. I am happy to see everyone gathered together again to see this wonderful display of talent from our kingdom. So, without further ado, let''s get to the test presentation."


    A repeat of last year''s explanation appeared, it was the same tests again. Innate talent, the ladder, and the final test. This should be a model that came from years of use.


    "Wake me up when I get to the battle part." With that sentence, Kayden closed his eyes and shut out the world around him. He had no interest in watching people climb stairs, his time was limited, not really, but that part of the show was shit to watch.


    "Lunatic," Heimer cursed under his breath and started watching the program. Unlike Kayden, the other kids see this moment as entertainment and not something to gain experience.


    A few minutes later, the finalists on the ladder appeared. Like last time, there were few on high steps and the biggest was at a staggering 85, topping Beethoven by a full 5 steps.


    It was a girl holding a forge hammer behind her back. Her hair was red, and her height of nearly six feet made her look like a Valkyrie straight out of the legends of Asgard. The small offending effect was that his hammer was at least 40 centimeters long and on his belt was another one of only 5 centimeters.


    "Kayden, wake up your bum, No more sleeping there!" Heimer threw a glass of water at the boy. Locked in his mind, Kayden snapped back to reality. Glaring at the two beside him, Kayden was about to play the prank back.


    Seeing this, Heimer pointed to the old man sitting next to them. Kayden didn''t know what to do, on the one hand, it seemed unlikely, but it suited the man''s personality. For that reason, the boy just sat comfortably and waited. The girl''s information was not passed on and soon Draven appeared on the screen:


    "Okay, let''s start with our director''s keynote speech, and then we''ll move on to the third and final test." The image of the narrator was cut and Leonardo Sol appeared.


    Unlike the other time, the man was riding a giant golden wolf. Matching the color of its fur, the beast''s eyes were molten gold, magnificent to look at. Leonardo began his speech:


    "Hi everyone, thank you for coming along for our test this year. Our goal remains the same." The wolf howled and caused a small flutter in everyone watching. Even behind the scenes, that animal was capable of causing fear in viewers.


    "We want true geniuses, we want those capable of guiding the future of humanity." His voice rose in pitch and gained emotion. "We want people who can hold our entire country against the world if need be, and we will spare no effort to do so. Good luck to all competitors."


    The man''s speech was short but managed to convey all the feelings that should have been conveyed. It was clear what the academy was after. It wasn''t just the best, it was the best of the best. The champions of champions.


    After Leonardo''s image left the screen, Draven appeared again. With his friendly smile, the man began to pass on the information about what would happen now. In the same model as last year, the best candidates could make a presentation on the platform.


    The first candidate rose and, like last year, was the winner of the second challenge. The girl with the hammers took the stage. His walk was just a thrill. Trust. The purest confidence that only geniuses would have.


    His presentation started on the screen. Her name was Honoka Hoshizaki, his name meant something similar to glowing flames. The girl was at the impressive peak of the ninth realm. The ninth realm was not rare in this competition, but those at the peak of it were an absolute minority among the competitors. His innate talent was incredibly high as well, he was ranked fifth.


    When the girl reached the middle of the stage, a voice could be heard:


    "What are you going to show us?" It was a voice without gender or any distinguishing characteristics. That was the voice of the competition judge. Honoka answered directly and confidently:


    "Forge, I would like an elder to test the quality of my equipment." The request surprised the viewers, unlike the previous year there were no highlights in the secondary classes, but the combat ones always had a focus and were presented first.


    "Very well, use this space to forge." Various instruments were presented on the stage, from different anvils to weapon molds. Some instruments had their obvious use, such as cooling barrels, but others were very different, anyone who was not used to the procedures of this branch of magic had no idea what they were used for.


    Various materials were placed on a workbench, from ordinary materials to gigantic bones of magical beasts, it was truly a test worthy of the greatest academy in the realm. The judge continued:


    "Take your time, the longer the forging time, the better your result should be. The test starts in 1 minute, Good luck." As soon as she heard the command, the girl started to go to the forge and choose the equipment she would use.


    Her choice of material was a simple-looking ore, it didn''t appear to have anything out of the ordinary. Then she took some pieces of noble wood and started to heat the furnace.


    The process was done slowly and carefree. The girl put the metal on the fire and took a book out of her pocket... sitting on the bench, she began to read as if she were walking in a park on a sunny afternoon.


    Her behavior was not befitting that of a candidate for the greatest university in the kingdom. Every few seconds, she would kick the metal or turn it over with her toe. Her behavior caused laughter in some and anger in others.


    A few minutes later, she got up, the material was already red due to the high temperature, even so, it still had a hardened appearance, which proved that it was not a normal metallic alloy.


    Taking her two hammers out of her pocket and using the big one with her two hands and the other with mana, the girl started hammering the material. Her beats seemed to be random, there wasn''t a very regulated pattern


    . While the big hammer hit a few times and very hard, the small one was rhythmic with weak and constant hits. A few minutes later, she placed the material on the fire and opened her book again.


    At some point that few noticed, the girl put on a small earphone and started humming the most played songs of the moment. At the same time, he opened his book again.


    This time, it was possible to see what the girl was reading. It was certainly something aimed at deepening knowledge about forging, a material worthy of a genius, viewers thought. The title of the great work was... An Erotic Romance Story for Single Adults. Well... it was a bit of an offbeat read, no doubt. S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 44: Impressive

    Chapter 44 - ImpressiveThis cycle lasted for at least 3 hours, according to the program timer. After 5 minutes, the program sped up the video several times, as it would be extremely annoying to see the girl repeating the same thing for so long.


    Each cycle made it clearer what the girl was trying to do. Little by little, a giant sword took shape, even its sharp part was made of hammers, strange as it was. When the sword was molded into a good shape, the girl left it to cool in the cooling barrels.


    The girl took a knife out of her pocket and began to carve into the wood she had selected. Like the metal alloy, the weapon''s handle slowly began to take shape. Little by little, the image of a Chinese dragon coiled around the cable was seen.


    Viewers did not know about Honoka''s blacksmithing skills, but undoubtedly her artistic gift was present. The dragon was beautifully sculpted, from its eyes to its scales, a museum-worthy work of art.


    After a few minutes, the girl fitted the two parts together and, when everyone thought she was going to finish her test, people saw her taking a brush and several bottles of paint from her pocket. It was a lot to have in a pants pocket, but that was okay. The girl had already done so many strange things that it didn''t even surprise anyone anymore.


    She started by applying red paint to the blade, it was dark red. He spent his brushstrokes as if it were a hobby. As soon as he finished the blade, he started painting the handle black. The contrast left the weapon looking beautifully crafted.


    "I finished my work", the girl placed the completed sword on the table and announced nothing. The judge''s voice materialized like magic: "One of our elders will check your work, your identity will remain hidden." Once the voice ended, a male figure was seen climbing onto the dais. I couldn''t identify any of its features.


    The figure slowly walked towards the forging space. It had neither a fast nor a slow step, and it quickly arrived in front of the sword. Taking it in his hands, the old man asked: "Have you given it a name yet...?" The figure stopped his sentence in mid-sentence. "That... Mage rank, impressive." As soon as that sentence came out of the figure''s mouth, the audience split in two. Those who knew about forging were speechless and those who didn''t continued as if it was nothing. The screen froze and Draven appeared: "Those who understand what''s going on here, please explain to the ignorant how awesome this was." The man had a smile as if he knew what was going to happen in a few seconds.


    At the orphanage, no one understood about forging. It was a profession rarely chosen by children, as it required a lot of patience and willpower to make even the simplest of weapons. Seeing the children''s silence, Han said: "Normally, blacksmiths can only make weapons one level below their rank. That is, a level 9 blacksmith will only be able to make level 8 weapons. It is difficult to get something at his level and practically impossible to make something above. And I have never seen a blacksmith capable of overcoming the difference in realms." Everyone was paying attention to the man''s words, his voice imposed a tone of silence on the little ones.


    Draven appeared on the screen as soon as the man finished speaking.


    "Looks like you guys have already seen how impressive this was, let''s continue with the video." The image returned to the old man observing the weapon. The girl didn''t seem to be paying much attention and continued reading her book in a carefree manner.


    "My verdict is that the candidate is approved." With that sentence, the recording ended.


    At the orphanage, the children began to spread out and go do other things. Kayden was no different. The boy went to train in the clearing with Heimer. The day was without sun and with cold winds, an uninviting climate for training.


    "Heimer, have you ever fought in school championships?" Kayden asked something that had been on his mind lately. Heimer was taken aback by this question and, after thinking for a few seconds, replied:


    "Yes, I entered the 5th year and won the state championship consecutively for the last 3 years, only now in the ninth year that I lost." Heimer still seemed not to have accepted defeat.


    "What rank are you, Heimer?" The last time they discussed their ranks, Heimer was ranked 8th, but that was a long time ago. Without a doubt, the boy must have progressed.


    "I already told you that this kind of question is rude, Kayden", the boy tried to lecture Kayden, the same way he did every time he was asked the same question. "But I am ranked ninth," Heimer said with a twinge of pride.


    Kayden was shocked for a few seconds. Heimer was only 12 years old and already ranked ninth. This once again demonstrated the difference innate talent can make to cultivation speed.


    "And how do you fight, Heimer? You once told me you use matrices, but I have no idea how that works." In all of the boy''s friendly battles, he never saw anyone using arrays like his friend.


    "It''s very simple. You draw a picture in your mind and place mana at different points with different strengths. Depending on what you did, something happens." Heimer explained it simply, his tone made it seem like it was child''s play.


    "I see..." Kayden started practicing his sword movements and Heimer took out a book to read.


    1st day of 5th grade class


    Kayden woke up early and went about his routine as usual. He took the train and headed to school. He wouldn''t pay much attention in class, the boy only went because he was forced by the old man. As soon as he arrived, he headed to his usual place. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Over time, more students arrived. Kayden was cultivating while the teacher didn''t arrive, this prevented him from hearing the small murmurs that started around him.


    "Is he ranked 4th?"


    "How is this possible?"


    "Wasn''t he useless?"


    Things like this started to spread like wildfire among the kids. One of them, who was in rank 3 and was considered the strongest in the room, couldn''t take it and went arrogantly to Kayden''s table.


    With a loud slap on the table, he got Kayden''s attention. The boy didn''t understand what the other wanted and asked:


    "Some problem?" Kayden never really had contact with anyone in his class and didn''t know how he could have offended the child in front of him.


    "I order you to tell me what you used to reach 4th rank." The boy felt entitled to demand things from others just because he was considered the strongest in the room. Kayden realized that the boy in front of him was nothing more than a spoiled brat.


    "Get out, I don''t have time to waste on you." Kayden returned to cultivating and ignored the boy''s existence. This infuriated the child even more. He reached up and slapped Kayden across the face.


    AN: I''m traveling and won''t release Chapters tomorrow, sorry /:

 Chapter 45: Dispensed

    Chapter 45 - DispensedAN: Sorry for the delay, I didn''t have time to write these days,


    "A waste of talent who thinks he has the right to retort something I..." The boy couldn''t finish what he was going to say. After feeling the slap, Kayden reacted automatically, using a concentrated beam and punching the boy in the chin.


    Before the boy could even think about what happened, Kayden already had his sword pointed at the boy''s neck.


    "You...". Kayden slapped the blunt part of the blade across the boy''s face.


    "Still! I don''t mind you being funny like the little shit you are, but if you touch me again, I''ll cut your throat like a chicken." The blade''s edge passed lightly past the boy''s neck, close enough for him to feel the cold air of the metal.


    Before the boy could start crying, the teacher appeared at the door. All the noise in the room quickly fell silent. The boy on the floor was still in shock, but when he saw the teacher, he started shouting:


    "Teacher, help me! Kayden went crazy and tried to kill me!" The boy made a scene worthy of an Oscar, unfortunately for him, the teacher saw everything that had happened.


    "Kayden, come with me." His tone of voice was calm . "And you," she looked at the crying child on the floor, "go to the principal''s office. His attitude was outrageous. We expect more from our students than that."


    His tone of voice was indisputable. Kayden was not anxious. He already expected his actions to have consequences, but they probably wouldn''t be very serious since he didn''t do anything. It was just a warning not to bother him again.


    Upon leaving the room, the teacher asked Kayden to follow her. It was a few minutes of silence until she opened her mouth:


    "Boy, I don''t know what to do with you." His tone seemed to express several feelings, but the most prominent one was tiredness.


    "I will accept any punishment, teacher, don''t worry." Kayden had affection for her tutor, she always tried to teach the boy what she could and never despised him like other people.


    "It''s not about that now, kid. I say about your teaching. Students normally only reach 4th rank when they are 10 years old or older. I could send you to the best classes in our school, but no teacher will accept you."


    The question wasn''t about Kayden''s talent, but rather his potential. A level 1 innate talent was something no teacher would want to take on, as the boy would likely not progress. Reaching the fourth rank was already considered a miracle by many. S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The teacher sighed and said:


    "I can''t give you private lessons just because you''re in front." His face had a look of conflict. "You''re free, kid, until 7th grade at least. You can still look for me to ask questions."


    The teacher expected to see a look of joy on the boy. Normally, children didn''t like studying the theoretical part of magic. But there was nothing. Kayden didn''t show any significant reaction.


    "Okay, teacher. Could you tell me who I can talk to about getting on the high school competition team?" His question surprised the woman.


    "Of course, Kayden. You should look for Professor Nila on the deepest floor of the gym." The teacher was happy to help the boy, even with something as simple as that. Kayden bowed to his first teacher.


    "Thank you, teacher. I will take your teachings to life." His words were sincere. In 5 years, she was the only one who reached out to him at school.


    "Don''t be silly, boy. I did nothing but my duty." The teacher smiled. Kayden said goodbye to her and continued looking for teacher Nila. The path was not strange to him.


    He went down the first flight and saw the conventional magicians fighting each other. It seemed to be the same scenario as always. Kayden went down one more flight. He didn''t know what was below. The boy never came down or was curious to know.


    The second floor was filled with warriors training, from swordsmen to knights. It was similar to the gym Ryan first introduced him to. Kayden went down one more flight. The third floor surprised him. It was a gigantic counter with several counters and cauldrons.


    He didn''t even know this existed at school. He paid attention for a few seconds and soon lost his curiosity. He went down another flight of stairs. This time, it was a place full of furnaces and people hammering different things. There were strong air exhaust fans to remove smoke from the place.


    Kayden went down another floor and this time... there was nothing. It was just an empty place, in its center a woman was sitting at an office table. She seemed to be bored.


    His attention was on a computer screen. She didn''t even notice Kayden''s steps towards her. The woman appeared to be in her 20s and seemed out of step with the other prehistoric students at the school.


    "Hello?" Kayden tried to speak in a low tone so as not to scare the woman. But it did not work. The secretary jumped up from her chair and let out a small cry of surprise. The woman quickly regained her calm and pretended nothing happened.


    "Hello, I am the secretary of the elite team. How can I help you?" His speech surprised the boy. Even a team from a random school had an office for themselves.


    "I would like to speak to Professor Nila, please." Kayden tried to be as polite as possible. The woman''s eyes sparkled in understanding.


    "You want to join the team, don''t you?" The woman didn''t give Kayden a chance to speak and continued: "The process is very simple. You need to beat the last-placed team and you will be entitled to a place. It''s a simple 1-on-1 fight, with the same rules as a duel." The woman seemed to have said that a thousand times.


    Kayden thought for a moment about what she said. It seemed to be very simple. He expected a few more tests or another assessment method. But it made no difference to him. His intention was only to join the team and not to prove his abilities.


    "When can I fight the last-placed team?" The boy directly expressed his will. The woman appeared to check something on her computer before turning to Kayden.


    "Right now, but I must warn you that if you lose, you must stay 4 months without challenging anyone. We need to prevent incessant challenges. I hope you understand."


    "Very well, I want to fight right now, please." Kayden didn''t feel like he needed to prepare. He was at his best. Hearing the boy''s request, the woman asked him to wait a moment.


    A few minutes later, the floor opened up, revealing another staircase. Out came a girl wearing heavy cold clothes. It looked like I was going to face a blizzard. His hair was blue and so were his eyes.


    But what surprised Kayden was the amount of clothes. It wasn''t even cold that day. The girl headed towards a circle that appeared behind the secretary. Kayden hadn''t even noticed when he appeared.


    "Boy, please come to the circle. Your fight will start 10 seconds after stepping on it." The process was carried out quickly. It seemed like the intention was to avoid wasting the elite students'' time. Kayden walked to the edge of the circle and positioned himself with the katana.


    After 10 seconds, the secretary clapped her hands and the two took that as a sign to start fighting. Kayden instantly started with a Pop Flash. This was one of his strongest weapons.


    The girl was attentive, but not for something simple like that. Kayden charged at her. His opponent threw several icicles to slow his movement. There were so many that Kayden couldn''t even see the person behind them.


    "That almost got me, What a scare!" The girl wiped the cold sweat from her forehead. Kayden took every battle seriously and didn''t say a word. His response was a concentrated beam shooting out from his sword.


    The girl erected a wall of ice and hid behind it. His attacks began to rain down on Kayden. Spikes and spikes of ice were thrown out without stopping. Kayden had faced opponents of this style before.


    The boy waited for the girl to make a mistake. It was dodging and throwing lightning from time to time. But the girl''s defense was solid. After a few minutes, the ice wall she was standing on collapsed from wear and tear.


    Kayden found his chance. Using a well-aimed Pop Flash, the girl was blinded. Kayden also used a concentrated beam that hit the girl''s legs. With the entire path prepared, he used acceleration at maximum speed.


    His body quickly approached his opponent, but his instinct told him something was wrong. It seemed to be very simple. Kayden ignored that nagging voice in his head and continued with his assault.


    When he reached 2 meters from his opponent, the boy understood what was wrong. The ground was icy. Unfortunately, it was too late. Several ice spikes exploded at the boy. Kayden tried to defend the most critical parts of his body.


    "Very silly, boy." Kayden could hear the girl mocking.


    Several cuts could be seen dripping blood on his arms. His clothes became rags. But his will was still firm. He prepared to continue but felt his body being healed and the girl turning to leave.


    "Wait, this isn''t over yet!" The boy screamed. His body still had adrenaline coursing through it.


    "Unfortunately, it''s over. You are only conscious because she spared your vital parts." The secretary''s voice could be heard. The penny finally dropped for Kayden. His body slowly cooled down. His mind began to think about what had happened. Where did he go wrong?

 Chapter 46: The invitation

    Chapter 46 - The invitation''Impatience. I despaired and didn''t follow my instinct.'' After reflecting for a few seconds, he already had the answer. The secretary let the boy reflect while the girl left. As soon as the girl disappeared up the stairs she came in, she turned to Kayden.


    "That was a good fight, kid. She was at the peak of the 5th realm. Try your luck again in 3 months." She walked closer as she spoke. "I think you dropped this here during the fight."


    The woman slid a small envelope over to Kayden. The boy was sure it wasn''t his and tried to give it back to the woman, but she started pushing him and stopping him from talking. When Kayden was already on the first step to leave, the woman stopped talking motivational nonsense and lowered her tone.


    "Open it when you are alone. I promise it will help you." The boy finally understood what was happening. The envelope was given to him on purpose. His curiosity was piqued.


    "What is that?" He asked her directly. His response was a smile and an expression of disagreement.


    "I don''t know what you''re talking about. Please remove yourself from this floor, candidate." With one last push at Kayden, she returned to her desk. Kayden stood still for a few seconds. This was very suspicious.


    Snapping out of his stupor, he began to climb the flights of stairs. It went like a rocket through the floors. As soon as he reached the ground, he headed towards the bathroom. It was the only place he could have some genuine privacy.


    He went as far away from the classroom as possible. He checked that no one was there and entered one of the cabins.


    ''It doesn''t hurt to be cautious, does it?'' The boy thought as he opened the envelope. His eyes fell on a folded paper. As he unfolded its contents, he felt his vision go black for a moment and his head throb.


    As soon as he regained consciousness, he saw that the paper was filled with words. As he read, his expression of pain turned to surprise. He never imagined this was possible.


    ''Supported by the government? What the fuck? This is just too gigantic to hide.'' His blood boiled in anticipation. He left the bathroom and headed home. Unfortunately, it wasn''t time to participate yet. He would have to wait for the weekend. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    It was still only Wednesday. As soon as he returned home, the boy waited for Heimer, maybe the boy could give some answers to his questions. As soon as Heimer arrived in the orphanage''s living room, he found himself being pulled out of the house by Kayden.


    "Hey, calm down, what do you want, Kayden? Why this urgency?" Regardless of the boy''s protests, Kayden continued taking him away from the house. After a few minutes, Kayden stopped and turned to Heimer.


    "I have a few questions, but this should stay between us, okay?" His tone was as serious as possible and made Heimer put aside any tantrum he had. The genius nodded and waited for Kayden to continue:


    "Have you ever heard of a contract automatically forced when seen by someone?" This question would confirm the authorship that the person who said she had written the letter was herself.


    "Yes, but normally only the government has access to this. A few centuries ago there were cases of enslavement using this means. Since then, the authorities have been the only ones with the means of manufacturing. Even noble families are not free from execution if they are caught."


    This confirmed Kayden''s suspicions. The government had a hand in this, probably after profits. Something this size must generate a lot of money. His anxiety increased over the weekend.


    "Have you ever received an unusual offer from an envelope?" Kayden was unable to provide more information because of the contract he signed against his will. He appreciated that his heart sank every time he tried to put into words what happened.


    "No, why? You''re being weird today, Kayden. Has something happened that you need my help?" Heimer was suspicious of his friend''s specific questions. Kayden quickly diverted the topic.


    "It was nothing, Heimer, just my paranoia. Now that you''ve cleared my doubts, I know it''s nothing to worry about." Kayden disguised himself and began to lead the boy to other matters.


    After a while, Heimer no longer paid attention to what happened and Kayden was able to return home. Even if there was no chance of Heimer finding out something, he didn''t want to risk his life on it.


    Kayden headed to his room and began cultivating on his bed.


    "This will be a good opportunity to earn some money and experience." The boy was excited for the weekend, but first, he needed to study economics.


    It seemed silly, but Kayden had no idea about the value or what money was used in this world. The old man always paid with a card, so the boy never had experience with money.


    The next day, Kayden woke up early and headed to one of the city''s large swap markets. He could ask the old man or Heimer about money, but he didn''t want to give any kind of hint about his new opportunity.


    Kayden arrived at the market very early. It was a street with several stores selling different common items. From clothes to technological gadgets, it almost seemed like there was no magic. Kayden began to circle the vendors.


    Over time, it became simple for him to get a sense of the value of things and which currencies were used. It was different from his previous world. In this, they used ancient connotations of bronze, silver, and gold.


    The lowest was bronze and the highest was gold. Most things were purchased using silver coins, but foods and things considered cheap were purchased with bronze coins.


    A hundred bronze coins formed one silver coin. The model was the same for silver to gold coins. Kayden didn''t even see a gold coin as he watched. It was probably a very high monetary range.


    The contract said that Kayden could earn 1 to 10 silvers depending on his performance. And over time, it could reach higher values. There was nothing the boy wanted to buy at the moment, but saving money never hurt.


    There will probably be spells in the future that would need money to purchase or upgrade your katana. He couldn''t use low-rank weapons forever.


    Kayden went about his day normally. He went to train at school and then returned home to a farm in isolation. Slowly, the weekend arrived. Kayden woke up on a normal day and went to school.


    This was the meeting point the letter mentioned. Kayden got there around 9 a.m. and waited on a random bench on the street. It took about 1 hour and there was no one there.


    Kayden decided to wait until noon, during that time the boy simply continued cultivating without worrying, this was a good opportunity for him, patience was a virtue.

 Chapter 47: The club

    Chapter 47 - The clubAbout 20 minutes later, Kayden felt a hand on his shoulder. The boy was startled and stood up like a rocket. When he turned around, he came across a masked man. He wore a white mask with a smile that went from ear to ear. Matching his look, he wore a black suit.


    "Hello? Can I help you?" Kayden began their interaction in a friendly manner. A genderless voice could be heard from the figure.


    "Hi Kayden, I''m part of the club." The club was the name of the organization that sent the letter. Kayden remembered that perfectly. The boy asked his next question:


    "What happens next?"


    "I will take you to the meeting point, but you must sign another contract, this time promising to keep everything you see a secret." The man took out a parchment from his suit, which Kayden promptly signed. Since he was into it, he would go head first. The terms were simple, they just told Kayden to keep it a secret.


    "Very well, come with me. When we get there, I''ll show you around." The masked person started walking. It didn''t take long for them to arrive at one of the best hotels in the city. Kayden wondered where there was room there for the club.


    It was a huge building with at least a few dozen rooms. Its golden tone gave a feeling of high quality. The reception had some sofas and a counter with 5 attendants. The man walked towards one of the receptionists, not caring about the guests'' strange looks at his mask.


    Strangely, the employees seemed to be more alert once they noticed the guy. It seemed like it wasn''t the first time they had seen him.


    "Room 000." The masked man asked directly. He didn''t appreciate being willing to waste so much time. As soon as the employee heard this, he brought out his best smile and took out a key from his pocket.


    "Of course, sir, here is the key. Anything, we are available." The man even bowed. The masked man said nothing and pulled Kayden into the elevator. The man clicked the zero button and the emergency button at the same time.


    In the meantime, Kayden remained silent. He knew he would only have his answers at the end. There was no point in trying to get something out of the man. He didn''t like being very communicative. The elevator took a few minutes to reach the floor. It was, without a doubt, deep in the earth.


    As soon as they left, they found themselves facing a door. The key was placed and turned in the lock, revealing a long tunnel lit by torches. The strange thing was that this tunnel had tracks in it. The man took an amulet out of his suit and Kayden could feel a good amount of mana being poured into the object. S§×ar?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The two waited patiently. A few minutes later, a small cart containing two seats can be seen. Its seat was red and its bodywork was light gray. What surprised Kayden was that no wheels or anything were connecting to the tracks. The vehicle was simply floating.


    "How is this floating?" Kayden was so curious that he broke the silence that had lasted since they met. The man responded simply.


    "Controlled mana repulsion, is done by a matrix. The cart carries a type of mana that is incompatible with the rail, causing it to float. The same man is on the walls, and the bodywork there are wind arrays to move."


    The explanation made Kayden understand the theory. It was truly something magical. It was the first vehicle he saw using mana for its operation. Sitting in one of the seats, Kayden felt the cart start to accelerate insanely. His body did not feel the inertia. It seemed like the speed wasn''t being increased, but it was obvious when he saw the lamps, or rather, tried to. The lamps were already a blur in his vision.


    "How fast are we? I can''t even feel like we''re moving." Kayden expressed his doubts again.


    "We are traveling at about 400 kilometers per hour and our destination is about 20 kilometers from where we picked up the cart." This was insane. Kayden couldn''t even feel himself moving.


    The trip would be quick if it weren''t for the immense number of curves and stops that the cart made periodically.


    About 15 minutes later, the cart stopped in front of a door identical to the hotel''s. Again, the man in the suit took out the same amulet and injected mana. The door opened, revealing its interior.


    There were at least a few hundred people gathered in different places. There were everything from chairs to sofas in the place. There appeared to be small groups gathered around tables, some were drinking and others were playing cards.


    It appeared to be a large open living room, with drinks counters set up in some spots, with bartenders pouring glasses. Above, there were small stations similar to those on the ground. But what surprised Kayden was the amount of people.


    Wasn''t this supposed to be something secret? How were there so many people in this place? Kayden turned to ask the man and didn''t see even a shadow of him. It seemed as if the masked man had evaporated.


    Before he could start looking for someone to help him, he heard a voice behind him:


    "Hello, Kayden, right?" Kayden turned around and was faced with a blond man dressed in a yellow bathrobe. The color of his hair and clothes caused an overdose of gold, it was eye-catching.


    "Yes, and would you be?" Kayden tried to be as respectful as possible. This was not a place conducive to games, or so he thought.


    "Lord is your father." The man had a small episode. "Do I look old to you? Look at that smooth, clean skin, see?" Kayden was silent. He didn''t know how to react to the man''s outburst.


    "Well..." The man coughed. "Sorry about that. My name is Shang and I am your patron at the club. Come with me, I''ll show you around." Kayden didn''t quite understand the term patron.


    The two walked between the different tables and groups in the place. There were all types of people, from adults to children, even though the latter were a minority. After walking for a while, they arrived at one of the beverage distribution points.


    Shang sat at a table and pointed to another chair at Kayden. As soon as the two sat down, the man shouted to the bartender:


    "Two glasses of whatever is strongest!" The man turned to Kayden. "I don''t care that you''re a child, you''re going to go through my alcoholic baptism." The man gave a devilish smile.


    "Can we get straight to the point, Shang? I''m really curious about everything here." Kayden tried to divert the topic from drinks. If the old man detected the slightest hint of alcohol in the boy, he would be crucified alive in front of the orphanage as an example for other people.


    "Sure, but you''re still going to drink." The man seemed to have a hallucinated look when he said this. "Well, you may have already noticed, but this is an underground fight club. The spectators are diverse people from society, from ordinary workers to big businessmen, the latter are the majority."


    At this moment, the bartender arrived with two glasses containing a purple liquid, undoubtedly expressing a dubious appearance.


    "Here are two guaranteed hangovers." The man joked. Shang took the two glasses and dismissed the man.


    "Here, take it." Shang directly offered Kayden the drink.


    "Sorry, Mr. Shang, but I can''t drink. My father wouldn''t want me to do that." Kayden was more afraid of Han than anything else.

 Chapter 48: Rules and preparation

    Chapter 48 - Rules and preparation"I told you not to call me sir, you shitty brat," the man freaked out again. "Sorry, I''m a person who believes in signs, and all my fighters, I do this ritual. Please cooperate, I can clean up any trace of alcohol later with magic," the blonde explained his point of view. Kayden found it acceptable, and since it could be cleaned up later, he picked up one of the glasses.


    Turning the glass down his throat, Kayden felt his body start to catch fire, the liquid went down, setting every inch on fire. After a few seconds of pain, Kayden recovered, he didn''t feel the effect of the alcohol. S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Now I''m going to remove the effect of..." Shang noticed the boy''s lucidity. "What the fuck? Are you an old drinker in disguise?" Even the blonde, who drank 24 hours a day, showed some signs of drunkenness after that drink.


    "I''m fine, we can continue, Shang." Unbeknownst to man, Kayden''s heart was practically a poison bomb, his metabolism was insanely accelerated.


    "Demons... okay, let''s go," the man took out a booklet from his robe. "First you should know that you were referred by one of my informants, but you don''t need to sign a contract with me..." Kayden interrupted him.


    "What would this contract be? And what would a patron be?"


    "I had forgotten that you are a newbie," Shang collected his thoughts for a moment and continued. "A patron is the one who organizes the fights for the fighters, he is also responsible for managing the money."


    In short, the patron was the fighter''s resource manager.


    "Usually fighters are over 18, you''re a special case," the man muttered. "Shang, I can''t jump many levels to fight," Kayden was being honest, at most he could face a 6th rank with low skill.


    "Don''t worry too much about it, you will fight in a special category. We only have low-talent fighters or crippled people. This category only goes up to the ninth rank, but we will be fighting the lowest in the rankings for now." Kayden finally understood, that his category was probably just for entertainment. The public wasn''t expecting anything spectacular, probably just raw carnage.


    Corrected text:


    "His fights aren''t to the death either. If you sign a contract with me, our division will be 40% to me and 60% to you, and I will be responsible for helping you with your combat training." The man tore out a page from his little book and handed it to Kayden. The boy read.


    The terms of this contract were quite simple, actually:


    1)Division of 40% and 60%.


    2)Shang should not accept life-or-death fights without the fighter''s authorization.


    3)Shang should provide combat tips when asked.


    4)Shang should find the right fights, with a similar level to the fighter.


    5) The fighter must not miss fights for trivial reasons.


    6) The fighter cannot fake fights if he bets on his opponent.


    "The terms are quite simple, as you can see. What''s up, kid?" Shang asked with a smile on his face.


    "Before I sign the contract, I want to ask you a question." One thing didn''t add up for Kayden in this whole story.


    "Sure, go ahead." The man pulled a bottle of liquor out of nowhere and started drinking straight from the bottle.


    "Why did you choose me? There must be several better 18-year-olds." Kayden hadn''t revealed anything spectacular so far.


    "Potential." Shang''s eyes lit up. "We''ve been watching you since your fight against Elisabeth." That was a long time ago. "There are better options, but I saw his struggle to make the elite team. His fighting style is designed to finish the opponent quickly and lethally. Not only that, but I see that you have the will to fight that can only be gained with experience."


    Kayden was startled by how long he had been watched. He never even realized that.


    "Very well, I accept," Kayden said and signed the contract. Shang reached out to Kayden with a smile.


    "I hope we have a good partnership, Kayden. Come with me, I have already booked your first fight."


    The man got up and headed towards a trap door. Kayden noticed that there were several of them on the floor spread out in different places. Shang noticed the boy''s curiosity and explained while opening the trapdoor.


    "Everyone should leave this way. This is done to maintain the anonymity of fighters and spectators. Through this trapdoor, you can either leave or enter the ring." The blonde finished lifting the wooden sign and revealed a staircase leading to another corridor.


    The two went down and came across two doors, one on the right and one on the left. They were identical to those in the hotel. Shang took out a small compass from his pocket and turned to the right.


    "All club members receive this compass. The competitors'' area leads to the area below the arena, while the spectators'' area leads to one of the club''s exits." Kayden was curious about the exits. He expressed his doubt to Shang.


    "No, we have dozens of points. After you finish your fight, I will give you a list of them all. The one at the hotel is only used by the administration." The man explained all the details about the club.


    After a few doors, the two found themselves facing a completely white door, it seemed to be made of marble. The man knocked twice on the door and waited. A voice can be heard from inside:


    "Who?" It was identical to the voice of the figure who brought Kayden to the club.


    "Shang, I fight in 15 minutes." As soon as the blonde gave his information, the door was opened, revealing a square room with several masks on the walls.


    "You must choose a mask to hide your identity. And don''t worry, they are made using matrices that don''t get in the way of the fight." Shang began presenting the models to Kayden.


    Kayden chose one that referenced a very popular anime from his past life. The mask was white with cat ears, on the side it had three stripes looking like mustaches and the eyes were black with a red rim.


    (AN: I hope you know where this comes from lol )


    As soon as the boy put it on, he felt... nothing. It looked like he wasn''t even wearing a mask. There was no heaviness or limitation of his peripheral vision. His only feeling was when he touched her with his hands.


    "Impressive, isn''t it?" Shang expressed in words what the boy was feeling. "Now let''s mask your sword." Then the man went to a small altar in the middle of the room. It was made entirely of stone, completely smooth, without any details, it almost seemed natural.


    "Here you place your weapon and the altar will put a small filter on it." Kayden did as the man said and saw his sword transform into an entire golden blade, the handle turning blue.


    "The colors were horrible..." Kayden commented. The blade was beautiful, but the handle was simply deplorable.


    "The altar is random." Shang led the boy to a door on the other side of the room. It was the same white door, only this time it led to a room full of different clothes.

 Chapter 49: Fight

    Chapter 49 - Fight"Pick an outfit, Kayden. You will probably use it whenever you fight, almost like a brand, so choose wisely." Kayden didn''t even need to think, to match he chose a completely black cloak with a hood and was once again surprised.


    He wasn''t able to feel the fabric weighing down his body or even obstructing his peripheral vision. Seeing that the boy finished getting ready, Shang began to explain some details as he headed towards the third white door.


    "Kayden, all my fighters were kids when I picked them. I plan for the long term, so it''s okay if you lose this fight or the next few hundred. I want you to learn as much as you can now, okay?" Shang said with a serious look on his face.


    "Yes, Shang, leave it to me." Shang opened the door and came across a staircase. The sound of loud voices could be heard. Due to the architecture of the place, all sounds converged in the arena. Kayden''s blood began to boil.


    Kayden didn''t have many certainties in his troubled life, but one of them was, without a doubt, his taste for fighting, for the feeling of living between life and death. As strange as it seemed, the boy felt more alive the closer he got to death.


    "Your fight is until one side gives up or can no longer continue. You''re just a kid, Kayden, so I''m going to ask the judge to step in as soon as I think you''ve reached your limit, okay?" Shang patted Kayden on the back and sent the boy forward.


    Kayden was anxious, but not nervous. He already knew what he was coming here to do when he received the letter. Slowly, the light from the ceiling was revealed in his vision. In just a few steps, he was inside the arena.


    It was similar to a UFC arena, the difference being that it was at least 30 meters in radius. On the other side of the arena, Kayden saw an unmasked figure. He was at least 7 feet tall and had muscles on every inch of his body. He carried a sledgehammer of at least 1.5 meters.


    Kayden did not doubt that the man was a knight and not only that, he was used to fighting in the ring. A presenter was flying on a platform above the ring and began to introduce the fight:


    "On one side we have the experienced fighter Marreta, a level 5 apprentice wizard. It was a nickname. Fighting the nameless newbie at the 4th rank. I hope to see a beautiful battle. Who are you going to bet on?"


    With his introduction, a small bag began to pass through the groups of people. As soon as someone placed an amount of money, a note would come out with the amount and who the person bet on.


    A few minutes later, the confusion ended. Everyone had placed their bets on Muppet. Who would be the crazy person who would bet on a newbie one rank lower? As soon as the betting ended, the presenter started again.


    "I hope everyone bet well, let''s start the fight." As soon as the man said this, a judge appeared in the middle of the arena. He wore the same mask as the administration.


    "The fight is not to the death, when this coin falls from my hand you can begin." The judge threw a coin in the air. Kayden got ready, it was starting.


    The coin fell to the floor. Kayden was about to use Pop Flash when his opponent said:


    "Are you a dwarf by any chance? It barely reaches my shoulder." He laughed along with the crowd. The man knew how to entertain the audience, unfortunately, Kayden''s only response was silence.


    "Anything? Not a reaction, so let''s go..." He couldn''t finish his speech, as Kayden blasted a Pop Flash directly into his vision. Even blind, the man didn''t lose his cool and swung his sledgehammer in an arc to keep Kayden away.


    The boy shot a concentrated beam at the man and used acceleration to approach his opponent. The Muppet continued making circular movements with his weapon until his vision returned.


    Unfortunately for him, Kayden wasn''t someone who was intimidated by size. He got close enough to release a concentrated beam directly at the man''s chest. This made it impossible for the other to continue swinging.


    Kayden took this opportunity to attack the man''s arm, his sword opening a deep cut. Driven by adrenaline, the knight moved away from the boy, his vision had returned to normal.


    "Looks like you''re not a newbie, huh?" Even with his arm bleeding, the Muppet was still calm. He shot at Kayden, even with his size he was still extremely fast.


    Kayden charged head-on at him. When the knight tried to make a side swing, Kayden thought about escaping to the side with a feint. But life was not a strawberry, the sledgehammer came down with full force on his rib.


    Kayden spun a few times before slamming into the arena wall. His head was ringing, his vision started to go black. He broke some ribs. The knight started to come after him, walking slowly. S§×ar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The crowd started to go crazy, and shouts of "finish him" started to be heard. When he got close enough, Kayden released a Pop Flash directly into the eyes, the knight did not expect a reaction from his opponent. One of Kayden''s arms was hanging down.


    Kayden quickly utilized acceleration along with concentrated lightning. This time the knight couldn''t even raise his weapon. Using the katana with one hand, Kayden used the giant sledgehammer to propel himself upwards.


    He was practically struggling subconsciously, his vision was compromised, and his organs were in the wrong place due to the impact.


    With acceleration at its maximum, Kayden brought his weapon down on his opponent''s neck. Along with the blow, he also unconsciously imbued lightning into his blade. The lightning bolts were licking his opponent''s jugular.


    The blade entered, and blood began to flow out like a river. Kayden was scared, he thought someone was going to stop him from giving the man a fatal blow, but he heard nothing. The boy fell to the ground unbalanced and looked at the man dying next to him.


    His mind had a little meltdown, had he killed someone else? For a few bucks? The boy tuned out the sounds around him, his eyes focused on his hands, had he done this?


    Kayden saw the blood on his katana dripping onto the floor, the drops having a hypnotic effect on the boy. The sound of them hitting the ground began to eat away at his mind. Almost like clockwork. Tick ... Tac ...


    " Fighter, exit the ring through the trapdoor" Kayden finally came to, the man in front of him was sitting while a medical team healed him, there was no hatred in the knight''s eyes.


    "Come on, newbie, don''t be surprised, death is common here, don''t blame yourself so much" As an experienced fighter from the club, Muppet managed to see what was going through Kayden''s mind.


    Probably all new fighters went through the same sensation at least once in their lives. Some took a long time to recover or even never returned to normal, while others simply had no reactions.


    "Sorry," Kayden said as he quickly passed his opponent, the boy ran to the trapdoor, he needed to digest everything that had happened. Before he could start going down the stairs he heard the crowd scream.


    "Grim Reaper " someone shouted the nickname and it spread like wildfire, within seconds the entire place was shaking with the voices sounding together. This lasted until the boy went down the stairs and closed the trap door.

 Chapter 50: Help from a friend

    Chapter 50 - Help from a friendSilence. The environment was completely silent, it didn''t even seem like there was a crowd a few meters above. Kayden automatically started going back the way he came. His mind was still going through what just happened.


    More specifically, your feelings and emotions in the fight. Little by little, he realized that it really wasn''t intentional on his part. His fighting style aimed to disable his opponent quickly and lethally.


    "Fighter, place your sword on the altar." Kayden was ready to leave when he heard the genderless voice call out to him. His mind was so clouded that he forgot that little detail.


    Placing his sword on the altar and injecting mana, his katana returned to its normal appearance.


    "Sir, what about the clothes and the mask?" Kayden asked politely.


    "They are yours until you retire or need to replace them. We want our competitors to maintain the same image to the public." Kayden thanked him automatically and went back on his way.


    After returning to the entrance, Kayden found himself lost. He decided to wait for Shang and continued reflecting on what just happened.


    A few minutes later, a drunk blond can be seen appearing down the hall.


    "Kayden, boy!" The man smiled from ear to ear and sobbed. "You made me a rich, filthy rich man, boy!" Shang was laughing to himself as if it was the happiest day of his life. S§×ar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    we ''ll talk later , okay?" Kayden asked bluntly. His tone was enough for Shang to realize something had happened. The moment the katana hit his opponent''s neck, Shang started celebrating like a lunatic.


    He didn''t get to see the moment when the boy was lost on stage. Getting rid of his drunkenness with a simple spell, he acquired a serious tone.


    "Come with me." The blonde began to lead the way without saying anything. He was going over what happened in his mind. The silence lasted until they reached the cart.


    "Do you want to tell me something, Kayden? I''m open to anything you need." Shang broke the silence after being unable to think of what could have affected the boy.


    Kayden thought for a few seconds. He didn''t feel comfortable enough to open up to Shang. Kayden probably only had one person in this world with whom he could fully open up.


    "There is nothing, Shang, thank you. I just need a little time." Kayden forced a smile that they both knew was fake.


    "Okay, Kayden, but just know that I''m here, okay? I take care of mine." Again, silence was imposed between the two. This time, it lasted until they found themselves facing a door identical to the hotel''s.


    Shang stood up and began to lead the way. The door led to what appeared to be a fully furnished underground apartment. Without a doubt, they were not in the same place Kayden came from.


    It was a small space, with just a living room and kitchen. Strangely, there was no bedroom. Everything seemed to be artificial, it did not appear to have been inhabited by people in recent times.


    "Don''t be surprised, there are several such spots in the city." Shang said with a smile and handed a booklet to Kayden. "Here are the entry and exit points, when you have time, take a look at them all."


    "Don''t I need an amulet to get in or out?" Kayden remembered perfectly that all doors needed to be opened with the object and mana. Shang made a face like he messed up.


    "I forgot about that, I will find you tomorrow and take you to make your amulet. You''ve already been validated by the administration, so you can enter without one of those strangers in masks." Shang apologized with an embarrassed smile.


    " I won''t be in town tomorrow , Shang. Leave it for Monday, ok? I''ll wait for you in front of the school." The blonde didn''t force Kayden, the two headed towards the exit. The residential building faced a train station, it was probably designed by Shang to make it easier for the boy.


    "Thank you for everything, Shang. I hope we have a good collaboration." Kayden thanked him for the offer as he said goodbye to the man.


    "It''s okay, Kayden. Monday we''ll talk about money, right?" Kayden didn''t even remember that detail and thanked Shang again with a smile. As soon as he turned to enter the train, his smile disappeared.


    As he walked home, Kayden thought about what to do now. He only had one person who could help him in this situation, someone he had come to trust with his life in recent years.


    ........


    A man along with a child could be seen sitting at a table, on one side there was wine and pizza and on the other just pizza. The two were in a small isolated mansion outside the city.


    "You can start, Kayden." David poured himself a glass of wine and focused his attention on the boy. He had never seen his friend so upset since he met him. Kayden organized his thoughts and began:


    "For some reasons I can''t say, I almost killed someone and it''s playing on my mind." Kayden said it directly and quickly, his words shocked the scientist, he didn''t expect something like that.


    "Was it a fight? What did he do to deserve this?" David tried to get more information.


    "It was a struggle, I can''t say much more, David." The penny dropped for the scientist that it was probably because of a contract. He was silent before continuing:


    "What do you feel? Fault? Repentance?" The scientist expressed some plausible emotions the boy might have.


    "No, I don''t feel anything, just that I did something wrong, but it wouldn''t exactly be guilt or regret." It was difficult to express feelings in words, even the ones humans made did not fully express what they meant.


    "This is normal, Kayden. I remember when I killed for the first time." David seemed to be overcome by memories. "I had nausea, headaches and panic attacks." Kayden never imagined that the scientist had gone through something like this.


    "I killed just because I was offended and I was stronger, like a hot-headed idiot. Of all the people I killed, that was the only one that haunts me..." Before he could continue, Kayden interrupted him.


    "I thought you were just a scientist, David." The image of David fighting and killing other people seemed strange in Kayden''s head.


    "The higher you go in the magical world, the more you need to fight, Kayden. No matter what class or what you chose to do, at one time or another you will need to demonstrate strength or they will eat you alive." The scientist''s eyes sparkled as he replayed his memories.


    The two remained silent for a few minutes, David while remembering his past and Kayden while respecting his friend''s moment of reflection.


    "The first is the hardest, then it gets easier and easier until a moment when it no longer means anything to you." His voice had a certain regret. "But your problem is time, Kayden. Just give it time and you will improve."


    It seemed like an ambiguous answer, but they both knew that time could heal much of the pain. In Kayden''s case, it was more of a reality check really. It was a situation he had never been through.


    "You''re going to kill someone at one point or another, Kayden, and you''re going to have to live with it." David muttered to a quiet Kayden.


    "I know, David."


    .....


    Kayden returned Sunday from David''s house after spending time with his friend. Talking about his experiences helped Kayden understand what he needed to do and how to react if it happened.


    On Monday, the boy woke up normally and did his usual routine. Then he headed to the school. He still needed to talk to Shang. Last time, he was so upset that he forgot many details.


    Kayden arrived at 10 am and waited for his patron. The hours passed while the boy cultivated. Around 3 o''clock in the afternoon, a groggy Shang appeared in front of Kayden.


    His clothes were all bulging and his hair looked like a rat''s nest. It looked like the man had just woken up after a long night of drinking. Letting out a yawn, he greeted Kayden:


    "Good morning, Kayden. I hope it has improved." The words came out elongated along with the yawn.

 Chapter 51: A solution

    Chapter 51 - A solution"Good afternoon, Shang. It''s 3 o''clock in the afternoon, and I''m better, thanks for asking." Kayden kept his tone respectful, he still didn''t know the man very well.


    "I just woke up now, you know, I worked all night." The blonde gave a shameless smile along with an excuse that neither of them spent a millisecond believing. "No further ado, let''s go to the club." The man changed the subject.


    The two walked for a few minutes until they entered an abandoned house near the school. Kayden had read the meeting points and was surprised by the number, there were hundreds and this was the closest to the school.


    The door was hidden in the underground floor, they had to go down at least four flights of stairs to get there, there were often doors that needed to be opened with the amulet.


    Similar to the other time, a cart came to pick them up in a hallway after the last door, it was the same model, if Kayden hadn''t entered the house he would have said he was still at the hotel. Shang began to speak as they waited for the route to end.


    "You won 3 silvers in that fight, but I''m going to give you a bonus of 30 silvers." The man once again smiled from ear to ear. "I only bet 5 bucks on you and won something close to 250 coins." He laughed contentedly.


    Kayden wasn''t surprised at how much the man won, probably just some crazy people bet on him, it must have been almost 99 to 1 against him. Shang took out a small bag similar to the one used in medieval times, but before he could hand it over, Kayden asked:


    "Please send my money to this address." Kayden showed David''s address, he had already organized everything with the scientist and Shang quickly accepted.


    "Very well, now let''s talk about other details, your category has fought every day paying 10 silver and on weekends we have life-or-death fights, how many times will you want to fight?"


    Kayden reflected for a few seconds and replied:


    "Just normal fights for now, I plan to fight once a day, maybe more depending on whether I was able to digest the combat experience." This would give the boy time to analyze what he did wrong in each fight and improve his technique. "What is the prize in the life and death struggle? It can''t just be 5 bucks."


    Kayden didn''t plan on entering that category, he was afraid of not being able to submit the other person or even dying.


    "All." Shang''s eyes lit up. "You get 10 bucks and all the winner''s possessions, from houses or anything they have, even if it''s in someone else''s name, the club will find a way."


    Kayden was surprised and finally understood why this category had participants, whether or not you could become a millionaire with just one fight. It was a matter of luck.


    "But before that, we need to resolve your hesitation. Don''t worry, it''s normal and I have training for that." Shang subtly reminded the boy of his little problem.


    "What would this training be?" Kayden couldn''t think of anything that would help him with this.


    "I don''t really know. In the building where we go, there is a black market headquarters. There is a group of assassins who specialize in introducing people to this... the real world." That was the best definition he could find.


    "I have no idea what they do, but I''ve never seen any of my fighters complain about their methods." Kayden first thought they were just going to set him up to kill some people, but after that sentence, he had no idea what it could be.


    "How much does it cost?" Kayden knew that nothing in this world came for free.


    "10 gold coins." The amount caused Kayden''s thoughts to freeze a little, this was a lot of money. Typically, a family had an income of 30 to 50 silver a month. "But don''t worry about the price, this is something I pay out of my pocket for my fighters with potential."


    ''Out of his pocket... how rich is he?'' This question arose for Kayden.


    "I would like to participate in this, please, Shang." Kayden had no doubt that such training could not be found or purchased by normal people.


    "Win 10 fights, Kayden, and then I''ll order." With that, the conversation between the two ended with a thoughtful Kayden.


    After a few more minutes, the carriage reached its final destination. This time, the two headed towards the administration. It was on one of the sides with more flying platforms, clearly a place for the club''s elite.


    The administration was a small two-story building with a radius of about 25 meters. Its appearance resembled that of a medieval guild, it was truly beautiful. When Kayden entered, he found several items being sold in displays and some attendants milling around people.


    Before they could do anything, one of the attendants approached them. His attire was an ordinary butler''s suit. There were no masks or any striking details.


    "Can I help you?" The man seemed helpful with a smile. S~ea??h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I want to register the boy." As soon as Shang said this, the two were led to a room on the second floor. The second floor was a cluster of office rooms.


    Kayden sat in front of a computer and had to answer a questionnaire with several questions. From your date of birth to your favorite food, they were very specific things...


    In the end, he received an amulet from the person who helped them. The way it worked was very simple, just inject your mana into it. The object only recognized the owner who put in mana first, so there weren''t many security measures.


    "Can I fight today, Shang?" As soon as they stepped outside the building, Kayden ordered, he didn''t want to waste time.


    "Of course, kid, time is money." Shang''s eyes lit up.


    ...


    A few weeks later...


    Kayden took a while to reach 10 victories in his fights. After his name became known as the Reaper, his opponents did not treat him as lightly as the Muppet. In that time, he fought around 30 fights.


    After a while, he realized the difference a nickname made in the stadium, it was a matter of respect. Some unnamed wrestlers were booed just for going on stage. Most of his victories were against these opponents.


    During this time, his cultivation did not improve significantly, however, his fighting power grew significantly. The Kayden who fought against Muppet wouldn''t be able to last 1 minute against his new version.


    Why? It was very simple, all his fights were savage, and there was no protection or attacks that were not aimed at fatal points. Many times, Kayden has had limbs completely destroyed, incinerated, electrocuted, or bitten.


    Everyone fought to win, even if it meant taking the opponent''s life. Kayden slowly lost his fear of killing his opponent. Over time, he realized that healing mages were capable of healing practically anything.


    There weren''t many fights, but each one brought experiences he couldn''t get elsewhere. Every fight had the intoxicating feeling of life and death. His battles were constant during this period.


    Sometimes twice a day or more. From wizards to tamers, the boy faced a little bit of everything. For the first time, he had to battle different beasts simultaneously.


    It goes without saying that he didn''t win any of his fights against tamers, it was a fighting style he had never faced before. His calmest fights were against melee fighters, his heart gave him a natural advantage in this regard.


    Since he was the same level or better than a swordsman in the same rank and could still use magic with the strength of a conventional mage.


    It had been 3 days since Kayden had fought, he was just waiting for the training that Shang said he was going to buy. After spending time with the man, Kayden understood where his money came from.


    AN: we reached 50 Chapters, I didn''t expect to write so much, I thought it would end up dropping in a few days, but I got attached to this activity. thx guys

 Chapter 52: Training.....forced[1]

    Chapter 52 - Training.....forced[1]He was an elite trainer, his focus was on producing insanely powerful fighters. Every head under his tutelage was a combat genius and had every resource available.


    How did he know that? Shang took him to see some fights and the boy saw him heavily betting hundreds of silver on his students. In some cases, even gold coins.


    When Kayden returned from his morning workout, he realized he had a letter tucked under his bedroom door. The boy only received letters from David, but this one was not of the usual standard.


    Closing the door and sitting on the bed, Kayden opened the envelope. On a white sheet of paper, there was only one sentence written:


    "7 trees after city hall, midnight, in 2 days."


    At the end, there was a stamp that Kayden recognized. It was a scythe, that was the symbol of the elite assassins Shang hired. A few seconds later, the letter caught fire and left no sign of existence.


    Kayden went out to ask the old man for permission to spend a few days with David. According to Shang, the training would take at most a week. The boy couldn''t disappear for a week without reason.


    ...


    Two days later, Kayden was sitting on one of the benches at City Hall waiting for the letter to arrive. Even though it was late, Kayden was not afraid of being robbed. This was one of the most protected regions in the city.


    That''s why he wondered how the killers would appear in public. Slowly, the hours passed. The street became increasingly deserted and with fewer people.


    There was still an hour left before the agreed time when Kayden heard a voice behind him:


    "So young."


    Unfortunately, he couldn''t even turn around before his vision blacked out. The boy''s disappearance was barely noticed by people passing by. And even if it was, they still wouldn''t find anything on the security cameras.


    It would be as if there had never been a boy sitting there...


    ...


    Kayden woke up in his bed, cold and hard, almost as if he was lying on stone. With that thought, the boy received his last memories like a bolt of lightning.


    He was in a gray room with no details at all. There was only a stone bed, not even doors could be seen. The lighting came from a torch of a material Kayden didn''t recognize. His only consolation was that he still had his katana with him.


    Before he could get up and try to leave this place, one of the walls of the room began to shake, revealing an opening. There was no light coming from it, only the torch illuminated a figure dressed entirely in black, almost looking like an oriental ninja.


    His only difference was some white bandanas stained with blood that were all over his body. He looked like a big patched-up man walking around the place. Kayden didn''t even think about fighting or taking a defensive position.


    This figure emanated only one feeling for him: death. It seemed that if he wanted someone to die, the world itself would grant his wish. Kayden had no doubt that the figure was above the apprentice level.


    "Hello, contractor, I will be your guide in this training. You can call me whatever you want." His voice seemed to have no form, almost as if a ghost was speaking. Kayden couldn''t identify where the sound was coming from in his body.


    "This training is used to help people lose their fear of killing. You may be traumatized by our methods, so you will have to sign a contract forbidding you from disclosing anything you witness here."


    A small piece of paper appeared out of nowhere and Kayden realized it was a soul contract. His terms were exactly what the figure said. Kayden didn''t say anything and just signed the contract .


    "Very well, the plan chosen was the 100 coins premium, so you can ask for tips and advice throughout the process. Any conscious attempt to leave or not participate in training will result in memory erasure and expulsion. Understood?"


    The boy nodded. The guide really seemed like a tourist guide, explaining every detail of the trip, from what could be done and what should not be done.


    "Come with me, we will begin the first exercise." The guide began to leave through the opening in the wall.


    The two walked down a long corridor for a few minutes. The guide turned to the wall and again Kayden could see a passage being opened. As soon as he entered, he saw a plastic chair and a television in the center of the room. There was also a bucket along with a towel next to the chair.


    "Sit down and watch, I don''t recommend closing your eyes or anything like that. This will only make you have to watch it more often." There was no need to tell the boy that. Unlike the usual customers of the assassins guild, the boy actually went there of his own free will.


    As soon as he sat down, Kayden heard the opening close. The guide silently positioned himself in one of the corners behind Kayden, the boy not able to hear a sound coming from the man, not even a breath. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    This resulted in the guide being nicknamed "ghost" by the boy. The television flickered and then an image of a park was seen. There were several people scattered around the place. The image was focused on a woman holding a child.


    Next to her was a man who appeared to be her husband. Some information was being passed on. The mother had a difficult life, growing up on the outskirts of town with no extraordinary talent for magic.


    His childhood was spent in hunger and misery. Her father was an alcoholic who mistreated her and his wife. Every day her life was hell, it consisted of going to school and coming home to see her mother being beaten or herself being beaten.


    This lasted until her adolescence, when the girl saw her father beat her mother to death. That day, she ran away from home and never came back or heard anything about it. Her story starts again in another kingdom, she had to learn how to get by and one of the things she did in the meantime was learn how to make potions.


    He started using ingredients that were easy to find in the forest. She produced herbal tranquilizers and other consumables, it was nothing spectacular, but it caught the attention of a potions master who took her as a disciple.


    The story of her life was being produced, she was shown spending several sleepless nights studying old books, she appeared at the height of her adolescence meeting her husband.


    Little by little she specialized and became an excellent alchemist. The woman had a good nature and despite her troubled past, she started several charitable campaigns in her adult life and gave a large part of her income to charity.


    Later, some more scenes were shown about his personal and business life. The woman really deserved the seal of good person. The story ended with her adopting a child who was orphaned because of an accident.


    "Very well, follow me." Kayden was startled, the guide was so silent that it was easy to forget he was there.


    The two returned to the same corridor, this time Kayden was placed inside an empty room, the only difference was its size, which easily reached 20 meters in radius.


    On the opposite side that the two entered an opening could be seen, a female figure was thrown out of it. Kayden was unable to recognize any details of the woman. Both entrances were closed.


    "Only one can leave alive, everything is permitted"

 Chapter 53: Murder

    Chapter 53 - MurderHis sentence caught Kayden by surprise. He didn''t expect something like this so suddenly. The boy prepared himself in a fighting stance, even though he didn''t want to fight, he still needed to defend himself.


    The female figure began to approach. Kayden recognized her right away. It was the woman in the video, with the same brown hair and brown eyes. Her height was small and she did not carry any weapons.


    "Child, do you know why we are here? I don''t remember anything," the woman began in a friendly tone. His footsteps got closer and closer.


    "We''re here to fight," Kayden said bluntly. He didn''t trust the woman. She could be an imitation or something. His response made the woman look scared.


    "But why? I''ve never fought in my life, please don''t hurt me," his tone, along with a frightened expression, made Kayden unconsciously lower his katana and stow it on his waist.


    "I don''t know, ask him," Kayden turned and pointed to the guide. Before the boy could turn back around, he felt cold metal enter his back. By reflex, he used acceleration along with a pop flash to move away.


    Unfortunately, the damage had already been done. Kayden could feel at least 70% of his movement impaired with the left side of his body weakened. The boy began pumping mana into the bleeding to close it.


    But that was the most he could do. He saw the woman approaching again with a smile on her face. The pop flash caught her by surprise, but she wouldn''t fall for the same trick again.


    Kayden used the technique of pretending to be injured. He began to stagger backward. He didn''t expect that a woman as good as shown in the video would be a cold-blooded killer.


    His katana was being held sloppily in one hand. The boy raised his gun above his head as if he was going to make one last blow. This elicited a laugh from the woman.


    When she got close, Kayden used a pop flash on his blade. The woman was already expecting something like this and just looked away before the spell broke. Unfortunately for her, Kayden was no longer a rookie. Along with the pop flash, there was a concentrated beam that directly struck her chest.


    This froze her movements for a few thousandths of a second, but that was enough for Kayden to use proximity along with another concentrated beam to get closer to the woman.


    Quickly and lethally, Kayden aimed for both of his opponent''s hands. With a precise cut strengthened by acceleration, both hands left the female body, accompanied by a scream of pain.


    Kayden walked away and began to catch his breath as he watched the guide. He knew that in the end, only the ghost''s word mattered. Seeing the boy waiting for his words, the man said:


    "She''s still alive," was just that.


    "I''m not going to kill someone defenseless," Kayden refused to kill a woman unable to even use her arms.


    "Very well, then I will heal you," as he said this, the woman''s two hands were levitated and sewn onto her body again. The process was dreadful, but at the same time effective.


    Kayden''s face became serious again. He might have caught the woman with his trick once, but twice would be a matter of luck, and he probably hadn''t. His only hope was that the woman seemed to have no combat or cultivation experience whatsoever.


    "Too bad for you, little boy," the woman had a lunatic smile on her face. She again began to advance on Kayden.


    The boy tightened his grip on his katana, this time he maintained a firm stance. He knew this would be a one-attack-each-side confrontation, this time he could not hesitate. The woman took the same calm, slow steps.


    It seemed like he hadn''t learned anything from the last confrontation.


    Zummm !!!


    Kayden felt his leg stiffen and hurt. Without him realizing it, a tiny ice dart had been thrown at him. His movement in one of his legs was frozen. The woman laughed again.


    This time, she approached quickly to try to take advantage of the boy. Kayden knew it was all or nothing. He compiled half of his mana into a concentrated beam. When the dagger hit his sword, he unleashed the attack on the two.


    The woman certainly did not expect a suicide spell of this type and was electrocuted along with the boy. Kayden used the other half of his mana to accelerate his body beyond its limits.


    His acceleration reached 40%, and every muscle in his body was screaming and popping like a balloon. His katana came down decisively against his opponent. The woman didn''t have time to react to the boy''s attack.


    Silence.


    For a few seconds, only silence could be heard, until the woman fell to the ground lifeless. Seeing his opponent fall, Kayden was finally able to subconsciously relax.


    His body was exhausted and would have passed out by the time the acceleration ended, but his mind pushed him beyond his natural limits. Before the boy''s body could fall to the ground, he was caught by the guide.


    This was the first person Kayden killed in his two lives, outside of his knowledge, a small part of him was broken forever. This would be a milestone that would divide his life into before and after.


    "Better than average," the man muttered as he burned the female body until there weren''t even ashes left to tell the tale.


    His sentence made the boy remember his physical condition. His body was new, it didn''t even look like he had destroyed his body. Passing a circulation of mana through his heart and veins, the boy was surprised.


    He seemed to be slightly more efficient, it was as if his body naturally understood where it needed to be improved.


    "Now let''s go through a little psychology session, Kayden," he said. "I''ll ask you some questions, try to answer them most honestly." His sentence caught the boy by surprise. He expected an assassin''s guild to be more on the brutal side.


    ....


    Kayden woke up again on the stone bed, this time his memories came back quickly, the fight and the death. S§×arch* The Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The boy let out a sigh and closed his eyes. His mind fell into thoughts. This was the first time he killed another person. His feelings were...normal.


    He didn''t regret what he had done, his heart did not doubt that it was necessary. It was him or her. What haunted him was the image of the child and father in the video. Even though he knew it wasn''t his fault, he still had a little resentment about it.


    Kayden continued thinking for a few minutes. His thoughts were racing until they were like a lake in winter. Calm.


    The boy decided by himself. His eyes opened to find the guide waiting for him in the corner of the room.


    "I hope you recovered well, I did my best efforts to patch you up," his tone made it seem like Kayden was just a rag doll that could be tweaked as he pleased.

 Chapter 54: Second fight

    Chapter 54 - Second fightHis sentence made the boy remember his physical condition. His body was new, it didn''t even look like he had destroyed his body. Passing a circulation of mana through his heart and veins, the boy was surprised.


    He seemed to be slightly more efficient, it was as if his body naturally understood where it needed to be improved.


    "Now let''s go through a little psychology session, Kayden," he said. "I''ll ask you some questions, try to answer them most honestly." His sentence caught the boy by surprise. He expected an assassin''s guild to be more violent.


    Going even further against the image created in his head, the man placed two stone armchairs and placed chocolate and tea on a table. It felt like a home psychology session.


    "I hope you like it, I realized that the human mind works better with small positive stimuli," the man-made Kayden feel like a little lab rat again. As soon as the two sat down, the man began.


    "What do you feel?"


    "Are you sorry?"


    "Why did you kill her? What were your feelings at the time?"


    "She was the woman in the video, don''t you feel bad for her?"


    "Why did you hesitate so much?"


    Several questions that were answered yes or no by Kayden were thrown in sequence by the ghost. Everything was being written down on a small pad of paper. After a few minutes, he asked something different.


    "Was who she was a factor in her actions? If she was a serial killer, would she change her views?" His question made Kayden reflect for a few minutes.


    "Yes, I think I would have less trouble accepting his death," was a common ethical question. S§×ar?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Very well, come with me", within seconds the man took Kayden back to the room with the television.


    This time, a different video was played for him. It was from a news show, and it featured the same woman as before, however, this time several crimes were presented together. His family was a lie.


    Her husband was a contract slave for years, he was constantly subjected to inhumane torture, her daughter was used as a guinea pig for her alchemy tests, and even her master was killed by her to get the inheritance.


    Kayden didn''t know what to believe now. Several crimes were presented against the woman, their nature was terrible. Each crime was enough to drive even the most callous person to rage.


    "Does her death now have another weight on your conscience? Does it matter who she was? Which of the two videos is true?" Again, Kayden was bombarded with several questions.


    The boy was silent as he thought, he tried to remember everything that had happened recently. The guide respected Kayden''s silence. The boy''s eyes lit up.


    "I understand what you want to teach me here, don''t I? One way or another, the result would have been the same. The emotions I''m feeling are not rational, my empathy with her changes like the wind", the boy tried to put into words what I was feeling.


    "That''s right, her death shouldn''t mean anything to you. Any feelings you have for her don''t exist," the concept was complex, but Kayden felt like he captured some of what the man was trying to get across.


    Kayden had a small epiphany, it wasn''t like he became a remorseless killer, but he was now less reluctant to kill to achieve his goals. He realized that what was holding him back were moral barriers that didn''t exist outside his head.


    "Very well, before we go to your second fight, I will give you feedback on what I observed", again a notebook was taken from his pocket and the man began a monologue. "His fighting style is fast and focused on efficiency, all his spells complement each other evenly."


    The man slowly turned the page and began again:


    "But you know how to use your spells systematically..." Kayden interrupted the man before he continued.


    "I didn''t understand that part, Guide," the man looked up at the boy, sending a shiver down his spine. The chilling sensation quickly passed with the ghost''s warm tone.


    "I''m glad you asked, Kayden. Express your doubts, kid, I''m getting paid to do this," the man murmured. "See, kid, let''s say we have a problem with our computer, a person who knows how to use it will just turn it off and on again. The problem may have been resolved momentarily, but now and then it will come back."


    Kayden was paying close attention to the man''s words, his analogy was strange, but it seemed simple to understand.


    "A person who knows how a computer works will go after the root of the problem and erase it. Which of the two would be able to use the device for longer?" Again, Kayden was silent, reflecting on what he heard.


    "My spells are the computer, right?" The guide nodded in agreement. "I''m the first user at the moment, aren''t I?" Again, Kayden got his confirmation with a nod. "I know how to use each of my spells, but I don''t know how they work. However, I don''t understand what the problem is with that."


    "It''s a very simple kid, the second user can probably make improvements and changes to their computer, being able to use it even when a lot of time has passed."


    "Got it," Kayden nodded in understanding. This was a detail he hadn''t thought of. What were the variations of his spells? Did acceleration have to be harmful when used at overload? Many doubts arose in his head.


    "Your fighting style is good boy, it''s notable that it was polished with a lot of effort", the man began to give dozens of details that could make his movement and use of spells more fluid.


    After almost an hour the man stopped talking. Kayden had no idea that he still had so much room for improvement. There were hundreds of small, insignificant flaws that, together, would cause several problems for him.


    Not even Jarvan was capable of pointing out so many errors in his fighting style. This made Kayden wonder who the Guide was. Without a doubt, the man would have had years of combat experience.


    "Let''s go to your second fight now," the television again started playing a video.


    This time it was about a bloodthirsty old man who killed hundreds of people using poisons. He was never caught, his target was mainly children and bedridden people.


    It didn''t matter about age, sex, or any detail about his victim. They were all killed by poisoning and suffocated in their blood. This time the boy was smart and didn''t feel any anger towards the man.


    "Is this the real video?" Kayden asked the Guide.


    "Yes," his answer was short and to the point.


    A few moments later the television went off and Kayden knew it was time to face his second fight. This time he was excited. He would have to do it one way or another, the best thing was to learn as much as he could.


    Even more so now that a weight has been lifted from your shoulders. He didn''t mind having to kill someone else. He wouldn''t change anything in his life, it was insignificant, practically null in the grand scheme of things.


    The two walked out into the hallway. Kayden couldn''t identify where he was. All sides looked the same to him. They were the same torches with stone walls. After walking for a while, the Guide turned and opened one of the walls.


    The room was similar to the one where Kayden first fought. This confirmed his suspicions of what would happen. He would probably have to fight again. This time he would have no mercy. Between his life and someone else''s, he would choose his.


    "This time your opponent will be at the same level as you, I hope you don''t hesitate like last time", said the Guide. Kayden responded with a nod. After a few seconds of waiting, the same scene as before happened.

 Chapter 55: Direction to follow

    Chapter 55 - Direction to followAn old man was thrown across the room. His hair was gray and his skin was full of wrinkles. His image reminded the boy of a caring grandfather, he looked nothing like the crazy poison killer shown in the video.


    As soon as he noticed Kayden on the other side of the room, the man came towards him. Unlike the woman, he had a neutral expression on his face. He probably knew what was going to happen there.


    Before he started speaking, Kayden interrupted him:


    "We both know what''s going to happen here, no need to waste your breath." The boy learned from his mistakes, his last fight was when he was closest to losing his life.


    The man, seeing the boy''s quick reaction, didn''t waste time with words. As soon as he got close, he took a dart out of his pocket and threw it at Kayden. The boy just dodged to the side.


    Unfortunately, there was an extra-thin mana thread attached to the dart. Kayden felt a small pain in his left calf. Quickly, the boy removed the weapon from his leg. Without a doubt, it was poisoned.


    "Enjoy your last 5 minutes of life." Saying that the man started to walk away while looking at a watch on his wrist.


    Kayden knew he had little time and used full throttle. The man moved away and was using his darts to keep Kayden away. His strategy was to buy time.


    The boy used his Pop Flash by surprise against the man and, at the same time, the concentrated beam. This allowed him to get close enough to land a blow with his katana.


    A large horizontal cut appeared on the opponent''s chest. It was fatal, but not immediately. The depth was not enough for this. The two continued their game of cat and mouse.


    With every minute that passed, Kayden felt his body begin to burn. At first, it just felt like a tingling sensation, but around the 4-minute mark, every inch of him felt like he was bathed in fire.


    When he reached 5 minutes, Kayden was still able to move, with a slight delay in his actions. The boy didn''t know why, but the poison didn''t have such a strong effect on him. It was probably his heart''s fault.


    "Very well, any last words?" With that sentence, the man stopped running. His confidence in his venom was incredible. Kayden noticed his ego and tried to take advantage of it. S~ea??h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Pretending to be staggering, the boy approached the man. According to his calculations, he still had 2 minutes left before his body became unusable. When he got close, he fell to the ground as if dead.


    His opponent wasn''t a beginner and didn''t come close to submitting Kayden. He threw another dart. But before he could even throw the blade, a Pop Flash burst directly into his face.


    He tried to quickly retreat, but before he could move away, he felt the metal of a sword on his leg. Then, his body froze for a few moments before he felt the blade being withdrawn from his leg.


    Cold. It was the last sensation the old man felt before his neck was slit. Not even two seconds had passed. From one victory, the old man ended in death. Kayden couldn''t move that fast, so he threw his katana with the lightning concentrated at the old man.


    It wasn''t a very good tactic, but it worked. His actions were quick and precise. He didn''t spend time thinking or hesitating. His body started to heat up again. He turned to the guide.


    "Well done, kid. You have potential. Now sleep." With that sentence, Kayden felt his vision darkening and his senses losing their scope. Again the boy was caught before he could fall to the ground.


    ...


    The same stone bed, the same room. The same moment of reflection. Everything was the same as last time for Kayden. The only difference was that this time he didn''t feel any negative emotions about what he did.


    It didn''t make sense. It was irrelevant. He had no idea who the old man was, the videos could be edited and even if it was true it was either him or someone unknown. In particular, Kayden did not have a great attachment to humanity.


    His other life taught him how common human greed and selfishness are in society. Not even the best soul helped him for more than a few weeks. It made no difference to him the fate of humanity. It was... irrelevant.


    "Good morning, Kayden." The guide''s voice woke the boy from his thoughts. "Let''s start with our psychology session." Before the ghost could begin, Kayden interrupted him.


    "It''s not necessary anymore. I''d rather we focus on the practical part." The guide looked into Kayden''s eyes for a few seconds. The boy was unable to detach his vision from the mask. A chill started down his spine and a cold sweat ran down his back.


    "Your opinion doesn''t matter." Then the same rain of questions began for the boy. This time it was faster and as soon as they finished the strange atmosphere was canceled.


    "Let''s get to the combat report then." The man began to pass on everything he remembered. "Your attention is too focused on the opponent. You practically ignore your surroundings. In your last battle, it almost cost you your life."


    Again the guide began a long monologue. Kayden tried to absorb everything he said. After a few minutes, the man finished.


    "Are we going to your third fight?" Kayden had no idea how many times he would fight.


    "I need time to digest your teachings." The freezing gaze fell on him again, it seemed that the ghost didn''t like having his plans changed. "I need at least a few hours."


    "You will have four hours between one fight and another. You can wear yourself out as much as you want. I will be able to cure your physical fatigue." As soon as he finished saying that, the man leaned back against the wall and adopted a relaxed position.


    Kayden wasted no time and began to play through his two fights in his mind, along with this he also considered the guide''s teachings. The boy organized his strengths and weaknesses in his mind.


    His main advantage was his physical strength combined with magic and his main weakness was his low repertoire of spells, thus allowing him to have only one fighting style.


    "Should I learn more spells, guide?" Unable to find an answer for himself, he asked for help. The man didn''t look like he was going to respond, but after a few minutes, Kayden heard his voice.


    "What''s your point in learning more spells?"


    "Versatility. I feel like I''m very stuck with the range of possibilities I have." Against knight opponents, Kayden managed to perform excellently, but against mages or tamers, his performance was poor.


    "No, just modify the ones you already have to get the most out of your fighting style."


    "How can I change a spell??" Kayden didn''t even know how to create a spell. The three he learned just consisted of manipulating mana in a certain order until he achieved the desired result.


    "You must first understand how it works and why. Have you ever stopped to think about what electricity is? What is it made of? Does it have variants? Which ones? You should know these types of questions before delving into a spell."


    His explanation reminded Kayden of the computer analogy used by man earlier. He had no idea about the guide''s questions. The boy fell into reflection.


    A few minutes later, Kayden used the concentrated lightning in his hands and divided it into two, then four, and so on. He began to study every nuance of his spells: how could he improve with them? What could speed up the training process? And what would make it stronger using less mana? All these details were never really studied by the boy.


    Quickly, four hours passed. The boy made almost no progress. He didn''t understand anything behind his spells.

 Chapter 56: Final test[1]

    Chapter 56 - Final test[1]"Don''t be discouraged, boy. It usually takes years to achieve mastery with a spell." The man encouraged the boy. His speech was correct. There were cases of wizards spending decades on the same spell to improve it by even 1%.


    The paths of magic were extremely complex, mainly because there were no teachers. Practically everything varied from person to person, from how they manipulated mana to how they cast a spell.


    Even people who use the same base, as was the case with the kingdom''s national basic education, still had small variations made subconsciously.


    Kayden went on to his third fight. It was the same hallway and the same room with the television. Nothing different. Kayden felt like this part was a waste of time. Seeing or not seeing the video wouldn''t change what he had to do.


    "Guide, can we skip this part? It won''t make any difference." The boy received the same piercing look as before, and after a few moments of silence, the man surprisingly agreed.


    "OK." With his sentence, the two headed toward Kayden''s third fight.


    The time has passed.


    Kayden had no idea how long he had been fighting. When he asked the guide, his only answer was:


    "I can''t talk about timing. Typically, customers experience a small decrease in performance. I don''t know exactly why yet, but that was the result of my hands-on testing." His tone was excited when he said this.


    Every time he spoke to the ghost, Kayden got the impression that the man just saw him as little lab rats. His excitement in trying out different things to increase progress made the boy feel even more excited.


    Several times he saw the man change his emotions at specific moments and then write something down in his notebook, or exchange the questions from the psychology session for small talk, every detail was tested and written down.


    Even the color of Kayden''s room or the shape of his bed has been changed. He slept on the stone floor, on a bed of straw, on wood, with a fire instead of a torch.


    It was... scary.


    His routine at the moment was based on fighting, being knocked unconscious, reflecting on his spells and his fight. The 4 hours were changed to 2 sessions, totaling 8 hours. That was the only sense of time he had.


    And even more bizarre was that the guide kept him unconscious from one session to the next. Every time it seemed like he had gotten a good night''s sleep and was ready to give it his all again.


    Every fight he went through became easier. His opponents remained at the same level of cultivation, but they no longer had the same level of experience. So far, the boy has fought in 14 fights.


    You could say he was a serial killer, theoretically. In practice, nothing has changed. His mentality remained the same, none of his deaths caused him regret. It seemed strange how quickly and easily he absorbed this experience.


    His spells showed small improvements, all of this was only possible because of the support given by the ghost. His every observation was spot on and pointed out a flaw that Kayden had never noticed before.


    With this, his fighting style was even more refined. It was the same as when this all started, but now a little more lethal. He discarded many useless actions and techniques.


    Ironically, his swordsmanship grew from simple to become more complex. Your acceleration has seen a small improvement of... 1%. It seems little, but if we take into account that it is 1% of your total strength, it is a good result. S~ea??h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Probably, over time, this percentage would decrease. The spell wouldn''t be able to keep up with his rank. Haste was pretty much the lowest electric swordsman-type spell in existence.


    Its concentrated beam has had an improvement in firing speed. While before it was possible to see the small attack slowly forming, now it came out unexpectedly. The problem is that the new version was weaker.


    So, he needed more mana to have the same result. In a way, they were two different spells. One was for surprise attacks and the other for decisive moments. His Pop Flash didn''t have any major changes in its strength.


    However, a small change made it dozens of times more deadly. Kayden has learned to hide his activation. The opponent only saw the spell moments before it erupted. Even when he was prepared, he would still have to pay constant attention.


    Therefore, his focus was divided between fighting and focusing on any part of the boy''s body to see if anything was forming.


    Success. Kayden took a deep breath. A body full of cuts could be seen next to him. He was at least 2 meters tall and packed with muscle. Every inch of his skin and clothing was stained with blood.


    Kayden had one arm hanging to the side, almost half of the bone sticking out. This fight was pure carnage from start to finish. Kayden failed to land any decisive blows.


    His attacks were to wear down the opponent. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of cuts were made with his sword. This was the longest fight he had ever had and the most stressful. Any mistake on his part represented a fatal blow.


    Fortunately, he only made one mistake. But on the other hand, this mistake resulted in his arm being twisted at an angle that didn''t exist. His muscle was completely obliterated and his bone broke in two.


    It took just a few seconds with this situation. If not, the boy doubted he would have won. Knowing what would happen now, he turned to the guide expecting to be knocked out. The man laughed and raised his hands.


    The boy just closed his eyes and waited. Unconsciousness didn''t come...


    "You make it sound like I put you to sleep often, Kayden," the man said. At the same time he heard this sentence, the boy felt excruciating pain in his arm. He could feel his bones and muscles being forcefully mended.


    The guide''s healing art was truly unlike any Kayden had ever experienced. Typically, this type of magic worked by speeding up the body''s natural process and, in some cases, making small changes so that recovery wouldn''t go wrong.


    But the ghost thing didn''t work like that. His magic simply forced the body to recover. The speed was much greater. He pretty much just gave the body a warning like, hey, you''re patched up, hit the right nerves there.


    A few seconds later, the healing was complete. Kayden felt brand new.


    "You''ve finished your training. Let''s go to the final test. It won''t require too much effort," said the guide as he walked away. "You don''t have to go through this if you don''t want to, but there is a little bonus reward."


    Kayden said nothing and followed the man. Since he had come this far, there was no harm in going all the way. When you''re in hell, you should embrace the devil, right?


    The two stopped facing a wall.


    "Your last chance, Kayden. If you enter this room, you will have to complete the task given to you. Make your choice", said the guide, giving the boy one last chance. His tone didn''t make Kayden feel good.


    It seemed like he was offering the boy a way out and not a choice per se.


    "I''ll go all the way," Kayden replied curtly and waited. Seeing his decision, the guide opened a stone door in the wall and entered.


    Kayden came across a room similar to all the others he had been to in this place. The only different detail was a baby bed in the center... Bed... Baby? Kayden was surprised.


    These two words didn''t fit the place he was in. It seemed almost unreal that something so pure could breathe the air of this guild.


    The two got close and Kayden began to have a strong feeling that he should have turned down this mission.


    "Isn''t life beautiful?" said the man, starting to play with the baby. His tone didn''t match his attitude lately. It seemed... Too human.


    "Really cute," Kayden said, looking at the baby''s rosy cheeks.


    "I''m not talking about that piece of meat," the man replied. "It''s about the ease with which we can mold it. While you see a living being, I see a blank sheet of paper. If I want to mold it into a dog, I can."


    There it was. This conversation suited the man''s personality type. Scary, without regard for any ethics or morals.

 Chapter 57: Final test[2]

    Chapter 57 - Final test[2]"If when he''s growing up, I teach him to be an animal and never talk to him or let him have other experiences, he''ll be an animal, even though he has the most evolved mind we know, isn''t it ironic?", the guide he laughed like a little maniac.


    "But thank God I''m not heartless, right, Kayden?", the man asked the boy lightly.


    "Really," Kayden swallowed the answer he wanted to give deep in his stomach.


    "Well, your mission is very simple," the man put the baby in the bed and walked away. "Kill him, and we''re done here. If you refuse, I''ll kill you here."


    Silence.


    Kayden''s mind went blank for a few seconds. Then he exploded into thoughts. Should he kill the baby?


    Could you escape from the man? No, that was utterly impossible. Fight him? Even fewer chances.


    What to do? What paths were there? Anything...


    Kayden was powerless to do anything.


    He didn''t have the strength to fight the guide.


    The seconds began to pass slowly. The boy had to make a choice.


    Once again he was placed in a situation where he could not decide his actions, again a slave to fate. Hatred, anger, and every possible emotion started running through his head.


    "Have you decided, Kayden?", the guide hurried the boy''s choice. Kayden hadn''t thought of anything yet.


    All plans boiled down to dying or killing the baby. Every plan to escape or fight the guide would result in Kayden simply being crushed. The guide wouldn''t even need to move, he just needed to impose his mana against Kayden and the boy would feel as if the world was pressing him to the ground.


    He took the katana out of its sheath. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    His eyes went to the edge of the blade. Was he ready to take that step? His eyes strayed to the baby. It was a simple and quick step, it wouldn''t take half a second. But it would also be a step that would change his entire life.


    This decision would cause Kayden to abandon his last remnants of humanity, his principles would cease to exist. It would be an event that would separate his life into before and after.


    Kayden raised the blade above his head. A few minutes had already passed.


    He had already given up on escaping, his only options were to kill or be killed. His mind began to weigh the pros and cons.


    Was it a bluff?


    No. Kayden often came close to dying in his fights and the guide didn''t lift a finger to help him. Against a beast tamer, the boy had his arm ripped from his body and even so the guide had no reaction.


    Why did he accept this shit? If he had refused this additional test, everything would have been fine.


    His mind went silent. All feelings and emotions were left aside. Your decision has been made. Little by little, his sword rose above his head. This, without a doubt, was the most difficult decision he had ever made in his two lives.


    When his katana was at its highest point, it began to descend little by little. Seconds passed in this movement, they seemed like milliseconds to the boy. He took a long breath.


    The boy savored the air that entered his lungs, an action so simple that he had never appreciated it.


    His katana descended and with a clang of metal...


    Fell to the floor.


    Kayden decided to stay true to his principles. He took time to make this decision, but he was at peace with himself.


    "Are you sure about this action, Kayden?" the guide said in his ethereal voice.


    "Yes, I thank you for your teachings," Kayden bowed to the man with no resentment. He knew that, in the end, the man was just following the training schedule.


    "Very well, goodbye, Kayden," the man took off his mask. Kayden saw an old man with a white beard. But that wasn''t the most impressive thing. His eyes were black with several purple dots circling them.


    Kayden couldn''t stop looking. It seemed like he represented the pinnacle of knowledge. His eyes symbolized a universe of knowledge. The boy didn''t know where these emotions came from, but they represented his sensation.


    One of the strangest things Kayden has ever experienced in his life started in front of him, similar to those movies where there was teleportation. The boy felt everything start to stretch.


    He knew this was the end. What was?


    It didn''t matter, his death would come anyway.


    His two lives began to cross his mind. The moments vegetating in bed, the days, months, and years of loneliness. Just him and his mind. There was nothing to do. His only entertainment was listening to novels through artificial intelligence.


    His only friend was Nicolas. It seemed like so long ago, but Kayden knew it was his first true friendship. In the end, everything ended the way this one would end, because he was weak.


    Ah, destiny, the unpredictable destiny, the one that already has everything ready and planned. Ridiculous.


    Killed by his uncle for what? Anything. Just hate a mediocre man. He did not gain power. Didn''t make any money. It was just to satisfy his desires. A slave. Slave to your desires.


    His second life finally gave the boy some freedom. Even old families would not be able to monopolize power. This time, he had a chance to get where he wanted.


    And again, what happened? His body was level 1 trash. But even so, he didn''t lose heart. He discovered how to get around this problem and found his second true friend. David.


    He almost died to get the mana heart. But he was successful. He learned to use lightning. He became an excellent fighter for his age. He spent every second of his life chasing power.


    Why? Because it made him feel alive. Improving, even if it was 1%, was rewarding. Seeing his technique go up and up was addictive. Learn about different subjects. Eat delicious foods. Experience new sensations. Everything had been wonderful. Every second of his second life was enjoyed. He didn''t regret it. Did he die? Yes, but it was something he couldn''t avoid.


    The path to the top did not accept people without principles. See that principles do not refer to human morals or ethics. They refer to their principles. Kayden fought so hard against fate and would do the same with a baby.


    He knew that if he made this decision now, he would never be able to find his way in the future and, consequently, he would end up wasting his life. Why wouldn''t he find his way? Because it would be going against everything he lived.


    After replaying every second of his two lives, Kayden''s mind relaxed. No more thoughts. Anything. He closed his eyes and waited. This whole replay of your life didn''t take 2 seconds.


    Peace. Kayden was sure he wouldn''t have a third life. At least not one with the same memories. Ah, anyway, Kayden had no regrets. He just tuned out everything. Nothing else mattered.


    How ironic. The moment in which he felt most free was the one that would end everything. Kayden did what he could one last time. He breathed and felt the air around him. Even circulating mana through his body he began.


    He had no sense of time. Nothing else existed besides him and his mana. Never before has your circulation flowed so well and so freely. There was no stress. If a circle was made poorly, just make another one.


    He lost himself in this sensation. 1 circle, 2 circulations, 5 circulations, 20 circulations, 100 circulations. He had never gone past that in just one sequence. But it continued anyway.


    200 circulations.


    His tiredness didn''t come. His mind remained crystal clear. His focus was absolute. Kayden didn''t even remember his name. Nothing else mattered. What was it like to be alive? Did that exist? Death?


    It didn''t matter.


    300 circulations.


    Each circulation made his body feel close to moving forward, but for what? He did not know. Not even his thoughts existed. They were just sensations. Similar to when we review a memory.


    There are no thoughts or words in our head. He''s just there.

 Chapter 58: Final test[3]

    Chapter 58 - Final test[3]400 circulations.


    It became easier and easier to get around. What was he circling? Kayden didn''t know. It was a kind of energy, but he didn''t remember what energy meant. Well, that didn''t matter.


    Just circulate.


    500 circulations


    There were no more thoughts or anything in Kayden. It was practically a robot that just carried out a task. Circulate, circulate...


    Circulation????


    Pain began to be felt throughout the boy''s entire body. But it was ignored. Keep circling. A sensation of glass shattering was felt by Kayden. He didn''t know where it came from.


    Circulation continued. Circulate. Circulate. The energy, Kayden had no more energy. What would he circulate now? The energy he already had. The boy felt the same thing that was circulating within himself.


    Keep circling. It was a little slower, but still served its purpose. Circulate. It got easier and easier each time. Kayden remembered something similar, but it seemed blurry. It doesn''t matter.


    100 circulations.


    1000 circulations.


    5 thousand circulations.


    10 thousand circulations.


    Kayden felt that no matter how much he circulated his internal energy, there was no more progress. Anything. Well, it didn''t matter, he just needed to keep doing it.


    But why? It doesn''t matter. He was about to start circulating again when something different happened in his life. He heard something.


    "Kayden!!! Wake up!!!"


    Kayden? What is that? It looked familiar, well it didn''t matter, he just wanted to get back to his task. Unfortunately, the voice began to repeat itself dozens of times, which slowly made him remember something.


    Kayden.


    Kayden was his name. Like a dam that breaks with a crack, the boy remembered everything. All his memories came back with a thud. He found himself on the cold, damp ground.


    Wait, damp?


    Kayden smelled a ridiculously stinky smell and quickly stood up.


    "You''re finally back," the guide''s voice brought back his memories of his last moments. Well, maybe not that last.


    "You weren''t going to kill me?" Kayden clearly remembered finding himself caught in the man''s spell.


    "No, that was not the final test, nor does there exist such a thing. I just wanted to do a psychological test on you," Kayden first felt angry, but then indifferent. He was alive, wasn''t he?


    Not only do I live, but I''m more resolved with myself. sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "But congratulations on the advance, boy", advance? Kayden began to circulate mana throughout his body. 5th rank. He had advanced, not only that but he felt that his mana veins reached much further away, almost as if they had been honed by hundreds of thousands of circulations.


    Kayden remembered what he had just been through. He didn''t know how to put it into words. His sense of time was practically non-existent. If the guide had said that a few millennia had passed, he would still have thought little.


    Before he could begin to digest what happened, the guide''s voice snapped him out of his stupor.


    "It was an epiphany, a unique moment in the life of every mana user. We don''t know how it works yet, but it''s a moment of hyperfocus where you solve a problem or just farm in an insanely accelerated way."


    This made sense to Kayden, it was this feeling he remembered, but in the end, there was something more, he needed time to think. It was too unique a moment to be spent without much reflection.


    "I see, what is the reward?" Kayden remembered the guide mentioning something like that. The man scratched his head.


    "Before that, I wanted to propose to you, Kayden," the boy was surprised but nodded. The man, seeing this, continued: "Become my disciple."


    Kayden expected a lot of things. Become my permanent lab rat. Participate in another experiment. Even an invitation to the assassins guild, who knows? But becoming the guide''s disciple was nowhere near his guess.


    The ghost, seeing his hesitation, began to speak hurriedly, almost seeming nervous.


    "I''m in the third kingdom, Kayden, I''m one of the richest and most powerful men in the kingdom. Whatever you want can be yours, everything is within my reach", his sentence seemed appealing, but Kayden didn''t doubt it. He saw the extent of the guild these days.


    "First, explain the last test to me," Kayden asked. He would use this time to think about the man''s proposal.


    "It was very simple, there was no right answer. If you killed the baby it would have passed the same way, it was a simple test like the hundreds I''ve done before", the man replied.


    "Hundreds?" Kayden only remembered fighting a few times.


    "Every question I asked was a little test, everything was being written down and documented by me," the man explained. Kayden hadn''t realized this, they just seemed like routine questions.


    "I need to give you your final result to make it easier to understand," the man said. Saying that he conjured a ball of water and plunged Kayden into it. The boy was taken by surprise, but he couldn''t resist. While the guide bathed him, he also burned the remains of goo on the floor.


    This included the baby, Kayden was shocked by the man''s cruelty. He didn''t even blink.


    "Don''t worry, the baby doesn''t exist," the man said, trying to diffuse the situation.


    A few minutes later, the two were sitting in armchairs drinking tea.


    "I couldn''t have showered normally?" Kayden expressed his doubt to a quiet guide.


    "I was kind of looking forward to our conversation," the man replied sheepishly. "Let''s get to the main topic, your result," the man''s eyes sparkled with excitement.


    He took out a notepad from one of his bandages and began to speak.


    "Your combat performance was above average, but still within the normal range. Your strengths are quick decision-making without hesitation. You don''t mind trading an injury for victory," the man said.


    Kayden fought a lot of battles where he let himself get hit just so he could land a good hit on his opponent.


    "The command of your spells is excellent, it is clear that they were made to match your fighting style, unfortunately, you do not master your element that well, your knowledge of it is shallow at best", this was a hard blow to the boy''s pride, but he had to agree with the guide''s observation. He never really studied lightning and its characteristics.


    "Your mentality is solid, even with challenges and moments where you almost died you remained calm", Kayden had a very rational way of thinking.


    The man spent another 10 minutes detailing Kayden''s various characteristics, from his way of fighting to basic things like irrelevant quirks, Kayden had never been observed in such a deep way before.


    "You see, Kayden, there are two types of people we receive here, the first comes from an environment where they are taught to kill and fight from an early age, they don''t have many problems taking lives", the man showed several drawings in his notebook. Kayden had to admit he was quite educational.


    "The second are normal people, the majority. In this group we have two types, the first is healthy people, they take a long time to kill, similar to you, however, they always show regret and blame themselves", a slight tone of annoyance was felt in his voice by Kayden. "We spend most of our time in psychological sessions with this guy."


    Kayden thought it was reasonable, he was sure that if he had had a normal life he would be in this group.


    "The second is people with some type of past trauma, they usually adapt faster and are less attached to morals or ethics, everyone in that group kills the baby, now the question is which group are you in, kid?" the guide said in an excited voice.


    Kayden stopped to think a little, he quickly adapted to the situation and, without a doubt, carried the marks of his second life deeply rooted in his psychology. He would probably be in the second type. The boy waited for the guide''s answer, his question had an air of rhetoric.


    "Here''s the big problem with the question, you see, I''m a wizard focused on mental powers and I can tell when someone is lying by the amount of mana their body spends between one answer and another", that''s why I had so many silly questions in my mind. the questionnaire, they were to propperly balance your scale.


    Na: Sorry I haven''t been sending caps lately, I''m in the middle of exams at college, there were 8 just this week (this is a cry for help), jokes aside I''ll post normally again in the next few weeks

 Chapter 59: Reencounter

    Chapter 59 - Reencounterabout it," Kayden returned to normal. "And stop using your magic on me, please." It took the boy a while to realize, but he was sure his emotions were magnified.


    With his sentence, the guide snapped out of his stupor and returned to reality. He wanted to force the boy to tell him what his trauma was and how he escaped his question, but he saw from the boy''s look that he would rather die than tell him anything.


    It was the same look as a captured soldier who spent years being tortured and didn''t speak a word from start to finish. Leaving that aside, the guide continued to be more animated this time:


    "Sorry, sorry, it was unintentional," Kayden doubted that. "So you should fit into the second group, but all your answers don''t say that, so I put you in the 3rd group, the anomaly group."


    "Is that why you wanted me as an apprentice?" seemed to be the only explanation.


    "No, Kayden, I''ve seen thousands of anomalies and hundreds of geniuses, but I''ve never seen someone with your mentality. He knows? Most of the people who don''t want to kill the baby fight me or cry on the ground, but in the end, they end up killing me during my time expansion spell."


    So that''s what Kayden felt in that moment, was his sense of time being stretched.


    His heart was proof of that. He was looking for something that would take him as far as could be reached. And that was only possible if he walked a path that no one had ever walked on before.


    Did it seem like arrogance? Kayden didn''t care, he would live his second life however he wanted.


    "But ... but," the man didn''t expect such a direct refusal. "You have a talent for mind magic, Kayden. A few minutes ago, when you lost control, your emotions were mixed with mana, this is insanely difficult, boy."


    Kayden was unable to notice, as the guide got rid of the mana''s effect almost instantly. He was only caught by the illusion because of surprise.


    "I don''t want to change my fighting style, guide. I believe you have better people than me to be your apprentice," Kayden bowed respectfully. He didn''t want to anger an entity from three kingdoms.


    The ghost was quiet for a few seconds. He didn''t expect the boy to refuse. He decided to put this matter aside for now.


    "Very well, but know that this proposal is open to you even after you leave here," the man gave a small pendant to Kayden. "When you change your mind, show it to any branch of the assassin''s guild."


    Kayden looked at the gift. It was a small black prism with red accents. As soon as it touched Kayden''s hand, he felt a small amount of his mana being sucked away.


    He knew what this was. It was an artifact that recognized him as the only user, only responding to his mana. Kayden injected some of it and could feel another man inside.


    It was stormy, dark red. It looked like a chaotic sea of blood. Kayden had never felt mana like this before. She seemed almost alive. It was magnificent.


    "Hey, boy! Wake up!" Kayden came back to reality with the guide calling him. "That''s the enhanced mana signature. Since I''m a mental wizard, she''s a bit hypnotic." The boy realized that he spent a few more seconds analyzing the mana than he should have, probably because of this.


    "I see, and what is the result of your analysis?" Kayden just wanted to leave at that moment. He wanted to eat instant noodles and sleep... in a real bed, his back screamed at the thought.


    "Well, my result was... broken, your personality is completely broken. Your answers make it very clear that you will do everything for your goal as long as it does not go against your principles. And when I say everything, I mean everything."


    The guide started showing small drawings of Kayden going through pain and torture to gain just 1% strength... The guide seemed to treat him like a child, drawing his lines step by step. Fortunately, his drawings were almost instantaneous in Kayden''s vision.


    "I couldn''t say where this determination comes from or why, but without a doubt, you have a certain degree of madness", Kayden knew this was because of his first life, but he had no way of explaining it to the guide. "But don''t worry, boy, madness is given to everyone who escapes society''s mediocre standards."


    Kayden didn''t care, even if the result was that he was extremely crazy. It wouldn''t make a difference.


    "I understand," Kayden didn''t know what else to say.


    "Well, we''re done here, it was a pleasure meeting you kid, see you later", Kayden''s vision gradually darkened, this feeling wasn''t new to him.


    .....


    ''This stone bed is horrible'', Kayden started to stir, he was trying to enjoy his last minutes of rest, and little by little he was waking up. ''What the fuck?'', the boy felt drops of water on his face. S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    As soon as he fully awoke, Kayden found himself tied to a tree by ropes. And to make matters worse, it was raining heavily. Some lightning could be heard by the boy in the distance.


    Freeing himself from the ropes that were there just so he wouldn''t fall, Kayden jumped to the ground, he found himself in the same place where it all started. It felt like years had passed, his epiphany messed up his sense of time.


    His focus now was to digest everything that had happened, he was sure he still had a lot to learn from the latest events, especially the epiphany, Kayden was sure there was something more than just passing the rank.


    ''5th rank'', Kayden realized he advanced. In the middle of the rain, he stretched out his arm and started laughing to himself. His only emotion was happiness. Who said he couldn''t reach the same level as other geniuses?


    Lightning struck practically next to where he was, making the boy recover from his little euphoria. Kayden ran for shelter. By a stroke of luck, he found a small caf¨¦ open.


    Even though he was soaked in the rain, he entered. The adults in the place probably wouldn''t deny him a towel. As soon as he passed through the doorway he found himself in a small space with a few tables and chairs.


    In the center was a fireplace, making the room feel warm and welcoming. Around her were two sofas forming an L. This theme matched the weak colors and medieval details in the objects. There weren''t many customers around the place.


    "Kayden?", the boy heard a voice coming from the sofa in the fireplace, only the figure''s feet were visible. What a coincidence of fate that they find themselves here.


    "Hello Shang", Kayden greeted the blonde, as soon as he heard Kayden''s voice he stood up. His look followed the usual rules, a golden robe, golden hair, but completely messy and of course, the final touch, Shang was drunk

 Chapter 60: Progress?

    Chapter 60 - Progress?"What a coincidence, kid," Shang''s tone sounded almost like he was trying to hide something. The man hurriedly dried the boy, Kayden should learn this type of magic, it could be very useful.


    "That wasn''t a coincidence, was it?" Kayden was sure that the blonde must have been waiting for him at some meeting point and, when Shang didn''t show up, he was tied to a tree.


    "Of course not, Kayden, stop being so suspicious," the man hid the bottle of drink behind his back.


    "You forgot, didn''t you? Did you get too lazy to wait, did you come here to spend some time and forget?", Kayden got it right by Shang''s embarrassed look, but it would be easier to get milk out of a stone than to make that shameless person admit something.


    "Of course not, Kayden, it''s just a coincidence of fate, now get out of the entrance, you''re disturbing the customers", there weren''t even 5 people in that place and hardly anyone would arrive in the rain. sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''Shameless,'' Kayden cursed in his mind as he was pulled to a random table.


    "Give me another shot of this joke here," Shang pointed to his bottle, "and bring...what do you want, Kayden? I''ll pay this time," that was the furthest he would get from an apology from Shang.


    The man probably used the club''s bathroom to avoid having to pay for water use in his own home.


    ''Stingy'', Kayden spread a macabre smile on his face. Shang didn''t like that smile.


    "I want 3 portions of the most expensive item on the menu and 2 snacks with everything included", Shang almost didn''t get up to take the order sheet from the waiter''s hand and stick it in the boy''s dick.


    But he controlled himself, sometimes sacrifices were necessary for the greater good. Conjuring a bubble of mana, the blonde turned to the boy.


    "And then? How it was? You were only there for 5 days", 5 days? Kayden looked like he had spent weeks down there, every time the guide turned him off he felt brand new, almost like he woke up to a new day.


    "It was good, I managed to lose my fear of killing and even reached the 5th rank", the boy was unable to continue speaking when he was interrupted by Shang.


    "5th Rank!? What the fuck is this?!" Shang was sure that the boy was still a long way from advancing on stage the last time they met. 8 years old and 5th rank, this talent was at the level of the top geniuses in the kingdom.


    But that wasn''t the big problem. Rank was something easy to climb when you had talent. That''s right, talent. But Kayden was a mere level 1 natural talent. The math didn''t add up.


    "I had an epiphany that helped me breakthrough," now it made sense to Shang, an epiphany was something truly magical. Often, people were able to understand in hours or days things that would take years and years.


    "I see, any more gains? How was your combat performance?" Shang seemed to know a lot about the test.


    "I did well, I learned a lot, it opened my mind on how to use my spells to maximize their effect with my fighting style", Kayden began to explain some of his changes while they waited for the dishes.


    "I see, what about your psychological evaluation?" Kayden took a moment to respond as the plates were placed on the table.


    "Broken", Kayden didn''t know how to put into words the result given by the guide, broken was what best summed it up. Shang was silent for a few seconds before starting to respond.


    "I did the same training when I was 10 years old," Kayden was surprised, it was difficult to tell the right age of people at that time, increasing realms granted a lot of longevity. "My test was healthy," a cynical smile appeared on his face.


    The two continued their meal calmly and when the rain passed, Shang offered to accompany Kayden to the train station. The boy knew the last question was about to come. In the end, the training had only one purpose.


    "I almost died in the first fight I had, but it was an opponent far below my rank at the time, it took me a long time to forgive myself, there were hours and hours of conversation", the blonde seemed to be immersed in memories. "I killed 6 people," the man let out a sigh.


    6 peoples? Kayden was surprised. That was low, he killed 15 people himself. As soon as he thought about it, the boy realized. 15 murders, he was practically a serial killer. Maybe he went a little overboard.


    "How many people have you killed, boy?" There was the question of millions, Kayden didn''t know what to answer. Should he tell the truth? He already told Shang the result, his number couldn''t be low.


    "9 people, Shang," Kayden decided to play it safe, he didn''t want Shang to think of him as a psychopath. "I''m not going to fight at the club for a while, I need to digest everything I''ve learned", the boy tried to change the subject.


    "Relax, when you get back..." Shang didn''t find the right words to delicately ask what he wanted.


    "Yes, I will participate in life or death fights", Kayden knew what the blonde wanted. The two continued their way in silence.


    Kayden was fully aware that at some point or another, he would have to participate in this sport. It was inevitable on the path to power. The path to the top could not support the weak and to be strong he must push himself to the limit again and again.


    As they said goodbye, Shang left one last warning for Kayden.


    "Come find me when you are ready, I need to pass on some teachings before you participate in life-and-death fights," Kayden nodded.


    ....


    2 months later, a boy could be seen on a mountain peak. The peak was a projection outward from the mountain; it was a piece of land suspended in the air. The winds were strong and violent.


    But that was no big deal, the strange thing was that well... there was a huge storm in place. The rain fell nonstop on the ground. Tirelessly, as if his goal was to tear down the mountain through his insistence.


    Lightning should be seen in a storm of this magnitude, but there was a large metal rod, rising at least 10 meters into the air. This was not the work of nature.


    BOOM!!


    The shrill sound of lightning was heard. The metal rod absorbed all the energy coming from the lightning and distributed it onto the mountain floor. Kayden didn''t even sway at the loud sound.


    His clothes were soaked and his bones were practically frozen, but it didn''t matter, the boy was getting closer and closer to understanding something essential. A few minutes and a few dozen more lightning strikes later, the storm stopped.


    ''Failure,'' Kayden sighed. But what was he doing there? To do this we have to go back to a small fragment of memory.


    ...


    Kayden met with Heimer as soon as he arrived from his daily training. The boy didn''t notice anything different about Kayden, but as the two used to eat in the living room, the old man found them.


    "Kayden? 5th rank? I''m crazy?" For a second, the old man couldn''t believe his eyes. Heimer stood frozen for a moment before jumping at the boy.


    "TELL ME KAYDEN, WHAT ARE THE INGREDIENTS FOR THE PHILOSOPHER''S STONE?" This was the only plausible explanation for the boy''s level to rise so much in such a short time. Jesus, it hadn''t even been 6 months since his last progression.


    "Very well," the boy let out a sigh, his expression was serious, making the old man and Heimer pay attention to him. "This is something I developed with a lot of effort with David, I''m only going to tell you two because you''re my family."


    The atmosphere became quiet, the two did not expect the boy to bring up such a delicate topic out of nowhere.


    "Father, please erect a barrier, this secret is capable of causing a civil war," his tone was serious, causing Han to erect the barrier without asking any further questions.


    "Kayden, you don''t need to tell your secrets, everyone has theirs", Heimer started to feel a little bad, it seemed like he had pressured Kayden into this.


    "It''s okay, Heimer, I''ve wanted to do this for a while," Kayden sighed. "First you must simulate the lightning in your hands", he demonstrated the process, and the three did it together.


    Kayden showed a few more steps where he circulated his mana and held the lightning in his hands. It seemed like completely random steps to both of them, but they continued without asking questions.


    "Very well", the three were already sweating, the boy made them spend a lot of focus on their concentration. "Now the final step, raise the beam to its maximum power without it killing a human being and... each place their beam in the other''s leg."


    The two did so without hesitation. Before they started struggling, they could see the wide smile on Kayden''s face. A few seconds later, the two woke up.


    They found themselves sprawled out on the floor covered in drool.


    "It looks like we failed the last step, how about we do it again?" The miscreant''s voice can be heard waking them both up from their stupor. Heimer was the first to compose himself and stand up.


    AN: hello readers, I got original works to feature, so I''ll be releasing two Chapters today, thanks for the support

 Chapter 61: Progress?[2]

    Chapter 61 - Progress?[2]"Of course, we should just try again," Heimer looked at the old man, a tactical understanding was agreed upon between the two. Slowly, they approached Kayden with a friendly smile.


    Han had a long lifespan and knew how to hide his intentions easily, but Heimer didn''t have that ability. Kayden could feel his murderous vibes aimed at him.


    He even tried to move away but found himself pinned to the ground. When his gaze was directed downwards, he saw a circle of runes rooting him in place. As soon as he turned his vision upwards, he saw a Heimer with a satisfied smile in front of him.


    "It looks like you''ve lost respect for your big brother," Kayden started getting spanked.


    Their screams could be heard from outside the house.


    "Father, won''t you help me? It was a small mistake," Kayden would never admit that he pranked them both. The old man looked to the side as if he hadn''t seen Heimer''s abuse.


    "I think I''m going to have to paint the wall in a few months," his tone sounded like he was considering it at the moment.


    After a few minutes of spanking, Heimer finally found himself satisfied. Han didn''t care, he was happy to see Kayden letting go and making jokes, they were rare, very rare.


    "Wow, I didn''t even see you two here?" Han had a smile that made Kayden think it was worth electrocuting them both.


    ...


    But what does this have to do with Kayden watching lightning on a mountain peak? That little game showed the boy two things. One that shouldn''t mess with Heimer and that different people make different lightning.


    His question was: why? He could feel that Heimer''s lightning was disorganized and Han''s was clean and gave a feeling of purity. The boy couldn''t say why that was, nor could he even distinguish very well the sensations that the magic gave him.


    It was similar to human instinct. There was no way to explain certain sensations, you just felt them. Therefore, he had the idea of seeing natural rays, which came from Mother Nature herself.


    Thus, he solved two problems with one stone. He would learn the reason for the difference and would also deepen his understanding of his element. The only problem was that lightning rarely struck in specific places.


    So he looked for the highest mountain he could find. Fortunately, it wasn''t too far from the orphanage, it was only 4 kilometers. The problem was that there was no train line to get there.


    Again, Kayden had the idea of doing the route using acceleration. His focus was to further improve his execution and control of this spell. It may seem silly, but in 2 months, he reduced his mana expenditure by 20% while maintaining a 15% acceleration, all because he got used to using the spell without thinking.


    But was that all he improved? No. In those two months, he reflected on the epiphany he had. It took him literally dozens of hours to discover something very simple. His epiphany was divided into two phases.


    First, he utilized the outer mana that came from the guide; he circulated the mana countless times, probably numbering in the tens of thousands. But eventually, he broke the rank barrier and advanced.


    At this time, the guide stopped supplying him with mana, because if Kayden continued cultivating without stabilizing his foundations, he could be permanently injured. This is where the main part comes in, Kayden didn''t know what had happened.


    He remembered to circulate his inner mana, but this should not affect his cultivation progress. At least that''s what he believed. When I was in the second rank, I had already tested this. He spent a few days circulating mana through his veins.


    But what is the difference between these two experiences? Kayden could only think of one thing, the first time he didn''t circle enough. Your veins should be polished under an incessant flow of mana.


    After getting so much rain these days, he made an association. How did rain open holes in paved roads? Time and constancy. That was the answer. It was hundreds of thousands of drops hitting the same spot for days for negligible progress, but within months that progress would accumulate into something unbelievable. Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    His veins were the same. His mana should pass through each possible point thousands of times. Since the epiphany had already polished his body, he had no way of testing this hypothesis, but he was sure this was the answer.


    And what did he gain from it? His veins were able to withstand a greater amount of mana without bursting and, in addition, his speed was ridiculously superior. As he only polished it once, his body was performing the same as if he was at the peak of the 5th apprentice level.


    If he had done this on every level, where would he be? At the peak of the 6th rank? That would be... unbelievable. But there was no point crying over spilled milk.


    Of course, that wasn''t his only gain during that time. Your spells and battle power have seen a huge increase in performance, more specifically not in the quantity of power, but in the quality.


    Kayden understood how lightning formed scientifically. He studied every nuance he found in public archives. It might sound silly, but it made him feel closer to his element.


    His concentrated lightning was able to form much faster and reach a speed incomparable to that of old. Furthermore, most importantly, he no longer needed to use it on his body.


    You see, it is very difficult for an apprentice mage to manipulate mana outside his body. Why? Very simply, Kayden blamed it on an ability that was only acquired in the next realm, spiritual sense.


    It was like a sixth sense that encompassed everything around a mage, it was almost as if it were an extension of their own body. Was Kayden an unprecedented genius? In truth no.


    What he did was leave pre-programmed spells. Unfortunately, his control over them was non-existent. The moment they were released, they would go to the last place he chose. This technique was based on forming a potential difference with a timer, which when it reached the highest point, resulted in lightning.


    That was all Kayden could get out of 2 months of reflection, at least that was all he was ready to discuss with himself. What about the psychological outcome of your test?


    Kayden subconsciously refused to think about it. He didn''t want to face the reality, that he never cared about taking human lives or committing unethical acts.


    But that''s a conversation for another time.


    Kayden stood up, his little seclusion finally coming to an end. He had finished digesting everything he could about his latest training. His focus now was on life and death struggles.


    His heart raced at that simple thought. This time, he would face real fighters, not mere psychopaths who had never fought head-on in their lives. Fear? Yes, he had, but he knew it was necessary.


    He started down the mountain.

 Chapter 62: Elite class

    Chapter 62 - Elite class"Want a drink?" A groggy Shang offered Kayden a bottle of dubious content, which was promptly refused by the boy. The two were sitting in one of the club''s floating bars, around them were dozens of other people chatting as they waited for the entertainment fights. Kayden decided to get straight to the point.


    "I''m ready to fight." With that sentence, Shang removed the drunkenness from his face and assumed a serious posture.


    "No." His serious tone surprised Kayden. He didn''t expect the blonde to refuse.


    "Why?" He expressed his doubts with a frown. Just as the blonde was about to speak, Kayden met his patron''s eyes. The eyes glowed a faint shade of red and... Desperation. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Endless, as if nothing could solve your problems. His life was a loop of anguish. Nothing would work. He was still far from his goals. It seemed like it would be impossible to achieve anything.


    Shang looked like a god of death. Nothing could stop him. Kayden was going to die. He had no way to fight. His heart began to slow down, life lost its meaning. Why try if he was going to fail? It didn''t make sense.


    Kayden slapped himself in the face, and with the physical pain, the boy managed to snap out of his stupor. He came across a Shang drinking his drink from a cup that he was sure hadn''t been there before.


    "Three minutes, it took you that long to compose yourself." The blonde seemed to have returned to normal.


    "What was this?" Kayden could still feel the frightening despair that assaulted him.


    "Intent to kill." Shang seemed to be enjoying the suspense and just said that.


    "I understand." Kayden didn''t say anything else, the minutes started to pass and Shang started to get angry. After a while, he couldn''t help it and opened his mouth.


    "Come on, Kayden, don''t you have anything to ask?" Shang seemed eager to demonstrate all of his knowledge to Kayden.


    "Not really, Shang." Kayden knew the game he was playing and played dumb. Finally, the blonde couldn''t take it anymore and spoke.


    "You little shit, listen well because I''m going to pass on my magnanimous knowledge to a shallow mortal. When you fight many times in your life and kill different people, you gain a strange ability to force mana into your intentions."


    Kayden was familiar with this. How many novels has he read? Countless. How many had the intention to kill? All. Absolutely all. He already expected there to be something like that in this world.


    Kayden and Shang


    "Is yours very strong or am I weak, Shang?" Kayden asked curiously.


    "A middle ground", the blonde scratched his chin before responding. "I haven''t killed many people in this life, so it''s not strong. The problem is that you have never had contact with this before, it was like a shock to your mind."


    "I see, and what does this have to do with the fact that I can''t fight life-and-death battles?" It didn''t make much sense to Kayden. His opponents would hardly have a sharp intention like Shang''s. The boy didn''t fall for the talk that he had killed a few people.


    For a few seconds before entering the trance state, Kayden was able to feel as if Shang was dripping with blood. Almost like a living demon.


    "Any opponent you catch must be able to use at least some killing intent. Even though it''s weak, it should still be able to freeze your movements for a few milliseconds and it will feel like you''ve been fighting the entire match stuck in mud."


    Kayden hadn''t thought about that point. It may seem like little, but just a few milliseconds were capable of defining a winner in a fight.


    "How do I not be influenced by this?" Kayden was sure Shang had a solution. He was a businessman, never one to present an unsolvable problem.


    "Training. If you have a dose of my intention every day, you should be ready in a week. There''s no point in doing too much in just one session, and you''ll end up collapsing."


    "Very well, let''s begin." Kayden didn''t want to waste a minute.


    *******


    In an underground room, a woman was sitting at a table. She seemed to be just waiting for time to pass. Again she didn''t hear Kayden come through the door. She was only noticing him when the boy was in front of him. With a scream, she headed towards Kayden.


    "Kid, you shouldn''t scare older people like that." Her heart was racing.


    "I entered normally, this is the second time this has happened, Madam Secretary." Kayden apologized anyway and got straight to the point.


    "I want to try out to join the elite team." It had been over 3 months since the last time. Kayden was sure that now he could easily face the ice girl or any other opponent.


    "Very good, Kayden, isn''t it? This time the punishment for losing is 6 months without being able to challenge. Are you okay with that?" The rules were made so that the challenges would not be incessant and harm the students.


    "Yes and thank you for the invitation," Kayden remembered to say thank you. Without that card, it would take him much longer to have the same battle experience and even reach level 5.


    "What invitation? I don''t know what you''re talking about. Just wait while I call some elite students." The woman acted like she didn''t understand, she was probably very well trained by Shang.


    A few minutes later the ground opened up. Again Kayden saw the girl curling up in a pile of clothes. When their eyes met, she expressed annoyance. It had barely been 3 months since they last fought. In such a short time, they could scarcely evolve.


    "The rules are the same," the secretary announced. "As soon as you''re ready, step into the circle, Kayden. In ten seconds your fight will begin." As soon as Kayden heard the command, he entered the circle.


    Drawing his sword, he assumed an offensive stance. This time, he came prepared. The boy wouldn''t let her take charge of the battle like last time. Ten seconds later, the woman clapped her hands and the fight began.


    Kayden simulated a flashbang instantly. The girl reacted automatically based on her memories and turned her face away. Unfortunately for her, Kayden already expected this.


    Using acceleration, he approached her. His chance was to catch her before her ice barrier was raised. When his opponent realized what was happening, he began to move away and throw small fragments of ice at Kayden.


    It seemed like a game of cat and mouse. If Kayden let her put up the barrier, he would lose. And if she let him get close, she would lose. The boy started using flashbangs, which were quickly avoided by the girl.


    "Do you want to play a game of attrition? Will not happen." With an audible snort, she released a large quantity of icicles at Kayden.


    He was forced to retreat. In the meantime, the ice wall was erected between the two. The boy continued to move constantly. He didn''t want to be caught by the same attack from his first fight.


    "Give up, this game is over." After a few minutes of Kayden dodging and hitting the wall from all angles, his opponent expressed disdain. The most annoying thing is that the flashbangs kept coming out without stopping.


    ''I have 10% more mana, but there are still 30 seconds left.'' His plan had to be coordinated perfectly. The girl couldn''t feel that something was wrong.


    "You talk a lot." The boy sneered, infuriating his opponent. The girl''s anger was expressed as hundreds of icicles were released towards her. It was at least double the first time.


    Kayden managed to deflect most of them, but dozens of cuts were still made on his body. His clothes turned to rags.


    "See the difference between us? Give up, referee, end this match." Her tone did not accept refusals, but, unfortunately for her, nothing was heard from the secretariat. Her tough tone was fake.


    Kayden didn''t know exactly how much mana a conventional mage could use at this rank. But surely the girl was also at the limits of her strength.


    "Transcendence." A light murmur was said by Kayden. At this moment, dozens of concentrated beams of lightning headed towards the girl''s barrier.

 Chapter 63: Elite Class[2]

    Chapter 63 - Elite Class[2]BOOM!


    A gigantic boom was heard as the ice barrier was torn to pieces by dozens of spells hitting the same spot. A small wave of steam rose, obscuring the view.


    As soon as the girl recovered from the shock, she raised another ice barrier with the remainder of her mana and instantly tried to recover the lost mana. As she looked for Kayden, she heard the sound of metal hitting metal behind his back.


    His opponent was keeping the katana in its sheath. The girl looked at it irritated.


    "Why waste so much time if you were going to give up? Pathetic." This fight lasted at least 30 endless minutes and the worst thing is that she didn''t even learn anything from it.


    Against all expectations, Kayden just looked at the secretary.


    "Where should I go now?" His tone was neutral as if the girl''s taunts fell on deaf ears.


    "You can go down the stairs, Kayden, there will be someone there to help you." The secretary turned to the girl.


    "Yasmim, you have lost your elite student rights, you can only challenge the last-placed student in 1 year." It took the girl a while to realize, she had lost, but how?


    "I do not accept that!!! You are in a plot, the fight isn''t even over!" Like a spoiled child when contradicted, she got angry and shouted at the secretary.


    Kayden didn''t even stay to see what was going on. It was none of his business. He began to descend the stairs with steady steps. It was a stunning black marble staircase, at least 50 centimeters long on each step.


    "Perfect." As soon as the passage closed, Kayden collapsed on one of the steps. He was exhausted. Using his new spell exhausted him beyond what he imagined. His mana veins were completely overheated.


    But what happened?


    Kayden was constantly dodging and changing positions to place small pre-programmed rays to hit the same spot. It was a great effort on his part, as everyone needed to have the right amount of mana to cause a difference in the potential capability of releasing the lightning.


    He set the timer for 20 minutes and waited. When he got close, he used his new spell. Transcendent. It was the improved version of acceleration. Normally, his acceleration could only increase his speed by 15%, but since he polished his veins, the boy discovered that it could cause him to slightly overheat.


    His body was able to withstand a greater amount of mana without permanent damage. Transcendentia was capable of increasing his capabilities by 40%. This was ridiculous. Kayden estimated that it should have the same speed as a 7th rank.


    That was a jump of 2 ranks and one of them was still a transitional realm. The downside was that he was extremely exhausted afterward. To the point that even walking is difficult. This state only lasted 1 minute.


    Returning to the fight


    As soon as Kayden activated the spell, he ran unsustainably fast after the girl. As soon as he got close, he passed the sword inches away from her body. It was just a gesture, as previously she had shown him mercy.


    Fortunately, the secretary was at least a mage, so she was able to visualize everything that was happening perfectly.


    The boy took a big breath of air and stood up. He didn''t expect much from this elite group, in fact, he only came here because he couldn''t participate in life-and-death fights yet.


    Shang asked him to reach at least the 6th rank before starting with this modality. Kayden was stubborn, but the blonde was firm in his decision. So his best choice was to join the elite class.


    It would probably still take another year for him to reach the sixth rank, and since they were a little ahead of the middle of the year, Kayden could still participate in the city championship.


    When he finished the staircase, Kayden was faced with a sight he would never have expected in his life. There were several lounge areas with sofas and minibars and even a heated pool down there.


    At the end of the space were the training arenas, there were at least a dozen of them. Several people were fighting in the arenas or simply resting, the problem was that there were much more than just 50 people down there.


    "Hello?" Kayden heard a voice beside him snap him out of his stupor. The person who called him was a woman... well... the best way to describe her was magnificent, her black hair fell to waist height, highlighting the prominent curves of her body.


    "..."


    With a delicate face that Kayden was sure could be on a magazine cover, the purple-eyed woman spoke again snapping her fingers close to Kayden.


    "Kayden isn''t it? The secretariat informed me of your arrival, I am Professor Nila ." Kayden finally snapped out of his state of contemplation and greeted the woman normally. In his defense, he was still a man.


    ''That''s right, everyone can fail once.'' Kayden made this excuse for himself for acting like a hypnotized idiot.


    "Come with me, I''ll show you how things work around here." The woman began walking without waiting for Kayden''s response. "These are the rest areas." The woman pointed to the several sofas. "Everything here is free and, if you want something different, just ask the waiters."


    Kayden finally noticed that there were some people dressed in open suits and slacks, they were probably the waiters. The elite group had privileged treatment. It was a difference between heaven and earth.


    "Why does the closed group have such refined treatment, teacher?" Kayden expressed his doubt.


    "Fund, each elite student can give the equivalent of 1000 normal students, it all depends on the annual exams." These annual exams were something Kayden never participated in, as it was optional. He would probably now be forced to participate.


    The two continued on their way. The room was colossal, being at least 600 meters wide. Kayden noticed that there were a lot more people here than there should have been. Again he expressed his doubts to the teacher.


    "Teacher, why are there so many students here? Aren''t there just 50 elites?" The teacher made a confused expression.


    "Don''t you know anything about how this works?" Kayden hadn''t seen anything about the elite class, he just wanted to join, and... he did. The boy shook his head.


    "What is the purpose of this class?" Kayden knew part of it was fighting in competitions, but it came down to that.


    Kayden shook his head.


    "What''s our training like?"


    Kayden shook his head again.


    "Who are the best in our school?"


    Head shake.


    "Do you even know anything?"


    Kayden shook his head in embarrassment. Finally, the teacher lost her patience.


    "What the hell are you doing here, kid? Jesus!" The woman placed her hand on her forehead, it was the first time she had received such a lost student. "Let''s go in parts, so, firstly, this closed group is a government incentive to produce elites."


    That part was clear to Kayden. He just hadn''t associated the facts.


    "Our training is based on groups of 5 people, similar to competitions, each elite student can bring 2 friends to form a team. With only 50 students, we wouldn''t have that many people here at one time." S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    It made sense, especially when a team had to cover different specializations. The teacher continued:


    "We don''t exactly have a specific composition for each team, but we ask for at least one melee fighter and a mage specializing in support, these two are the hardest to find."


    That was true, Kayden saw plenty of hand-to-hand combatants, but few at school who could pose any danger in combat. And why? It was simple it was difficult for children to have enough combat experience to develop a good weapons fighting style.


    Author''s note: we probably won''t have Chapters some days this week, I have a test on Friday and there are an incredible 400 pages to read and memorize, my teacher is the famous student stunner lol

 Chapter 64: Elite class[3]

    Chapter 64 - Elite class[3]Unlike conventional wizards, who just needed to cast spells until the opponent lost. And mages who followed common classes were even rarer, who wanted to specialize in something difficult and laborious when they could opt for easier paths?


    "I have no friends, how can I form a team?" Kayden hadn''t talked to anyone at his school until now.


    "Don''t worry, we have a catalog of all available students." The two finally arrived at the training area.


    It was half the space of the room, there were several training spaces with protective bubbles, and occupying half of the training space was a gigantic bubble, in this space there were two groups of 5 people fighting.


    For the first time, Kayden saw group fights, it was a chaos of spells, but it was a harmonious chaos, as if each member complemented the other''s spells. In one of the teams there were 3 knights, a support and a conventional mage.


    In the other there were 3 conventional mages, a support and a knight. A barrage of spells came from the other team non-stop, the other side wasn''t even able to get closer.


    "These are one of our teams, but they are the low-ranked ones. As you can see, the teams are unbalanced, it looks like the mages are winning, but the knights are just waiting for mana exhaustion."


    What she said really happened, a few minutes later the knights attacked the magicians and knocked them down with heavy sword blows. Kayden saw something he hadn''t seen at school until now.


    Blood. The knights attacked without caring about anything, some wizards had deep wounds, but before they could even think they were taken out of the arena by a man dressed in a white robe.


    "That''s Mr. Lucas, he''s a healer, thanks to him no students get hurt during training, he manages to get them out before they die." The woman said this as if the fact that they had serious injuries was irrelevant.


    The fight continued for a few seconds, but the result was already defined.


    "Your job now is to find members for your team, each elite student can have one with other elite students or with guests, very well, if you have any questions, call me." The teacher simply disappeared from Kayden''s vision before he could say anything.


    She barely explained things properly and just disappeared. The boy was still thinking when he was approached by a girl with purple hair and a black sleeveless dress.


    "Hello, you''re new , aren''t you? My name is Alice, do you want to form a team with me?" A voice woke Kayden from his daze.


    "No, team up with me, I''m a mage specializing in healing."


    "I am a 6th rank knight, do it with me."


    Countless people gathered around Kayden, there were so many that he didn''t know what to do.


    "Silence." With a command, the entire crowd fell silent, they gave way for a red-haired boy to enter the crowd. Kayden had never seen the boy, but knew he had some respect around here. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Hello, my name is Yan von Kitten , I am responsible for guiding new students." The boy exuded confidence in his speech and composure, and his name reminded Kayden of the nobles.


    "Hello, my name is Kayden, thank you for your teachings." Kayden gave the boy a nod.


    "Come." The two left towards the rest areas, the boy took Kayden to a small group that was chatting around a small table with soft drinks. As soon as they noticed Yan''s arrival, they greeted him.


    There were two girls and a boy.


    " Hey , Yan, are you a newbie?" One of the nearly 2 meter tall young men asked. In addition to his disproportionate height, he also had giant, completely tanned muscles.


    "Yes, Kayden, I''ll introduce you to the team." The boy pointed to one of the girls, she was very short with red hair reaching her height, her skin tone was light with small freckles on her face.


    "This is my sister, Yasmin von Kitten , she is a mage specializing in support." Kayden noticed a certain similarity between the two, the girl just looked at him and didn''t say anything. She had a certain snobbish air.


    "..." Yan was speechless for a few seconds. "Ah, well, that''s Samuel, our Goliath." It went without saying who he was talking about. "He is our tank, a 6 rank knight."


    "Hello welcome." The big man greeted Kayden cheerfully, which was reciprocated by Kayden.


    "This is Luiza, our girl and together with me our firepower, she and I are conventional magicians specialized in area damage spells, my element is fire and hers is earth, we are both in the 6th rank."


    The girl he pointed out was wearing a pristine white robe that hid every detail of her body. Only her blonde hair was visible outside the outfit. She gave Kayden a mixed treatment with a wave.


    "Very well, this is our team, in fact I am not a student responsible for helping others." Yan gave an awkward laugh. "But I just need one more fighter for my team and since you have a katana , I put two and two together."


    Kayden was already expecting something like this, if there really was a student specialized for this, there wouldn''t be so many people inviting him to a team.


    "You are nobles, aren''t you?" Kayden had to make things clear early on.


    "Yes, my sister and I are the children of a baron, the other two are normal civilians who entered by invitation." Kayden had no idea what the division of nobles was like, and he didn''t care.


    "I have a Class 1 innate talent." Kayden dropped the bomb all at once, first causing surprise in everyone and then... contempt, the look was evident in everyone. No matter how much Kayden proved himself, his innate talent would always give people this emotion.


    "...."


    He already expected something like this from the two nobles, but from the other two it wasn''t so strong, his emotions varied from surprise to disgust. The atmosphere in the room became strange between them.


    After a few seconds of silence, Yan finally recovered from his shock and spoke. Like a snake, he demonstrated another form of treatment towards Kayden in his tone.


    "Ah, I''m sorry Kayden, but I can''t accept you knowing this, I hope to progress over time and you''ll just be a burden over time, I don''t even know how you were able to get in here, I''m sorry, but no We can welcome you more." His speech did not have any aggressive tone, but the contempt was notable.


    Kayden expected emotions like anger or shame to surge within him, but there was nothing. He couldn''t direct 1% of his concern towards other such insignificant people in his life. Maybe he is a mature person.


    The boy simply turned around without saying anything and left the group, behind his back he was still able to hear Yasmin saying:


    "Yan! What goes through your head to bring trash like him here?" This sentence made Kayden want to go back and choke the girl, maybe he''s not that mature, but soon these emotions were suppressed by his apathy

 Chapter 65: Team

    Chapter 65 - TeamThe boy started to walk around the place until he found an empty sofa. He threw himself onto the furniture, still exhausted from using Transcendentia. Grabbing a soda and an energy drink, the boy began sipping while replaying his last fight in his head.


    This was the first time he used this spell in a real fight. The result was better than he expected, but it was clear that it was a finishing move, as he practically became useless after using it.


    A few minutes later, Kayden was comfortable, lying on the couch and drinking his soda. He had already spent all of his previous fight in his head, but he still had his eyes closed, resting.


    ''I can get used to this.'' The boy laughed to himself.


    Unfortunately, his moment of pleasure was interrupted by a voice above his head.


    "Mister Kayden?" When the boy opened his eyes, he was faced with a teenager with shaved hair and yellow eyes wearing a tunic. There were several other people around him, but only this one called him.


    "Hello? I know you?" Kayden didn''t remember seeing this teenager before at school.


    "In truth no. But I know your fame and, therefore, I want to ask you to join your team, Mr. Kayden!" Fame? Since when did he have any? Only if it''s your lower-class talent. And what was this respectful and formal treatment on the part of the boy?


    When Kayden sat down, he noticed that a circle of people had formed around his couch. Irritating. He should put an end to this once and for all, otherwise, he would be harassed whenever he came to this place. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Hello everyone, I know you want to ask to join my team, but know that I have an innate Class 1 talent." Again, the same reaction emerged from the public: first surprise, then contempt.


    "Trash."


    "Waste of vacancies."


    "How did he do?"


    Phrases like this were said from all sides. Kayden didn''t care. This time, he was already prepared. Why should he care about sheep that needed to be in a flock for strength?


    The boy was about to return to his position on the sofa and take a good nap, but, beyond his expectations, some people remained. Among them was the boy with yellow eyes. Before Kayden could say anything, the bald man spoke up:


    "Don''t worry about it, Mr. Kayden. I don''t mind at all." His eyes conveyed all his sincerity. Some people around nodded their heads.


    Kayden wasn''t prepared to get to this point. He hadn''t even thought about putting together a team, because, firstly, he didn''t even know that fights were in teams. Letting out a sigh, he sat up straight and turned to the teen.


    "What''s your name and...?" Before he could continue, he was interrupted by the bald man.


    "Carlos, sir!!" The boy seemed to be... excited, that was the best word to describe his personality.


    "Ah, right, Carlos. I hope I can ask you a few questions before choosing to accept you into the team..."


    "Of course sir." Again he was interrupted, and a small vein popped out on Kayden''s forehead.


    "First, stop interrupting me..."


    "Sorry sir." Another vein popped out of his head.


    "Why are you guys so desperate to join a team?" Kayden was curious about this point, hadn''t they gotten in here for their friends?


    "I noticed that you don''t seem to know anything around here, sir, I''ll explain it from the basics then." Carlos tried to appear helpful. "Many people here buy the elite student pass to become a guest, the problem is that it only lasts 6 months and you are unable to enter again for 1 year."


    This cleared Kayden''s doubts, only those that had at least one elite in their composition were considered official teams, which is why there were so many students desperate to join their team.


    "I understand, introduce yourselves briefly, name, specialization, and rank." Kayden didn''t want to get too close to people who wouldn''t join his team, so he tried to make it as quick as possible.


    "Carlos, close-range combat using fists, I''m in the 4th rank." As soon as the first one introduced himself, the others started too.


    "Helena, mage specializing in offensive wind spells, I''m in the 5th rank."


    "Marcus, mage specializing in support, I''m in the 5th rank."


    At least 12 people were around Kayden and spoke out. As soon as they finished, the boy asked for a few minutes to think. He quickly concluded he didn''t want those with higher cultivation or who were better.


    Strength can be cultivated. The only thing that can''t is personality. What was he looking for? Simple, determined, and focused. If he just asked, everyone would respond that they had this quality.


    It was time to start testing.


    "Those who want to be part of my team must first write 100 pages detailing their way of fighting and all their qualities. It must be at least 100 pages." It took a few seconds for the people around him to understand what he asked, in a matter of the blink of an eye, the 12 people became just 8.


    But that was still 4 more than Kayden needed. Well, he already eliminated the lazy ones, now it was time to test the cowards.


    "Does anyone have a notebook and pencil?" Again, people were surprised by the boy''s actions, but someone quickly gave him what he asked for. "I''m going to do a test, there is no right answer, but bear in mind that I will choose the ones I think are best." The boy gave each person a piece of paper. "Imagine you are on a new continent..."


    Finally, there were only 3 people left around Kayden. Surprisingly, one of them was Carlos, with his shiny bald head and golden eyes, his impeccable tunic, and infectious smile.


    "What was the right answer?" A tall blue-haired girl asked Kayden. She wore a light dress with the appearance of someone who had never fought in her life. If Kayden wasn''t mistaken, she was an offensive water element mage named Maria. Her element took Kayden by surprise. Typically, offensive magicians used elements capable of causing great mass destruction, such as fire. But who was he to criticize others, right?


    The other person was a support mage named Jean. He didn''t say much other than introducing himself. He wore a strange outfit by modern standards, wearing jeans with a red and black checkered shirt.


    "Maria, isn''t it?" The girl nodded. "There is no right answer, there are several possible scenarios, but I like one in particular that you three came very close to, burn the boats."


    The three''s response came close to that. It wasn''t the same, but everyone tried to see it through to the end, regardless of the consequences. The other students, for the most part, chose to go back and ask for help from the government or related things.


    Was it a wrong answer? No, it was not. But Kayden didn''t like it, and well... that''s it.


    "I see," the girl replied and remained quiet. The three were waiting to see what it would be like from now on with Kayden as leader.


    "I''ve never led any team, I''ve always been used to fighting alone, so I ask for your help if I make any mistakes," the boy said in a humble tone, which was well accepted by the members of his new team. "We need another mage for our team, but it''s not necessary yet."


    A team with 5 people would, without a doubt, be stronger than one with just 4 people. Unfortunately, none of them knew anyone capable of filling the vacancies.


    "Carlos," Kayden had a question on his mind from the beginning of this interaction. "What fame were you talking about? And stop calling me sir, I''m younger than you."


    Kayden was still 8 years old, but he was already an impressive 140 centimeters tall. It seemed small, but at his age, the average height was between 110 and 130 centimeters.

 Chapter 66: Team[2]

    Chapter 66 - Team[2]"Yes sir." He received a death glare from Kayden. "I mean, Kayden, you have a reputation among normal people at school as the genius with no future. Not that I think so, sir... Kayden, I think you have a lot of potential." The boy said the last part quickly and nervously.


    Kayden let out a small laugh to himself and gave a scary smile to the people around him.


    ''Without future? What a joke, I will overcome everything and everyone.'' His mindset came ruthlessly into his thoughts.


    "Kayden, stop smiling like that, you''re scaring me." The one who called him was Maria, making the boy notice his devilish smile. Kayden coughed embarrassedly.


    "Sorry, it was unintentional." It didn''t seem like it at all. "Now let''s talk about training." Once again a devilish smile appeared on Kayden''s face, but this time it was quickly hidden by him. "I don''t know what you do, but on my team, you will do what I specify or you are out."


    It seemed like an outrageous and self-centered request, but well, it was. Kayden doubted that any of them knew how to fight properly, if they did they would have joined the elite team directly and not through invitations. Seeing that none of them opened their mouths, Kayden began:


    "First, Maria, I want you to train your spells, whatever they are, to be cast incessantly and I want you to be able to recover quickly for another volley of spells. You can do it?"


    "The first part I can, but when it comes to mana recovery, I don''t have much beyond the basics." Now it was time for Kayden''s little knowledge to come into play and start putting together the little pieces of his new plan. Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Go to the library and look for techniques swordsmen use at rest. We will protect you in combat, so you can use this kind of immersive technique." It wasn''t a secret, it was just a simple technique to capture more mana in a resting state. It was of no use to mages and knights, as this fast mana was imbued with the will of the world, making it impossible to cultivate with it. The girl left as soon as she received Kayden''s instructions. It was difficult to find a team around here and their time was running out.


    "Carlos, I want you to learn techniques for explosions of speed and strength, I want a quick and decisive attack from you." The boy quickly agreed with Kayden, he didn''t have a definitive fighting style.


    Kayden turned to Jean, but before he could say anything the boy surprised him.


    "You want me to learn strong defense spells that give stat bonuses aimed at explosive strikes, don''t you?" It seems that Jean had discovered Kayden''s plans.


    "Yes, that''s right." Once again, another member left after receiving his instructions. Kayden expected them to debate a little more, but apparently, he underestimated the guests'' desperation to join a team. They certainly had pressure from their parents and society on their shoulders.


    "What about me? What''s your plan, Kayden?" Carlos asked.


    "I need you to learn spells and explosive techniques too. However, I also want you to focus on having a hybrid style between defense and attack. And as for the plan, you don''t need to worry about that for now."


    Kayden quickly realized that the three of them were not used to fighting. Mainly because they easily give up their fighting style and go learn other types of spells.


    The boy had neither the time nor the desire to teach them how to fight, so his strategy was simple. Make them specialize in carrying out a false attack with incessant attacks and a real one with full force.


    In this attack, he would use his special spell and it would be all or nothing against the other team. Honestly, his 3 allies would prepare the ground so he could finish the match.


    "Okay, Kayden, see you tomorrow then," Carlos said goodbye, leaving Kayden alone again.


    The boy took a deep breath. It seemed like a new stage in his life was about to begin.


    A week later


    A four-member team could be seen fighting another five-person team. They were in a giant underground arena.


    "Bastards, fight decently!" One of the mages on the larger team was irritated. A match that was only supposed to last 10 minutes was approaching 30.


    Simply because the other team seemed to use guerrilla tactics. Its main magician used several volleys of spells incessantly and, when her mana ran out, the fighters bought time for her to recover.


    His spells were mainly of the water element, most were condensed to the point that they looked like ice when they hit opponents, causing open wounds and bruises.


    But the main problem was a katana-wielding boy able to hold off two attackers at the same time, and if they faltered, they still received injuries. The other team''s support played the role of the last guard.


    Many times they came close to dealing with the opposing mage, but a protective bubble and other abilities held him back long enough for the bald man and the swordsman to arrive.


    Close to 30 minutes later, the offensive mage stopped her water spells again and walked away to recover. The five-member team positioned itself to attack again, this time ready to take advantage of any opening.


    " Transcendentia," Kayden said so only his team could hear. That was the signal for the last clash. His support mage cast a wind spell, increasing his speed to frightening degrees for his rank.


    The monk activated an earth element spell that covered his hands with a thin layer of sharp boulders and also received a speed buff from the support mage. Adding up all the spells, they were at their strongest since the start of the fight.


    Kayden charged so quickly at one of the opposing knights that he didn''t even have time to react before receiving a large horizontal cut across his chest. In a few seconds, the fight became 4 against 4.


    Without wasting any time, the boy headed towards the second knight. This time, it wasn''t so easy, as his opponent saw Kayden''s superhuman speed and focused on defending himself.


    What he didn''t expect was that he would be attacked by the other side. The bald man dealt a decisive blow to his head with his fists, and the knight collapsed to the ground unconscious. All of this happened in just 3 seconds.


    The three mages on the other side barely had time to react before 2 of their team''s allies were eliminated. They couldn''t even cast a spell. The three that remained were attack-oriented fire mages.


    Unfortunately for them, Kayden wasn''t planning on letting them attack. Putting all his strength into his legs, he ran towards the nearest mage. A wave of fire met him.


    If the boy was normal, he would have gone around or waited for her to pass. But who said he was? Using a concentrated beam through the wall of fire, Kayden crashed head-on into it.


    His skin suffered first-degree burns and his clothes were singed and black in places. But his intention was successful. The wizard was hit by his spell and was slightly paralyzed.


    Taking advantage of the right moment, Kayden landed a horizontal blow on his opponent''s arm, almost cutting him in two. But to his delight, he was taken out of the arena before Kayden could finish the hit. Kayden turned around.


    The monk was going after one of the remaining mages, the support was casting distraction spells for the last opponent, and her water mage was recovering mana.


    The boy decided to end this fight quickly and headed towards the same wizard as Carlos. Using concentrated lightning from a distance, he caught his opponent by surprise.


    This allowed Carlos to hit his opponent''s head with a decisive blow again. Finally, there was only one opponent left.

 Chapter 67: Team[3]

    Chapter 67 - Team[3]"I give up", with both hands raised, he was taken out of the arena.


    "Team Kayden wins," Lucas announced, his voice amplified by mana. It took a few seconds for the penny to sink in for Kayden''s team.


    "That''s what I ''m fucking talking about!", Carlos shouted excitedly. Maria and Jean also celebrated, but not as loudly. Kayden kept his expression neutral.


    That battle had been... ridiculously easy. His opponents barely could defend themselves, their spells were simple and predictable. Maybe it wasn''t them who were weak, maybe it was a matter of experience.


    Kayden had already fought dozens of times in real combat, while they had barely fought once or twice.


    The boy sighed.


    "Carlos, shut up, it''s just the base rank", this match was his team''s first fight against another official team, and this made them enter position 40, it was the lowest, but it was still a ranked position.


    "Come on, Kayden, we''re ranked, we''re the best of the best", Carlos'' smile was genuine, this was one of the best moments of his short life. A week ago he was just a guest, but now he was one of the top 200 in his school.


    The team went out to rest under the shocked gaze of the spectators, the other team surpassed them in cultivation level by at least one rank, but they were still able to emerge victorious.


    Kayden''s gaze met Yan''s. They expressed shock, but another emotion was also visible in their irises: regret. Anyone with a good knowledge of combat could tell you that Kayden practically won that fight single-handedly.


    Kayden looked away, he didn''t care, Yan''s decision sealed any future friendship they could have had. A few moments later, everyone was sitting on a couch with snacks around them.


    Before Carlos started making a fuss and gorging himself on candy and soda, Kayden caught their attention.


    "Attention please," he looked like a father educating his children. "Before you do anything else, let''s go over the fight..." Kayden was interrupted by a cheerful Carlos.


    "Why? We won, that''s what matters", Carlos said lightly, but without him expecting it, Kayden reciprocated in a not-so-light way.


    "That fight was pathetic, did we win? I submitted two opponents alone and made the decisive move to finish off the other two, you made dozens of ridiculous mistakes and that''s why we have to review the fight**", his harsh tone put an end to the group''s festive atmosphere, but Kayden didn''t mind. It mattered, it was necessary to give them a reality check as soon as possible to prevent them from becoming sloppy.


    "Are you guys satisfied with a 40th ranking from a random school in a random city? So let''s celebrate without worrying about anything, but I don''t want that, my goal is to be the best in this school", the boy''s eyes shone.


    "Isn''t that a little much, Kayden?", Maria opened her mouth and was quickly shot by Kayden.


    "In your dreams are you just one of the crowd? I don''t think so. In real life, I also don''t want to be one of the crowd", his harsh tone made his allies think, but at the same time, it made them see something that they had been ignoring until now.


    "I want to do the review, I will work hard to be the best", Jean was the first to say. "Please help me, Kayden", with a bow he finished his speech. Kayden was pleased.


    Support was the one who said the least, but he was the first to recognize his mistakes and try to improve, this characteristic made him the perfect learner. Then the other two also spoke.


    "Let''s do the review," Maria had a new fire in her eyes that had previously been just dull emotions.


    "That''s right, let''s be the best!" Carlos, who had his head down since the beginning of the sermon, stood up enthusiastically, shouting his words.


    "Very well," Kayden took a contract out of his pocket, the three will climb 5 ranks per week from today, and we will also do intense team training. Here is a contract so that you can be tortured... trained by me", it was close.


    But Kayden almost blurted out his intentions. He couldn''t let his pawns, that is, allies, run away from his team because of intensive training. The three had seen contracts before but had never signed anything like this.


    The requests were simple, they just had to come every day and be trained by Kayden, if they gave up they would never be able to join an elite team again, it seemed... fair. Seeing the three signs without thinking straight made the boy smile devilishly.


    This was probably the biggest mistake of their lives.


    ******


    "Save me!", someone on the ground was shouting to the people around, his voice seemed to express the pain of someone who had been tortured for decades on end.


    "He''s a demon! someone exorcise him please," a teenage girl could be seen running from the bubble. Scenes like this became common for passersby, there was a team that used colored bubbles to hide their training.


    And every few minutes someone would come out like this, they didn''t know what was going on inside, but one thing was certain, the demon''s identity was well known to everyone.


    Kayden left the bubble.


    "I think you''ve had enough air," Kayden grabbed Maria and Carlos'' collar and pulled them inside.


    "HELP!!!", was Carlos'' last word outside the bubble. Maria didn''t even say anything when her collar was caught she knew there was no way to escape. The first time he tried, Kayden made sure to devote as much of his attention to his torture... training.


    Inside the bubble, Jean could be seen using support and distraction spells on different dolls. Every few seconds, a device purchased by Kayden repeated a random sequence of positions and spells.


    They had been training at this pace for a week. Kayden had to admit that they had made big improvements.


    Carlos'' training consisted of performing dozens of physical exercises, but the problem was that he had to keep his spells active.


    Every time he ran out of mana, the demon would come to him for a beating session...sparing. The first time he saw Kayden using only his hands, he thought it would be an easy fight, what a sweet mistake.


    With his combat experience alone, Kayden was able to deliver dozens of painful blows to the boy. Usually, it lasted until one of the other two was depleted of mana and underwent the same training. Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    There was no point in falling to the ground and pretending to be dead. The soulless demon would come and kick your body until you stood up. Crying or trying to run resulted in the same situation. Sometimes, Kayden went overboard and ended up hitting one of them too much.


    The boy''s voice was recorded in the minds of all three.


    "Go to Mr. Lucas, if you don''t come back in five minutes I will come after you." Fortunately, none of them had any stupid ideas to find out what happened when Kayden ran after them in this situation, but without a doubt, it wouldn''t be good.


    Maria''s training consisted of attacking a wall, alternating between strikes in the area and at specific points. She should do this until her mana runs out, then have a small sparing session against Kayden.


    She was sure this was just bullying, but the boy''s voice haunted her mind.


    "I''m preparing you for unexpected situations," with a smile that expressed concern for the team''s well-being. The three also learned that Kayden could be the most shameless of beings while also appearing to be sincere.


    It might not seem obvious to the three of them, but Kayden saw them improve their improvement spells that could be cast more times to your perception and space in combat.


    The one who surprised him the most was Jean, the boy hardly complained and was always ready to train more. His spells were now cast practically instantly after they were pronounced, not only that but he was able to switch between different spells in milliseconds.

 Chapter 68: Unorthodox strategies

    Chapter 68 - Unorthodox strategiesAuthor''s Note: Sorry for the giant blocks of text, the correction AI was messing with me today


    "Jean, come here," Kayden gathered the three of them. "Tomorrow will be our second fight. I''ve been analyzing our opponents. Let''s use strategy number 2. They are 4 combat mages and a knight. We shouldn''t have too many problems."


    Strategy number two was something that Kayden drove into the minds of all three like a hot iron. It was placed so that they could perform their tasks quickly and robotically. Without them knowing, Kayden was training them for this, like soldiers who obeyed orders without thinking. That''s what he wanted; his commands were to be followed without hesitation.


    "You can rest until tomorrow." With all the warnings given, Kayden decided to give his team a little break. He couldn''t kill them, could he? At least not much. They still have to be able to fight the next day. Carlos celebrated as if it were the biggest victory of his life. He would continue screaming if it weren''t for a slap to his head by Kayden.


    "Stop being retarded." The group had already gotten used to the extremely cheerful and warm bald man. "I''ll wait for you tomorrow," Kayden said goodbye to his new friends.


    Again, Kayden''s team was in the arena. This time, his team was a little more relaxed. Kayden''s intense training gave them some confidence. And in the meantime, they realized that Kayden was strong. Very strong. Whenever any of them tried to escape or fight Kayden, the boy barely made an effort to capture the fugitive, almost as if they were children.


    The other team was completely unbalanced. Again, Kayden felt a glaring lack of experience. This was becoming common in this place. The only ones who meant anything here were the elite students. These gained their place by fighting; their teams were mostly made up of sycophants and ass-kissers. Pathetic. But Kayden couldn''t expect much from teenagers; In fact, I couldn''t expect much from anyone. Humanity tended to be mediocre and repetitive, driven by carnal and superfluous desires.


    The arrival of the other team snapped Kayden out of his stupor. They were all dressed in the same purple robe. Without a doubt, it made a good impression. Kayden made a mental note for him to arrange something similar.


    "The rules are the same as always," Lucas'' voice was heard across the arena. "Do your best." As soon as the judge started the round, Maria began to create water around her in an uncontrolled manner. Liters and liters were being generated in the air. The other team was cautious. They saw the attrition tactic used by Kayden''s team. So they just waited; it was better than wasting his energy prematurely.


    "Are you going to build a pool with all this water?" One of the opposing magicians made fun of the situation, causing contemptuous laughter around him. Kayden''s team''s popularity was not very high, their combat style was cowardly in the eyes of the other students.


    "30 seconds, Kayden," Maria said, breathing heavily. The boy knew what he had to do and it was to buy time.


    Turning to one of the mages from the other team, he spoke in a mocking tone. "We found the team clown." His tone caused the people around him to let out uncontrolled laughter. No one expected a response from the swordsman. Normally, low-ranked teams didn''t have that much courage.


    "I''ll show you who the clown is here, trash!" With a standard third-rate clich¨¦ villain speech, the opposing wizard began to conjure a fireball. Jean frowned, didn''t they have to buy time?


    Before the fireball was fully fired, one of the opposing mages realized what was happening.


    "Hey! Stop it, he''s teasing you." Kayden smiled cynically; they fell like ducks into your trap. The next few seconds began to pass slowly. Animosity was beginning to build, and while Kayden''s team was calm and relaxed, the other side was anxious. They didn''t know what all that water was that was getting close to a hundred liters.


    "I''m ready, Kayden," Maria gave the boy the signal. As soon as Kayden heard this, he raised his sword as high as possible. He did it slowly to attract attention, and when it was at its highest point, an absurdly concentrated Pop Flash erupted, blinding practically all opponents directly. Simultaneously, Jean and Maria began to turn all the water into steam.


    Within seconds, the entire arena was filled with a kind of fog, obscuring everyone''s vision. Nobody knew what was going on inside. Only a few flashes of fire magic were released sporadically.


    "Transcendence," Kayden''s voice gave the signal for his team to finish plan two, which was nothing more than taking the opponent''s vision and attacking quickly and efficiently. As discussed earlier, their targets were combat mages first. Kayden started running to where he remembered one of them being. He hadn''t thought about how uncomfortable it would be inside this fog; it was hot and sticky. Their quick footsteps were heard by the opponents, but unfortunately, they were not able to discern exactly where they were. His randomly thrown spells were just a signal for Kayden to find his location.


    Carlos was right behind with his hands encrusted with rocks. The time Kayden spent training caused them to develop a certain silent synergy. Kayden released a concentrated beam in one direction which was soon followed by a scream of pain. sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The boy didn''t waste any time and headed towards another opponent. His vision was poor, but he was sure he only needed to get close to any wizard to end the dispute.


    Carlos gained momentum and jumped at the paralyzed wizard, with a decisive blow his opponent fell unconscious to the ground. Once again the fog became silent, the opposing team''s heart was out of control.


    They tried to scream each other''s name, but it seemed like their words were falling on deaf ears. It wasn''t just a simple feeling but a spell from Jean that prevented certain sounds from being heard.


    Unfortunately, this happened to everyone in the arena, but as Kayden''s team had the advantage they didn''t care.


    The seconds began to pass.


    Kayden started whistling.


    There was only silence in the arena and Kayden''s whistle, slowly a simple whistle began to cause panic among the magicians. It was the only sound they could hear.


    Finally, one of them couldn''t take it anymore and released a burst of flames towards the sound that was matched by a concentrated beam from Kayden.


    Poof!


    The sound of an unconscious body collapsing could be heard, there were 3 opponents left. A wave of panic began to take over their hearts. Again the sound of whistling was heard by them.


    They didn''t know what to do, they were wet and sticky, totally uncomfortable, they could barely breathe properly, and any mistake and they would be attacked mercilessly.


    Little by little, anxiety and fear took over every inch of their bodies. Once again one of them couldn''t resist and cast a spell denouncing his position.


    Poof!


    Another body fell to the ground. This time by a lethal blow from Kayden''s katana. The opponents lost track of time. The whistle, the damned whistle, was heard again. Everything seemed to be going well for Kayden''s team.


    But the boy was doing his best not to collapse, his spell was demanding on his body and he was getting dangerously close to the limit of its use, he had to finish this quickly.


    "I give up"


    "I give up"

 Chapter 69: Ambition

    Chapter 69 - AmbitionAlmost simultaneously, both opponents gave up, surprising Kayden. He was ready to give it his all, but it wasn''t even necessary. He had forgotten how low student motivation was.


    The mist was pushed away by Lucas, and all the vapor gathered into a small ball above his hands. Kayden had to admit that the man looked impressive, like a wizard carrying a storm in his hands.


    "Kayden''s team wins." His voice confirmed victory for Kayden''s team. Again, Carlos started screaming like a maniac. His entire team celebrated, and even Kayden gave a satisfied smile. The training was not useless. It was a shame that this strategy only worked against unbalanced teams.


    The top-ranked teams had a very harmonious composition and members with battle experience. Not only that, most of its members were at the 5th or 6th apprentice rank. Yan''s team, for example, was among the top 10. Until this classification, Kayden didn''t think he would have much trouble moving up, even if he needed to carry his team on his back.


    "Let''s go to training, the day has just started." With an even bigger smile, Kayden called his team. Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    It had been a month since Kayden joined the elite team, in the meantime, he had advanced to position 20 without losing a single match. His team was trained to the bone and, even though they didn''t have much experience, they were capable of putting up a decent fight. But the main thing was still the strategy in each battle, they fought 6 times and won 5. The only one they lost was because they were overcome by brute force. Everyone on the other side had a level 6 member, and the leader was an impressive 7th rank.


    Kayden was not idle during this time either. He finally managed to not be paralyzed by Shang''s killing intent. It took a little over a week, but in the end, it worked. His swordsmanship and rank were continually refined. Unfortunately, he no longer had time to watch the storms and learn from them. Another surprise is that during this time, Carlos also moved up to the 5th rank.


    At this moment, Kayden was sitting with his team in one of the best spots on the elite floor. He was just cultivating while his friends chatted. After spending time with them, Kayden discovered that the three of them were 13 years old. This seemed to be the average for someone at rank 5. At 14 years old, the majority reached rank 6, and a minority reached rank 7. At the school, there were only 9 people in the 7th rank, and incredibly, one of the students had reached the 8th rank.


    The number 1 ranked team was this student. According to Carlos, he came from a merchant family and had all the necessary perks to advance to the next level that could be found in the market. When Kayden asked why he hadn''t entered a private school, where he could have had more dedicated teaching, Carlos explained one of the rules he had never heard of.


    Private schools were exclusive to nobles, and the name "private" was not because they were paid for. It was simply because they were closed to only one type of audience. To give you an idea, they were administered by the government in the same way as public ones. This world was... identical to the previous one. Power dominated everything. The weak were devoured by the strong. Perhaps this was a natural law of the human race, there never was compassion.


    Han, as a former general, should have enough authority to put Heimer there, but the boy would probably be bullied a lot by the other kids. It was natural, he was the only commoner in the school.


    "I want to reach the top 5 of this school in the next 2 months." There were 4 months left before classes ended, and the city championship was held in the penultimate month of the year so as not to interfere with college tests.


    "That''s impossible, Kayden," Jean argued, even getting to their current position felt surreal.


    "Who said? Nothing is impossible, you just have to be willing to pay the price." At this point, Kayden used the stick-and-carrot tactic. "I''m willing to train two or three times harder for this."


    "No, no way, Kayden, you freak." Carlos was the first to refuse, his training routine was already insane, imagine if it increased even more. Kayden''s eyes lit up, it was time to show off his marketing power.


    "Are you satisfied with just that, Carlos? With being just one more student in a school among thousands? I''m not, I want to go further, I want to reach the top and for that, I need to work harder than the others."


    "But we''re already trying hard, Kayden." This time it was Maria who spoke, but it was clear that she didn''t have much strength in her voice.


    Kayden laughed wryly. "Trying hard? You can be sure that there is someone out there training 18 hours a day, there is someone who has been sleeping 6 hours a day for months, and guess what? He will be the one who will reach the best positions."


    The once cheerful atmosphere became solemn, no one knew what to say. Again, the first person to speak was Jean.


    "I''m going to participate", and as if by magic, the other two also offered to participate.


    "Now there is no point in thinking about elaborate strategies, as brute force will be enough to break any of our plans. Let''s do some suicide training now." That devilish smile appeared on Kayden''s face.


    A shiver down their spines was felt by the three of them when they saw this.


    "Our training will be limited to tactics in the morning and improving our synergy. And in the afternoon we will fight against other teams in the classification." Until that part everything was fine. "Every half hour." Kayden''s smile reached its maximum length.


    "Kayden''s team wins the match!" Lucas'' voice echoed in the arena, resulting in Kayden''s team celebrating.


    They had been in a crazy rhythm of non-stop battles for a month. They lost dozens of fights and won few. Currently, they were ranked 13th. Their overall battle strength had not increased much.


    But the constant battles made it possible for them to develop experience and a synergy between them. Its main difficulty has been removed. Now, it was just a matter of time before they managed to climb to the top of the rankings.


    Mainly because of Kayden. Most of the time, his combat experience was put into practice and he was able to eliminate one or two opponents quickly and safely.


    Leaving the arena, Kayden''s gaze met Yan''s again. It seemed that the boy had created a rivalry with Kayden. He was always there to watch their matches.


    The boy didn''t worry. Before long, they would end up facing each other, as Yan''s team was in position 5 and only the top five could go to the city championship.


    What an irony of fate, his last battle would be against the people who despised him in the beginning. Lately, Kayden was enjoying his fights. In these higher positions, the opponents already had some experience.


    When everyone was already sitting at one of the rest points, Kayden started the agenda.


    "Let''s reflect on the battle and then face..." Kayden was interrupted.


    "Excuse me." The one who interrupted him was a boy with blue hair and eyes the same color. His height was average. There wasn''t anything spectacular about it, well... if it weren''t for one small detail.


    He carried a spear that was at least twice his size. It was a strikingly golden color with a white metal shaft. It looked impressive.

 Chapter 70: A peculiar invitation

    Chapter 70 - A peculiar invitationBut that wasn''t what caught Kayden''s attention, it was the aura the boy exuded. His instincts screamed that he was dangerous. This feeling he had felt before, in fact, they were well known to him.


    "Fight me," the blue-haired boy bit his lip as if he was seeing something delicious in front of him. His eyes seemed to want to devour Kayden. His question caught the quartet by surprise.


    "No thanks," Kayden''s response was immediate. He didn''t have time for that, he had a goal and he needed to achieve it.


    "Astolfo!?", Carlos recognized him with a shout that was ignored by a stunned Astolfo.


    "Do... do you know who I am, by any chance?", the boy asked with a confused expression, but not arrogance. It just seemed like he had never been in a situation like this.


    "No," he seemed to be a nobleman with his built-in arrogance, but Kayden didn''t know anything beyond that impression. His answer clarified Astolfo''s doubts.


    "I am Astolfo Kan Reich, an 8th-rank spearman and leader of our school''s first-place team," the boy gave a proud smile. Kayden finally recognized him it was easy since there was only one person in the 8th rank in the school.


    Kayden thought about the fight request he had received. He had fought against people at the 8th rank before, but he was never able to win. Most of the time, he was surpassed by almost twice in strength and speed.


    But against 7th ranks, he managed to maintain an average of 50% victory and that was impressive.


    "I''m only in the 5th rank, a battle between us wouldn''t be of any help to me", Kayden decided to end this matter politely, but his sentence didn''t lessen the way the spearman looked at him.


    "No problem, I want a fight without mana, just with our techniques", his sentence caught Kayden by surprise. He had no idea why he was being harassed by his opponent.


    "Why do you want to fight me specifically?" Kayden asked with a frown.


    "Instinct," a gleam of madness flashed in his eyes. "My instincts tell me you''re dangerous. This feeling... drives me crazy," the boy laughed like a lunatic, making them look at him strangely. "Sorry," his apology was followed by a dry cough.


    That instinct... Kayden could understand what the boy was saying.


    "Very well, I accept," Kayden started to get up but was stopped by Astolfo.


    "Not here, come to this address", with his phrase, he handed a piece of paper to Kayden. "I''ll wait for you there in the afternoon", with a small goodbye, he left.


    The interaction between them didn''t even last five minutes. It was so quick that it took a while for it to sink in for everyone.


    "Kayden!? You''re not thinking about facing that madman, are you? He''s crippled every opponent he''s fought so far, he''s completely sadistic", Carlos was the first to speak up.


    "I haven''t thought about it yet, let''s continue with what we''re doing," Kayden quickly brought his team members back to their senses. But his sentence was a lie, he wouldn''t miss the opportunity to train with someone stronger than him.


    ******


    Kayden was standing in front of a red wooden gate. This was the location stated on the paper. The boy was taken aback by the design of the place. The location was outside the city, on one of the surrounding mountains.


    Behind the gate was a classic oriental film dojo. The establishment had three floors and a square base that tapered until it reached a kind of tower at the top. Its finish was entirely done in wood and white paint.


    The boy didn''t know how he should get in, it seemed a bit wrong to just break into the house, even though it didn''t have a fence or anything like that. To his delight, he was brought out of his stupor by Astolfo.


    "Kayden! Hello, I didn''t expect you to come so quickly," the sun was still bright in the sky, marking that little time had passed since noon. "Come on, come on, come in, make yourself at home."


    Kayden greeted Astolfo and followed the boy inside. The very air of the environment represented peace and tranquility. As they got closer, Kayden could see a few more buildings in the same oriental style.


    It was funny how some things managed to survive the passage of time intact.


    "This is where my clan or family, as you like to call it, lives. We follow a tradition from a long-forgotten civilization," his phrase reminded the boy of how governments hid a lot of information from the past.


    Virtually little survived the wars and disasters that occurred in the small fraction of time that humanity had access to mana. Probably only the great powers still have any information about the period before the awakening.


    The two walked a little further until they reached the entrance of the first building that Kayden saw. Astolfo removed his shoes and bowed before entering. Kayden froze for a moment and then regained consciousness and imitated his host''s movements.


    "..." Astolfo was surprised by the boy''s action and looked in astonishment.


    "In Rome, do as the Romans do", even if some things have been lost in the river of time, others like this expression have survived.


    The boy didn''t understand why Astolfo was surprised. Wasn''t it normal to respect the host''s culture? In truth no. This world had no room for those who were different, most of the time Astolfo and his family received small gestures of mockery.


    As soon as they entered, Kayden was faced with a simple training space, without any other furniture or details. There was just a staircase at one end that should lead to the next floor.


    "This is my master''s house, he should be here in a few minutes, he will seal our mana so we can fight", with that sentence the boy remained silent, he lost all his strange and excited attitude.


    He seemed to be afraid of something inside. A few minutes later, an old man wearing a crisp white robe came down the stairs. His face was full of wrinkles and, in keeping with this sign of age, he had a long beard and white hair.


    It was similar to an old hermit. Kayden gave him a feeling of knowledge and fulfillment, like someone who, despite being old, reached his peak with age. His mere presence in the room was able to make the once-heavy atmosphere calm and serene.


    "I salute the master," Astolfo greeted respectfully with a slight bow and joining of hands.


    "I salute the elder," Kayden followed the boy and struck the same pose, surprising them both. His pose was a mere copy, but referring to the elderly man as an elder was something they did not expect. Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Why? Because this was something very specific in their culture and it would be difficult for anyone to know about it if they hadn''t studied it beforehand. Logically, Kayden didn''t have time to prepare for this, this knowledge came from his past life.


    "Ah, what a polite child, so what do you bring here?", the old man''s voice matched his calm posture. Upon hearing the question, Astolfo stiffened and began to speak.


    .

 Chapter 71: A peculiar invitation[2]

    Chapter 71 - A peculiar invitation[2]"Master, you told me that when I encountered an opponent who used a katana and at the same time gave me that feeling, I should bring him to you", with this sentence the previously calm atmosphere became heavy, and the old man''s gaze sharpened towards Kayden.


    The boy felt as if thousands of hands ran over every inch of his body, it was as if he could not hide anything from the old man''s view. Invaded. Kayden felt violated.


    As soon as it came, the feeling passed and the old man''s gentle and calm look returned.


    "Nobody training, just physical exertion, impressive," the elder muttered to himself as he shook his head. "Very well, position yourself", with his order the two boys headed towards the center.


    Kayden walked slowly without rushing. He was thinking about what had just happened, it was the first time in his life that he felt someone''s "spiritual sense". Now he understood why it was considered rude to use it in public places.


    The two faced each other in the center of the room, Kayden with his katana and Astolfo with his immense spear. The boy had faced opponents who used this weapon before, but it was usually an easy match.


    Most did not have a good command of the weapon, the spear was a difficult weapon to master, out of every 100 who knew how to use it, only 1 would be a true master.


    "I will suppress the use of mana and put pressure on you to only use your bodies and techniques," the elder''s voice resonated in Kayden''s ear, and at the same time, he felt as if he had dived into a pool.


    His movements became a little slower than normal and he wasn''t even able to circulate mana through his body. This... was power, absolute power, the mere will of man could dictate reality.


    Kayden smiled to himself devilishly. For now, it would be suppressed...for now.


    "The rules are simple, don''t die or ruin my dojo, the first is optional", Kayden felt a vein on his forehead pop, and the man seemed to be serious about not ruining his space.


    ''Stingy'', both boys thought at the same time.


    "Begin", as soon as the order came out of the elder Astolfo''s mouth he began to twirl his spear in his hand, Kayden had to admit that the boy looked imposing while doing that. But...


    Unfortunately for him, the boy had no desire to see this show, advancing at high speed he struck a side blow with his katana, catching Astolfo by surprise and forcing him to defend with the smooth part of the spear.


    "Hey, that was dishonest", Astolfo complained as he took a few steps back, his sentence was ignored by Kayden who advanced again, the problem was that this time his opponent was ready and maintained a sequence of thrusts to keep him at a distance.


    Astolfo''s technique seemed to be polished to the maximum, his movements were fluid and connected. Kayden began to smell a small fragrance of cherry blossoms and observed Astolfo''s spear taking on a certain pink hue.


    '' Murim '', Kayden remembered this style from one of the thousands of manga he read about cultivation in the mum world, he didn''t expect to see something like this in this life. Leaving these thoughts aside, the boy resumed his constant attacks.


    His blows were heavy, even with the spear keeping him away he still delivered strong attacks to his opponent''s weapon. It was obvious what he wanted to do, he intended to force Astolfo''s hand to slip so he could take advantage of an opening.


    Astolfo began to make circular blows in an attempt to gain space, Kayden''s attacks continued to rain on him uninterruptedly, and his hand began to feel the impact of dozens of blows.


    With a feint, Kayden found an opening on the right side. His katana came down at high speed, threatening to cut the spearman in two diagonally, but Astolfo also saw this opportunity to strike Kayden''s left arm.


    The two were expected to retreat, but neither of them was normal. Kayden''s blade entered his opponent''s back, opening a reasonably sized cut, and at the same time, Astolfo drew his spear against Kayden.


    There was nothing he could do, his last effort was to duck to receive less damage. Instead of his arm, his shoulder was hit and blood began to spurt. His wound was deep and would probably take him out if he were normal.


    But he wasn''t, right?


    "I think this is over," Astolfo said, but he had a bad feeling when he saw a smile on his opponent''s face. And his fear came true, the boy rushed towards him with even heavier blows.


    His katana looked like a violent snake, every space she found was transformed into an attack with lethal intent. But the spear was like a wall, no matter how many blows were landed, it did not swing.


    TRIIIINNN! TRIIIINNN! TRIIIINNN!


    Only the sound of metal hitting metal could be heard in the room. The minutes dragged on, it seemed to be an even fight for both sides.


    "Astolfo, you can use the family art", the old man said calmly, taking them both by surprise. A small smile was opened by the spear user.


    His posture underwent small changes, the shade of pink and the smell of cherries increased exponentially. A barrage of blows was thrown at Kayden, forcing him to go on the defensive for the first time in the fight.


    The blows came at high speed from every possible angle. Kayden was defending well for a while, but the speed kept increasing. The previously spaced blows now seemed to be connected.


    As soon as he defended himself from one blow, another was already hitting his defenses. The boy started to keep his distance, but the spear had an insanely long reach. He didn''t know what to do.


    A small groan of pain left Kayden''s lips as his waist received a slight cut. His groan was in surprise, he hadn''t seen that cut coming, and he hadn''t even felt the blade cutting into his skin. S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Over the next few minutes, Kayden began to receive dozens of small cuts on his skin. He began to notice that Astolfo''s spear was at different points in space at the same time, but how was that possible? He had no idea.


    Every time he parried the spear, a small cut would appear on his body.


    ''From where?'' This question was in your head being repeated incessantly. The boy was too focused to notice the old man''s smile.


    "Even with dozens of cuts and in a horrible situation, he is still calm and thinking about how to turn this battle around," the elder muttered to himself.


    Kayden decided to create an opening and go on the offensive. When the spear came towards him from the side, he followed its movement until his blade met the spear.


    As Astolfo had to travel a greater distance, the spear no longer had as much strength as at the beginning of the half-moon. His gun was thrown back and Kayden closed the distance between them even further.


    His opponent''s chest was open, this was his opportunity. Putting all his strength into his arms, the boy was about to deliver a decisive blow, but...


    Metal. A cold metal was felt on his shoulders stopping his movements, but it didn''t make sense. The spear shouldn''t have the speed to come back so quickly to perform this attack.


    ''What the fuck?''

 Chapter 72: A peculiar invitation[3]

    Chapter 72 - A peculiar invitation[3]Kayden was sure he would manage to use at least one attack before Astolfo managed to control the impact of the shock between his blows. He fought long enough to be sure of Astolfo''s strength.


    And he knew that no mana had been used, there was no point in calling him here to win unfairly, especially under the old man''s eyes.


    "It''s over now," Kayden said neutrally. The two put away their weapons, Astolfo had a pained expression on his face, while Kayden was expressing absolutely nothing. Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Compared to other injuries he''d had, these small cuts seemed like child''s play. His mind was more concerned with the battle, everything changed when the elder permitted Astolfo to use the family art.


    Kayden knew that his technique was nothing to write home about since it was developed by him during his countless fights, there were probably several mistakes and moves that could be improved.


    "Here, take one each," the old man threw a small pot containing several brown pills.


    Clumsily picking up the pot, Kayden snapped out of his reverie. He was stunned for a moment without knowing what to do, these pills were alchemy items that only rich families would have access to.


    Each of them cost at least 1 gold coin, he had never used anything like them, and normally mages specializing in healing were cheaper. To avoid being insulted, Kayden took one and passed the pot to Astolfo.


    "Thank you," Kayden thanked the old man and popped the pill into his mouth.


    As soon as he swallowed the medicine, he felt his body begin to heat up uncontrollably and his wounds began to cool down, it was a very strange sensation of having two opposite types of temperature running through his body.


    His mind became calmer and it felt like he had just come from a walk in the park and not a violent battle, his energy recovered to the level it was when he woke up earlier today.


    The temperature sensation lasted a few seconds and as soon as it was gone, Kayden saw his entire body healthy again and, unlike healing magic, this pill recovered his mental state.


    Seeing that Astolfo had also recovered, Kayden looked at the elder waiting for what would happen now, it had already become clear that the spearman was just an assistant in this situation and the one who gave the orders was his master.


    "Well, now that we''re ready, let''s talk, Kayden." With his sentence, a small table was levitated from the second floor containing tea and some snacks. The elder and Astolfo sat on the floor, inviting Kayden to join them.


    As soon as everyone got ready, the old man resumed speaking.


    "My family has countless spear and sword arts and dozens of practitioners of both disciplines. I was its second patriarch and we are on the sixth. I have already accomplished everything I had to do with this family." His tone sounded nostalgic, as if he was remembering things that happened a long time ago. "I have had dozens of apprentices, from spearmen like Astolfo to katana practitioners. My father taught me that knowledge should be shared."


    The old man took a break to drink tea. At that moment, Kayden realized that perhaps luck was smiling at him for the first time in his life.


    "I have several nicknames among my generation, but the main one is ''monster''. Not because I''m strong, there are several people much better than me. This nickname is due to my innate level 1 talent."


    The last part caught Kayden completely off guard. It was the first time he had seen someone in a high position have a low-level innate talent. And without a doubt, that old man was strong, otherwise, he wouldn''t have been able to be the patriarch of such a large family.


    "I spent my entire childhood abandoned. My family practically discarded me like trash." His story...was similar to what Kayden went through in school. But, unlike the old man, his family was not impacted by the revelation of his talent. "Ah, but that doesn''t matter, the past is over."


    The calm and gentle smile returned to the previously serious face.


    "When I was younger, I made a promise... I promised myself that I would pass on everything I achieved to someone like me." This... was too good to be true. "It''s been decades of searching for someone with the same innate talent. Level 1 is extremely rare and those with the willpower to cultivate are even fewer."


    That was true. Kayden has never met another person with talent merely similar to his. It was easier to find level 4 and 5 than a level 1 innate talent.


    "And guess what when my grandson told me about a 5th-rank apprentice facing people at the 7th rank? And even better, his talent was level 1." The old man''s eyes showed a certain shine. "Kayden, I want you to be my disciple."


    There was what Kayden was waiting for.


    "I don''t even know you, sir. You don''t expect me to accept an unknown master, do you?" His sentence made Astolfo jump from his seat.


    "Kayden!!! Stop being insolent! My master is..." Before he could continue, the elder raised his hand.


    "The boy''s right, Astolfo. I wouldn''t go into something like that blindly either." With that sentence, the old man stood up and retrieved a katana from the second floor. "My name is Sasaki Kojiro and I am a swordsman of three kingdoms. I am currently one of the oldest men alive and hold the title of katana master in our kingdom."


    The title of the master was something Kayden had already heard of. The kingdom gave the strongest person with a certain weapon or technique the title of master. Kayden didn''t expect to meet a title holder on a random day.


    They were giants in their ranks, people who had reached the peak of the peak in the human world.


    "I am known as the calm swordsman." The man began to draw some movements in the air with his katana. They seemed... calm, but the more Kayden paid attention, the more ridiculous the technique became.


    The movements that looked clean were several strikes together. When the katana came down, there were at least three different hidden movements. The boy was sure he was only seeing this because the old man was allowing it.


    The elder''s sword had a faint tinge of white in its movements. It felt like a dance as if the universe resonated with their movements. After a few seconds, the old man stopped.


    But Kayden was still in deep thought. The world had opened up to him. The elder''s art was impeccable. His proficiency was capable of leaving Kayden stunned. The boy didn''t remember seeing anything like that at any point in his life.


    "Kayden," Sasaki called the boy. "I don''t expect you to make up your mind now. First, you must prove yourself worthy. To do that, I want you to win this year''s city championship."


    His request was... unreasonable. Kayden was taken by surprise. He was sure that he still wouldn''t be able to accomplish such a feat. Most of their opponents would be senior seniors who were at the 7th or 8th apprentice level. Even more so with your team of beginners.


    Before the boy could say anything, he found himself being levitated out along with Astolfo. Passing through the door, Astolfo landed on his feet, but Kayden wasn''t used to it and fell flat on his face.


    "Come back when you fulfill my request," the elder''s voice came from behind the door. Kayden stood up and looked at Astolfo.


    "Your master... he is... eccentric," Kayden wanted to call the old man a crazy dreamer for giving him an impossible mission, but it was better not to push his luck. Astolfo seemed to agree with Kayden''s statement.


    "He''s...one of a kind," Astolfo agreed with Kayden.

 Chapter 73: A new ally

    Chapter 73 - A new allyKayden''s team was once again practicing at the school in their bubble. The training was on a completely different level than when they started. There was only 1 month left and they needed to climb several positions to reach the top 5.


    Only people in this ranking can compete in the municipal championship. The problem was that now onwards their opponents were only at the 6th rank and those in the top 5 had 7th rank mages.


    Kayden was no longer able to balance the difference in strength like before. At most, he could face two average opponents at best. His team was able to fulfill their duties, but...


    If something went wrong, the boy didn''t have much hope that they would be able to deal with the unexpected.


    "Come here, please," Kayden gathered his team in the center of the circle. "We''re going to recruit one more person for our team. Let''s do it simply: anyone can join, we''re going to have a dueling championship."


    With their team ranked 13th, many students wanted to join it, even if they had to abandon their current team to do so.


    "Carlos, go publicize it. The championship will be held at noon." The bald man was the best option to spread the news because due to his lively manner, he had several friends who would make the message forward even faster.


    It wasn''t long before a small crowd was gathered around Kayden''s team. There were at least 50 students from different classes spread around the place. The event was unprecedented.


    Even Mr. Lucas was recruited to be the referee for the matches, all thanks to Carlos'' natural charisma. Even the bubble from before had to be replaced by one of the training spaces because of the size of the crowd.


    Kayden was sitting in a random place waiting. As soon as his pocket watch beeped, the boy stood up and walked to the center of the arena. The people who saw him made space for him.


    "Attention," the boy clapped his hands to attract the crowd. Little by little, she fell silent until total silence. "The rules are simple: it will be a one-on-one match, we don''t need support."


    Simple and short. Kayden hadn''t prepared any speeches and tasked his team with doing the work of drawing lots and solving the problems.


    "Ah, that''s what leadership is," the boy smiled to himself and returned to his previous seat. He would only pay attention to the last participants.


    Your mind simply disconnected from all the happenings around you and entered a state of focus. His thoughts kept returning to the technique the elder demonstrated to him the day before.


    Meanwhile, in the small league...


    "Why is he here?" "He already had a team, didn''t he?" "This is completely unfair."


    Voices like this could be heard coming from every corner of the crowd. The battles were lasting an average of 5 to 10 minutes each, but one of the participants was simply sweeping the floor with his opponents.


    Their matches barely lasted 3 minutes and most of the time it was simply a one-sided beatdown. Little by little the number of participants decreased, in about 2 hours the matches only had 4 finalists.


    At that moment, Maria woke Kayden from his daydreams. As soon as he recovered, he saw something he hadn''t expected at all: Astolfo was imposing with his giant spear and his blue hair.


    The other three contestants didn''t even get a second look from Kayden. He knew that Astolfo was on a completely different level, not only that, but he was also in a higher cultivation position.


    Kayden sighed. If he had known this would happen, he wouldn''t have proposed this idea. Over time, the crowd only started to grow, everyone wanted to see the school''s current top 1 fight.


    Astolfo''s opponent was a longsword user, without a doubt his class was a knight. He wore armor that seemed to weigh the same as him or more. Other than that, Kayden was unable to gather any further information.


    The battle between the two began quickly, with the knight running against Astolfo quickly. The spear user began to exude a smell of cherry blossoms and his spear turned a certain pink color.


    The first blow came from the knight with a strong side cut. Unfortunately for him, Astolfo''s spear parried the blow simply and a small gash was opened on the knight''s waist. S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''That...'' Kayden had a glimpse of what happened yesterday, but he still wasn''t sure.


    The same scene that happened to him was seen in that fight.


    Cut over the top. Small cut on the leg. Side blow. Small cuts on the shoulders. Lunge. Small cut on hands. Feint and diagonal strike. Small cut on the side.


    No matter how the opponent attacked, the spear would have a quick and cruel rebound, always ready to exchange one eye for another. Little by little, injuries accumulated on the knight''s body.


    On the other hand, Astolfo was simply intact, not even his breathing changed intensity. And all this because of something simple: technique. Kayden was sure his opponent was at least in seventh place.


    Otherwise, he wouldn''t be able to stay in the fight for more than a few seconds. For the first time, Kayden saw an example of how technique is more important than strength. He did not doubt that Astolfo would do well even against ninth-ranked opponents.


    The fight continued at high intensity, at least on the part of the knight. Astolfo seemed more like he was putting on a show for the audience, his smile and winks at the girls in the audience irritated his opponent.


    Driven by anger, his blows came harder and faster, and yet nothing changed. It changed: now he had even more injuries. That made a light bulb go off in Kayden''s head.


    Astolfo''s technique... was like a shadow, it depended on the opponent to be complete. His strikes and speed matched and reflected his opponent''s intensity.


    The fight lasted a few more minutes, clearly, Astolfo was prolonging it for his entertainment. Outside of his master''s eyes, his sadistic side took over, but well... that wasn''t Kayden''s problem.


    He wasn''t even paying attention anymore, the outcome had already been decided a long time ago.


    CLAP!


    The sound of a body falling was heard. Finally, the fight was over. Astolfo looked into Kayden''s eyes and smiled innocently as if all this fuss wasn''t his fault.


    "Who is next?" His tone symbolized confidence. The other two participants were a swordsman and a wind mage. They hadn''t even fought yet and were already depressed.


    "I quit."


    "Me too."


    None of them wanted to suffer at the hands of this maniac. They did not doubt that they would suffer the same end. They could still see the knight''s body being healed by Mr. Lucas, it looked like a ball of blood.


    Astolfo''s smile disappeared, giving his face a tone of contempt.


    "Trash." Their offense was said loudly, but the two could do nothing. They were afraid of the spearman''s strength.


    Little by little, the crowd began to empty.


    In the end, only Kayden and his team were left with the new member. Kayden''s three companions didn''t know what to say. Astolfo was a legendary figure to them. It hadn''t even been a month since they were at the bottom of the food chain.


    The three waited for Kayden to take the lead. He would probably know what to do. But, contrary to his expectations, Kayden had no idea how the mere recruitment situation got to that point.


    "Weren''t you already on a team?" That was the first thing Kayden said while receiving that strange look from Astolfo.


    "I''m tired of him." His tone was as if reaching the top 1 was something fleeting and easy. "Plus, they''re all seniors, so there''s no point in me continuing with them."


    "I see. Get in the bubble, let''s start training." Kayden had already resolved his curiosity and no longer cared.


    "Hey! What''s with this lack of emotion? I''m the incredible Astolfo, the Cherry Blossom Lancer, and I demoted myself to join your team!" With an offended tone, the teenager attacked Kayden.


    "You are no longer the spearman of the cherry trees." The boy opened a small smile. "Now you''re one of my guinea pigs...members of my team." Kayden seemed to have gotten the words wrong.


    "Guinea pigs?" Astolfo mumbled under his breath without understanding as he entered the bubble.

 Chapter 74: Rating 12

    Chapter 74 - Rating 12"How much longer do we have to do?" a voice resounded, it sounded desolate and lifeless.


    "I don''t know, until he''s satisfied," another voice replied.


    "Hey! Don''t speak too loudly or he might wake up", another voice hurriedly entered the conversation.


    "Is there no way we can escape?" the first voice asked.


    "No", S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "No",


    The two voices together responded without a hint of hesitation, almost as if it was a universal fact. At that moment, Kayden came out of his meditation and saw Carlos, Maria and Astolfo talking hidden in a corner of the bubble.


    "Have you finished your training yet?" Kayden''s words sent a shiver down the three''s spines.


    "We were just resting", the phrase was said together.


    "I understand", a simple word seemed to hide a tone of threat. "Gather here, let''s discuss our next fight." It had been 1 week since Astolfo joined the team.


    At that time, Kayden preferred to introduce him to the team rather than fight other opponents. To do this, he made the members get to know each other and achieve a certain synergy between them.


    "We will have to win at least 7 fights in 3 weeks. Our opponents will now all be at rank 6. We will no longer be able to use guerrilla strategies, now it will be a head-on battle."


    This was Kayden''s biggest fear before, but now with Astolfo on the team, he believed it wouldn''t be too difficult to reach the top positions in the standings.


    "Astolfo and Carlos will be the front line after Maria''s barrage of spells, I will be the universal support and Jean will be the standard support." With his sentence, everyone agreed, each one was where they would do their role in the best way.


    Kayden actually wasn''t some kind of support, he would just go wherever he thought best suited to help. He was the only one who could play this role, as Carlos had no experience and Astolfo had to play the front line because of his technique.


    A few minutes later, Kayden''s team was in the arena facing one of the most unbalanced teams they had ever seen. The team at rank 12 had 5 attack mages in its composition.


    They were all wearing black and red hooded clothes, it was practically impossible to discern any characteristics of them, not even their gender.


    "Start", the voice of Lord Lucas was heard in the arena, starting the confrontation.


    Simultaneously, the 5 mages launched spells of different elements against Kayden''s team, from fireballs to icicles. It was simply a very large flood.


    "Jean!" Kayden didn''t even need to say anything else before a bubble engulfed the team, but it wasn''t enough. Small parts were showing cracks, similar to broken glass.


    "30 seconds, Kayden", the boy seemed to be trying hard to maintain the bubble, his teeth were clenched.


    "As soon as it falls, I will use a Flash Bang , Maria, start your spells at full strength. We must take advantage of this time to get closer to them. Jean, finish 15 seconds early and use speed spells as support."


    Quickly, Kayden took control of the situation and instructed his team on a simple and practical plan. He really wasn''t the best strategist, his plans were limited to simple things, but well done .


    "10 seconds," Jean warned.


    Kayden''s team began preparing. Nervousness was visible in some of them, but Kayden and Astolfo were relatively calm.


    "5 seconds", the bubble had a large number of cracked pieces, it really couldn''t last much longer.


    "Get ready," Maria was already gathering a large amount of mana around her since the start of the match.


    "3, 2, down," Jean''s voice started Kayden''s team''s attack. The swordsman released a Flash Bang above his head, momentarily blinding the opposing mages. Because of the distance, it wouldn''t last long.


    "Transcendence," Kayden muttered to himself. And simultaneously, Maria started to cast her offensive spells.


    As soon as they found themselves in this situation, a bubble similar to Jean''s, but with characteristics of the water element, was erected on the other team. Maria''s offensive spells arrived at the barrier.


    Unfortunately, it wasn''t enough to cause much damage, but that wasn''t the intention. It looked like a flurry of pebbles hitting a lake, dozens colliding with the barrier causing the sound of torrential rain.


    "Just let them spend mana," the opposing team leader ordered calmly. A few seconds later, the attack finally ended.


    CRACK!!


    When the rain stopped, a spear passed through the barrier as if it were made of jelly, the introduction of the blade causing a scream from one of the mages. The spear came down, tearing the bubble and revealing Astolfo with a macabre smile.


    "Hello, little friends", his tone and expression made it clear that the boy had some serious personality problem.


    Unlike Astolfo, his opponents didn''t bother to chat and started throwing spells of different elements at the boy. What they didn''t expect was for the spearman to simply retreat.


    CRACK!


    On the opposite side of Astolfo, a katana pierced the barrier and slid down, opening a tear the size of an adult.


    CRACK!


    In another position, a fist surrounded by rocks assaulted the barrier. This time, the number of holes was large enough for the spell to completely destabilize and disappear.


    As agreed, Carlos headed towards the only wizard who wasn''t casting spells, as he was probably the one maintaining the bubble and should be the most tired.


    He was the largest figure among them, at the tip. As soon as he saw the bald man running towards him, he began to chant a water spell. Within milliseconds, a wall of water began to rise.


    "Ah!!", a groan of pain escaped the magician''s lips as a shock ran through his entire body, taking away his concentration.


    POW!


    The sound of a jaw being forcibly dislocated was heard in the arena. The wizard simply collapsed to the ground after Carlos'' punch. Kayden cracked a smile, his lightning doing more than enough.


    Within seconds, the opposing team''s morale fell to its lowest point. Seeing his teammate leave caused a wave of fury among the four of them. All of his spells were aimed at Carlos.


    Simultaneously, a circling line of fire began to rotate at high speed around the four, preventing melee combatants from getting closer without leaving with deep burns.


    Their synchronization was at a completely absurd level for Kayden''s team at that moment. Before everyone could even react, Carlos'' body went flying due to the amount of spells.


    His body was bleeding, with his limbs twisted in positions that were not at all normal. Fortunately, Lord Lucas removed him from the arena and began to heal his wounds.


    "Eyes!" Kayden shouted to his team and drew his opponents'' attention to him. This was a pre -arranged tactic between them and, again, the boy performed a Flash Bang , blinding his opponents.


    It really was something irritating, and since they hadn''t fought it before, it was difficult to predict. This time, they didn''t have the bubble to protect them and, in panic, they began to move away.


    The circle of fire was broken before it caused any damage to his allies. The 4 retreated while randomly releasing spells, hoping to stop their opponents'' advance.


    Unfortunately for them, Astolfo was at a completely different level of speed than the other students and managed to get closer before any of them had fully recovered.


    "Hello, sleeping beauty," Astolfo brought his spear down at high speed against the side of the nearest wizard. His opponent threw himself back, but came away with a deep cut on his arm.

 Chapter 75: Classified

    Chapter 75 - ClassifiedThe pain momentarily paralyzed him. Most children were not used to feeling pain, even the senior teenagers at school were no exceptions except those who were trained to do so.


    Three different spells came to Astolfo quickly: fire, wind, and earth turned into a confusion of attacks aimed at the boy. He had lost momentum because of his last strike and had no time to retreat.


    "Shit," gritting his teeth, the boy placed his spear in front of his body and tried to cover his vital parts. And for the first time, Kayden saw Astolfo''s element solidifying into a barrier of wind in front of him.


    Boom!


    The clash of the spells with his wall caused a loud bang and sent the spearman flying in the opposite direction. After rolling on the ground for a few meters, he stood up while leaning on his spear.


    It was at the exact moment that he saw Kayden approaching like a rocket towards the remaining 4 wizards. Taking advantage of the blind spot of the already injured wizard, Kayden slashed diagonally.


    His opponent would probably have been split in two if Lord Lucas hadn''t taken him out before it was too late. Kayden turned to the other three opponents. He didn''t have much time left before his body overloaded.


    Again a wave of spells was thrown, only this time in the swordsman''s direction. Fortunately, Jean was ready to help him and conjured a neutral element protection bubble. S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Author''s Note: Maybe I didn''t explain this, but some spells can be cast simply using elements mana, but with elements, they can have certain unique characteristics.


    The bubble had huge cracks on its surface but remained intact. The tip of a katana came out of it and released three concentrated rays in different directions.


    The spell was not fast enough to reach his opponents, who easily used their magic to simply prevent the lightning from reaching them. At that moment, Kayden was already very close to one of his opponents.


    Close enough to make a clean hit to his side. His blade descended at high speed and at the same time, the opponent conjured a spark in his hands. Kayden knew this would quickly turn into an explosion.


    The right thing to do would be to retreat, right? At least that was what the fire mage expected, but unfortunately, he underestimated Kayden''s insanity, who continued bringing down his katana without caring about anything.


    Booooooom!


    A loud bang combined with a confusion of flames took over the space where the two participants were. For a few seconds, nothing could be seen, until a body was removed by Lord Lucas.


    All the fighters in the match were trying to see who it was. His eyes were fixed on that spot. When the body became visible, a very bright light exploded from the smoke, blinding both teams.


    Kayden took this opportunity to throw a concentrated beam at one of the opponents and approach him at high speed. His katana came down mercilessly against his opponent, threatening to cut his neck out.


    His weapon cut through the air.


    Mr. Lucas again removed the participant before anything serious happened. Kayden turned against the other opponent but stopped his movements when he saw Astolfo simply holding his opponent by the neck.


    "Hey, wake up, it''s time to sleep," the boy slapped the wizard''s face, snapping him out of his blindness. Because of the intensity of the last Flash Bang, they were blinded for much longer.


    Kayden spent practically 50% of his mana on that spell and kept the rest for Transcendence, to maintain full efficiency. He estimated that he would be able to remove at least one of the opponents and leave the rest to his team.


    "Kayden''s team wins," Lucas'' voice signaled the end of the fight. Kayden began to retreat from the arena when he received a kick to the butt, causing him to stumble. Before he could do anything, he heard the kicker complaining.


    "You could have saved me there, couldn''t you?" Well... that was true. Kayden could have helped Astolfo defend himself, but then he would have missed that window of opportunity and would not have been able to remove two opponents in a row.


    "I was too far away," Kayden said with a neutral face that fooled no one on his team. "Now you can rest," Kayden''s smile widened. "After we move up to position 10," his smile reached full size.


    ******


    "Victory for Kayden''s team," Lord Lucas'' voice resounded in the arena as the last opposing combatant fell to the ground. On the last day of the deadline, Kayden''s team managed to gain position 5 in the school.


    Reaching position 6 was done in 3 days with the help of Astolfo, but after that, they were practically stuck, as everyone in the top 5 was a very well-organized team with strong mages.


    Their compositions were usually balanced and their allies complemented each other. Kayden''s team was only recently made, so they weren''t in sync together.


    "Kayden, I love you, my brother," A sweaty Carlos jumped up to try and hug Kayden, but was dodged by the boy. Kayden looked around and saw all his team members happy, even Astolfo was celebrating.


    Kayden perhaps had some trouble, as he couldn''t be happy with this victory. It seemed like it didn''t have any impact on his life. What an achievement it was to be part of the top 5 in a place that would disappear in the river of time in a few years.


    It was nothing. Irrelevant.


    Now his goal was to try to win the municipal championship, but the boy was sure that it would be impossible. They only had three days to prepare for the championship.


    It wasn''t enough. They barely cracked the top five. Kayden sighed. He only had one alternative if he wanted to increase his chances of winning the championship, and that was to move up the ranks.


    But it wasn''t worth it. Kayden estimated that he would need at least another two or three months to make a quality breakthrough, and he wasn''t going to throw his base away for just a mere championship.


    He would always have other opportunities in life, but that wasn''t the problem. His real dilemma was losing the opportunity to become Sasaki''s disciple. The sword art he displayed in the dojo was simply spectacular.


    Without a doubt, this would open doors for Kayden that he had never seen in his life. But everything is fine. Hadn''t he made the heart out of mana? Unraveled an entirely new path out of nowhere? Still a level-one talent?


    It might take a little longer, but Kayden didn''t doubt that with time he could develop something similar... at least he hoped. Well, only time would tell if he was making the right or wrong decision.


    "See you in three days," Kayden said goodbye to his friends. With that time, he would train until he died, as always.


    ******


    Three days later, 24 teenagers were gathered in the school cafeteria. As it was a Saturday, there were only them in the establishment. In addition to the 24, there was one more child. He kind of differed in age from the people around him, but in appearance, he was practically the same.


    Some were carrying swords, others were carrying bows and some were just holding empty hands, but they were all there for the same reason: they were going to compete in the municipal tournament for their school.


    "I can''t stop shaking," Carlos chuckled. "Do you realize how proud my father was when he said he would compete this year?" He said this with a huge smile.

 Chapter 76: Explanation [ - without story]

    Chapter 76 - Explanation [Chapter without story]Explanation Chapter


    Hello, I feel like explaining some things about the story in an exclusive Chapter.


    Well, I would first like to detail a little about the country''s nobility system. In my story, I put them in order of strength: King, duke, marquis, viscount, baron. Barons do not normally rule land.


    We have the viscounts ruling over large chunks of land and then the marquises ruling over a cluster of viscounts. Dukes govern a cluster of viscounts in the same way.


    Regarding the size of the world, at the beginning I said that each of the five kingdoms was about the size of Asia, I increased it a little more and I think three times is a better reference. S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Sorry for changing the story like this, but I''m an amateur author and I want to do a good job and sometimes I have to fix my beginner''s mistakes.


    Some people say that I sped up the story a little, sorry about that, but I haven''t even gotten to the real part of the story yet lol, and until then I can skip some things, I believe that in another 60 Chapters the real thing will begin.


    I have in mind something around a thousand or fifteen hundred Chapters, that''s about 1 or 2 million words.


    I don''t think there''s anything else I can say here. If you have any questions or haven''t understood something about the story so far, please leave a comment on the Chapter, I will review it regardless of the data in the post.


    Thank you for reading this far!

 Chapter 77: Tournament

    Chapter 77 - TournamentApart from Astolfo, the four were the only ones going to the tournament for the first time. The majority some veterans had already been fighting in this competition for a few years and had not even once been able to make it to the next stage.


    "Astolfo, what is the level of the best teams in this competition?" Kayden asked curiously.


    For a few seconds, the spearman reflected before responding with a less-than-optimistic expression.


    "The best in public schools are usually in the sixth and seventh ranks, with a few exceptions in the eighth and ninth ranks. From what I remember, there are only a hundred people above the seventh rank."


    This was a very small number considering that the competition had 2500 people and they were still the best of the best. The proportion was less than 5%, really few people managed to stand out above the average.


    "Of these hundred, only 8 people are from public schools, the rest are made up of nobles." This... was something Kayden had already expected. How would people who needed to worry about mundane things like rent and monthly expenses compare to nobles who never had any worries?


    Everyone was quiet and waiting, even though it wasn''t the first time for most of them, they were still excited. It was normal considering that this was a very important moment for them to be noticed by some colleges.


    A few minutes later, the director walked through the door. He was a relatively young man and had a height of 1.5 meters. But his presence was balanced by large amounts of muscle, revealing that he was a knight.


    His clothes were simple suits that expressed elegance and class. At that moment, Kayden realized that this event might be a little bigger than he previously expected.


    Looking around, he saw that everyone was dressed in the best possible way, even his friends were wearing different clothes than usual. Kayden looked down at his worn training tunic.


    Well... it''s part of it.


    "Hello everyone, the rules of the event will be explained on-site. I am responsible for guiding our school there, please follow me." His speech was quick and direct, and everyone quickly gathered behind the man.


    As soon as they left the school, Kayden saw his uncertainty about the level of the event confirmed. Two giant limousines were waiting for everyone at the school exit. The car exuded luxury and elegance.


    "Five people per cabin, top-ranked teams can go first." Again, the director took the reins and instructed everyone. It wasn''t long before Kayden found himself getting into the car.


    It was a cabin with white-dyed leather sofas and the rest of the space in metallic black. The color composition increased the car''s air of luxury. In the center of the space, there was a table and a built-in minibar.


    At the top, there was a glass roof that could alternate between transparent and dark. Even the seat back had a massage and automatic adjustment. Luxury, was truly the ultimate comfort humanity could provide.


    Kayden leaned back on a bench and closed his eyes. Now it was just a matter of waiting. A few minutes later, the limo stopped, waking Kayden from his little rest. He didn''t even remember when was the last time he relaxed like this.


    ''Having one of these must be a goal of my life from now on'', the boy thought to himself.


    "Do your best," Astolfo told himself. The others also spoke similar phrases of encouragement to each other.


    After a few more minutes, the door opened, and... it looked like a big movie event. There was a gigantic red carpet leading to some sort of football stadium.


    That was not why the stadium was there, especially considering that it seemed to be almost a kilometer long, with several sculptures and entrances. Furthermore, it was colossal in height and had a gigantic glass dome.


    Its entrances were several gigantic wooden doors. There were several, and in each one, there was a red carpet and hundreds of people around. Some had cameras and were professional reporters.


    Kayden had never seen so many people together before, not even at the club. He was sure that there were at least a few tens of thousands of people there. For the first time in a long time, Kayden found himself nervous.


    Thousands of eyes were focused on them, every inch of their body seemed to be being watched and analyzed. The sound that was previously unheard inside the car was now deafening.


    Hundreds of voices mingled with each other, shouting different names. One of them that stood out was Astolfo, especially among the girls. His popularity seemed to be quite high in this group.


    Kayden wasn''t exactly the epitome of beauty, but he still had a nice presence. The problem was that he hadn''t taken care of himself in a long time. Most of the time, his hair was cut with his katana, only when it obstructed his vision. The only care he took was bathing and eating properly.


    Well ... but he had something else to make his presence known.


    THUMP!


    THUMP!


    His heart began to pound in his chest, his aura began to change. Before, his presence was nothing more than that of a normal person, but now it seemed like he was something dangerous and unknown.


    His eyes acquired a mana glow that caused admiration and fear in anyone who looked at them for a long time. Even his veins became more prominent and his muscles seemed to be slightly swollen.


    But the main feature was its aura. Kayden discovered this state of transformation in one of his many tests. Unfortunately, he had nothing useful in terms of battle performance.


    The boy had a suspicion that it was similar to the hormones that animals exude during mating periods. What was once an ordinary boy to most people, now, in terms of nature, he exuded an aura of alpha, similar to a pack leader.


    Within seconds, the crowd that hadn''t even noticed him before began shouting for him with different nicknames. Even his friends around him started to look at him differently.


    That ..... was uncomfortable, Kayden regretted having his little moment of vanity and deactivated this transformation quickly, and like magic, things went back to the way they were before, and his aura change was treated as a mistake.


    It didn''t take long and they arrived at the entrance, right in front Kayden saw two mages wearing red suits, each on one side of the entrance. When his team got close enough heavy chains were launched into the air with magic towards the door.


    Slowly it was opened, revealing the spacious interior of an immense corridor with marble tiles, the sides had statues and pieces of Greek architecture, and the ceiling had several glass chandeliers.


    BAAM!


    The heavy door closed with an impact as soon as everyone entered, the loud sound ended up taking everyone by surprise and making everyone jump a little. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Are the sissies scared?" well... almost everyone, Astolfo already seemed to know that this was going to happen and didn''t warn anyone. This earned him some angry looks, but there wasn''t much they could do.


    Like a wordless mutual agreement, everyone began to ignore Astolfo and continued walking down the corridor without looking at the boy.


    "There''s no point in not talking to the great Astolfo " the boy continued annoying him, his old tough guy pose was completely revealed as false, in fact, he just looked like a mental patient with god syndrome.


    A few minutes later they arrived at the end of the corridor and came across a room with several exquisite tables and chairs, along with the table there were several appetizers and drinks.

 Chapter 78: Tournament[2]

    Chapter 78 - Tournament[2]Even some with alcohol. Only one table was not yet occupied. Each space had only five seats and was prepared especially for a team. At the end of the room, there was a large metal railing for people to lean on. There were also several televisions at each table so each team could choose which battle they wanted to watch.


    As soon as he looked outside, Kayden realized that the space was much larger than he had expected. The stadium had straight sides, similar to a rectangle, and at the ends, it was shaped like a half circle.


    The stands grew at an angle to the ground, with each row of chairs a little larger than the previous one. Furthermore, there were four floors with a long corridor leading to the interior of the building, separating them.


    The floors seemed to divide the class of each seat. In the last seats, there were few seats and they were spaced apart. Furthermore, there were also people dressed in red suits circulating among them.


    On the floors below, the seats had no spaces between them and only on the third were there also people in red circulating. In the other two, there were small stalls selling different foods.


    But that wasn''t the most bizarre thing, but the number of people. As far as his eyes could go, there were people. The amount of people was simply ridiculous. Kayden doubted that in his old life, any stadium could hold so many people at once. S~ea??h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Astolfo, how many people can fit here?", Kayden asked curiously, maybe a hundred thousand?


    "Half a million people. But this is a small to medium-sized stadium. Those in the capital have 10 million people. Normally, after the interstate ones, the finals are held there."


    That... was ridiculous. Kayden couldn''t even imagine the size of a stadium to fit so many people together. It should be simply colossal. This should only be possible to build using magic. There was no other explanation.


    Everyone sat at the table and started eating the appetizers while waiting for the championship to start. As Astolfo explained, a member of the government would appear and take the corresponding team to the fighting space.


    The arena had several spaces dedicated to battles with large bubbles and a judge on top of each one, dressed in a red suit. The first battles were carried out at high speed and the selection phase of the 60 best teams was carried out only on the first day.


    This was bizarrely fast, considering there were 2,500 participants and around 500 teams. There would have to be many battles to get to the finalists. This was thanks to the high-level healing mages recruited by the government. They could restore both the participants'' physical health and the exhaustion caused by the confrontation.


    A few minutes later, all participants from all teams entered. In the center of the arena, the mayor caught everyone''s attention with a beaming greeting.


    "Welcome everyone to the municipal tournament for the best students in our city!" His voice reverberated in every corner of the stadium, even on the first floors, where they had no television access. This was possible through the use of mana.


    His appearance was that of someone young, his hair was brown and, on television, it was possible to discern his eyes as blue as the sea. His body wasn''t very bulky, but it suited the navy blue suit he was wearing perfectly.


    "In a few minutes, we will start our event, try to buy all the food beforehand so you don''t waste a second." His tone was cheerful and showed pleasure in presiding over this event. "Well... may my son win, because my love as a father is greater than for my work."


    His honest phrase caused a wave of laughter in the audience and gave the event the joyful tone that it had every year. It wasn''t long before an officer in red was seen floating in front.


    "Team Kayden, please stand up." The referee''s voice had a respectful tone, even though he was someone at the mage level or higher. As soon as everyone stood up, they felt themselves being levitated into the air.


    With a smooth speed, the man moved to one of the arenas below. There was nothing peculiar about it and it was just a transparent bubble, its only effect was sound insulation, not even the vibrations on the floor could be felt inside.


    As soon as they entered, they came across the other team, made up... only of magicians. It seemed to be a repeat of the first fight Astolfo participated in with them. Kayden quickly thought of the strategy they would use.


    His first thought was the steam tactic used previously, but it was not possible in this case. The other team would hardly let them accumulate enough water for this, they would probably start the match with a flurry of spells.


    "There is only one rule and that is not to use help from third parties, other than that everything is valid. You have five minutes to prepare, but pre-made spells are not allowed." The judge gave instructions for the confrontation.


    Kayden''s team remained silent. They didn''t have much to discuss, the strategy would be the same as the other fight, with practically no difference, at least that''s what they expected.


    A few minutes later, the judge took a bell out of his pocket and shook it, starting the fight. For a few seconds, the two teams just stared at each other, but that didn''t last long and the wizards began to organize an attack.


    Quickly, dozens of fireballs were thrown at them. The incredible thing was that there were only mages of that element on the other side, probably this was thought to avoid interference by other elements.


    This wasn''t a good sign, as it meant they probably had great synergy together. Kayden''s team just waited, and when the enemy attack came close, a neutral element bubble was raised by Jean.


    Seeing this, the opposing team began to unleash dozens of fire-element offensive spells against the barrier. For a few seconds, none of them were even able to look outside with so many flames licking the bubble.


    "Maria!" Jean called through his teeth clenched in effort. The girl understood what he wanted and took control of the bubble, changing it to an extremely cold water class.


    Unlike many stories Kayden saw, in this world medium fire would never beat medium water, because the amount of water a mage could cast was much greater than a fire mage.


    "60 seconds", Maria gave a maximum estimate of how much she could handle.


    "Break it into 20. I''m going to use a giant Pop Flash. Jean, you must use all your mana to give us acceleration spells. We''re going to make a unique beat. Carlos and Astolfo, focus on the ones closest to you. As soon as we remove one or two opponents, Maria will start raining spells."


    With all the plan structured, now all that was left was to wait. No one doubted or criticized their decisions, they have come too far to have intrigues between them. Little by little, the bubble began to break.


    "5 seconds" Maria gave the final estimate making everyone prepare for the imminent confrontation, it didn''t take long and the sounds of glass breaking started to come from everywhere in the bubble.


    Jean has already used his strongest wind element spell on the three melee attackers. Simultaneously, Kayden stretched his katana out of the bubble, drawing the attention of the five opponents.


    The boy''s Pop Flash blinded all his opponents, none of them were expecting anything like that, taking advantage of the surprise factor and Jean''s acceleration spell, the three ran toward the wizards.

 Chapter 79: Tournament[3]

    Chapter 79 - Tournament[3]The first to arrive was logically Astolfo. The distance was not very far, about 20 meters, and was completed in seconds by the boy. The closest opponent was a female mage of diminutive stature.


    By the time the boy was lowering his blade, the mage had just regained her sight. She had no time to cast an attack, her only option was to try and dodge backwards, but unfortunately for her, her body became paralyzed and a wave of pain radiated from her waist.


    With the help of Kayden''s spell, Astolfo managed to land a clean blow on his opponent''s neck. If it weren''t for the judge removing her from the arena, without a doubt the girl would have been beheaded.


    At the same time this confrontation was taking place, Carlos had just gotten in front of his opponent. Unfortunately, because his speed was not as great as Astolfo''s, his opponent already had his vision restored.


    Thanks to the delay that Kayden provided when using the concentrated beam on this opponent as well, Carlos was able to get close enough to fight with his fists. The fire mage had time to conjure a fireball.


    This was his only option to hold back Carlos'' advance and try to gain some time. His spell came out at point blank range, there was no room for Carlos to turn around. At that moment, the boy felt the surreal heat close to his body.


    He had only one decision if he wanted to secure the advantage for his team. Taking courage, the boy used the side of his body to meet the spell. The flames exploded, threatening to consume him whole.


    This was the most painful thing he had ever faced in his life. The entire side of his body suffered second and third degree burns, but swallowing the pain, he continued his attack.


    His first punch hit the wizard in the stomach, causing him to double over. The force of the impact was enough to bend an iron bar. Without mercy, the boy brought his hand down at high speed against the fallen opponent''s head.


    If that blow hit the mage, he would likely have his head blown into a bloody pulp. But again, thanks to the judge''s intervention, the wizard was removed from the arena. From the way they defended themselves, it was obvious that they didn''t have any support on the team. It looked like a team focused only on attack.


    As soon as the other three recovered, they launched a barrage of fireballs at Astolfo. There were so many that the boy couldn''t even see the attackers anymore. He retreated without even thinking twice.


    " Ugh !" A groan of pain escaped as one of Astolfo''s legs received a spell and began to burn. The boy continued running despite the pain towards Jean and Maria.


    His leg was consumed by a whirlwind of air that eradicated the flames. Thanks to the adrenaline, he didn''t feel the depth of the wound until he reached a relatively safe area close to his team.


    His leg was bright red. Virtually all of his skin suffered first and second degree burns. Kayden watched from afar as he helped Carlos back up and wondered how the boy was standing.


    "Maria!" Kayden shouted, beginning the second part of the plan with the multitude of small water stones that, at high speed, looked like concrete as they hit the flesh of their targets.


    A bubble of fire was raised to protect the remaining three mages, but that was all they could do at the moment. The amount of water balls hitting the same spot was insane. This meant that they had to keep mana flowing into the bubble at all times.


    "Two minutes." Maria gave the time limit that she could maintain that attack. In fact, it wasn''t a spell that used up a lot of mana, it was just a multitude of water balls being conjured and launched.


    In fact, it wasn''t even a spell capable of causing much damage, well... if it weren''t for Jean, a wind element circle was conjured in front of her and all the water balls passed through her and gained at least three times its initial speed.


    "Carlos and Astolfo, situation." Kayden ordered quickly and received a standard response that they had already thought of.


    "My right side is useless, I can''t fight because of my balance." Carlos was the first to respond. It was clear that the boy was in the worst condition of the two, his wounds started at thigh level and only ended near his neck.


    "I can fight at full capacity." Astolfo''s sentence surprised Kayden, who could clearly see that one of his legs was practically destroyed, but the boy didn''t think much about it, he trusted his friends.


    With this information, Kayden put together a plan. Carlos was the first to raise objections, but was quickly silenced with some threats... advice from the rest of the team. The boy gave everyone 1 minute to rest.


    "Let''s go." With his command, Carlos was the first to start running towards the bubble. Maria expressed all her remaining mana and consolidated it into an attack with an intensity twice as strong as before.


    CRASH!!


    With a loud sound of breaking glass, the bubble simply began to crack everywhere, but it was still standing upright, at least for a few more seconds. That was the time Carlos needed to arrive at the location.


    As soon as the bubble fell, Carlos'' vision was the first thing they saw and they reacted automatically against him, releasing fireballs in his direction.


    ''Idiot.'' One of the mages thought when he saw how far away his opponent was and how he wouldn''t be able to dodge in time, but his feelings told him that this wasn''t a good sign.


    Carlos smiled, confirming the wizard''s hunch.


    "You owe me one." That was the last sentence Carlos spoke before being taken out of the arena looking like a ball of fire. While Carlos served as bait, Astolfo was already approaching from the opposite direction.


    The three were focused on the first opponent that appeared in their vision and did not notice the boy''s approach until it was too late. The spear came down mercilessly against one of the wizards.


    There was nothing he could do. The distance was too close for him to have time to cast a spell or dodge without taking damage. His face became calm, making Astolfo''s guard lower.


    The spear that was descending towards the opponent''s neck hit the wizard''s shoulder as he closed the distance. His charge took Astolfo by surprise and his next action surprised him even more.


    The boy began to burn suicidally, but it was a different flame, it was much more aggressive and, in the blink of an eye, it went from Astolfo''s spear to the boy. With all his willpower, Astolfo withdrew the blade and aimed another blow.


    Again his blow was received with open arms by his opponent and, because of the short distance, he was unable to find a fatal blow that would eliminate him at once. Meanwhile, the flames continued to burn in the two''s bodies.


    It wasn''t a particularly strong flame, but it was constant and caused pain that couldn''t be ignored.


    S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 80: Tournament[4]

    Chapter 80 - Tournament[4]"Give up, you little shit !" Astolfo roared at his opponent.


    "Give up, you rubbish!" The boy received a response in the same tone, and his battle continued. At the moment, Astolfo was still at 100% capacity, but he was sure that if those flames lasted too long, he wouldn''t be able to resist.


    About that...


    "Transcendence!" Kayden finally used his spell to take advantage of the window of opportunity Carlos got for them. His speed simply became monstrous, and he reached one of the mages almost as fast as Astolfo.


    Using a concentrated beam on each one, Kayden paralyzed their movements, and counting on the surprise factor, he brought his katana down towards the head of one of the mages who had his back to him.


    The other mage didn''t have the option of approaching and trying something suicidal. He simply had no other options other than trying to take as little damage as possible. The boy tried to retreat.


    Kayden simply stepped forward with his footwork and remade the strike. This time, he increased the speed to absurd levels, making it simply impossible for the mage to dodge.


    When his blow hit his opponent squarely in the neck, he was removed from the arena by the judge. This happened in less than 3 seconds, but it gave the other wizard time to conjure a fireball against Kayden.


    The size was 3 times larger than the ones being released before, which caused Kayden to hesitate before doing what he was about to do. But well... he had been through a lot of pain before, hadn''t he? S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The boy ran and collided at high speed into the gigantic fireball. As soon as his katana passed out of his, he blasted a flash PoP directly into his opponent''s eyes.


    Again, his opponent was caught by the surprise factor. Kayden getting through that spell without protection probably meant he had at least 50% of his body with 3rd degree burns, that was just bizarre.


    "What a shit idea", Kayden thought as he brought his katana down towards his opponent. Due to the pain in his body, his mobility was severely limited, and a blow that should have been fatal only cut his opponent''s arms deeply.


    Even under attack, his opponent gave his all and conjured another gigantic fireball. Kayden knew he couldn''t do the same again, not even the first time he should have. Using the last 30% of mana he had, he made two concentrated beams.


    One with just 5% was thrown against Astolfo''s opponent, and the other with 25% was against the wizard who conjured the giant fireball. The two hit squarely, and when Kayden was about to receive the impact of the fireball...


    He found himself on the judge''s side along with the eliminated members of the other team. Meanwhile, below, the battle continued.


    " Ugh !" A groan escaped Astolfo''s opponent, but not from pain, but from surprise at the shock he received on his left leg. His movement was weakened long enough for Astolfo to gain distance.


    In terms of pain, they were both practically going crazy. Their bodies were slowly burning from the outside in, and the temperature of the flames continued to increase. No matter how hard Astolfo struck with the spear shaft, his opponent did not move away.


    But now this confrontation is over. Astolfo used his wind to propel his attack towards the wizard, a full blow to his head would have been landed if the judge had not once again removed the wizard from the scene.


    "Oh? Where''s Kayden?" When he looked around, Astolfo only saw the last wizard left. His body was practically unable to withstand anything anymore, he didn''t expect his opponent to have such an exotic spell.


    Gathering what was left of his strength, he rushed towards his adversary. Unfortunately, its movement was slow and it was met by a giant fireball at high speed.


    The boy threw himself on the ground to dodge and tried to go again, unfortunately there wasn''t much he could do, the wizard seemed to have enough mana to keep casting that spell until he got it right.


    One time or another he would hit the target and Astolfo would be forced to leave the match.


    "Shit, shit, shit!" In his last attempt, Astolfo raised his spear and imbued it with neutral mana and another layer of wind. With all his strength, he threw the spear, his speed was simply absurd.


    Shimmm !!


    He cut through a ball of fire.


    Shimmmm !


    Again he cut another fireball and reached the wizard who... simply dodged to the side. Even though she was at high speed, she was slowed down by the impacts and was also not at 100% of Astolfo''s strength.


    "Crap!" Astolfo closed his eyes and waited for the impact with the next fireball, his body was already completely destroyed, that had been his last attempt and he failed.


    CLAP!


    Instead of the fire consuming his body, he saw the wizard''s body soaked on the floor, unconscious.


    "HEY Astolfo, will you stop resting on the floor?" Maria''s voice brought him out of his confusion, the boy was so focused that he simply forgot about the other two teammates on his team.


    While the wizard was distracted, Maria and Jean simply used the same spell combo as before and knocked out their opponent by surprise.


    "Team Kayden is the winner!" The judge''s voice put an end to the fight, instantly everyone was levitated close to the judge and those who had not yet received treatment because they were fighting were healed almost instantly.


    Carlos made the movement of shouting in celebration, but was stopped by a slap on his head from Kayden.


    "Behave," the boy whispered.


    Their fight was one of the most difficult they have ever faced, everyone had an incredible desire to win, even if it meant sacrificing themselves for their team. Not only that, but here the attacks were much stronger.


    There was no energy spared to not kill the other opponent, each spell was made to knock the opponent down so that he would never get up again. It was only thanks to the judge that this wasn''t a bloodbath.


    "Hey, the suicide asshole," Astolfo shouted to the other team. "It was a pleasure fighting you," the boy bowed in respect. "Could you tell me the name of the spell you used?" The endless flames really impressed him.


    Astolfo''s tone, along with his aggressive personality, didn''t match this humble attitude of his. Fortunately, his opponent was also somewhat different.


    "Imbecile, you''re the one who doesn''t know how to give up. His name is Endless Flames, it''s a technique from my family", the boy said with a tone of pride. "I hope we can fight again someday."


    That was the last interaction they had before an official in a red suit came to take each of the teams away. As soon as they set foot in the VIP room, they were greeted with applause by their school. Mainly from the principal, for him it didn''t matter who won, as long as it was from his school. There were only two teams in the room, the others were probably fighting.


    "Very well, very well, come and get some rest, the next fight should be in a few minutes," the director said with a smile.


    Kayden sighed and plopped down in his team''s chair. This fight had been quite frantic. The way the tournament was organized, they would have three more fights to be among the top fifty.

 Chapter 81: Betrayal

    Chapter 81 - BetrayalHis first fight had already been really difficult, the boy wasn''t sure how far they could go. Win this tournament? That was a bit of an impossible dream. Well, that didn''t matter for now, Kayden decided to review his fight.


    A few minutes later, all teams returned. Only three of them, including Kayden, managed to win their first confrontation. Even with the victory, the atmosphere in the room felt like a wake. No one said anything as they gathered strength for the next fight.


    Everyone''s body was restored to normal state, but the problem was the pain and strong emotions they went through. It took a little longer for their minds to fully calm down.


    A few minutes later, Kayden''s team was called first again.


    "Let''s do our best," Kayden stood up and said to his team. The boy was too focused to notice a certain abnormal nervousness in Carlos, Maria and Jos¨¦.


    *******


    "Kayden''s team wins!" This time, only Astolfo was left, who managed to win a two-on-one fight using his spear art. Kayden had to admit that it was really impressive to see the boy fighting.


    It seemed that the more opponents he had and the more blows he received, the stronger his counterattack was. The opposing team this time was well balanced, with two offensive mages, 2 melee fighters and a support.


    But in the end, it didn''t matter, they won. This was his third battle and it had been equally difficult as the first two. In most of them, it was decided by luck, with only one member remaining.


    In the second fight, for example, only Jean was left against a melee attacker and the boy, incredibly, managed to win by applying several debuffs and attacks that eroded his opponent''s resistance until he managed to apply an offensive spell capable of ending the match.


    Again, the officer arrived to take them to the room dedicated to their school. This time, Kayden really was happy. The next match would decide whether they would enter the top 60 or not. Even if they didn''t get in, it was still impressive. They were more or less in the top 125.


    The next fight would cut the number in half, leaving just over 60. Therefore, some unlucky people had to fight again to get the keys right. Kayden was hoping it wasn''t them.


    "Hey, are you three okay?" Even the smiling Carlos had a frown on his face. It was obvious that the three of them were nervous. This time, even Kayden noticed.


    "Yes...yes", Maria responded quickly while the other two remained quiet. Kayden decided to ignore it. It was probably just stress from coming so far.


    Now the real fun would begin. Now it was just the best of the best. From his school, only Kayden and the top 2 team were left. The rankings didn''t really mean much, since if they took on one of the strong teams from the private schools, they would lose.


    Kayden was wondering if he should use his last asset in the next match, or if they could go further.


    ''Ah, let the wind take you''


    Kayden leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, deciding to simply rest for the next few minutes. This time, the rest was for an hour and gave Kayden enough time to take a short nap.


    He was woken up by the shaking of the stadium when the mayor began to give the final speech of the event. Kayden simply went back to sleep and didn''t pay much attention to what he was saying, if it was important he would find out later, right?


    "Hey Kayden, wake up, hey!" Astolfo pushed Kayden, making the boy come out of his pleasant sleep. What stopped him from cursing the lancer was the officer''s face above the VIP area. Well... in that case he would really have to stop sleeping.


    The boy stood up and joined his team alongside the officer. Again, the three of them were unnaturally nervous. Kayden didn''t know why, but he decided to just ignore it.


    Once they entered the bubble, they had to wait a few minutes for the other team. This was strange considering both teams were called at the same time. His opponents this time were two knights and three mages.


    The difference is that they were clearly noble. His clothes were impeccable tunics and cloaks, but that was not the main thing. The true fact that highlighted his lineage was his family crest.


    But, unlike Yan from his school, this was a noble from the main house and not from any branch. Almost instantly, when he entered the bubble, the three who were already nervous simply began to tremble. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden was in front and didn''t notice it. When everyone positioned themselves, the judge started the fight.


    "I give up."


    "I give up."


    "I give up."


    Without even a second of fighting, the three on Kayden''s team simply gave up for no reason at all.


    "What the fuck?" Kayden didn''t even have time to understand what was happening before they were taken out of the arena. In a second, only he and Astolfo were left.


    "Fear of the nobles," Astolfo said calmly, as if he had already expected something like this. "Most civilians never have the courage to face a noble for fear of retaliation. It''s a deep fear that has been in our society for decades."


    Kayden had never noticed that. He already knew that this world was extremely elitist, but he had never seen it to this extent.


    "Don''t be mad at them. If we won this here and the noble on the other side ordered their family killed, nothing would happen to him. The government would just turn a blind eye."


    Kayden looked at the judge, who was pretending he hadn''t heard anything they were talking about.


    "Are you guys finished yet? I don''t mind waiting for the Mudbloods to talk some more."


    Bad blood? That expression reminded Kayden of a book from his first world and it wasn''t really something pleasant.


    "Let''s give up too. You''re just inferior commoners."


    His tone... was not arrogance, nor even contempt. It just seemed like this was a reality and he was just stating the facts. Kayden sighed. He couldn''t blame the boy.


    Just like the Guide said in his training at the assassins guild, if you raised a baby to think he was a dog, he will grow up thinking he is a dog and will defend it tooth and nail.


    "Are you going to give up?" Kayden asked Astolfo and received a nod from the lanceur . "Today is a good day to do the impossible, isn''t it?" A smile spread across Kayden''s face.


    "Whoever knocks down the most wins the right to be captain of the team next year." This was one of the wishes that Astolfo''s endless vanity had asked of him for a long time.


    "Combined." Even with the optimistic interaction between them, the atmosphere was bad. They knew that the chance of winning this here was low, at least if they used the same techniques they had been using since the first fight.


    "Why do you insist on fighting? It''s a practically lost battle." The noble boy grumbled, seeing that they were still going to continue, but even so he stopped his team from making the first attack, it seemed to be beneath him.


    "Astolfo, I''m going to use a different spell, but it should last 30 seconds at most and after that I practically won''t be able to fight anymore. Do you have something up your sleeve?" Kayden was trying to come up with something so they would have a chance to win.


    "I will use my family''s secret technique. You can leave the magicians with me, I can last a maximum of 1 minute with her, but it should be enough for us to get closer."


    Kayden had no idea how they would be able to get closer under the rain of spells, but he decided to trust Astolfo. Before the fight actually started, he looked at the three standing near the judge.


    "Fear condemns them to mediocrity." His hard gaze swept over his three teammates, but none of them could meet Kayden''s gaze. It was clear they were not proud of what they had done.

 Chapter 82: A lost fight

    Chapter 82 - A lost fightAstolfo closed his eyes for a few seconds to concentrate on his technique.


    "I''m going to attack, you''re taking too long," the noble said with a fake yawn, now his actions were dripping with arrogance.


    It didn''t take long for Astolfo to open his eyes and shake his head at Kayden.


    "La transcend¨ºncia Absolute", that was the name of the second and final version of transcendence that Kayden invented, he had not used it in combat before because of the price he had to pay.


    His mana veins began to swell to an abnormal level, gaining almost double in volume, even his muscles had a reddish appearance, his veins began to bulge all over his body.


    His own breath was exuding mana. When the judge saw Kayden''s condition, he thought about pulling the boy, as it looked like he was about to break due to too much mana, he just didn''t do it because he heard the previous conversation between the two.


    "Let''s go", Astolfo started running at high speed and as soon as his opponents saw this they started to launch spells at him, of the opponents two were offensive mages who launched lightning and sharp pieces of metal at them.


    Kayden saw something he would probably never forget in his entire life, every spell that came towards Astolfo was simply guided by his spear back to the wizard, but everything was done smoothly.


    As if a simple touch could change the entire trajectory of the attack, even the rays were deflected or thrown back, it seemed like nothing could hit him, untouchable, that was the feeling Kayden had.


    "What the fuck?", the judge looked fascinated at the scene, he knew that the boy was manipulating the mana of each thing he touched in a specific area under his control, but even knowing he was sure he couldn''t reproduce that .


    It went without saying about the opposing team who couldn''t even believe their eyes, they had never seen this even once in their lives. It didn''t even take 5 seconds for the two to be facing their opponents.


    Kayden wasted no time and went towards the melee attackers, one of them was the nobleman and the boy decided to start with him. His opponent was using a heavy axe.


    His speed at this point was on the threshold between an eighth and ninth rank, it was simply a jump of four ranks, his katana arrived at high speed to the side of the axe.


    Even with the difference in size, the ax was slightly pushed, then the boy delivered another high-speed blow to the ax again, his strength was simply at a bizarre level at this moment.


    Each blow with the ax prevented him from balancing and giving Kayden a decent blow, the boy also couldn''t get any distance, it seemed like Kayden was simply a shadow.


    The other melee fighter was some kind of assassin and used two daggers, he quickly sneaked behind Kayden and tried to stab him in the ribs, unfortunately for him Kayden''s senses were at a superhuman level. S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The boy dodged and at the same time threw a concentrated beam at each one, it was so close that none of them managed to do anything other than be paralyzed for a few milliseconds, Kayden took this opportunity to pop a Pop flash at them and buy even more time.


    Swish !!


    His katana came down tearing the air at the dagger user''s head, he couldn''t even see, who would have thought to dodge, he was removed from the arena in less than 10 seconds of combat, unfortunately this gave the nobleman time to retreat.


    " Pebleau ", the nobleman had a certain look of disgust that was ignored by Kayden, the boy saw the ax become covered with a kind of film of fire, he had never seen that before, but it didn''t seem like a good sign.


    The ax came towards him with a quick sideways blow, Kayden just moved away, he didn''t have confidence in parrying the blow with that film, as soon as he moved away he saw another blow coming from his left this time.


    Only now it was a sharp piece of metal, Kayden simply batted it away with his katana and looked at Astolfo facing the three mages, he didn''t look in a good state as he was bleeding from a wound on his leg.


    But... there were only two offensive mages left, somehow the support mage was simply eliminated in that short period of time , Kayden had to turn his attention back to his battle when the ax simply descended horizontally on his head.


    The boy released a concentrated ray at the same time as he moved away, this time the ray hit the ax and simply had no effect, causing another strong blow to come towards him.


    He didn''t have room to move without coming into the axe''s radius, but it wasn''t the first time he''d faced weapons of this type. In between his opponent''s next swing, he landed a quick swing on the axe.


    It felt like he had hit a mountain, but it was enough to stop the ax from rising in a new blow against him, Kayden knew he had to take advantage of this opportunity and continued to maintain quick and short blows against his opponent.


    Kayden''s fighting style was extremely aggressive, there were blows and lightning at all times, the nobleman felt like he was facing a predator, if he made a mistake, his opponent would kill him.


    ''I only have 15 seconds'' Kayden was out of time and he knew it, it was now or never.


    His eyes turned a certain shade of white mixed with blue, it looked like little rays were dancing in them, but that was only for a very short moment of time and then they returned to normal.


    At this moment, dozens of lightning bolts that were pre-programmed fell towards his opponent. Even though most of them missed their target or were deflected by the noble, some still hit his body.


    " Ugh !" the nobleman let out a groan of pain due to the number of small pins that seemed to hit his body, for a moment he simply couldn''t clear his thoughts.


    This was more than enough for Kayden to land a direct blow with his katana on the hand that was holding the axe. As soon as his opponent loosened his grip, the boy threw a kick at his chest that sent him rolling backwards.


    Wasting no time or mercy, Kayden ran against his opponent who quickly got up and once again the fire film was used, only this time in his hands. Kayden didn''t even think twice before bringing his katana down on his opponent''s head.


    The metal hit his opponent''s two hands, which seemed to be made of pure rock, the impact threw the noble back, but it was not enough to cause any significant damage.


    Kayden used a concentrated beam that was deflected by his opponent and then made a clean blow to his waist, the nobleman was not fast enough and was left with a large tear in his side.


    Pop flash!


    Concentrated lightning!


    Kayden was giving it his all, the noble was for the first time in his life being pushed to his maximum by a commoner. He couldn''t understand, he was at the impressive 8th rank, so that should be enough for his strength to be far superior to Kayden''s.

 Chapter 83: Impossible

    Chapter 83 - ImpossibleThe nobleman lost his head and attacked with a hook using his right hand. Unfortunately for him, Kayden was as calm as a river in winter and easily capitalized on this slip with a feint in the opposite direction and a well-aimed blow to the nobleman''s neck.


    One mistake was enough for the fight between the two to end.


    "5 seconds", Kayden didn''t even think before running to help Astolfo who had a bleeding leg and was limping, several cuts could be seen on his body caused by the metal darts.


    The boy started with a concentrated beam directly at the metal wizard and high speed arrived behind him, his interruption caught the three by surprise, but Astolfo was the first to recover and engaged in an attack on the metal user. Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    It was fast and deadly, hitting his neck, this was only possible because of the surprise factor of the spell and Kayden hitting his opponent squarely. The other wizard found himself surrounded by two opponents as his ally was pulled away by the judge.


    Quickly, Kayden tried to go after him but was stopped by a wave of lightning, even though he dodged, some were too many for him to be able to approach cleanly.


    "2 seconds", he didn''t have much time. Using all the remaining mana, he threw a concentrated beam at the opponent, which was considerably stronger than the ones coming towards him.


    Like a hungry beast, his spell opened space between the opponent''s attacks until it reached the wizard, it was so fast that he couldn''t even dodge it, along with that lightning came more from Astolfo.


    "Stupid", the boy thought when he remembered that he was avoiding using spells that could be used against himself and now his body was being attacked by dozens of his spells.


    His mind simply shut down from the amount of lightning that was falling at him, before his body could fall to the ground, he was caught by the judge.


    "Victory for Kayden''s team", the judge''s voice resounded, putting an end to the fastest fight in the championship, it was only 30 seconds and, on top of that, it was two against five, that was more than impressive, it was unbelievable.


    Kayden''s body fell to the ground, he couldn''t even lift a muscle, this spell simply destroyed his muscles and mana veins. The principle was the same as transcendence, but the difference was that, while transcendence worked by overloading your mana veins, this new spell was overloading the veins and letting some of it escape into your body.


    The mana loose in him gave an insane boost to all his abilities, but it came at a crushing price. If Kayden went beyond thirty seconds, which was the time he defined as safe, his entire body would be poisoned.


    Mana poisoning was very common and caused a type of tissue necrosis. Therefore, this spell was only used in the last cases, both because of the risk and the consequences.


    Even after being healed by the judge, Kayden couldn''t move properly, it felt like he had been fighting for weeks on end, and his tiredness was simply abnormal.


    "Want a hand there?" Astolfo asked as he pulled Kayden to lean on his shoulder.


    "Thanks, my technique is a little too much for me at the moment," Kayden gave a smile of happiness, they had done it.


    As soon as the officer arrived, the five were gathered together again, the three avoided the two''s eyes throughout the journey, Kayden also didn''t bother talking, no matter what happened, he already knew that this team was doomed to collapse now.


    "Kayden!" Carlos called in a voice full of emotions, "I''m sorry, but fear paralyzed me, I''m sorry!!!" Carlos bowed in apology.


    "Sorry!" Maria bowed too.


    "Sorry!" Jean did the same as both of them.


    Kayden was a little surprised but accepted the apology without any problems.


    "Don''t worry, I don''t hold any grudges," that was true, "but... I''m not going to be with this team anymore, I''m sorry about that," Kayden chose to be honest with his intentions.


    "I made a mistake, Kayden, but you can be sure I won''t do that next time", Jean, the person who spoke and discussed the least, spoke first, but from his tone what he said was not very reliable.


    "I''m sorry, but I can''t trust you again, what if it was the final? I would miss a decisive moment in my life and I wouldn''t be able to do anything, I can''t fight tomorrow, if you want you can go."


    With that, the three remained silent, they had no way to retort and they didn''t even think about fighting alone the next day. In the end, their fear caused them to miss one of the best opportunities of their lives, they knew they couldn''t get here alone.


    "Kayden!!! Astolfo!!!" the school principal shouted as soon as they landed in the VIP area. "What a majestic fight, I have never seen such beautiful technique in my life! Astolfo and Kayden, what phenomenal tenacity! That was an 8th-rank knight, splendid boys, splendid!" The director''s voice was full of joy and he was full of praise for both of them.


    Even the other students in the school were congratulating them, their team was the only one that made it to the second phase. Normally, one team entered the second phase and only one.


    This year, he didn''t expect it to be Kayden''s, since Astolfo left the first-ranked team, he didn''t have much hope of excelling this year.


    "Do you already know how you''re going to fight tomorrow?" the director asked anxiously.


    "Unfortunately we won''t be able to, director, Kayden and I are unable to fight due to the rebound of our spells." With his sentence, the director''s face fell, he went from heaven to hell in a second.


    "Oh, what a shame, what a shame." The man repeated this phrase at least a few more times without believing the answer he got from Astolfo. "At least you can use the championship reward."


    "Reward?" Kayden wasn''t aware of this and decided to ask Astolfo later.


    A few minutes later, the mayor appeared in the center of the arena again.


    "Hello again, I hope everyone enjoyed our event, we came to an end today, but tomorrow we will have the most exciting part with the grand finals, I hope everyone is here again!" With that sentence, the first day of competition ended definitively.


    They followed the same path to leave the arena, this time it was in the opposite order, with Kayden''s team leaving first. Everything seemed normal until they reached the large wooden doors.


    The atmosphere between Kayden''s team was tense, Kayden and Astolfo were on one side and the other three on the other, it seemed that that small betrayal decreed the end of the friendship they had.


    Now it was possible to feel the ground shaking before even leaving the stadium. As soon as the door opened, Kayden was met with at least triple the number of people waiting for them.


    "Look at me, Kayden, what technique did you use?" one of the reporters caught the boy''s attention.


    "Astolfo, was that your family''s spear art?" another reporter asked as he tried to exit the limited public area.


    Kayden didn''t know what to do for a few moments, there was such a mess of people getting his attention that he couldn''t pay attention to any of them.


    "Astolfo, you little shit !!!" a voice stood out from all the others, as soon as Kayden followed the direction of the voice he saw something he didn''t expect in his wildest dreams. Astolfo''s master was floating with a bloodthirsty look in the air.

 Chapter 84: Consequences and rewards

    Chapter 84 - Consequences and rewardsThe officers and people responsible for the event didn''t dare to do anything and just had to accept the man''s actions. Truly, the power of freedom for those who have it allows them to do whatever they want.


    Astolfo began to levitate towards his master and Kayden found himself going along with him. The spearman seemed to be trying to get out of the man''s control and run, but nothing he did was enough to free himself from the old man''s magic.


    "Kayden greets the elder", the boy tried to bow, but due to the lack of control in his body, he almost ended up lying in the air.


    "Hi Kayden, how are you?" The old man greeted Kayden with a friendly smile, even more so seeing the boy''s politeness in bowing even though he had no control over his body.


    He didn''t even look at Astolfo as he propelled himself into the air. After traveling a few kilometers and the stadium was no longer in sight, the old man stopped.


    "Astolfo," the old man called in a friendly manner. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Yes, master!", which was automatically answered by the boy.


    "What''s the rule about using family art in public?" A shiver ran down the spearman''s spine.


    "Only in cases of emergency, master," each word that left his mouth seemed to dig deeper into the hole he was digging himself into.


    "In your fight just now, were you in any danger to your life?" The same calm tone came out of the elder''s mouth.


    "No, master", that''s it, Astolfo was sure it was over.


    "Wait a minute please Kayden, I''m going to have a private chat with Astolfo." As soon as the elder said this, a bubble blocking Kayden''s vision appeared around the two.


    The boy didn''t worry too much and used this time to mentally review his last fight. This was the first time he used the second version of transcendence and he had to admit that the price he paid was beyond what he expected.


    He was practically unable to sense mana, even his heart was beating at an excruciatingly slow speed, almost as if it was about to fall apart.


    The boy sighed and put it aside. His next goal was to reach the sixth apprentice rank. There wasn''t much left due to the epiphany he had. After that, he would go to the life and death fights in the arena.


    With all his assets, he was sure he could stand out from most opponents. His main goal here was to raise money, lots of money. Astolfo''s techniques were not something he could buy monetarily, but there were still others.


    They may not be similar, but over time, and with a large repertoire of techniques, Kayden could begin to formulate his sword art. This path would just take a little longer.


    A few minutes later, the bubble disappeared, revealing a smiling old man and a completely depressed Astolfo. It looked like he had just taken the biggest beating of his life.


    "Kayden, I will extend my offer to next year," as soon as the elder left the bubble, he addressed Kayden with a friendly tone.


    "Thank you, elder," Kayden thanked him for the unexpected offer. Even with plans to develop your art, it wouldn''t hurt to learn one more.


    "Elder, if it''s no trouble, could you take me home?" Kayden asked politely, his body practically unable to move.


    ********


    The next day, Kayden was prepared to just stay home and rest. Firstly because he hadn''t even managed to get to his bed alone the day before. Right now, the one who was bringing food and helping with their basic needs was Han.


    The man became ridiculously angry when he saw Kayden''s condition and if he didn''t know Astolfo''s master, he would probably attack him. Only after Kayden explained that this was done by himself did the old man calm down.


    He didn''t express any reaction when he found out that Kayden was among the best in the championship, but the boy knew that the old man was happy, since he made pizza for dinner and it was Kayden''s favorite flavor.


    That was how Kayden stayed in his bed for a week without being able to move or use mana. During that time, he slept and took the opportunity to read some books about mana to increase his knowledge.


    "The mayor summons Kayden to receive the championship reward," a booming voice resounded from outside, waking Kayden from his afternoon sleep. He couldn''t do anything, so what better way to pass the time than sleep?


    "Who dares to scream in my orphanage?" Another booming voice filled with mana came from inside the house, making the officer shake with fear. He was relatively new to the government, so he hadn''t been around long enough to know about the monster that was hiding outside the city.


    "Sorry, elder," the officer quickly bowed and showed respect. He didn''t say anything else and waited for Han''s words.


    Kayden found himself floating from his bed out of the house.


    "Kayden, go with him, the reward is worth it", Han''s voice was heard only by Kayden, reminding him that the championship had a prize. The boy just didn''t know what it was.


    The officer caught Kayden with a wind hand and bowed in apology to the house again and quickly left the scene for fear of the elder changing his mind and wanting more than just a simple apology.


    "Hello, Kayden, in case of your weakened condition, I will be your helper throughout receiving the reward," the officer was extremely respectful towards Kayden after meeting Han.


    "Thank you, sir officer," Kayden showed respect at the same level. The trip was peaceful, the only difference was where they were going, as the direction taken by the officer was opposite the city.


    It wasn''t long before Kayden saw what looked like a festive event fair. There were several food and entertainment stalls arranged in a large area around a rectangle.


    In this rectangle, there was nothing but green grass and some seats like benches and chairs. It looked similar to a garden, just on a slightly larger scale than normal.


    The reward was still unclear to Kayden, was it a happy day at the park? The officer took him to one of the tents, and when he entered it he saw the members of his team resting on a sofa. He was the only one missing.


    "I''ll be back in 30 minutes to help you with the start of the event", the officer left and left Kayden next to Astolfo, who greeted him cheerfully.


    "Hi, Kayden", it didn''t even sound like the same person who came away completely defeated from the conversation with Sasaki. "How was your week?"


    "Good and yours?" Kayden and Astolfo continued talking while waiting for the event time. At no point did the three of them approach each other or say anything, mainly out of embarrassment.


    "Astolfo, what is the reward?" Kayden finally had the opportunity to ask the boy.


    "I forgot that you are disconnected from the world, the reward is being able to stay inside that rectangle for 6 hours. It has several matrices that increase your mana concentration by at least 10 times and, in addition, other spells for concentration and mental clarity. My advancement to eighth place was last year in it."


    This... was too good to be true, especially as a mere championship prize.


    "All this just for a mere championship?" Kayden asked Astolfo doubtfully.

 Chapter 85: Rewards

    Chapter 85 - Rewards"Yes, but it is funded by the government. They have a dogma of nurturing talent as much as they can. You may have already noticed this from the student and elite accommodations, and we are not even from the best schools."


    The government had strong youth nurturing. Practically everything was aimed at creating elites, even private schools were nothing more than a means of nurturing these talents. Even if you were a commoner, you could enter them as long as you demonstrated a certain degree of talent.


    30 minutes later, the officer entered the room as agreed. He easily caught Kayden with a giant hand created by wind magic and led them out in silence. Astolfo accompanied his friend to a spot with two chairs and an umbrella inside the rectangle of grass.


    "I''ll be here if you need anything," the officer seemed helpful as he retreated to a distance that wouldn''t disturb the two.


    Within seconds, the mayor appeared above the rectangle wearing the same attire from the municipal competition. Looking as excited as before, he caught everyone''s attention with a round of applause.


    "Hello everybody. First, I would like to congratulate them for being among the best in the region. I believe the prize has already been explained to you, so I won''t beat around the bush too much. Do your best for the next six hours. Good luck to everyone."


    His speech was short again, but it served its purpose. As soon as he finished, Kayden felt a plethora of mana surge around him. It was simply absurd concentration. He could fill all of his mana vessels in less than 20 seconds. This was simply surreal. His biggest limitation was himself in this case, which mana he had in abundance.


    For a few seconds, the boy focused his mind. he was calm and focused. Simple things like mathematical calculations could be done almost instantly in your thoughts. This level of clarity was something he had never experienced before.


    The boy started absorbing mana like crazy. This was an opportunity for him to advance. With this clarity and constant amount of mana, he could fix all the problems his base had.


    First, he emptied all the mana in his body and began to absorb that from the surroundings. He should first solidify his foundation and fix all the mistakes he could. This time, he simply didn''t care about losing mana.


    In case of a mistake, he would just release all his mana and redo the move, without worrying about anything other than improving his cultivation and mana paths. Fix imperfections here, fix imperfections there.


    "Five hours left," a voice announced to everyone. She couldn''t even wake Kayden from his stupor. The boy had never been so focused before, apart from his epiphany, but this time it was more of an absolute trance.


    ''What is this kid doing?'', the officer couldn''t understand what Kayden was doing. The boy simply absorbed a ridiculous amount of mana for his rank and then released 99.9% of what he absorbed.


    Oblivious to these thoughts, Kayden continued fixing every imperfection he found on his body. Every mana vein was being looked at and turned over from top to bottom to find small errors in its wall.


    His heart was being forced to beat in different tunes so that he would find imperfections. Everything was being tested and observed.


    "Four hours left," the same voice from before announced. Kayden was barely in the middle of his deep analysis and didn''t even notice that time had passed. He didn''t even hear the voice.


    His entire focus was on progressing his base little by little. He had been in this state for two hours, and instead of starting to lose his concentration, he was entering a sort of trance.


    To search for.


    Meet.


    To assess.


    To repair.


    "Two hours left," the voice rang out as Kayden was on the last steps of his improvement. The boy made a month''s progress in just a few hours. Without a doubt, this prize had already been worth it for him.


    The boy still hadn''t lost focus. There was very little left for him to finish his stabilization to a perfect base, at least perfect within his capabilities. Kayden wasn''t arrogant enough to say he knew all the details he needed.


    The boy opened his eyes for the first time since he began to concentrate. He was ready to try and break through to the sixth rank. Looking around, he saw Astolfo focused with his eyes closed and the officer not far away. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "One hour left," for the first time, Kayden heard the voice announcing the time.


    "Has it already been five hours?" Kayden hadn''t even noticed the passage of time. It felt like only a few minutes since he closed his eyes for the first time.


    It was now or never. Kayden closed his eyes again and began to mentally prepare himself to break through to the next rank. Again, he began to draw mana into him.


    This time, Kayden looked like a black hole absorbing mana. The first meter around him simply felt like a zone with no mana at all.


    "What the fuck?" This time, not only was the officer strange, but even the mayor who had his spiritual radar covering the entire area was confused. The boy was simply using an amount that for his rank shouldn''t even be possible.


    He was only at the fifth rank, but the mana around him was pulled as if it was a breakthrough to the eighth or ninth rank. It felt like a bottomless hole, and the worst part was that it didn''t seem like it was going to stop anytime soon.


    Twenty minutes later, Kayden was sweating like he was in a sauna. The amount of mana he absorbed in this period was simply colossal compared to his rank.


    It was enough for the mayor to ask for Kayden''s file, but he quickly lost interest after seeing that he only had an innate talent of level 1. Most likely, the rampant mana usage was just to even out his poor base.


    He didn''t even understand how Kayden got to this award, but that wasn''t his problem.


    Another twenty minutes later, Kayden began to stink so much that the officer had to create a bubble around him so as not to disturb the others. This was common around here, considering that people who cultivated their bodies released impurities in their advances.


    The problem was that Kayden kept releasing a lot of impurities. It felt like his entire body was going to fall apart.


    "Circle," his mind was calm as he continued to force forward. His body was simply boiling. It felt like he was being cooked alive and all of this was because of the insane mana circulation he was having in every vein in his body.


    All the mana that the officer saw Kayden absorb was being circulated in his body and then thrown into his muscles and bones. The very capillaries that were naturally made in his body were correctly irrigating each part.


    Fifteen minutes later, Kayden reached the apex of his advance. He wasn''t even aware of how much time he had left. None of that mattered now. It was just the incessant circulation.


    Little by little, his body began to bleed from the holes. This was a sign that his breakthrough was not to happen yet. But this had nothing to do with its base.


    It was a problem he had noticed since his first advances. His body dyad was limiting how far he could go. Probably no other wizard in the world has had this problem. But...


    The beasts certainly went through this all the time. It was because of this reason that a strong magical beast that was only a few months old was not seen, regardless of its diet.

 Chapter 86: Advances and surprises

    Chapter 86 - Advances and surprisesThe problem was, that Kayden didn''t care. If this was nature''s problem putting shackles on his progress, he would simply step over it. His base this time was already ready since he returned from the epiphany.


    But he wanted more. He spent all his time up until now just fixing small, insignificant errors and strengthening his overall structure. Now was simply the moment of truth.


    "Circle." He had been through this before, but still, the pain was unbearable. His entire body, every inch, every piece of skin felt like it was on fire. Gritting his teeth, the boy continued.


    He didn''t know how much time had passed. He couldn''t even remember any sensation other than pain. For a few seconds, the boy just thought about giving up.


    But his memories of his first life came flooding back to him.


    He just continued.


    Crack!


    A shattering sound came from his heart when the boy finally stepped forward. Sighing, he simply let nature finish its progress. Your heart has simply been reshaped.


    Your veins have increased strength and length. The boy simply marveled as he saw his strength increasing, even though the pain was now almost doubled.


    The heart was simply being remodeled and expanded several times. Kayden didn''t know what exactly caused this change, but he had a strong feeling it was the second part of his epiphany.


    All the mana in his body completely dried up. This represented the end of their advance. When the boy opened his eyes, he found himself with the dark sky above him and alone in the vast field of grass. Even the tents had already been emptied.


    "Finally." A bitter voice caught Kayden''s attention. "That was the longest advance I''ve ever seen, kid. I''ve been waiting here for three hours."


    Three hours? Kayden was surprised again.


    Your resistance to pain has increased a lot. It was two hours in that hellish state that, not even two years ago, would have made him give up his advance and consider another path.


    With a hand of wind, Kayden didn''t even have time to respond to the officer as he was hoisted at high speed into the sky. Because of his annoyance, the officer used his speed to the maximum.


    The ground seemed a blur to Kayden. It didn''t take long for the officer to slow down, and with that, Kayden was able to see the orphanage jutting into the horizon. Almost as if scared, the officer kept his distance.


    "I brought the child back safely, elder," the man remained hunched over as he waited for Han''s response. Which was nothing more than silence as he pulled Kayden to his side.


    The disrespect from before really wouldn''t be forgotten anytime soon by the stingy old man. And when the officer saw this, he just ran. Kayden found himself levitating into the living room where the old man was eating dinner.


    "Rank six, well done, Kayden." One of the rare compliments came out of the old man''s mouth, as this time he was truly surprised. Kayden was four months ahead of Heimer at his age and still had low-level talent.


    Before Kayden could respond, his stomach growled loudly, cutting off any response he could give.


    The last month, Kayden has spent just fighting at the club and training alone. His latest breakthrough was much better than he expected. Now, his strength and ability to utilize mana were more or less at the level of a seventh-rank intermediate apprentice.


    And when he used transcendence, he arrived at the beginning of the eighth rank. Considering that his strength was already in the middle of the seventh rank, he was sure that the transcendence force only pushed him about his ability to retain mana, which was equivalent to his rank.


    With the time he spent fighting in the club and his increasing victories, Kayden managed to accumulate around 5 gold coins. It wasn''t a big fortune, but it was certainly a lot of money for his age.


    With that amount, the boy bought himself a cell phone and still had enough money left for many things. With some more savings, Kayden could even buy an apartment in a relatively isolated neighborhood.


    But those were plans for a very distant future. At the moment, his focus was completely different.


    "Kayden, did you get everything you need?" Han asked the boy for the tenth time. The boy was going to watch Heimer''s test at Academia Sol, his friend was going to try at just 13 years old.


    But he was already at the peak of the ninth rank and there was no reason to wait. If you lost, it was just a matter of trying again next year. S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Very good." Seeing Kayden''s nod, Han took the two of them and headed towards the city. As the distance was long, they would go by train, it would take about 12 hours at the locomotive''s maximum speed.


    A few hours later, Kayden was inside the train looking at the landscape passing around him at high speed. This was the first time he would go to the capital in his life and he was looking forward to seeing the famous city of the sun.


    "Dad, what''s the capital like?" The boy asked curiously. Han, who was reading a book, paused for a few seconds as he thought about the answer.


    "It is colossal, everything can be found inside. Each district is larger than a large city and has a duke as sovereign. The imperial palace stands above everyone, floating on a piece of land. There''s no way to describe it."


    After that, the old man didn''t say much and told Kayden to simply wait and he would see for himself. The boy really couldn''t imagine a city that big.


    A few hours later, the walls of the capital could be seen through the train window. Kayden let his jaw drop in shock. The walls easily reached a height of 500 meters.


    It was surreal. The entire wall was made with a kind of black stone that shone in the sun. The train entered through tunnels at the top of the wall, but it also had an open white gate. Its height was about 3 thirds of the wall, with a length easily reaching 200 meters.


    An endless line of cars and trucks were stopped to enter the gate. Each of them was checked by a drone that scanned the entire vehicle and pulled everyone''s ID.


    Another visible thing was the buildings projecting above the wall, monstrous skyscrapers, or rather, cloudscrapers, as some didn''t even have their tops visible.


    The closer Kayden got, the more impressive the city became in its size. When the train entered it, he saw thousands of people moving through streets specifically for pedestrians, something that in his previous life was unimaginable.


    Huge airships were flying past in different directions, carrying different goods or people. Trains passed hourly in the air and hourly underground, but the confusion of tracks left the city with a futuristic air, as they floated in the air.


    "Why are there only a few people flying Dad?" Kayden saw a few mages flying and considering it didn''t even need to be a big deal to do that he was confused.


    "Only nobles above viscount or high levels of government are allowed to fly" This was probably to avoid messes with too many people flying overhead.


    The three remained silent as the train passed through different districts, Kayden saw the architecture of the cities change drastically, almost as if they were not glued together.


    Author''s note: we''re getting close to the real beginning of the novel, but don''t get excited, there''s still a bit to go, from now on I''ll post an extra Chapter every 10 pebbles XD

 Chapter 87: Capital

    Chapter 87 - CapitalAuthor''s note: at the beginning because I can, you readers are heartless, right? Just add an extra Chapter and you can sell it to your mother if necessary, it was simply 8 stones 2 hours after yesterday''s note. The next Chapters will just be a taste of the main track, don''t get too used to it.


    In one district, everything was in medieval Chinese characteristics, with details very specific to their culture, such as curved tile roofs, carved columns, tree-lined internal courtyards, and symmetrical layouts. It was truly impressive to see.


    In another, there were just square buildings without any details, nothing more than a large black rectangle or any other color. It looked like something from an apocalyptic world controlled only by robots.


    After a few minutes of traveling within the capital, they stopped in an area that looked like a normal city. There weren''t any different details, it was just a big, well-built city.


    After getting off the train, Han led them to a large mansion in the upscale area of the city. This area had its walls and made a clear separation between nobles and commoners.


    The houses here had immense gardens and boasted wealth in every inch of construction. Kayden had no idea why they were heading in this direction, but it became clear when, within moments, they stopped at one of the houses.


    It looked similar to all the others in the area, with gardens and trees scattered throughout and a 3-story mansion in the center of the property. As soon as Han rang the doorbell, he was answered promptly. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Mister Han! Thank you for coming, I was eagerly waiting for you, sir." Pretending to be casual from the surreal speed with which he appeared, a relatively young man appeared.


    His stature was tall, approaching 1.90 meters, with bright red hair, that appeared to be dyed because the color was so strong. His eyes matched his hair and were bright red too.


    And with his fair skin, everything was highlighted a notch higher. With a dazzling white smile, he beckoned them in.


    " Come in, come in, I have prepared a banquet in your honor." Kayden didn''t know what to say. The man didn''t even look at them while he was fixated on Han. As they entered, the man continued talking and talking, while receiving short answers from Han.


    The house was very well looked after. When they entered the front door, they found themselves in a large lounge with sofas and a fireplace. It seemed to be more of a living room for the family than for receiving visitors.


    The man guided them to a typical movie dining room, with a table that spanned the room with dozens of chairs on each side. The room was extensively decorated with gold and torches, symbolizing wealth.


    The table was filled with different types of food and drinks. With a huge roast pig with an apple in its mouth in the center, the feast could easily feed 40 people and still have leftovers for the next meal.


    "Lucian, what did I say about wasting things?" As soon as Han''s voice came out, Lucian lost his cheerful attitude for a moment. But quickly a wide-open smile returned to his face.


    "I will give it to the household staff for their good service the year after." His excuse seemed similar to that of a child who was caught doing something wrong. As everyone was sitting down and starting to eat, Kayden was thinking.


    ''Lucian?'' Where had he heard that name before? It seemed like a long time ago. After a few minutes of eating in silence, Kayden managed to remember. It was in a call he heard from Han when he was not even 1 year old.


    "And your path?" Han asked Lucian, snapping Kayden out of his flashback. This was a subject that interested him since he also had to find his way. Lucian opened his spiritual sense to Han.


    "Very well, I see you have made it to the next kingdom well."


    ''Next kingdom?'' Kayden''s mind went blank for a few seconds. This meant he was facing a wizard in the fourth realm. If even the guide was in the third realm and could rule an entire guild, what could someone from the fourth realm do?


    Was he a marquis? No, that seemed too low. A duke? But he didn''t even have family in the house. It didn''t even look like he was noble, maybe he was a merchant or something.


    "So what brings you to town, Han?" Lucian asked curiously as he looked at the two boys. It seemed to be the first time he had laid eyes on them and ended up noticing their presence.


    "Heimer is going to take the Sol Academy test," the old man said calmly as he nodded toward Heimer. When he heard this, Lucian checked the boy with his spiritual sense.


    "Not bad, peak ninth rank at 14 years old," Lucian wasn''t impressed considering everything he''d seen in the capital, but he had to admit that it wasn''t a talent to throw away.


    "I''m 13 years old, Mr. Lucian", Heimer''s speech made him freeze a little as he processed the information. It may seem small, but this one-year difference was simply monstrous.


    "13 years... congratulations, kid, you have what it takes to go to Sol Academy." Everyone knew that it wasn''t just the rank that would determine one''s ability to pass the prestigious best college in the kingdom, but since he came with Han, the boy must be truly talented.


    After this brief interaction between the two, Lucian no longer spoke to them. Kayden didn''t like the host very much, it seemed like he didn''t even consider the two of them as people. Maybe this was a problem among the powerful.


    A few minutes after they had a hearty lunch, Han simply took two gold coins out of his pocket and gave one to each of the children and, with a smile, told the two to be back in time for dinner.


    Outside the mansion, the two found themselves lost without knowing what to do. Within seconds, Han had them out without even giving any explanation. Sighing, Heimer took the lead.


    "Come with me, I know some people nearby", Kayden, who had nothing better to do, followed his friend who was using his cell phone. After a few minutes, Kayden discovered that Heimer had talent in many areas, but directing wasn''t one of them.


    Kayden coughed.


    "Can I see the map?" Heimer handed over his cell phone as if he wasn''t the problem as the two were walking around the place. The dot on the map was barely two kilometers away and, considering the size of the houses in this neighborhood, it was practically three houses away.


    A few minutes later, the two found themselves facing a giant iron gate. Unlike Lucian''s house, this one had a griffin coat of arms representing that it was the residence of a noble family.


    "Who are your friends, Heimer?" Kayden asked curiously, the capital was quite far from his hometown.


    "I met them when I went to compete in the state magic competitions a few years ago," before the boy could continue, the gate opened revealing a couple of blonde teenagers.

 Chapter 88: Capital[2] BONUS

    Chapter 88 - Capital[2] BONUSThe boy had square features and blue eyes, with perfect proportions his face resembled that of a model. Matching his face, his body was tall and sculpted with defined muscles.


    The girl had long blonde hair that bordered on white, her eyes were also blue and, with her red lips, her beauty far surpassed that of models, it was almost as if she were the personification of the goddess of beauty.


    Kayden didn''t remember seeing such beautiful people before, for a few seconds he doubted his own appearance.


    "Heimer! Long time, I didn''t expect your message", the boy was the first to start a conversation with a friendly smile.


    "Hello, Matheus, hello, Sarah," Heimer smiled amiably and pointed at Kayden. "This here is my brother, Kayden, I came to participate in the Sol Academy test and it turned out that you lived nearby."


    His sentence caused a gleam of understanding to pass through the eyes of the two blondes.


    "You should wait another year, Heimer, but that''s your choice in the end, come, come in", this time the girl spoke and it seemed like she had already had this conversation with Heimer before.


    Along the way, the two introduced themselves to Kayden in a friendly way, it didn''t even seem like they were nobles.


    As they entered, it was possible to see several statues and sculptures from different eras, the quality of the work was truly impressive, it didn''t even look like it had been made in marble.


    All of this was complemented with a stone path and carefully chosen trees to enhance the beauty of the place. The mansion was in the Greek style, with large pilasters and made of white marble, it didn''t even look like a family home.


    "What rank are you?" Heimer asked as they walked.


    "Beginning of the ninth kingdom," the boy replied.


    "Peak of the ninth realm," the girl also gave her answer.


    Kayden was shocked once again that day, it seemed like all the people in this region were incredibly strong.


    "What about you, Kayden?" Matheus asked curiously.


    "I''m only in the sixth realm," Kayden didn''t feel bad saying that, he still had practically five years before taking the academy test. "But I''m only eight years old," the end of his sentence took them both by surprise.


    Because of the accelerated development caused by the mana heart, his body already appeared to be a few years older than it actually was, his muscles were already developed, giving him a healthy and strong appearance.


    "I see, in a few years you can join us at Academia Sol then", before Kayden could respond, Matheus was slapped on the head by Sarah.


    "We haven''t entered yet, don''t claim victory too soon",


    The next few hours Kayden and Heimer spent talking and playing different types of games with the two brothers, this was probably one of the first times in both of his lives that Kayden just took a day to rest without doing anything at all.


    Close to the time agreed with Han for them to return home, a man similar to Matheus walked through the door, along with two other brown-haired children.


    The man had the same characteristics as Matheus and Sarah, with blond hair and blue eyes, and in addition to his sculpted face, there was a well-cut blonde beard, demarcating his elegant appearance.


    The two children had practically the same features as Matheus, the only difference was their brown hair and eyes of the same color, other than that they were practically the same person.


    The appearance of this family being practically the same reminded Kayden of something David had told him, as wizards advance on the path to power, their offspring used to come more and more like him.


    Almost as if his own DNA recognized that only certain characteristics should be passed on as they were of better quality, David called this natural selection of mana.


    "I greet the duke," Heimer bowed, taking Kayden by surprise, the boy never expected that man to be a duke nor even that they were in the house of a high-ranking noble family.


    Heimler ''s greeting and bowed. The duke just told them to relax and left with the two children, not even an iota of his attention was directed towards the two as he had to carry the two children who seemed to be sulking.


    After exchanging contact with the two, Kayden and Heimler left the house and returned to Han. The championship was held over two days, meaning Heimler only had one more day to relax before simply undergoing exams.


    As soon as they arrived at the house, they were greeted by Han, who took them to dinner again in the same room with Lucian. Again, the table was simply filled with different foods.


    "Dad, can I participate in this year''s exams?" Kayden asked directly, bluntly. Even if he wasn''t even at the level to pass, he could still use the experience to train.


    "Kayden..." Han took a moment to respond as he thought. "Unfortunately, I can''t sign you up at the last minute." His tone left no doubt that his words were true.


    "It''s okay, dad, no problem..." Kayden was interrupted by Lucian. S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I have one spot left, but what can you offer me, kid?" Lucian said with a heavy voice. Unfortunately for him, Han didn''t care about his opinion at all.


    "There, Kayden, I''ll take you the day after tomorrow with Heimler ." As soon as he said that, he went back to eating as if nothing had happened.


    "Hey! But what about my compensation? These jobs are not easy to get." Lucian complained and was simply ignored by the old man as if he were a child.


    *******


    The day had finally arrived. Kayden didn''t really expect to participate this time, nor did he even have any ambitions of coming to see the exam, as Heimler only told him about it recently.


    It can be said that it was several turns of fate that brought him here. To go to the exam location, which was outside the city, they boarded Lucian''s private airship. Kayden didn''t know exactly who the redhead was, but he was certainly rich.


    The aircraft had dozens of massage chairs, drinks and maids ready to serve any desire of its crew members. Even a private chef was present. All of this reeked of luxury and money.


    The trip took about two hours just to get out of the city area and another thirty minutes to get to the destination. As soon as they got close, they could see the huge number of air and land vehicles heading in the same direction.


    The exams took place on a plain near a forest. The roads ended in a gigantic parking lot, where robots did the maneuvers so that everyone could be allocated correctly.

 Chapter 89: The first test

    Chapter 89 - The first testOutside the parking lot, there were dozens of tents on the plain, with televisions and spaces to watch the event. It was a surreal amount of accommodation, and the further into the center, the more luxurious it became.


    The airship continued to float at low speed forward. Kayden was able to see dozens of children and adults sitting and milling around the place. If the test was counting on more or less 10 million people, there should have been at least 20 to 30 million in total accommodated there.


    As they advanced, it became more and more deserted, until they reached a platform that was flying. Its entire floor was made of dark noble wood, it was an immense square in length reaching 500 meters.


    The boy estimated that, from the entrance to this point, they covered at least 20 kilometers, making evident the surreal size of the event they were participating in.


    As soon as they got down, they were met by a man in a suit who guided them to a private tent. Again with all the possible luxuries inside, even the tent cloth seemed to be something expensive. Before they settled down, the man took out several non-disclosure agreements about the test that they had to sign.


    The food and wine displayed on the table also revealed the luxury of the environment, with one of the drinks marked as 1000-year-old wine. The price of this bottle should be able to easily buy a house.


    Once everyone was seated, Han began to speak.


    "As you know, there is a large number of participants . The three tests you see on television are actually four. The first is the one that really cuts out 90% of the participants," the old man paused to fill his glass. "The first test comes down to a gigantic Battle Royale held in the forest in front of this plain."


    Kayden was able to see while in the airship that in front of the plain was a large forest as far as his eyes could see. He had guessed that this was probably where the staircase was also.


    "The innate talent test has no weight for entering the academy, only for choosing a patron, but that''s a conversation for another time," he said as he looked at Kayden, it seemed like he had already talked about something similar with Heimer. "The first and the staircase test are the main ones, but even then it''s difficult to know who can and cannot pass."


    This was something Kayden had noticed a long time ago. This entire test was nothing more than a show for the participants to show off their best skills. Probably, the academy administration handpicked those who would be approved or not.


    "Kayden, don''t insult any nobles or cause intrigues that you don''t need to. No matter how strong I am, there are still people who shouldn''t be touched", that was the last sentence Han said before leaning in his seat and closing the eyes.


    Seeing this, Heimer called Kayden to take a walk. There were still a few hours left before the start of the competition, as they left Lucian''s house very early. They went directly to meet up with their friends from the previous day.


    Five minutes later, they saw a tent a little bigger than the ones in the area. At its entrance, there was a logo of a restaurant. As soon as they entered, it was clear that it was a meeting place for young people.


    Dozens of teenagers were sitting at round tables, sharing a meal or simply talking to each other. The first thing Kayden noticed was how well everyone was dressed .


    Not only that, but they also carried different accessories, such as chains and watches carved in gold or silver. Luckily, Han gave the two boys fine clothes to wear today, so they didn''t attract much attention.


    "Heimer! Kayden!" Matheus shouted, catching the attention of the two at one of the tables located near the wall. Along with him was Sarah and the two brown-haired brothers from the day before.


    After a little conversation, Kayden discovered that their names were Linus and Isaac. The two were exactly the same age as Kayden and were identical twins, making it difficult to identify who was who.


    "Who could be the two filthy commoners who are fouling the air of the best restaurant in the capital?" an arrogant voice took away from the happy atmosphere and quickly emotions went from shock to anger.


    "Shut the fuck up, Raymond", the first to defend the two was Matheus. His family taught him not to belittle any type of person, regardless of their origins. Unfortunately, not all nobles had this thought.


    Kayden chose to stay quiet. He knew that if he said something there and Raymond was one of the people Han warned him to stay away from, he would simply be lost. In his previous life, he read enough novels to know that arrogant young masters had the worst revenges.


    Heimer also did not speak while the two argued. It seemed like the boy wasn''t an idiot either and knew the right moments to be arrogant.


    "Oh, the blonde got angry and came to defend the little princesses", Raymond''s high-pitched and irritating voice matched his thin and skeletal-looking physique. To go with his physique, he had pale skin with black hair.


    "Leave before I get mad," Sarah said. As soon as she spoke, Raymond lost all his composure and simply left while promising that this wasn''t over. Kayden chuckled to himself in his mind. He never imagined he would go through such a clich¨¦ soap opera scene.


    "Sorry about that", Matheus scratched his head in an embarrassed manner.


    "Don''t worry, we know it wasn''t your fault," Heimer nodded in agreement.


    "Very well, I hope he doesn''t try to cause you trouble in Battle Royale," Sarah said calmly. "He doesn''t have the courage to go against me since I''m the Duke''s heir and not even touch my brothers. But you two don''t have that protection. Be careful."


    His sentence brought two new pieces of information that Kayden didn''t know. First, that she was the duke''s heir. Perhaps because of his previous world, where most of the time it was the man who inherited everything, he had a bit of a wrong conception of things.


    And the second information was that the twins would also participate. He should have thought that this was probably so they could train.


    When it was noon, a booming voice resounded, drawing the attention of everyone in the 20 kilometers of structures in the area.


    "For the next 10 minutes, all participants will be levitated. Anyone who resists will be disqualified. You will be placed at a random point in the forest and must face each other until there are the right number of participants. There are 100 kilometers of test area. Every hour , 10 kilometers will be shortened. We will automatically move people off the edge and into the test zone. Good luck."


    "Good luck everyone", this phrase began to repeat itself like wildfire among the children. And when Kayden said his, the medal that Kayden received from Lucian earlier began to glow blue. A number of 10 million and some broken ones appeared on its surface, and in parallel, Kayden began to feel his body being lifted into the air.


    As soon as he left the tent he saw several children and teenagers being levitated too, passing his eyes through the crowd he saw Han next to Lucian.


    "Good luck " Kayden understood the words that came out of the old man''s mouth even with that distance between them. For the first time in a long time his heart started to race, this was the biggest event he had participated in in his life. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 90: Team

    Chapter 90 - TeamAs soon as he took to the skies, Kayden found himself being lifted at an absurd speed towards the forest. It didn''t even take 10 seconds before he couldn''t tell where he was anymore. Everywhere he looked, there were trees and more trees.


    His body was trapped by an invisible force that prevented him from making any movement or even manipulating the mana in or around his body.


    "The test has begun," the voice resounded as soon as a few minutes had passed. Kayden got his moves back and started looking around. Silently, he decided to approach one of the biggest trees.


    Before he could even start climbing, he heard the sound of magic being fired in the distance. From the height of the sound, they appeared to be strong explosive spells. And as quickly as it started, the sounds stopped.


    In the meantime, Kayden began climbing the tree, and once he reached the top, he had a commanding view of the surrounding area. At some points, he saw teenagers fighting and some simply running, appearing to try to gain time.


    The boy debated what he should do: fight or try to get a better classification? Before he could make a decision, he saw Linus fighting a knight a few dozen meters away from him.


    Without even thinking twice, Kayden got down from the tree he was in and ran as silently as he could to the boy. Luckily, he wasn''t noticed and managed to get closer without facing any other opponents.


    As soon as he got closer, he saw Linus talking to himself while releasing small explosions of fire at his opponent. It didn''t seem like he was doing very well, as he was just running backwards and trying to stay away from his opponent.


    "Stop running, boy," his opponent began to lose his patience. They were in this game since the test started.


    "Leave me alone," Linus'' voice was shaky. It was obvious that he was scared of the situation. This surprised Kayden. The boy thought that nobles should all receive the necessary education about combat.


    After watching for a few seconds to find the ideal moment to make a lunge, Kayden heard babbling and then an explosion of a completely different magnitude erupted. This time, the knight had to move far away.


    Unfortunately for him, his retreat was towards Kayden''s position.


    " Ugh !" he groaned in pain as a concentrated beam lodged itself in the middle of his back, and then his entire vision went black as Kayden slammed the wooden tip of the katana into his head.


    "Kayden!" Linus almost cried with happiness at seeing himself saved. "Thank you so much. I don''t know what I would do if it weren''t for you." His attitudes also did not match that of a nobleman. He was very insecure.


    "Don''t worry, that''s what friends do, isn''t it?" Kayden actually said it sincerely. Even though they had barely known each other for more than a day, Linus treated him very well, almost as if he were a brother from another mother.


    And, for some reason he didn''t know, he found himself linked to the two twin brothers. Even with his old team and Astolfo, with whom he spent months together, he didn''t feel that small connection.


    "Come on, let''s hide," again Kayden chose the biggest tree nearby and started climbing. Not even one person bothered the two during this period. But the biggest problem was... well... Linus was able to climb the tree. The boy was practically a sedentary class S+.


    "What''s your rank and abilities? We need to come up with a plan," Kayden activated his captain mode and tried to gather all the information he could about his new teammate. His sentence caught Linus by surprise.


    "Do you... want to form a team?" Linus expressed fear in his voice.


    "Yes, there''s nothing in the rules that doesn''t allow that, right?" A small plan began to form in Kayden''s head.


    "Well... I''m a fourth rank wizard and I don''t have any special skills. I only know how to do some offensive and defensive spells, I also don''t have any combat experience."


    The boy''s sentence left Kayden blank. He never expected a high-ranking noble to be so... mediocre, to say the least.


    "Because you didn''t specialize in anything?" Kayden unconsciously blurted out his doubt. This made Linus'' eyes cloud over for a few seconds.


    "When I was younger, I was born with the ability to utilize mana. My only hobby was studying ancient science, things like physics and chemistry were my favorite pastimes." Kayden didn''t know how a kid got interested in this. "When I was 7, my father got the healing god to help me, but since then I''ve had to give up my hobbies."


    It was now clear to Kayden what happened. The boy probably never managed to find anything else that really interested him, but 4 ranks in 1 year? This was bizarre. Indeed, the nobility had its ways of pushing someone up the steps of magic. S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "But why didn''t you just introduce your hobbies to magic?" Kayden wasn''t 100% sure, but he believed it should be possible. Dynamite was nothing more than pure chemistry, wasn''t it?


    "My father said it would only get in the way and forbade me to continue studying. I can still do things like that." The boy reached out and whispered "nitrogen." Then a small explosion erupted.


    Kayden was really impressed, as he knew that if the boy studied more and perhaps managed to get his hands on the theory of nuclear fission, he would become a one-man army.


    "Linus, you shouldn''t let other people dictate your path," Kayden said with a touch of bitterness that wasn''t felt by the boy.


    "But it''s my father, Kayden. You don''t understand the strictness of a noble family." He was right, but Kayden still had something to add on this subject.


    "Linus, have you ever imagined living your entire life, enjoying everything you could, achieving impressive levels of magic, but when you''re on your deathbed regretting everything you did? Simply because it wasn''t the path you chose? Or because it was something drawn up by other people and you just followed that plan?"


    Kayden''s voice seemed full of emotions and his sentence caught the boy by surprise. For a few minutes, the two simply sat quietly, with Kayden mulling over his past memories and Linus thinking about his life.


    Before any of them could say anything, they noticed the sound of metal hitting wood, getting louder and louder. The sound was coming from below...


    "Shit," that''s what Kayden thought before looking down and seeing a knight holding a large ax and simply chopping down the tree. As soon as Linus saw this, he started to panic.


    They didn''t have time to get down. The tree was down to its last strands of wood. Quickly coming up with a plan, Kayden took Linus'' arm.


    "Hold my neck and don''t let go for anything in the world", the boy who had been saved by Kayden developed a certain trust in him and didn''t even think twice before following his orders.


    Author''s note: sorry for the delay, yesterday wasn''t a very good day for me

 Chapter 91: Team[2]

    Chapter 91 - Team[2]Taking a deep breath, Kayden simply waited. It didn''t take long and the tree started to fall, luckily it fell on the opposite side to where they were, the speed was increasing faster and faster.


    "Kayden!!!!" Linus was desperate while Kayden remained calm. When the tree reached an inclination of 45 degrees, the boy activated acceleration at its maximum power.


    With a gigantic leap that elicited a scream from Linus, the two managed to land on the nearest tree. It looked like a scene from a movie, but there was almost no effort on Kayden''s part, it was just a matter of calm and quick thinking.


    "Come down quickly." The two wasted no time before quickly descending from the tree. As soon as they got down, they saw a green-haired teenager carrying a large ax running towards them.


    "I''ll do hand-to-hand combat, try to support me with explosive spells. Close your eyes at my signal." Kayden gave the commands as he removed his katana from its sheath and got into a fighting stance.


    Even though he was nervous, Linus knew that now was not the time to be a coward. As soon as the knight got close, he insulted them both.


    "Two cowards forming a team, what rubbish." His sentence didn''t even affect Kayden''s psychology in the slightest, but on Linus, it went down like a sledgehammer, mainly because he wasn''t used to being offended.


    Kayden''s response was a simple sentence.


    "Attention!" His scream caused the opponent to stare at his raised hand. At this moment, a pop flash burst right into the opponent''s vision, and along with that, Kayden rushed towards him at high speed.


    The green-haired teenager started to walk away without even thinking twice. Unfortunately for him, a concentrated beam hit his leg, stopping his movement for a few thousandths of a second.


    That was enough for Kayden to reach him and deliver a sharp kick to his axe, knocking him away.


    "Shit," the knight thought as he jumped prone towards the axe. His thought was to turn quickly and try to absorb the next blow with the flat part of the axe.


    "Do not even think about it." Along with this sentence, the boy felt the characteristic cold of steel on the back of his neck. It''s over, all your training up until now has simply gone down the drain in seconds.


    "You will answer whatever is asked of you with short answers." The boy tried to retort, but received a small cut, causing him to break out in a cold sweat. Normally, when someone was defeated in this test, they would leave before they died, but nothing saved them from being tortured.


    "Are you a noble?"


    "No."


    "What''s your rank?"


    "7 rank, 14 years old." It wasn''t anything spectacular, but considering he wasn''t a noble, it was still quite impressive.


    "My friend over there is a nobleman, not only a nobleman but also the son of a duke." Neither of them, apart from Kayden, knew why the boy was saying this.


    "But so what?" With a neutral reaction, the knight simply didn''t know what to say.


    "I will give you two choices: obey my command until the end of the competition or be expelled now." For a few seconds, the boy was shocked and didn''t respond at all.


    "For you to use me and just discard me later? I''m out." His first thought was that Kayden was going to use him as cannon fodder.


    "I promise on my honor as a noble that I will not do that and that you may leave as soon as you fulfill the favor I am doing of leaving you alive in the test." At his sentence, Kayden fell silent as he waited for the boy''s response. Linus was surprised but didn''t say anything, as he was sure that Kayden was not noble.


    It didn''t take long for him to make a decision.


    "Okay, I accept, can I get up now?" As soon as Kayden removed the blade and the boy stood up, he began to introduce himself. "I am Pedro Askov ." With his friendly tone, the two boys introduced themselves and then Kayden gave the orders.


    "We will continue looking for new members, our methods will be an ambush and forced recruitment." A smile appeared on Kayden''s face. "We will form an army in this test."


    An hour later, the small trio grew to five people, one mage specialized in fire magic and the other in wind magic, one was ranked 8 and the other was ranked 6. Thanks to the amount of people in their group, it was easy to overwhelm anyone else. adversary.


    The problem was that a minority chose to be part of their team, in total there were six who refused. At that time, the number of participants also quickly dropped to four million, a drop of 60%.


    However, this was normal considering there was little space for so many people, especially when the event administrators were throwing people to the next test area without mercy.


    "Be careful, the test area will start to shrink, we have to try to catch as many people as possible before it becomes too small and only about the big fish." After going through a few battles and seeing the boy bring several opponents to their knees, none of them had any more intentions of causing problems.


    Even more so when Linus'' name was mentioned, the fear of the nobility was ingrained in the bones of the commoners.


    "Hey kid," a voice came out of nowhere. "How about you let me join your group?" A golden-haired teenager appeared, his eyes were as light blue as the sky and with strong golden eyebrows, the tone of his hair resembled gold. He looked strangely familiar to everyone, but no one knew exactly who he was.


    "Of course, what''s your specialty?" Kayden didn''t even ask his ranking, a head higher was a head higher in the end.


    "I am a healing and support mage, my name is Apolo Los." His sentence took everyone by surprise, normally auxiliary or secondary classes participated in other selections, as it was unfair to put a blacksmith against a wizard in combat.


    "Then let''s go, we don''t have time to waste." Kayden had no idea who this extra member was, but if he knew his true identity or power he would be stunned.


    Another hour passed and the number of participants fell by half, in addition, Kayden''s group received an increase of four more people, and slowly they were causing a wave of buzz among people who began to follow the huge group on television. event.


    Considering that several groups formed and that this was nothing new at the event, the problem was the size of their group and how quickly it was growing, even more so with the size of the test decreasing.


    "Han, you said he was unique." Lucian couldn''t help but laugh at the commotion that Kayden was making at the event, unlike Heimer who was just sitting near the center of the forest with dozens of matrices protecting him.


    Anyone who tried to get close received dozens of instant spells that simply eliminated them before they could do anything.


    Another hour passed and the number of participants decreased to 700 thousand, this rapid drop was mainly because of the geniuses who were hunting everyone they could.


    Kayden''s team had almost 20 members at that moment, this time everyone''s attention was caught, even the king paid attention to this group, even if for a different reason.


    "Isn''t that unfair?" The first to speak was a duke, the lesser nobles did not dare to speak among these people and be accused of disrespect.


    "In the rules, it is allowed." The one who spoke was Leonardo, the rector of the academy, his sentence ended any buzz that had been raised before. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 92: Team[3]

    Chapter 92 - Team[3]Author''s note: in the synopsis of the work it says fuck women and when I went to see the translation it said that Kayden would perform obscenities with them, but in reality, he wouldn''t give a damn about their existence, sorry about that, I will understand perfectly if you want to abandon the work.


    Meanwhile, Kayden communicated with his group. As they were with a large number of people, they began to have to be careful. Their last confrontation was against another group with five members, and they lost three members to lost spells.


    As there were 20 of them and they didn''t have any type of training together, they weren''t able to give 100% of themselves.


    "From now on, all combat mages must attack first. Next will be the melee attackers. We will do our clashes in rounds. After one gets tired, the other comes in." Their fights were also divided into small groups of four, with two melee and two ranged mages.


    No one knew yet, but Kayden was preparing them to save as much strength as possible, because one time or another they would face a monster, someone capable of taking most of their limbs, and they wouldn''t have time to find more limbs again.


    As they moved, they saw a trio approaching them, apparently without any fear. This didn''t feel good for Kayden. One of them also had golden hair and eyebrows of the same color, looking incredibly similar to Apollo.


    "Do you have no honor? Look at the size of this group!" His voice was more focused on disbelief than any other feeling.


    "We''re within the rules," Kayden said, cracking a smile. It was always better to create a friend than an enemy. "Do you happen to want to join the team?" His question was answered with a laugh.


    "Luan, exterminate them", the golden-haired boy said.


    "Yes, Yours ..."


    "No," Luan, who was a knight carrying a giant sword, was interrupted before he could finish what he was saying.


    "Sorry, Locke," his apology was accompanied by a bow, and it was clear who was the noble in this group. As soon as he took his sword from his back in a way that didn''t even seem possible, the boy started running against the group.


    "Team 3", with Kayden''s order, one of their teams went out to fight the opponent. Quickly, two different types of flames were thrown at him, which didn''t even take an expression off his face.


    Fanning with his sword as if they were mere flies, all the spells collided with an immense mass of metal, rendering them useless. When they saw this, the melee attackers rushed towards their opponent.


    They even managed to exchange a few decent blows, but every time the huge sword was swung, one of them would receive a large wound or broken limb. It seemed like an insurmountable iron wall.


    Before anyone could react, the team''s two attackers were simply eliminated from the test by a well-aimed blow from the immense sword. She simply reduced their defenses to zero and went over them to cut them in half.


    "Tactic one", Kayden decided to opt for his technique against monsters. As soon as his command came out, the attackers retreated, and then dozens of spells began to rain down on the knight.


    There were so many that his vision was blocked and his only alternative was to retreat and defend with his sword. Even with his immense sword, he received some medium-impact injuries. One of his legs was bleeding and his shoulder didn''t look its best.


    When he turned to see his opponents again, he saw his body being paralyzed and a shock ran through his body from his foot to the rest of his body. Before he could figure out what was happening, Kayden''s katana came tearing towards his neck.


    For a few milliseconds, he managed to tilt his body and evade his opponent''s attack, but Kayden was alert and brought his blow down in a straight line, catching the knight''s left arm.


    His katana went deep into his opponent''s muscles and almost cut off his arm. With a cry of pain, the knight hurriedly retreated. Kayden didn''t pursue him either.


    It was better not to lead your opponent into a dead end. If not, he would fight with all his might. This was a lesson that Kayden learned from the book "The Art of War". The problem was that his heart was racing like it hadn''t been in a long time.


    His greatest desire was to continue the fight and not care about the consequences.


    "You coward, you have no honor at all," the knight shouted as soon as he recovered from the adrenaline. Kayden was already getting fed up with this noble honor.


    "Honor is a benefit of the living. Do you want to continue?" His sentence caused a vein to pop out in the knight''s head, but he remained silent, he was no longer in a position to fight.


    "Adam, you go now," the golden-haired boy said arrogantly. Unfortunately for him, someone interceded.


    "Enough, Locke, you should use this test as training and not for your subordinates to do things for you", as soon as Apollo came out from where he was hiding, the three opponents were petrified.


    "Sorry, brother, I''m going to leave now," Locke seemed to change his personality in a 360-degree turn and quickly tried to walk away.


    "Wait," Locke healed the knight in an instant, surprising everyone. He had not demonstrated this level of skill before. "Before you leave, think about the phrase Kayden said, Locke, it will help you a lot in the future."


    The boy nodded before starting to run in another direction with his two friends, it felt like he had seen his worst nightmare. When everyone was about to start asking what that was, Kayden spoke first.


    "No questions asked, our team is just a win-win agreement, personal things are none of our business." With Kayden''s sentence, silence prevailed among the teenagers. Everyone there were commoners and weren''t even strong in combat, just average, well... average among the best.


    Another hour passed and Kayden''s group... doubled in size, reaching 40 members. Some were now nobles, but they were all minor nobles, and when they saw that Linus was recognized as one of them, they became quiet and just accepted Kayden''s command.


    If they knew he was nothing more than a simple commoner, they would never accept his command. Even with the reduction in the zone, the number of participants this time remained in the same range.


    Logically, it was because the space was too big for the number of people at the time. In a few hours, it would shrink even further and battles would be inevitable. Kayden estimated that only the best 100,000 would move on to the next stages.


    A few hours passed and Kayden''s group reached the insane number of 100 people. Now, they didn''t even need to fight. As soon as people came, they tried to run but were caught by the specialized speed assault team that Kayden put together.


    The number of participants finally dropped to 1 million and the test diameter was at 40 kilometers. Now, it was possible to see a few people every few meters. Unfortunately, because Kayden''s group was so large, they had no way of taking anyone by surprise.


    In the meantime, they also faced a genius who managed to eliminate 15 members of their group. Considering they were in the 80s, this was completely unbelievable. He was a lightning mage specializing in area attacks.


    Unfortunately, Kayden was unable to subdue him and he was eliminated when he was buried by nearly a hundred different attacks and was eventually removed from the test. Surely, in a normal year, this kid would have made it to the finals. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    His talent was obvious to anyone who looked. Therefore, Kayden was sure that this battle royale had nothing to do with your final ranking, but with your performance.

 Chapter 93: Big team

    Chapter 93 - Big teamKnowing this, he was certain of something: without a doubt, everyone who was with him would end up not moving on to the next steps. Maybe some, but certainly not most. He would have the ability to organize such a large group.


    Another hour passed, and the number of participants dropped to 700 thousand. Kayden''s group reached 150 people. This time, they were so big that they caused tremors in the ground wherever they passed. Anyone with the slightest intelligence began to run as soon as they laid eyes on the immense mass of people. Meanwhile, in the upscale area...


    "I refuse to accept this, dean!" This time, even one of the 100 dukes spoke out. At first, the group was small and did not threaten any of the great nobles who had confidence in their children. But now? It was simply an army.


    And the worst: that little demon led them like a baker leads bread, that is, with mastery. Even the military had to step back and admit that Kayden had a talent for this.


    Of the 150 people, he divided into 10 groups, with a leader in each. Each group had a different specialty, from tracking to combat. And not only that: the boy introduced several pre-programmed tactics during this time.


    "He''s within the rules." This time, the one who came to the defense of Kayden''s group was Linus'' father. He was a duke too, but not just any duke: one of the Big 10.


    "Mr Britten is right." The dean''s voice came out again, silencing all the insurgents. Even if they brought together all the Dukes, they could not shake the structure of the Big 10.


    Another hour passed, and the area became incredibly smaller. Kayden''s group has once again grown, with 30 members. Again, they faced a genie who managed to take out 15 people before being buried in spells.


    Fortunately, this time, he survived and was recruited of his own free will. This time, he was a wind element swordsman, his main characteristic was his insane speed for his rank.


    BOOOM!


    A loud explosion erupted at Kayden''s feet unexpectedly. For a second, his mind went blank and he couldn''t even run. It was too close, he wouldn''t even have time.


    "That was almost on you, Kayden." Fortunately, Apollo was always attentive and defended the spell without even breaking a sweat. The boy didn''t pay attention as he looked for the perpetrators of the attack.


    "Explain yourself, leader of the 7th battalion." Kayden glared at one of the nobles under his command. This girl with dark eyes and red hair belonged to the house of a duke. From the beginning, Kayden was hesitant about recruiting her.


    "I don''t think you''re fit to lead this group, so I decided to take over." His tone seemed like he was saying something like taking back what was rightfully yours.


    "A sneak attack? Is this the plan of a good leader? Isn''t this more like a coward''s tactic?" Kayden wasn''t one to insult his opponents, but in this case, he needed to have the support of the majority.


    "To eliminate a low-ranking noble, anything is worth it. Nor am I dealing with anything worthy of respect." His sentence was full of arrogance and made Kayden smile. He knew he had won.


    As much as commoners were afraid of nobles, in this case it was different. Because they were already being supported by a noble, not just a noble, but a duke. And Linus hadn''t been arrogant and snobbish like her.


    The girl wasn''t an idiot and noticed the angry looks at her, even if they weren''t directly. Thinking quickly, she decided to use her last trick, the one that always works regardless of the weather.


    "Anyone who doesn''t support me will be branded by the Griffin family." In the blink of an eye, the situation reversed and everyone who was showing animosity towards her took a 360-degree turn.


    The girl smiled at Kayden, she knew she had won. His family was not part of the Big 10, but was one of the largest in the nobility hierarchy.


    ''Shit,'' Kayden just didn''t know what to do. His only strength was his magic, he didn''t even have a surname and there was no point getting dirty there because of it and being marked forever.


    " Britten ", Linus'' voice, which few heard, came out loud and clear. "Linus Britten , that''s my full name." As if by magic, all the nobles who were nearby recognized the name as soon as it came out of the boy''s mouth.


    Some more well-informed commoners also knew that this specific family was part of the Big 10 and quickly returned to support Kayden in their hearts. After all, it was better to offend a duke than a grand duke, right?


    The girl''s emotions simply collapsed. She didn''t expect at all that the quiet boy who was always by Kayden''s side would have such a strong past. It couldn''t even be a lie, since if he lied, he would suffer reprisals from the Britten family for using his name. S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    For a few seconds, no one knew what to say. It seemed like a staring war was going on between the two groups.


    "Quit the test or suffer the consequences", for the first time in his life, Linus imposed himself against a person. He might look confident, but he was literally shaking inside.


    The girl didn''t even say anything as she raised her hand and shouted that she gave up. As soon as she left, the remnants of group 7 grew anxious under Kayden''s gaze. Even though it wasn''t their fault, they still participated.


    "Get out", this time it was Kayden who spoke. But even so , none of them had the courage to respond. Even those who tried were suppressed by their comrades. Even though they didn''t know each other, they felt obliged to warn those of the same social status as them.


    Even though he knew they had nothing to do with this small revolution, the boy chose to use them as an example to discourage those with the same thought.


    After that, another hour passed and the test further reduced its size. This time, Kayden''s group grew exponentially, reaching 250 members. Now, they were at a completely ridiculous level of firepower.


    There was no longer any way to face them, no matter the opponent''s level of genius. It was simply too big a difference. This time, Kayden''s group was just walking around without worrying about anything.


    The number of participants once again fell sharply, reaching just 300,000. Kayden had to admit that at least a thousand people were eliminated by his group alone. It was truly impressive the capacity they had after being organized.


    Kayden was keeping them on a tight leash for now, as he needed to find Heimer and his friends. But once he found them, his army would go into hunt mode, with scouts covering as much distance as possible and several teams of mages going after them to finish off their opponents.


    "Linus, where do you think your brothers would be?" Kayden decided to ask someone with more knowledge.


    "I don''t know, I''m sorry, Kayden", the boy was sincere in his response and felt bad about not being able to help his new friend. They had only known each other for a short time, but Kayden had already supported him in learning what he liked again.


    Not only that, but it had helped him when he needed it. Again it didn''t take long for them to find new opponents.


    "Sir Knight, you have two options: join the army and receive a position or be annihilated." Even the recruitment function was placed under someone else''s responsibility.

 Chapter 94: Big Big Team

    Chapter 94 - Big Big Team"What the hell is that? Take me to your leader, I am a Britten ." Matheus decided to use his name before it was engulfed in thousands of spells. It didn''t even take 30 seconds for him to find himself facing Kayden and Linus.


    "Kayden!? Linus!? What is this mess?" Matheus was surprised to see his brother and his new friend in control of such a large army, he didn''t even know it was allowed.


    "Well... this is what happened," Kayden began to explain the story while scratching his head. "Now we are waiting to meet the rest of our friends and then finish this battle royale ."


    After that, another hour passed, this time they were able to find Isac and Heimer, but there was still no sign of Sarah, this time the number of participants dropped by more than half reaching just 100 thousand.


    And Kayden''s group reached an incredible number of 400 people, they even had duke-level nobles in their midst who became very meek when they discovered Linus'' surname.


    "Kayden!! Come here quickly, we found something unexpected", Matheus who became the second in command of the army called after Kayden. It didn''t take long and Matheus took him to a pile...


    A pile of frozen bodies, it was simply gigantic, it had at least a few dozen bodies, without a doubt this was the work of a strong genius.


    Crash!


    The ice broke with the boy''s blow, causing one of the bodies to fall.


    "It''s alive", his sentence made everyone breathe a sigh of relief, the small ice mountain reached almost 50 meters and their frozen appearance matched that of a corpse.


    "Unfreeze everyone", Kayden gave the order to the army as soon as he saw how the boy who came out of there was removed from the test, you could say that this was a small gesture of mercy.


    While everyone worked to get as many people out as possible without hurting anyone, Matheus came to talk to Kayden in private.


    "This is Sarah''s doing, she is known as the ice queen of our generation", they finally had a clue as to where she was, the problem was that she seemed to be extremely aggressive.


    After unfreezing everyone, it was obvious that their army had taken a small hit, with an order and Matheus, everyone gathered together to hear Kayden speak. Seeing the huge crowd with full attention looking at him, the boy had a strange feeling.


    He felt like a king of dozens of subjects, his word was law, his orders had to be carried out to the letter, without half terms or anything beyond what was ordered.


    "Ladies and gentlemen, our army is at its highest point, but," Kayden paused dramatically, "we have received a casualty of 50 soldiers, luckily the person who attacked them is Matheus''s sister, so our goal now is to look for him. her and recruit her, even if she took 50 of us, she''s worth more than that."


    As no one had close ties to anyone in this army, most didn''t care at all about losing 50 members and, upon learning that they were going to recruit whoever did this, they were pleased.


    Again they were divided into dozens of reconnaissance groups and began looking for the girl, this time Kayden allowed them to shout her name and warn that Matheus was their leader.


    Kayden no longer feared coming face to face with a gigantic genius, as now his tactic was simply reconnaissance, upon sighting anyone other than Sarah, the battalions should retreat and not seek confrontation in any way.


    Even more so now that they had the test center in their possession, plus it was being set up with dozens of arrays by Heimer and the mages he hired. Even if they didn''t have much experience, they should do something minimal, like just providing mana or drawing an easy part of it.


    Not only that, but a small stone fort was being built little by little by earth element magicians, it also had a hospital area under Apollo''s command and a food and rest area.


    The people watching didn''t know what to say, this was unusual, for the first time in history one of the participants was making the test look like a farming game, where he grew soldiers and then improved his base.


    A few minutes later Sarah was brought to the base and had the same reaction as Heimer and Matheus.


    ''What the hell is that?''


    "Welcome little sister to our humble base" Matheus received her with a smile, finally everyone was gathered, now they could begin the final phase. Again Matheus gathered everyone together for Kayden to give instructions.


    "Hello ladies and gentlemen, we are finally ready for the final phase of our plan, we will no longer be passive participants and wait for new blood to come to us, now we will go all out" It may have been for a short time, but Commander Kayden won the hearts of many people, he never gave anyone too much burden and was always ready to help everyone. Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "First I want everyone to use masks and cloths to cover their identities, we don''t want angry nobles to come knocking on your door later" With that Kayden showed thousands of masks that were produced by a weaver wizard, he was only in the fifth rank and shouldn''t even be in this test, but by a twist of fate it fell into Kayden''s hands.


    "Always identify yourselves as the Britten army " Kayden had asked permission from Matheus and Sarah before doing this, so even if they encountered one of the big ones, their anger would not be taken out on him. "And another thing, recruit as many as possible, laid off." With that he finished giving the order for the final plan.


    There were two hours left until the end of the competition and they were reaching the decisive moment, the next hour they would try to recruit as many people as possible and then just defend their position.


    A reception team was created just to welcome new members, first they went through a test to find out where they should be allocated and then they received all possible instructions.


    "We had 200 more members in those 20 minutes Kayden, this is surreal" Linus commented enthusiastically, he didn''t expect much from this test, but since he met Kayden it was being truly fun, not only that but they also had a chance of winning this test.


    Little by little a truly impressive army was built, the organization of all functions surprised all the soldiers who were watching the match, the level and hierarchy organized in just a few hours was unbelievable for mere teenagers.


    "Han, the army is going to ask for this boy, you know that, don''t you?" Lucian spoke from inside their private tent.


    "Yes, but he won''t go" The old man said after thinking about it for a while, Kayden was usually very free and reclusive, the old man didn''t believe he would go to the army without a good offer.


    "You can''t stop him if we give him something he wants," Lucian said confidently, which only elicited a smile from the old man and no response.


    Finally the competition arrived in the last minutes, more specifically in the last hour, now the diameter was 10 kilometers and there were only around 10 thousand participants and.....


    2 thousands. 2 thousand of them were from Kayden''s group, this time even the king spoke out praising the boy''s performance. The fort they built was heavily guarded by all the ranged mages, while the rest just sat around chatting.

 Chapter 95: Team finish

    Chapter 95 - Team finishIt looked like a walk in the park, even a card game was being played and the most insulting thing was that there were some large animals, such as deer, being roasted on large fires.


    Practically everything had been thought out by Kayden, each person had a role and position within the army. These recreational activities had a team behind them that aimed to reduce the stress caused by the test.


    Even Locke''s group ended up in Kayden''s clutches and was sent under Apollo''s supervision. Even though they had dozens of geniuses capable of facing dozens, perhaps hundreds of mages of their rank, they were not capable of facing thousands.


    Little by little the area closed and more and more people faced the immense fort with thousands of wizards. This time there was no mercy, the first warning was for them to remove the weapons they had from their bodies and lie down on the ground.


    If refused, they were simply buried under spells without the right to a second chance. It didn''t take long and the number of mages dropped to five thousand, along with the size of the zone to six kilometers.


    It didn''t matter if they were geniuses, they would all be eliminated. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Finally, it reached the number of 2500 people and... all of them were inside the fort, well, at least the majority. Some were still hidden, but the large yellow bubble marking the zone''s position was closing in more and more.


    She quickly closed herself into an area that only the fort was safe from. At that point, Kayden had to take some drastic measures. Gathering everyone together, he climbed the wall to make his speech.


    "Comrades! We are in the final stages, but some little mice are hiding. Therefore, we will carry out two things: first, a reconnaissance of the airfield, this is already being done by a specialized team." The boy paused as he enjoyed his last moments of leadership.


    "Your job now is to dig." Kayden''s sentence took everyone by surprise, especially the nobles who had contempt for activities that were not worthy, so to speak. "Don''t you want to be the winner of this? I promise I have a plan for everyone here to come out as a winner, so please fulfill my last request." Kayden bowed to the enormous mass of people.


    His humble attitude, combined with everything the boy has done so far, has provided a ridiculously high level of respect among everyone. Even the nobles had to step back this time.


    Thus, the ground began to receive dozens of spells and be dug with shovels made of spells. Little by little, it became like a minefield full of craters and it didn''t take long for the last 16 participants to be found.


    Ten of them were hiding together in tunnels inside the earth, it seemed like they had been doing this since the beginning of the test and ended up finding each other and joining together. The rest were hidden in the air.


    The 16 were placed ahead of Kayden and the rest of the group leaders. This time there would be no recruitment and they were eliminated without even having a chance to say anything.


    Now, all eyes in the crowd and people outside the zone were on Kayden. The boy could almost feel the almost 30 million people eating him with their eyes. Only the respect Kayden gained during this time kept the fort from turning into carnage.


    "Gentlemen and ladies, it took a while, but we have reached the end of this test. As you all know, only one winner can remain." His sentence made everyone alert. "However..." A short dramatic pause was placed. "I cannot accept that those who fought alongside me stand behind me."


    The boy made his intention clear, but it didn''t seem like that would be possible, especially the nobles who wouldn''t accept being lower than commoners. Soon, one of them shouted, standing out from the crowd.


    "I am from the house of an earl, I want to be ahead of mere commoners."


    The girl who spoke said it as if it were the most natural thing, but she didn''t think she would receive almost 2,000 withering looks. The commoners were all wearing masks and did not fear reprisals.


    "If you want you can stay at the end, but I simply won''t betray those who fought on my side." His voice reached its highest level.


    "When you got hurt, who held your hand?" His tone seemed charged with emotion and moved most of the people in the crowd without them realizing it.


    "When were you going to receive a fatal blow? Who defended you?" His words caught on and made people look at the person who did what the boy said.


    "When you were tired, who offered food and drink without charge? When you were injured, did Apollo ask for something in return?" Every sentence he shouted made people who wanted to excel cower in shame.


    "I propose that no one does anything. If no one eliminates themselves, what will they do? Disqualify everyone? No, they won''t. Victory will probably be given to everyone equally." At the end of his sentence, Kayden sat down on the floor and closed his eyes.


    "I will not raise my hand against my companions." Matheus was the first to say this sentence and sit down with his eyes closed.


    "I will not dishonor my ancestors." Next was Apollo. Afterward, hundreds of people spoke similar sentences as they sat on the ground and waited. Little by little, all the stragglers were forced to sit down too.


    It was difficult to ignore the pressure that a group of this size caused, and consequently, everyone sat down. For a few seconds, only the passing wind could be heard.


    CLAP CLAP CLAP


    The sound of clapping caused everyone to open their eyes to see a blond middle-aged man riding a dragon flying overhead. Everyone quickly recognized Leonardo Sol, the current rector.


    "Congratulations to this...great team for winning the first test. Your performance impressed the academy and you were all allowed into the next round." With his sentence, the tense atmosphere ended and everyone began to celebrate like never before in their lives.


    90% of the people on this team wouldn''t even make it to the end. Most were just ordinary people who tried their luck in this test. Even if they had high ranks, it was still not enough for Sol Academy.


    Little by little, everyone was levitated individually. While most people were taken back to their places of origin, Kayden was on a slightly different route.


    For the first time since it all started, Kayden became visibly nervous. Maybe he shouldn''t have made all this fuss, but... there was no point crying over spilled milk.


    It didn''t take long and he was taken to a giant tent in the noble area. It had no details and was entirely made in black. The boy found himself next to Leonardo, but he didn''t dare to say anything to someone of that caliber. It was better to just wait.


    "I''m breaking the rules and risking angering that old monster so the favor I owed you is paid" With that sentence the man disappeared before Kayden''s eyes.


    It was so fast that he even doubted that Leonardo was there.

 Chapter 96: A tempting offer

    Chapter 96 - A tempting offer"Come in, boy", a voice came from inside the tent with a tone that offered the boy no other option. As soon as he entered, he found himself in a room richly furnished with noblewood chairs and tables.


    In the huge room, there were only a few people, among them was Lucian, but he wasn''t the one who caught Kayden''s attention, but rather the old man with white hair sitting in the center of a large rectangular table.


    His face was marked by old wrinkles, but instead of making him look more delicate, it made him look like a person who had suffered a lot but was still standing and fighting fiercely.


    "My regards to the elders," Kayden took the safer approach and was respectful.


    "Relax, Kayden, we are here with an offer for you", Lucian responded to the boy, causing Kayden to turn his eyes to him.


    "What would it be, Mr. Lucian?" This took the boy by surprise, as he thought he would be punished. This time, the one who answered was a blonde woman in her early twenties, sitting to the old man''s right.


    "We want you to join us," his tone was as if this was the most rewarding thing Kayden would receive in his life. Unfortunately for him, the boy was anything but normal.


    "And what do I get out of this, exactly?", Kayden''s direct question took everyone by surprise, firstly because they didn''t expect him to have the courage to do it and secondly because their mere offer was already something very tempting.


    Laughing loudly, it was the old man who responded this time.


    "Do you know who we are, Kayden? Anyone would kill to be here," his tone was that of a person who was having fun with the situation.


    "I... I honestly have no idea who you are, I''m sorry", the boy scratched his head, they were probably someone important since Leonardo had brought him here.


    Again, the old man laughed and started throwing names at him.


    "The lord of storms?", the boy shook his head. "The queen of the wind?", he shook his head again. "The water swordsman?" he shook his head again. "The wise man?" When Kayden shook his head again, no one in the room could believe it, it looked like the boy lived in a cave.


    "You see, Kayden, we are the army of the kingdom, we are in control of millions of soldiers and wealth equivalent to 3 grand dukes. We want you to come to join us, Kayden, we will treat you like a VIP within the organization and all you need to do is train", the old man finally had enough and just threw the offer into Kayden''s lap, taking him completely by surprise. He knew that the grand dukes were on the highest pedestal in the kingdom and that the army was practically a private organization in the service of the king.


    Taking into account his performance in the test, Kayden already had an idea of why he was here, really what he organized was more than impressive, especially in commanding such a large number of people and still acting as a master to pull their emotional support to your side.


    And how did he get all this knowledge? These are not good memories for Kayden, but he remembered perfectly every book he heard the artificial intelligence tell him in his first life.


    And there were tens of thousands, maybe hundreds, and he went through many books on strategy and psychology, and finally, all this accumulated knowledge was not being useless.


    "What are the conditions?", Kayden still stood firm in the face of the tempting offer, surprising all the generals in the room, normally anyone would be amazed by this offer and wouldn''t even think twice before accepting.


    The old man threw a contract to Kayden, this could be considered a unique occasion in the army, as normally no one dared to negotiate when facing one of the greatest mages in the kingdom.


    "Sorry, but I''m going to have to decline that offer," Kayden refused under the stares of everyone in the room, his refusal taking most by surprise.


    "May I know why?", the old man asked curiously, he couldn''t see enough of a negative point in the contract. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I found the offer to take me to the third realm and all the knowledge I could acquire there very attractive, but... freedom, I would be tied to the organization for the rest of my life and I can''t accept that," Kayden was once someone who had been imprisoned more than long enough, he refused to be enslaved again, even in a gentle way.


    His sentence made the old man look at him with different eyes.


    "What if I increase the resources for the fourth kingdom?" His sentence made even the generals stand up energetically, this... had never been proposed to any person before.


    "I would still have to refuse, sir," Kayden remained firm, even if he offered the kingdom on a platter, the boy''s response would still be the same. "My problem is freedom and not the resources you offered me."


    His answer caused an absolute silence to hover in the room, the generals were wondering if they had given a similar answer when they were low-ranking mages and came to the conclusion that they had not.


    They would have accepted the terms of the contract even with resources reduced by half and that is what the majority there did.


    "Kayden, look, I can change the rules of the contract a little, but how free do you want to be?" This time the uproar in the room was even greater, they couldn''t believe that a mere wizard''s apprentice was having so many privileges.


    "Supreme Commander!!!", the same woman from the beginning raised her voice but was simply ignored by the man.


    "I can sign a contract that prevents me from betraying the company while I''m in it, I can accept receiving commands as long as it doesn''t put my life at risk for no reason, that''s the most I can do," Kayden didn''t even look like he was the one receiving the offer.


    Well... he recognized his value and the old man must have researched him during that time and come to a similar conclusion and another thing, Kayden knew he couldn''t join a corporation for the rest of his life on Earth.


    One time or another, the aliens that came a long time ago would return and the boy was sure that he would need to leave Earth to continue his progress and that would be very difficult if he had a contract that obligated him to stay in the organization.


    "I can accept that, but the resources we will give will only be for the second rank", the old man decided to reduce the offer since it did not go as he expected. And contrary to his expectations again, the boy came with another offer.


    "Can I exchange all monetary resources and treasures for books and knowledge?" Even though what he asked for was still considered resources, it had a slightly different characteristic.


    For example, noble families had compressed mana stones to aid in training, they were typically expensive and only found in forests outside of human civilization.


    This was a monetary resource as it had a direct effect on the magician''s development. The knowledge had to be applied and trained, and even if it gave better results in the long term, it was still unknown whether the boy would be able to use it perfectly.


    "I can give you access to the army library with just a few restrictions, but we wouldn''t give you any resources outside of that, are you satisfied?" The old man wanted to give them both to Kayden, but he still had to show some respect to other members of the army.


    Author''s note: before you crucify me, I fixed the spelling mistakes in the previous Chapter, thank you, samurai, for letting me know.

 Chapter 97: Second test

    Chapter 97 - Second test"Yes sir." It wasn''t long before the contract terms were changed and Kayden promptly signed it. For the first time in two lives, he had a strong back now, not even the nobles could bully him anymore.


    "Well, Kayden, finish the competition and then we''ll discuss your responsibilities. Resources will begin to be delivered to you when you are 10 years old. Dispensed." As soon as Kayden left, the generals began to argue.


    This age should be for them better to observe Kayden''s behavior and performance during this time.


    "Commander, why give so many perks to a mere recruit? Especially since he''s only at rank 6?" Again, the person who spoke first was the same woman as before.


    "According to our sources, he was able to face a knight at the 8th rank while he was at the 5th rank. Not only that, but he developed his entire fighting style and improved it on his own." The army spies were impressive. It hadn''t even been a few hours and they already knew a lot about Kayden.


    "But isn''t that normal for a genius? Don''t we have hundreds of such people in our army? And isn''t he too late for his age?" This was indeed true. Kayden hadn''t done anything worthy of recognition.


    Nowadays, there is no shortage of resources to propel someone to the higher realms, especially for an organization of this size. The main problem was that even with resources, most people got stuck and didn''t move forward.


    "That''s what I thought. But he is only just 9 years old, and besides," the old man smiled, "he has an innate talent of the first rank." Finally, the room became completely silent.


    Kayden wasn''t a genius, he was a fucking monster.


    When Kayden returned to the nobles'' zone, he headed to his friends'' meeting place which was the same restaurant as in the beginning. They had a day of rest until the next event.


    "Kayden!" As soon as he walked in the door, he was greeted by a party full of people. He recognized that the majority there were part of the team that won the battle royale. Quickly, a mountain of people started coming at him and throwing him into the air.


    Everyone was shouting his name and celebrating. It took a while for the boy to free himself and find his equally excited friends. Kayden only now realized what they had done. Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    A wave of happiness ran through his entire body. For the next few hours, they just celebrated and, when sleep finally came, each one went to their tent where they were congratulated by their guardians.


    The next day, Kayden woke up early as usual and did some basic physical training. He didn''t want to cultivate in a place full of monsters. If they discovered his little quirk, he would be made a guinea pig for the rest of his life.


    Today was when the results of the first test would come out for those who didn''t win like Kayden, from what the boy had heard it was only the top 100,000 from the first test who would move on to the second test.


    Again he went to the same restaurant as the previous day, the boy had a hearty coffee, nothing there needed to be paid for, everything was a gift of goodwill from the academy, this was done to please the nobles.


    After a few hours, all his friends were gathered there, Kayden was an anomaly for his age, normally teenagers when they had the option chose to wake up late, in fact, all human beings were like that for the most part.


    "Good morning Sarah, do you have any information about today''s test?" The only one who seemed to be well enough to answer received Kayden''s question with attentive eyes.


    "Well, there are some things I learned from past tests " Now that Kayden signed the contract he could know more specific details from people who have already participated "The first steps are just empty emotions with no depth, anger, hate, sadness" the girl he paused as he ate a piece of bread painfully slowly.


    "The next ones are things a little deeper, for example, loneliness and sadness mixed, this lasts until level 30, and after that, everything comes memories, your worst memories will be played in your mind, it''s more or less one memory for every 10 steps until the 50"


    That... Kayden wasn''t sure what would happen if his memories were from the other life.


    "Now that things get difficult, you will be thrown into a memory of an unknown person, if you give up or anything like that you will lose, this lasts until floor 90, after that I don''t know"


    Now the test was a little more specific for Kayden, after asking he discovered that Sarah had reached step number 64 and Matheus only reached step number 57, it wasn''t very high at all, but it was still above average.


    It didn''t take long and the middle of the day arrived, bringing the voice announcing the start of the next test.


    "Everyone who passed received a medal, the test is limited to climbing the ladder, everyone will be called up in 10 minutes, good luck to everyone" This time the announcement was brief and without many details.


    Well... not that the other one had many either, after everyone wished each other good luck they began to levitate towards the forest again. Little by little the structure of the stairs appeared.


    It was simply surreal, Kayden couldn''t even see its end, its height was easily ten kilometers away, its height was nearly 300 meters, and each step was wide enough for 4 people to line up on it.


    As soon as everyone was placed on the ground, Kayden heard the voice again.


    "The test has started, we no longer have a time limit" The phrase took everyone by surprise, in most previous tests a certain time limit was given.


    ''very good '' Kayden sighed and placed his foot on the first step while most were still processing the new information. As soon as he leaned fully on the step he received a rush of uncontrollable joy.


    It was so much that he even opened a wide smile.


    ''what an easy test'' The boy didn''t even think twice before running to the next step, just before his footstepped he stopped in mid-air ''Wait'' it took a while, but Kayden realized he wasn''t in his normal state.


    The discharge of emotions in his body was so strong that he even lost consciousness, finally, he realized that this test was not a walk in the park, and with a reinforced mentality he climbed to the next step.


    Sadness.


    Loneliness.


    Anger.


    Despair.


    Passion.


    Hatred.


    Scared.


    Adrenaline.


    Nervousness.


    Each step was something different, but nothing could shake Kayden enough after the shock of the first step, Compared to everything he experienced in his previous life, this was nothing.


    Loneliness? He spent 20 years alone, angry? Every day of his first life, the only new things were unbridled love and passion that made him want to get back to meeting people from the floors below.

 Chapter 98: Second test[2]

    Chapter 98 - Second test[2]It didn''t even take two minutes for Kayden to reach floor 29, once again impressing everyone watching. A 9-year-old boy was ahead of everyone and still had a good margin of time.


    The best had barely made it to floor 20. Could Kayden make it to the top floors? That was the question on everyone''s mind, but against all expectations, Kayden simply stopped.


    He froze and couldn''t take a step forward. All of his memories were being replayed before his eyes. Even though he spent years in limbo, he hadn''t completely overcome it.


    There was no longer any hatred towards his uncle or any remaining remnants of that period. He didn''t even have emotions for Nicholas, but he finally realized something he should have understood a long time ago.


    Limbo prepared him to be able to live his life normally. He never got over his traumas. They were hiding, ready to come out at the first sign. Until today, he had never received any encouragement in this regard. Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    He had. In one of his first battles at school, he faced a magician who messed with his feelings. At that time, he had already become beside himself and should have realized it.


    The minutes began to pass. Little by little, most of the mages began to pass Kayden.


    He still had his foot raised in the same position.


    ''What did this kid go through to not be able to set foot on the next floor?'' That was everyone''s thought, especially Han, who didn''t remember him having such a traumatic event in his life before. The old man made a mental note to pay more attention to the boy''s life from now on.


    ''Come on, Kayden, it''s just memories'' The boy said to himself, but he couldn''t take the step he needed. He had been in the same position for more than 10 minutes, practically everyone had already surpassed him.


    "Your fear condemns you to mediocrity" A voice appeared near Kayden. As soon as the boy turned around, he came across Astolfo, one of the people he least expected to be there.


    His phrase... was what he said to his old teammates in the city championship. One small sentence made Kayden look down and go into thought.


    How long would he run? Hasn''t he faced everything once? Why run from your ghosts? Wouldn''t they haunt him forever like this? The boy sighed and made a decision.


    "Thank you, Astolfo" He didn''t even ask his friend anything. This could be done another time.


    The boy went up to the next floor.


    Instantly, he found himself where he feared most: lying in a hospital bed. His heart started to race, and after taking several deep breaths, he managed to calm down a little.


    Every second he spent in there made it easier to deal with the situation. Little by little, he lost his emotions about the situation. It seemed like just a normal day at the hospital.


    Completely boring and with nothing to do, during this time the boy began to notice how well made this illusion was. Even the nurses'' speeches were identical to those in his previous life.


    For a second, he was afraid that the academy had control and could see what was going on in his memory. But after some thought, he simply left it aside. The nobles would never allow something like that.


    ''Ah, shit'' Kayden recognized the day he was in. It was the first time his uncle had beaten him mercilessly. Much of his days were limited to vague memories, with only remarkable scenes being remembered by him.


    But that day, he remembered perfectly everything that had happened. Everything, every meal, from the beginning to the end of that day, everything was recorded in his memory, the minutes turned into hours.


    Finally, the final moment came, everything was as he remembered it, his uncle started hitting things while he was drunk and threw himself on the chair next to him.


    "Hello, big guy." An endless hatred, an uncontrollable rage, that was what Kayden expected to feel, but there was nothing, only pity, he couldn''t feel anything beyond that.


    "Hi, Uncle." Even so, he continued with the theater. "Why are you here?" His calm tone seemed to surprise the fake Max.


    "Today I came to tell you the truth..." The same pathetic phrases as last time. "Now you will pay because the courts are seeking me." Until now Kayden didn''t even flinch, his mind was calmer than ever before.


    The spanking began and...it just seemed annoying next to the pain of improving his core, there was simply no comparison. Once again his only emotion was pity, in the end, his uncle was the one he most feared becoming.


    A mediocre person controlled by worldly and animalistic desires, without ever really achieving anything relevant in life. Pathetic.


    "Come on, kill me at once." Kayden had a crazy smile on his face and before he could receive a response from Max, the illusion fell apart in front of him.


    He found himself back on floor 30 and with Astolfo still behind him, it seemed like the illusion had been instantly realized in his mind, smiling at the boy, he thanked him again.


    He quickly headed to the next floor which was only on step 40, he already knew which memory it would be and perhaps this one would be much worse than the last time. Taking courage, he went ahead and entered the next illusion.


    The same hospital scene repeated itself, and because Kayden hated being right, his memory prevented him from lying to himself, he knew he was on the day of his death. Everything was identical to how he remembered.


    This time he just waited patiently, and his emotions remained stable, this time he took the time to learn about the spell, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn''t feel anything.


    It was as if this was his reality from now on, for a few moments, a sick fear settled in his heart: what if he never made it back? Fortunately, this only lasted a short time in his mind.


    A few hours later, he saw Nicholas again, his mind went blank for a few seconds, he thought he wouldn''t have any strong feelings, but even after years, when he looked at his friend, his only thought was happiness.


    All the hours they spent talking together, all that time had been fun in his dark world, maybe that was the only thing that kept him from going crazy, well, totally at least.


    The boy had already accepted that he was not normal, his mind did not work similarly to healthy people, and things that were acceptable for him to have a small improvement in his cultivation were unimaginable for most normal people.


    "Hello, Kayden."


    "Hello, Nicholas." Again he heard the same conversation about choosing his friend''s daughter''s name and how happy he was to be a father, all of which was slowly making Kayden feel uneasy.


    Finally, the time came, his uncle came in knocking on everything like in his memory, it didn''t take long and after a little conversation, he started laughing while telling him his plans.


    "You know, idiots? I''m simply finished and nothing better than fulfilling my last wish, right? Now, who will die first?" He took a gun from his waistband while laughing himself to death.

 Chapter 99: Next illusions

    Chapter 99 - Next illusionsAuthor''s note: not exactly the same, but I decided to improve a little, my first ones are completely rotten and to this day I haven''t had the energy to rewrite them, lol .


    "Max, please remain calm." Nicholas tried to be reasonable, but...


    Bang !


    The only thing he received was a shot in the leg. Every second inside caused Kayden to be torn apart inside. He might overcome his demons today, but he wouldn''t forget them anytime soon.


    "Listen, Kayden, your dear and only friend dying because of you." Another psychopath laugh. The boy was getting tired of this.


    Bang !


    Another shot to Nicholas'' leg and again the same laugh and predictable phrases. It was finally coming to an end . The boy did not remember these scenes as perfectly as he thought.


    His emotions were like a storm. Sadness and regret were what reigned inside Kayden. Sadness was simply self-explanatory, but regret was something he only discovered now.


    Another feeling also arose within him: hatred for his old world, a place where there were no means to defend himself without depending on external factors. Everything you''ve worked for could simply be taken away from you.


    Ancient families dominated the entire world stage, dictating how the next generations would live their lives. Governments were nothing more than means to manage the monopoly of power. The weak were destroyed every day.


    It wasn''t a cruel world, it was simply a cruel race that ruled everything.


    "Thanks." Kayden said directly to his uncle. Coming to this piece of memory caused something to change within him. He had no idea what it was, but in truth, he simply had yet another part of himself broken.


    One of the last remnants of his humanity was taken from him today. After that, the boy disconnected from reality. He no longer cared what his uncle did. This time, the illusion did not go to the end.


    The boy found himself in front of the giant staircase again. This time, he didn''t go out to the next floor and spent about 20 minutes just collecting his thoughts. Even if he was 100%, he still wanted to make some use of this situation.


    As soon as he finished his reflection, he walked calmly to the next steps. As soon as he stepped on 50, he entered an illusion again. This time it was... simply being ridiculed in front of thousands of people.


    Each one was making jokes about his appearance or anything related to him. There were hundreds of people laughing and pointing as if he were a freak. After being shocked by the change of scenery, the boy''s mind calmed down.


    "And that?" Coldly looking at the crowd, he just waited. Little by little, the smiles disappeared, the jokes became dull and the laughs became shorter. Finally, people just froze, not knowing what to do.


    How pathetic. Next to everything Kayden has ever experienced, this couldn''t even make his heart miss a beat. But the boy had to be understanding. This was a test for teenagers, after all.


    Most of them weren''t old enough to have a Kayden-level traumatic event. Their worst memories would have to be some particularly painful injury or being dumped by the girl they liked.


    Again, the boy found himself facing the staircase and stepped on the next step. This time, he was in a house alone in a forest. It looked like something out of a horror movie, with torches lighting the room in dark red.


    "It can''t be such a clich¨¦, can it?" Before he could think of anything else, the house doorbell rang. The boy decided to participate in the little show and went to attend.


    Opening the door that was falling apart, he saw nothing, just a strange cricket sound playing in the background, practically proving that he was in a horror movie. Closing the door, he sat down on a chair in the center of the room.


    After that, several clich¨¦d horror movie things started to happen: the windows started rattling uncontrollably, strange voices in languages he didn''t know were heard.


    Unfortunately, Kayden was closed off in his own world as he reflected on his path, which he had left untracked for a long time. Reviewing his memories strengthened the boy''s determination in this regard, as he got to know himself even more deeply.


    "Hello, kid," a voice rang in his ear, making him jump in fright. When he turned around, he came across an extremely tall figure in a suit and with a white cloth stained with blood on his head. His suit was white and a hideously large tongue stuck out of the cloth, dripping with blood.


    Author''s Note: Don''t judge me, okay?


    "Finish it already," Kayden remained calm. After discovering a world with magic, he learned that there are no monsters, they are just different forms of life or ways of using magic.


    "Aren''t you scared of me eating you, little one?" The creature''s tongue grazed Kayden''s face in a disgusting way. Unfortunately for her, Kayden wasn''t completely balanced.


    "Put your tongue in here, you piece of shit", landing a well-aimed punch on the creature''s face, the boy found himself out of the illusion. "What pathetic challenges," Kayden began to climb the next steps.


    This time, he spent practically nothing in each illusion: fear, hatred, anger, loneliness, nothing was capable of bringing down the boy who had already felt this before, in much greater proportions.


    Quickly, he climbed up to step 60, leaving behind many people who were still in this mediocre kind of illusion. He easily surpassed Matheus'' record and approached Sarah''s.


    Hoping that the next memories wouldn''t be the same boring thing as before, he stepped onto step sixty.


    As soon as his vision recovered, he found himself inside a cell with a bed and... that''s all. There wasn''t even a bathroom or anything like that, the windows were with bars. Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "A prison," Kayden quickly realized where he was. For the next few minutes, he tested everything within the room just to see if there was anything beyond what was visible, but unfortunately, there was no.


    Anything.


    Absolutely nothing.


    The minutes began to turn into hours and, finally, a different activity occurred: a plate of food was magically placed inside the center of his cell, on it was bread and cookies with some type of juice.


    The boy had to admit that it was more luxurious than it should be in a prison, with the cookies filled with good quality chocolate and the bread completely fresh.


    Other than that, nothing else happened for the next few hours and, again, what took him out of his boredom was a plate of food, being the same thing, bread, cookies and juice. Kayden decided to take this time to think about the one thing he could make progress on there.


    Your path.


    Quickly, one day passed, then two and three. All this time, he just focused on reflecting, but... he couldn''t take it anymore, he needed to do something different or he would go crazy.


    Unfortunately, there was nothing. To pass the time, he started doing some physical exercises. Again, a few more days passed.


    "9 days," Kayden thought to himself. That was how long he was in there. Slowly, he began to lose track of time, his days were the same always, there was nothing different.

 Chapter 100: War

    Chapter 100 - WarThinking about his path proved insanely difficult, it seemed like he hadn''t gone anywhere in all this time, his only realizations were that he didn''t want to be enslaved and should live his life as he saw fit.


    "Do you hear that, Kayden?" To stay conscious, the boy developed the strange habit of talking to himself, it was better to confirm his ideas to himself mainly because he had recently started to hear noises that sounded like voices. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''That''s it'', Kayden finally gave up, he felt that if he stayed another second inside this illusion he would end up losing his sanity permanently. ''17 days'', the boy sighed as he woke up facing the stairs again.


    Now he understood why this time the test had no time limit, it was simply a matter of mental recovery, he knew he had no chance of challenging the next step like this.


    This time he sat down and decided to rest, surprising the boy, an officer dressed in white and red appeared above him offering food and restorative potions.


    Talking to the man a little, he discovered that everyone was getting this after spending a certain amount of days on floor 60, as it was one of the most mentally exhausting.


    After an hour, Kayden finally stood up, he was ready to move forward, not in peak condition, but prepared enough to be able to think and act correctly.


    As soon as he stepped on the next step... nothing happened, the boy even waited a few seconds, but nothing was happening, shrugging his shoulder, Kayden continued to advance, this pattern repeated itself.


    He managed to walk 17 steps before being trapped in another illusion. This time it was something more realistic, Kayden found himself on a huge battlefield, and dozens of corpses were being eaten by birds on all sides.


    The earth was stained with blood, death was not something abstract, it was practically palpable in the air, and thousands of people were still fighting without using mana, Kayden quickly realized that the fighters'' capabilities were not above human limits.


    It looked like a war from before the emergence of mana and technology.


    SWISH!


    A quick blow came down on Kayden, snapping him out of his state of confusion, reacting quickly, he countered the blow with his katana, and his enemy was destabilized by the force of the impact.


    Without wasting time, his katana passed like lightning through his opponent''s neck, the force was so great that his neck was separated from his skull, for a second, Kayden didn''t know what to do, he didn''t remember being that strong.


    Looking at himself, he saw himself in the body of a Goliath, he was at least 2 meters tall and was completely dressed in iron armor that seemed to not weight his body.


    ''It makes sense, they wouldn''t give a test that only mages could pass'', Kayden thought to himself as he defended himself from another attacker, he didn''t know what the purpose of this test was, but he decided to take advantage of it.


    Fighting against different types of people, the boy began training with the katana, without putting force into his strikes, as he aimed to improve his technique, it also seemed that his body did not get tired, no matter how many blows he exchanged.


    Another thing he decided to try to learn was killing intent, in about an hour, he killed more than 40 people and he wasn''t even tired and since he was in an illusion, he didn''t feel anything.


    Close to 100 murders, he finally started to feel something different, his attacks now seemed more violent, but it was a barely visible detail in itself, Kayden only noticed it because it seemed to cause fear in his opponents.


    5 hours later, he passed the 400 people killed by his katana, this time, his killing intent was already palpable, his opponents barely dared to go against him and needed to gather in groups to feel confident.


    But he realized that it no longer made a difference against strong opponents, since he passed the number 200, the gains were minimal, so now he was just walking around the battlefield looking for the strongest opponents.


    Kayden was just afraid he wouldn''t pass this test for a very silly reason... he was killing everyone he thought was a good opponent, no matter if they seemed to be on his side.


    But still, the boy continued, this was too good an opportunity for him to waste. After a few more hours, he reached an incredible number of 1000 people, the majority of whom were average soldiers.


    Few people could exchange more than a few blows with Kayden, but the boy still learned a lot. Those few hours were better than weeks of individual training.


    It was like the old saying, life is the best teacher. The experience he gained fighting there was invaluable, it didn''t even feel like a test but rather a reward, especially since he didn''t get tired.


    A day later, the number of people killed by his blade was approaching 5,000. There came a time when even the strongest weren''t helping much, so he decided to carry out a genocide and started killing everyone.


    Even so, it didn''t seem like this war was close to ending. There were still thousands and thousands of people fighting. Kayden also realized that this illusion was much more realistic.


    The humans there could speak and think to a certain extent. For example, when Kayden came towards him, they shouted his new nickname, "mister Death", and were also capable of shouting for mercy or help, not that he minded.


    Another day passed and Kayden passed 10 thousand deaths. This time, the battle was beginning to change character. What was once a large gathering of shouts of bravery and endless fights was now becoming a more silent and depressive environment.


    Only the sound of clashing weapons could be heard. Kayden didn''t care and happily continued his massacre. His killing intent had reached the stage of being visible on his weapon.


    A small red cloud seemed to cover his blade, it was practically invisible and Kayden was only able to see it when he concentrated very much on his sword, but he couldn''t say exactly what it was.


    "THOMAS!" A scream resounded throughout the battlefield, causing most of the small battles to be halted. Kayden looked at a tall, fat man carrying a large axe.


    He looked like an authentic Viking with golden braided hair and chain mail. All he needed was a wooden mug and he would be identical. The boy also realized that he was coming towards him.


    "What are you doing, Thomas!?" His tone was filled with anger. "Why are you killing our allies?" Ah, Kayden was again surprised by the level of realism of this illusion.


    The boy didn''t even respond as he ran towards the fat man with his katana. The man realized that something was wrong with his friend and also positioned himself to fight him.

 Chapter 101: Sweet illusions

    Chapter 101 - Sweet illusionsThe first blow came from Kayden at a surreal speed, barely breaking the sound barrier. The boy had never been so fast in his life and a smile spread across his face.


    His blow was met squarely by the opponent with the flat part of the axe. He didn''t even manage to shake the man in the slightest. Backing away to avoid receiving the counterattack, he returned once again.


    Again his blow was met flat, but unfortunately for the fat man, it was a feint. His katana ran through the ax at high speed and came very close to the man''s neck before he dodged backward.


    "Fight seriously or you will die," Kayden warned in a low voice.


    "As you wish, Thomas", a look of sadness crossed the fat man''s face, which Kayden ignored as he ran against him again.


    The axe countered each blow. Its weight did not match its speed. It was insanely fast. It was very close to Kayden not being cut in two several times. After a few minutes of fighting, he concluded that he wasn''t going to win this.


    His opponent simply had much more experience than him. His blows were entirely defended with minimum effort and, soon, without any follow-up, came a well-aimed attack.


    He decided to use it to train as much as possible. After a few minutes, he decided to use:


    "Kill me, please," Kayden smiled internally at his little shame. "I won''t be able to control myself", the boy pretended that he was fighting his own body.


    "Brother..." The fat man didn''t know what to do, his emotions seemed to be in conflict. Finally, Kayden left an opening in his gigantic defense. The man, subconsciously, took the opportunity to bring his ax down at high speed.


    A gigantic pain assaulted Kayden''s body when he saw his arm being separated from his body. Fortunately, it wasn''t his main side.


    "Come on!!!", Kayden shouted, making the fat man''s courage waver and put the ax to his side. His thoughts were that now that Thomas was missing an arm, it would be easier for him to subdue him and then heal him.


    As soon as the fat man got close to Kayden, who was crouched on the ground, he was shocked to see the katana going past his neck. The movement was so quick and hidden by Thomas'' gigantic body mass that the fat man couldn''t even react.


    The boy didn''t feel anything when he saw the fat man''s body fall to the ground lifeless. This wasn''t even a battle. The fat man could have killed him if he wanted to. Once again, Kayden saw what experience did in battle.


    Even with only one arm, the boy continued fighting without worrying about anything. Its death count was close to 40 thousand people after another 5 days. His entire body was stained with blood.


    The boy didn''t even remember any other sensation other than the rustic leather in his hand. His weapon broke a long time ago and he had to make do with imitations of katana he found on the battlefield.


    His killing intent was already at the level of causing paralysis in weak-minded opponents and fear in some stronger ones. The battle had already reduced in size considerably.


    A day later, Kayden was simply the only man standing on the battlefield. Standing was too strong a word to describe his state. He was simply missing one of his legs and was leaning on a sword.


    "I think it''s over, don''t you?" Kayden no longer saw any point in continuing this illusion. But still, nothing happened. For a few minutes, he just didn''t know what to do. Was he really in an illusion?


    He had been fighting for so long that his memories were fuzzy. He hadn''t slept in weeks. The only thing he did during this period was kill. Realizing that his life no longer had meaning, he made a decision. S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Falling to the ground when he lost his support, he raised his sword and brought it down on his neck, putting an end to his sad life.


    As soon as Kayden woke up, he staggered down the stairs and fell face-first on the step. A plethora of memories began to assault his mind. His bloodlust began to exude at a worrying level, making the other participants on the steps below feel sick.


    "Boy, contain your killing intent." What woke Kayden was the voice of an officer who conjured a bubble around him. That still didn''t stop people from getting a bad feeling when they looked at his, but it was a little less so now.


    "Sorry," Kayden soothed. He didn''t know what had happened to the boy.


    "Don''t freak out, kid. You must have killed a few people and died. That was the point of the test. Just fighting a losing battle." His sentence caught Kayden by surprise.


    "What the fuck did I do there then?" He certainly understood that his only alternative was to kill himself and that was the purpose of the test. But he shouldn''t be the last one left. The other competitors would probably become discouraged by the weather and the environment and end up dying due to carelessness.


    But that didn''t happen with Kayden. He carried out an insanely large massacre. Again, he needed time to recover. This time, it lasted a little longer, reaching two hours.


    He had to organize all his memories of the illusion that were sort of jumbled up on top of each other. In the end, the boy smiled. That had been a ridiculous gain. His technique had a jump of at least three times in quality.


    And his killing intent was very strong. When she was released fully against the officer, he was almost attacked by mistake. Fortunately, he apologized and said it was a mistake. Finally, he was ready to move on.


    The next illusions were easy and didn''t demand much from the boy, in one he simply had to fight against several people who gave him a feeling of family, but that wasn''t very difficult.


    Another he had to defend a castle that was already doomed to failure and even though he did his best he was still invaded, but at least he held on long enough to pass the test.


    After a few minutes he was finally on floor number 80, he remembered that only the violinist managed to reach this level and even so he failed, hardening his determination he stepped on the step.


    As soon as he woke up he found himself living a normal life in a world without magic with loving parents and a little sister, without knowing what to do he started living like this for a few days, after 1 week he already had an idea of what he was doing there.


    A small feeling was developing for this family, Kayden even thought about killing them so that the test would end, but that didn''t seem to be the objective of this test, little by little he began to integrate into this new life.


    1 month passed and he simply got used to this normal and boring routine, his parents loved him and his sister was adorable, without him even realizing the idea of getting out of this illusion started to become distant in his head.


    In the blink of an eye, 1 year had passed, and Kayden could barely remember his life before this place even his name was different now, answering to Lucas he was thinking about what college he would go to.

 Chapter 102: True omnipotence

    Chapter 102 - True omnipotenceAuthor''s note: this is Chapter 100, as there was an explanation, but I don''t remember where thank you if you got this far, I''ll send you the bonus Chapter for the 10 crack stones... power up


    His parents were doctors and wanted him to follow the same thinking. Faculty? Because he had the feeling that this wasn''t something important like it was just a path at the moment.


    Ah, never mind, if he couldn''t remember it was because it didn''t matter.


    With a start, Kayden found himself in front of a huge, gigantic staircase. For a few seconds, he couldn''t tell where he was, but slowly his true memories came back to him.


    "I lost," the boy accepted this as he was taken out of the stairwell by an officer. He was then taken to some healing magicians to see if he was free from any major psychological trauma caused by the illusions.


    And after quickly answering all the questions, Kayden was released. This time, the boy was alone with his memories and smiled sadly. As much as it was an illusion, this last step left good memories for him.


    For the first time, he remembered what it was like to have loving parents and a stable life without major problems. When the boy returned to the tent, he seemed to have aged years, surprising everyone there.


    Visibly, he looked the same, but his aura changed. He looked more serious, this was mainly because of Thomas and the family''s delusion. One taught him the concept of scavengers and war, and the other showed him something he had wanted since he was little and had never cared about.


    Unfortunately, he promised himself in this life: that he would reach the top and there was no way he could take a family with him. He wouldn''t waste it, he promised himself.


    "Congratulations, Kayden!" All his friends congratulated him for reaching floor number 80. Most of them barely made it to 50. Heimer arrived at 61, Matheus at 59, and Sarah at 70.


    Isac and Linus barely reached floor 30, but that was expected considering they were younger. Kayden was truly an exception among those in his age group. Even Han congratulated him when they met.


    Kayden could have gone to celebrate, but like most people who reached higher steps, he simply wanted to sleep. A certain mental exhaustion took over the boy as soon as he left the stairs.


    *****************


    The following day, Kayden announced his withdrawal from the gym. As much as he wanted to penetrate her now, she knew it wasn''t the right time. He still needed to hone his skills further, and without a doubt, the competitive environment there would not allow a level 6 to survive for long.


    AN: this sentence was weird ~~~~


    As expected, Heimer was called for the third test and made a presentation... of a fight against 100 other apprentice mages. He only asked for an hour to prepare, and when it started, it was a one-sided fight.


    Dozens of arrays supported him with constant mana and varied attacks against the mages. It looked like a fortress raining down attacks on its enemies. After the presentation, no one had any doubts that the boy would pass.


    Matheus put on a show by using darkness magic and disappearing in the middle of the arena against 5 knight wizards. They couldn''t even think before they were knocked out. The difference was not its stealth, but rather how it bordered on perfection.


    Sarah simply changed the entire region''s climate, causing a wave of blizzards. Her control over the ice element was so great that she could extend her magic to miles. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Even though it wasn''t deadly, it was still a bizarre display of power. Kayden doubted he could make even 10 meters around him and have the weather altered by his element.


    "Isn''t that Apollo?" Kayden asked when he saw his team''s healer appear in the arena. Everyone was gathered, this time even the Duke was in Lucius'' tent.


    "That''s the crown prince", Lucius revealed without taking his eyes off the huge television measuring almost 4 meters in the center of the room. "He spent the last four years fighting on the front lines of the war."


    "War?" Heimer and Kayden seemed to be the only ones confused. They didn''t remember fighting any wars.


    "Our country is at war against the water empire. These are just border battles. For some reason, I''m not allowed to explain why this didn''t level up." It was the first time Kayden had heard about it.


    But he wasn''t that surprised. With magical contracts, it was practically impossible for any information to be leaked, and the government maintained tight control over the media.


    "Is he strong, Uncle Lucius?" Kayden asked curiously.


    "Strong? He is a monster!" Lucius was speechless for a few seconds. "The water kingdom paid a huge amount just to have him taken out of the war." The man didn''t speak anymore, as Apollo''s test was beginning.


    "I want ten knights condemned to death to fight until the last one standing in front of me." This was Apolo''s request inside the arena. Even though it was strange, the ten were placed in front of him.


    "I want ten wizards, not apprentice wizards." Again, his request surprised everyone. "Since I am a peak mage." His sentence caused an uproar among everyone watching.


    A peak mage at 14? Was this some kind of joke? If he hadn''t introduced himself as the crown prince, no one would have believed him. Again, another ten people were placed in front of him.


    "Fight." The judge''s voice ordered them as if they were puppets, and then everyone began to kill each other. It was the first time Kayden had seen a fight from the next kingdom, and it was... impressive.


    His attacks were much faster and seemed to be carried by a small film around him that Kayden couldn''t identify. When he asked the adults, he only received the answer that it was a mage-level skill.


    The boy made a mental note to study this later. Quickly, all the knights began to be bloodied and with parts of their bodies missing, but even so, their blows remained fast and lethal.


    Apollo began to levitate. Lucius recognized what the boy was going to do.


    "Now you will find out why the boy is known as the next god of healing," Lucius said to everyone.


    "In my domains", Apollo''s voice resounded loudly. "I do not allow death to enter." When the teenager finished his sentence, small lines began to come out of his body and create a large circle around him, encompassing everything.


    Inexplicably, the knights who were missing limbs had them held in place by the wires, their wounds closing almost instantly after being opened.


    After a few minutes, everyone could see each knight at their peak state. Regardless of how much they were hurt, it was simply inexplicable.


    "Judge! Please order everyone to attack the one carrying a spear." Apollo asked, and then the judge ordered them, causing nine knights to turn against just one.


    The green threads that were coming out of Apollo focused completely on the knight with the spear. The man began to receive dozens of injuries, and even though he managed to defend himself some, there were still many attacks.


    But... little by little, minute by minute, he stood upright. No matter how many hits he took, it seemed like the Spearman was immortal. All of his opponents began to suffer different cuts that weighed everyone down.


    Finally, the spearman landed a direct blow, cutting off one of his opponents. After that, it was pretty much a battle of attrition. Little by little, he removed one of his opponents from the battle.

 Chapter 103: Fate is a hypocrite

    Chapter 103 - Fate is a hypocriteAuthor''s note: Bonus Chapter as promised, I don''t know how the Chapters will be released this week as I''m in exam time at college


    It didn''t take long, and within 30 minutes, the battle was over. The prince had simply caused silence throughout the kingdom. He was a genius never seen before in the history of the kingdom.


    First, his rank as a peak mage, and then, single-handedly he managed to tip a battle ten against one. It was just bizarre. Kayden was impressed. This was probably the level of true geniuses.


    After that, everything went normally. The test results would only come out in a week. Even with the duke''s invitation, Han preferred to return to the orphanage. He had been away for a long time.


    A week later, Kayden was at the orphanage saying goodbye to Heimer. The old man threw a party to celebrate the boy''s passing. Not for a second did Kayden doubt that his friend was capable of passing.


    Heimer said he had a little parting gift for Kayden. Even though he was the one leaving, he didn''t want to say what it was but said that a letter would arrive in the next few months explaining everything.


    Kayden had a feeling Heimer had just forgotten to write the letter, which was why it wouldn''t be written now.


    The next day, Kayden arranged to go see Shang. He should start his life and death struggles soon. It was a necessary step for his progress. He saw in his illusion the difference that experience made when facing the fat man.


    It didn''t take long and he was at the club. The boy found Shang drinking at one of the club''s random bars.


    "Hello, Shang," Kayden''s voice made Shang wake up from his drunken state. "I''m ready to fight." The boy didn''t need to say anything else for the blonde to understand what he wanted to say.


    Shang''s eyes glowed red and... Kayden didn''t even flinch. This time, his will had been honed by thousands of battles. Probably, the illusion made him fight harder than all the fighters in that place.


    Even though it wasn''t a direct increase in his battle strength, his experience, and combat awareness had increased exponentially. Even though 70% of his fights were useless, it was still an absurd amount of fighting.


    "Congratulations, kid," Shang praised when he saw that he didn''t even sway. "I''ll look for an opponent today if that''s okay with you?" Kayden nodded.


    The boy didn''t have much money, so the 5 gold coins from his savings were put in and Shang supplemented it with another... 15 coins. That was the minimum to enter that category.


    It wasn''t long before Shang came back telling Kayden that he had found a perfect opponent. His opponent would be on the same level as him and, even better, Kayden had already faced him once.


    No matter how many times the boy asked, Shang refused to talk, saying it would ruin the fun. The prize for this match was to triple the amount of coins they had. This was only possible because the opponent seemed to be desperate.


    A few minutes later, Kayden went through the entire ritual to cover up his identity and climbed into the ring. As soon as he entered, he saw who his opponent was.


    "Fate is a hypocrite, isn''t it?" Muppet said with a smile. Before Kayden could respond, the match narrator commented.


    "Muppet, at apprentice level 6, against the famous Reaper who, oddly enough, is also at level 6. And guess what''s best?" He paused dramatically. "This is a fight to the death!" With his sentence, the arena caught fire.


    Even though a life-and-death battle in the club was not rare, it was still not that common. Normally, one fight in ten was in this category. Kayden understood why Shang didn''t say anything to him.


    This wasn''t a match. It was, in fact, a forced retirement.


    "Fate is a complicated thing. Good luck," Kayden said in a friendly manner. Then he assumed a fighting stance. Muppet just waited for the boy''s attack.


    He knew that at some point the flashbangs would be used and he was waiting for it. Unfortunately for him, Kayden was no longer the same person.


    The boy rushed with all his strength against his opponent, he didn''t even use any technique. The knight raised his sledgehammer and made a sideways swing at high speed.


    Kayden simply made a feint and, using the strength of the sledgehammer, the boy bounced it to the side, unbalancing the knight, and, without mercy, brought his blade down towards his opponent''s arm.


    Sledgehammer retreated, but not without suffering deep wounds in one of his arms. The old man understood that his opponent was no longer the same as before.


    "Come with everything, show me this respect at least", Muppet said with the smile of someone who accepted his death. Kayden decided to show this small act of respect since he wouldn''t fight again today. Sear?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Transcendence", with his spell active, he rushed towards Sledgehammer at an insane speed. Before the man could mount a good defense, Kayden''s blade came down on his sledgehammer.


    The man''s base was strong and well crafted and took the impact without flinching, but the next blow came almost instantly. The man''s feeling was that he received two different blows.


    Kayden''s katana looked like a snake, each strike was violent and fast, but the worst thing was that it seemed like they connected. Marreta''s defense seemed to be receiving dozens of consecutive blows, without even a break between them.


    This was a technique he developed in illusion, it was similar to Astolfo''s, but he only used his momentum to land the next blow. His technique was practically polished.


    There are two ways to improve something: knowledge or practice. In Kayden''s case, there were thousands of battles just trying to improve small things. His technique, from a professional point of view, was strange.


    He didn''t have fluidity in his movements, it seemed like he was making his attacks subconsciously, almost within the time limit between one and another. After a few more seconds, Muppet destabilized again.


    Kayden took this opportunity mercilessly to finish off his opponent''s arm. Muppet practically had one of his limbs severed. This time, he simply dropped his weapon.


    There was no point in fighting anymore, he couldn''t even swing his huge sledgehammer.


    "Looks like this is the end, doesn''t it?" A sad tone came out of his voice, a fighter who faced dozens of battles, even life and death, was defeated in just a few moves.


    "Everything comes to an end," Kayden replied in a neutral tone. And before the man could reason, the katana blade pierced his neck. The speed of the blow combined with the transcendence left half of the neck hanging.


    The man fell to his knees and a pool of blood began to grow around him. Kayden, seeing this, felt...nothing. No emotion took over him, it was simply as if he had killed a fly.


    The boy retreated amidst the screams of the crowd.

 Chapter 104: New team and surprises

    Chapter 104 - New team and surprisesAN:I spent the whole day studying yesterday, I didn''t have time to launch caps , /:


    3 months later, Kayden finally decided to go back to school. During this period, he faced a total of 10 life and death-struggles, and his wealth had already exceeded a hundred gold coins.


    Now, he could buy a nice apartment in a posh area and support himself, but that was a headache that wasn''t worth going through yet. All the money he reinvested in companies.


    In his previous life, he had read enough books to know the value of compound interest. Currently, his monthly income is 1% per month, plus or minus one gold coin per month.


    This was enough for him to retire and live a peaceful life. But what a joke! What would be the fun of that?


    Currently, Kayden is trying to learn how to solidify his mana around his sword. This was what he saw and understood from Apollo''s battle in the tournament, but unfortunately, he wasn''t having any kind of success. Every time mana left his body, it would simply be contaminated by the world''s will and become useless.


    But his tests weren''t completely bad. During this time, he learned to fill his blade with lightning continuously, at a low mana cost. When it met its opponents, its movements would slightly freeze.


    The biggest problem was that it wasn''t something strong or impactful if the boy wanted it to be. He couldn''t keep the spell up for long.


    This time he went back to school to see Astolfo. Studying wasn''t something he cared about. As soon as he entered the elite students'' area, he started looking for the boy. He saw his former teammates but didn''t decide to go and greet them. Any bond they had was gone after the betrayal.


    "Looking for me?" Astolfo called out to Kayden while lying on one of the sofas in the place. After exchanging some basic greetings, the boy asked his friend about the Sol Academy test.


    "I only got to step 40 and in the first test, I was eliminated in the second hour by a wind wizard. I wasn''t anything impressive like you. What a fuss you made there, Kayden", the boy smiled.


    After talking a little more, Kayden decided to bring up the main topic.


    "Are we going to put together a decent team this year? From the beginning of the year until the end, we train together and, ideally, we will catch people who will not betray us again." His proposal was easily accepted by Astolfo.


    "We just have to get going soon. The championship was brought forward to the middle of the year, more or less in 3 months", Astolfo shared information that Kayden had no idea about. Luckily he decided to show up at school.


    This time, they would screen the candidates and evaluate both their performance and their track record. After a few hours, they had about ten candidates in hand.


    These ten were the best of the best and still had a certain background that would not make them weak in front of nobles.


    "How are we going to divide them?" Astolfo didn''t know who to choose, they were all good options.


    "We will choose three mages this time, one or two healers and one attack. Our last team proved that having a bad composition was fatal in battles against strong opponents."


    It didn''t take long for Astolfo to make the selection based on his memories and the recruitment went smoothly. This time, it was two girls and a boy. The boy was the offensive mage, while the two were support mages.


    The funny thing was that they were identical twins. The name of one was Lunar and the other was Solar. Kayden thought it was funny that his parents'' broken mood put on this kind of combination.


    The two were identical, having a medium height with golden hair reaching down to their waist. With white skin accompanying their coloring, they were spectacular. Kayden did not doubt that they would attract attention wherever they went.


    The boy was called Klaus and his main characteristic was his immense body size. Kayden guessed he easily weighed 150 pounds and that was just fat. His other features were green hair and an obscene smile.


    "Very well, let''s start training", Kayden smiled, sending a shiver down Astolfo''s spine and a bad feeling for the others. S~ea??h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    *******


    1 month later, Kayden consolidated his team''s formation and easily reached the top 5 this time. It didn''t take much effort, as the 3 new members had combat experience so they weren''t dead weight.


    And on top of that, Kayden and Astolfo were on a completely different level than the other students. In 90% of them, Kayden only had to use his low-concentration killing intent and they simply froze.


    The boy avoided using any level beyond this minimum, as some adults were very sensitive to this and quickly identified it. His first use in total simply caused the five opponents to black out and him to receive a gigantic lecture from the teacher in charge of the elite team.


    He also took another fight with Astolfo and managed to win 40% of them. It was imposing when his technique was only recently developed and not even for someone with extensive experience.


    By giving it their all, Kayden lost every fight. Astolfo''s family''s secret technique was simply too bizarre for him to bear. No matter where he attacked or how Astolfo would simply return the blow in equal measure or stronger.


    Meanwhile, he also continued fighting at the club and made a name for himself. He reached the incredible amount of 150 gold coins, but unfortunately, he had to pay 40 of them to a healer, as in one of his fights he came very close to going to his third life.


    Fortunately, his contract with Shang obligated him to cover 60% of medical expenses, so it wasn''t as much out of the boy''s pocket as it could have been. His healing was only this high because one of his arms was destroyed by boulders.


    At this moment, he was having to make a somewhat risky decision. Last week, Heimer sent him a letter telling him about a natural mana reservoir in a forest near the orphanage.


    According to the boy, she still had 20% of her mana remaining and according to him, it was safe in a way since the only magical beasts in the region were at most at the 7th rank and apprentice. That''s why he also made it clear to Kayden not to go there before reaching that rank.


    The problem was that Kayden needed something to advance faster and he didn''t want to wait that long. Considering all his battle experience, he believed he would be safe.


    But why not inform the old man or an adult? This was also something that Heimer explained in the letter, most adults would immediately notify the government, as the government''s reward was more tempting than just a cluster of neutral mana.


    That''s why Kayden had to go there alone, after a few days Kayden made a decision and it took him to a forest a few kilometers away from the orphanage, looking from the outside he simply couldn''t differentiate it from a normal forest.

 Chapter 105: A hasty attempt

    Chapter 105 - A hasty attemptAuthor''s note: I have a family member in the hospital, and my head isn''t very good for writing, I will release the Chapters I have as an emergency, but this week I may have had a bit of a problem with the releases


    Normally, the area around the cities was cleared of monsters above the apprentice stage, and most of the beasts left barely reached the 5th rank. But in this case, it was different because of the excess mana in the air.


    It was little, but Kayden could tell since he had been warned about it previously. After surrounding the forest for a bit, he found the huge tree that Heimer had mentioned.


    The problem... is that it was practically in the center of the forest, about 2 kilometers ahead of where the boy was. Taking courage, Kayden withdrew his katana and moved forward.


    Slowly, he covered the distance, being careful not to face any magical beasts. At times, he encountered some beasts, mainly giant boars, but fortunately, he managed to remain hidden.


    The boy had read many books to make his mana heart and knew that the beasts were very territorial. Hence, he did not find any high-ranked ones. Most were below rank 5 and couldn''t even detect Kayden''s presence.


    ''Shit,'' Kayden froze when he saw a lion up ahead. His body was warning him that this beast was dangerous. He couldn''t exactly identify his level, but his instinct told him it wasn''t low.


    Slowly, the boy backed away. There was not a good place for him to fight. Any mistake and he was dead. Even more so when he was surrounded by hundreds of animals. After a few minutes, he managed to retreat a few dozen meters.


    It took the boy 20 minutes to have no more adrenaline and no foreboding being discharged insanely into his body. After that, he went around the lion''s area. This time, nothing stood in his way.


    It took Kayden 2 hours to cover just 2 kilometers, but finally, he found himself in front of the huge tree. Its height easily reached two hundred meters and with numerous branches that covered the entire sky.


    According to Heimer, there was an entrance in one of the branches of the tree, more specifically in the third after a mark in the wood. Kayden still wondered how the boy managed to find it there.


    And why he was there in the first place. Leaving these thoughts aside, the boy began to climb. As soon as he climbed up, he saw a huge gash in the tree trunk and knew he was in the right direction.


    Three branches later, he found himself facing a small hole that could barely fit him standing upright. His torso had to bend over to enter. The inside of the tree was... hollow, completely devoid of vegetation.


    The only thing that remained inside was a stone a few meters away. A light shade of green radiated from it, illuminating the place. Kayden felt that he was responsible for the spare mana in the air.


    As soon as he got close to it, he felt that he was in an environment with at least three times more mana than outside. Smiling, he would cultivate madly. His expedition to this place was supposed to last a week. Again he used the excuse of going to visit David to convince Han.


    But before anything else, he first organized a space using low-level earth magic to shape small things like a bench and a bed. The boy had even brought a pillow with him.


    He also used fire to sanitize the small space as best as possible. All of this took an hour because of his low proficiency in any other type of magic besides lightning.


    Kayden began cultivating and entered a state of maximum concentration. Quickly, a few hours passed. His only breaks were to eat some basic things he brought, such as dry bread and salted meat.


    To drink, he brought a few liters of water and there was a stream nearby with running drinking water. So he didn''t need to worry about anything other than progressing in his cultivation.


    A week later, Kayden decided his trip was over. He used mana until he no longer wanted it, and even then he only managed to use 3% of the stone''s total mana. Kayden had to admit it was impressive how much he was keeping.


    Probably, on his next trip, he would be able to advance. This time, he understood how Heimer reached such a high rank without being from the nobility or having many resources.


    The next day, Kayden was fighting at the club again, but this time in normal fights. He still needed to consolidate his gains, as a small mistake of putting too much force into a blow could cost him his life in the other category.


    The next few days passed in the blink of an eye for Kayden. He had all his time occupied, he was either training with his team or he was fighting at the club. His performance was getting better and better.


    His team rose to first place in the school with relative ease, mainly because they were not the same teams from the previous year that were already consolidated. It was new blood that moved up when the old students graduated.


    Little by little, the next city championship arrived, and, without Kayden realizing it, there were only 2 weeks left until the middle of the year and he still needed to advance to seventh place before that. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    He knew he would be attracting too much attention, but he didn''t care. After coming face to face with the best healers in the kingdom and still not being able to differentiate his heart from a common core.


    Using the same excuse as before, he went to the mana stone. This time, his path was smooth and he didn''t even encounter a magical beast. This was mainly because of his previous care in documenting everything he saw for later use.


    The boy decided to use the first few days just to fix all the mistakes he could find. Because his advancement process was very fast, it only took him 7 months to get to the next level.


    But what changed his cultivation speed were the illusions he went through, mainly because of his mentality. The prison experience made him accustomed to spending long periods alone.


    The war was the main one. It made him develop a level of determination that he didn''t have before. It broke the last remnants of ethical limits he had. Mind you, he still had some basic ones, but they were no more than the bare minimum.


    If he needed to sacrifice an arm to have more power, he would. If he needed to sacrifice dozens of people, he would do it. This mentality helped a lot in his cultivation, as he didn''t let anything get in the way of his focus.


    It took Kayden four days to fix all the errors he could find. In the meantime, he spent another 2% of the stone''s total mana. Now there was around 15% left. The boy estimated that he should use another 5% to move forward.


    This would be his best breakthrough yet. He had never spent so much time with such good neutral mana conditions to just stabilize his base. Every bug he found was fixed and improved.


    In the end, just by arranging his base, he felt a 10% improvement in his general strength and especially in his mana conductivity. This time, it would be a huge breakthrough as well, as he would become a superior mage apprentice.


    "Come on," Kayden sighed and gathered all his determination for the process of moving forward. Slowly, he was accumulating an insane amount of mana within him. The minutes began to pass as his body screamed in pain from the overload.

 Chapter 106: Advance

    Chapter 106 - AdvanceAgain, his theory of progress being impeded because of his age proved correct. His body began to bleed from the holes in small amounts. Fortunately, he guarded against this and spent 10 gold coins on a clotting medicine.


    His blood became somewhat thicker and unable to flow freely out of his body. Not only that, but his muscles were also relaxed, making involuntary contractions impossible.


    10 minutes quickly passed and he continued to accumulate mana. For some reason, he felt like something was wrong with him. It seemed that there was not enough mana needed for this advancement.


    Approaching 30 minutes, Kayden was sure that man was no longer the key to progress this time. He was one step away from the next rank, but he couldn''t advance. It looked like it was already full.


    His body had a lot of accumulated mana. If he released it back into the environment, he would suffer damage from the recoil of the amount of mana.


    "Quality," Kayden knew it was. But he didn''t know how to change it into something better. He regretted his hasty decision for the first time in a long time.


    The boy kept mana circulating throughout his body. At the moment, she wasn''t causing any major damage. But the pain was flooding every inch of his body. Even so, he gritted his teeth and resisted.


    Another 30 minutes later, he still had no idea how to raise the quality of his mana. Mana was such an abstract concept that things like buffing it were meaningless.


    Again, 30 minutes passed and the boy was still in the same situation. Even though he was in pain, his body was fine to a certain extent. Nothing that a few days of rest wouldn''t be enough to restore him to peak condition.


    Well... that''s if he managed to advance. Thinking was slowly becoming difficult because of the large amount of pain. Fortunately, the boy was not new to this feeling.


    Another 30 minutes they were passed.


    This time, his body was no longer able to handle the amount of mana. Even though he was no longer absorbing it directly, mana was still entering his body because of the high concentration around him.


    It was similar to the process of osmosis. And when the boy realized this, he realized that his time was running out.


    Ten minutes later, he still didn''t know what to do. Unfortunately, he would have to make a hasty decision.


    His first thought was to compact the mana. Controlling every inch of his body, he expressed mana to his chest region and slowly began to pile up and accumulate mana in the same places.


    No matter how hard he tried, he still had a lot of mana out of his control. And he was causing damage to his body this time, simply because they were without a steady hand guiding them.


    ''Fuck everything'', burn the boats! That was Kayden''s motto and he should always follow it. What the fuck was he thinking so much about? If the mana wasn''t under your control, just put it in.


    He was the master of his body! In his veins, his will was law. Putting all his effort into compressing his mana, Kayden began to bleed even under the effect of the medicine, little by little all the mana in his body began to gather in his chest.


    At first, there were still remnants left in other places on his body, such as his feet and near the palms of his hands, but little by little each piece was forced to go where he wanted.


    Five minutes later, all the mana in his body piled up into half of the space. At that moment, he felt like he could just let nature lead and his body would automatically move forward.


    Feeling the quality of the mana in his body, he only noticed one difference: it was denser, but even after compressing it twice, it was still not twice the amount for the same space, but about 50% more than before.


    His body was begging him to just stop what he was doing, but still, the boy held back his advance, keeping a firm grip on his mana. He felt like something was missing.


    ''What if I pack it three times?'' A strange smile appeared on his face. He knew that if he wanted to maintain his two-level jump, he needed to go beyond the ordinary. His instincts screamed at him to stop.


    '' Idai ?'' Kayden laughed at his body''s fear and started pulling mana like crazy into his body. Again, he went through the mana accumulation process, this time it took 30 minutes, as he was just worrying about getting as much mana as possible before feeling saturated.


    When it reached its limit, it began to compact again. This time, it was much more difficult to maintain control, there was simply too much mana. A surreal headache began to assault Kayden.


    This time, the pain was enough to even stop him from thinking for a few milliseconds. This was almost fatal for the boy. If it took him a little longer to regain control... Kayden didn''t even want to think about it. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    With the headache throbbing in his mind, he continued packing his mana. This time, the pain came all over his body, his skin was starting to break open in several different spots.


    Still, Kayden continued. He felt like he was breaking a barrier that he wouldn''t have the opportunity to break again if he let this opportunity pass. Little by little, he felt his consciousness being taken away from him.


    Unfortunately, the pain was so much that even that couldn''t keep him awake. The only thing keeping him conscious was his relentless will. After 10 minutes in this state, he managed to push the last bit of mana into his chest.


    ''How about four?...'' Kayden simply collapsed to the floor unconscious. This time, the boy didn''t even notice before his eyes closed.


    While he was not awake, his body began to change. First, his heart went through another phase of improvement. This time, he was more robust. Compared to the previous version, it was at least twice the size. Already his veins have diminished similar to when he started growing them.


    But they increased in strength, being able to pass much more mana than before. His body practically prepared itself to receive a smaller volume of mana and, at the same time, a greater density.


    Other than that, his flesh and organs also underwent a slight forced improvement to withstand the pressure caused by the new type of mana. Kayden slept for two whole days, missing the deadline he had given Han.


    Fortunately for him, the old man trusted the boy and gave him a slightly higher tolerance limit than the boy had told him. When Kayden woke up, he felt confused. When he got up, the memories of everything that happened came back.


    Laughing maniacally to himself, he began to check up on his body. First, he wasn''t sore at all. Second, his mana reached 100% density, that is, he took up half the size to have the same amount of mana.

 Chapter 107: An unexpected fight

    Chapter 107 - An unexpected fightThis time it wasn''t like other times, where the density was due to your veins becoming stronger, now it was the mana itself that made a qualitative leap. Testing out some moves, he also noticed that his body was much stronger.


    The boy estimated that he could reach the peak of the eighth rank with his body normally and with transcendence in the middle of the ninth rank. If you use the ultimate form of transcendence, you should be able to reach close to the peak of the apprentice realm.


    Now he was absurdly strong. The boy doubted that Astolfo would beat him if they were on the same level, even with the boy using his family''s technique. Checking the date on his phone, Kayden realized he had been unconscious for two days. S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Fortunately, because of the excess mana in the environment, he did not die from lack of nutrients or water. His body could passively absorb mana and convert it into nutrition for his physique.


    The boy got ready to leave and headed towards the exit. Everything was normal, well... not so much. The forest was eerily quiet. Because of his momentary happiness, Kayden didn''t notice this detail.


    ROAR!!!


    A huge roar shook Kayden out of his bliss. Adrenaline began to rush through his body as he realized what was happening. A huge golden wolf was looking at him.


    Without even thinking twice, the boy assumed a fighting stance. Several hypotheses ran through his head in the last few milliseconds. This region must be dominated by a lion, he was sure of it.


    Unfortunately, he didn''t have time to confirm anything as the beast was rushing towards him at a surreal speed. Seeing his speed, Kayden knew there was no way he could run away from this fight.


    Waiting for the right moment to use concentrated lightning, Kayden stood still with his heart beating like a drum in his chest. It didn''t take long for the wolf to jump at him.


    At that moment, the boy used a concentrated beam directly on the beast''s chest. Hitting home, he continued for a sideways slash of his katana. Or at least that''s how he tried, but the animal dodged.


    Its body mass was so great that the lightning only managed to slow down its movements minimally. The beast turned its eyes to the boy. You could see she was enraged. How dare a mere biped attack an alpha wolf?


    Before she could begin her next move, she found herself blinded by an incredibly bright light emitting from Kayden''s hand. The boy took advantage of this moment to approach and give the beast a good blow on the back.


    Unfortunately, the attack only caused a medium-depth wound and was not capable of becoming fatal. This time, the beast roared angrily. She hadn''t been injured in a long time. She didn''t even remember that feeling.


    Running at the boy, the wolf released a huge blast of flames, taking Kayden by surprise, but it was easily dodged by the boy. He''s fought enough always to predict the worst-case scenario in a fight.


    Performing a feint to the right, he brought his blade down on the wolf''s back without mercy. This time, a deep wound opened up on the animal''s back before it could dodge.


    Roar!


    With an even louder roar than before, his fur began to catch fire, healing all his wounds with the naked eye.


    ''Shit''. Kayden was screwed and he knew it. How was he going to fight a practically immortal beast? Using a pop flash, the boy gained space to think about what to do.


    The wolf was furious at having to use his self-healing ability. As he grew in power, he developed a certain intelligence. The beast was at the beginning of the eighth apprentice rank.


    When she reached the mage level, she could even begin to speak. But for now, his only ability was to have thoughts that were a little more complex than a five-year-old.


    And at that moment, his only thought was hatred for the creature that hurt him. Nothing else mattered other than his revenge. Running after the boy, she prepared herself for any strange movement that could blind him.


    This time, there was nothing. With a six-foot jump, she opened her mouth to bite Kayden. Along with that, it also released a burst of flames, preventing the boy from performing any spells.


    The boy dodged to the side and a kick followed his movement. The animal''s speed was simply absurd and managed to cause a large cut on his left arm.


    Putting 30% of all his mana into a concentrated beam, Kayden threw it directly at the beast''s chest. At point-blank range, there wasn''t much she could do. And, as he had already received this attack before, he decided to just ignore it.


    Kayden cracked a smile. When his spell hit the beast''s chest, it was left freezing for a relatively long period this time. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the boy thrust his katana into the beast''s eyes.


    a pop flash head-on, rendering its second eye useless. This time, Kayden was the predator and ran after the animal without giving it a chance to escape.


    His first blow went towards the animal''s other eye and almost went through her entire skull. The boy had to admit that magical beasts had ridiculous tenacity.


    As the boy expected, she tried to use her flame technique to heal herself. Unfortunately for her, Kayden didn''t plan on allowing that. Activating transcendence, the boy delivered a vertical blow to the animal''s neck.


    A dull thud was heard as the completely severed head fell to the ground. Kayden quickly deactivated transcendence. Due to the short period of use, it did not cause any momentary weakness for the boy.


    His first action was to look at his hands. He knew he was stronger by compressing his mana three times, but he had no idea he could face an equal beast. Granted, his battle experience played a greater role than his strength itself.


    The boy began to burn the animal''s body. He had no use for the wolf''s organic material. This would barely sell for a few dozen silver coins. Kayden wasn''t that poor anymore.


    What he was looking for was for the animal to have a mana core, which Kayden was sure was a mana heart after losing its function and ability to keep operating. The chance of something like this coming from a magical beast was low.


    But the wolf was a leader among magical beasts, so it was almost certain that he had developed his heart enough for him to be able to survive the erosion of death from his body and become a mana stone.


    Beast cores had many uses, but the main one was to obtain the elemental mana that was inside it. That would be enough to sell for dozens of gold coins. It could be in the hundreds if he sold it to the right person.


    ''Luck smiled on me'', the boy thought as he took out a kind of ruby from the ground. It was about the size of a ping-pong ball and gave off a feeling of visible heat, almost as if it promised to burn the entire world.


    Returning home, Kayden had to make up some excuse for Han. Fortunately, the man didn''t care too much and just told the boy not to do it again.

 Chapter 108: Championship

    Chapter 108 - ChampionshipIn fact, he almost brushed it aside as he watched Kayden''s rank increase in shock. It had barely been six months since his last progress, this level of improvement was on par with that of a wealthy noble.


    ''Damn, the day I labeled him talentless. Maybe this is one of the biggest mistakes of my life.'' The old man only congratulated Kayden, but inside he was stunned. Unfortunately, he didn''t have time to talk to the boy, as Kayden rushed out as soon as he showed signs of life.


    On the same day, Kayden went after Shang to try to sell his stone through unofficial channels that the blonde had access to. The boy asked for a hundred gold coins or a lightning element core. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    At this time, Kayden also discovered that the beast he had faced was in the eighth realm, according to Shang, and this made the boy have a small moment of ecstasy. He had leveled up against a magical beast.


    This was surreal. At this time, the boy also asked Shang for help to heal his back. As it was something outside the club, the boy had to pay 20 gold coins alone.


    If he hadn''t found himself as a fighter, he would become a healer and enjoy a life worthy of kings and queens just by doing weekly odd jobs.


    After fulfilling all his duties, Kayden returned home. He still needed to stabilize his base fully, and even more so with the recent fight, he had a lot of things to think about.


    Quickly, the day of the municipal championship arrived. During this period, Kayden only improved his base and trained with his team. He didn''t want to do anything risky during this period.


    Once again, he was in the cafeteria with the other students, waiting to go in the government cars to the tournament. At that moment, he took the opportunity to ask Astolfo some questions.


    "Did you have to make a quality jump from sixth rank to seventh?" His question caught Astolfo by surprise for a few seconds.


    "Yes, this is when we have to compact the mana. I managed to compress it three times." The boy gave an arrogant smile. Kayden had also been researching and knew that the number of compressions directly reflected the magician''s strength.


    Compression of two times was the minimum to pass the rank, three times was for someone talented, four was for true geniuses, and above that there was nothing documented.


    Kayden was certain that if he had done the compression from the beginning, he could have achieved a fourfold increase. His strength would have a ridiculous leap in performance. He would probably be able to beat Astolfo even with the difference in levels between them.


    It didn''t take long and the same vehicles from the last championship came to pick them up. This time, his team had the right to go ahead. Being first place, they would receive the first applause from the public.


    As soon as they arrived at the huge stadium, a crowd of people welcomed them with screams and applause. This time, Kayden''s name was the same height as Astolfo''s. The last fight between the two attracted attention.


    A few seconds later, they sat in the large room designated for their school. Every possible perk was offered to them and Kayden, logically, denied nothing. He ate and drank the best while waiting for the mayor.


    A few minutes later, the mayor floated in the center of the stadium.


    Author''s Note: Maybe this is a bit rushed in terms of missing details until he gets to the event, but I was too lazy to write useless word count stuff, lol.


    "Welcome everyone to our advanced championship. The government asked us to do this because..." The man paused dramatically. "This year, the top 10 teams will advance to the state championship." His sentence took everyone by surprise and drew screams of joy from the crowd.


    Many schools now had a chance to enter the best. Five more spots was a lot and everyone was dying to go to the next level of this championship, mainly because of college recruiting.


    If they stood out enough, they could be called up without even having to take the test.


    "So I hope everyone does their best. We will start soon. Good luck to everyone."


    A few minutes later, an official came to guide Kayden''s team into one of the bubbles. As soon as they arrived, they found the other team already ready.


    Their opponents were another completely unbalanced team, with three knights and two magic swordsmen. Kayden smiled. This shouldn''t be a difficult match if they are all average.


    "There is only one rule: do not use help from third parties. Other than that, everything is valid. You have five minutes to prepare, but pre-made spells are not allowed." The judge gave instructions for the confrontation.


    Kayden''s team already had a tactic ready. It boiled down to... well, the three supported Astolfo and Kayden as best they could, both with support magic and the boy was part of the attack.


    "Start." The judge''s voice started the fight. As soon as it started, the five opponents came rushing at Kayden''s team without even thinking twice.


    "Speed", with Kayden''s command, the two girls cast spells on him and Astolfo. "Wall of flames," his other command was to Klaus, who began throwing a thick, wall-like layer of fire.


    Running towards his opponents together with Astolfo, Kayden only needed to exchange a glance with his friend to know what they were going to do. Piercing the wall of fire that separated him from his enemies, the boy blasted a pop flash directly at his opponents.


    The surprise factor caused them to be caught off guard and practically blind for a short period. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Astolfo ran towards the nearest opponent.


    Kayden did the same in the other direction and, casting a concentrated lightning spell at his opponent and Astolfo''s, the boy smiled. As soon as the knight in front of him regained his vision, he saw Kayden bringing his katana down on his neck without mercy.


    The boy even tried to dodge, but unfortunately, his body was paralyzed. This situation guaranteed him withdrawal from the tournament. Astolfo''s opponent was also subsequently withdrawn.


    Two opponents were easily removed from the match without even being able to react. Just one small slip on their part cost them the advantage of the match.


    "Back off," Kayden ordered. Klaus unleashed a barrage of spells to stop any of those remaining from getting closer. Even though they received the shock of two members being eliminated, they were still quick to react.


    "Strength", Kayden asked and was answered by an earth spell that joined his body and Astolfo''s. Now the fight would be simple, it was just a matter of finishing your opponents.


    "I''ll take the two on the right", Astolfo, with his tendency to show off, soon chose his opponents. Kayden didn''t care and just let the boy do whatever he wanted.


    Five minutes later, Kayden''s team was announced the winner by the judge. This match was ridiculously easy. Kayden didn''t even have to use transcendence. Just his natural body was already superior to most of his opponents.


    Furthermore, his battle experience had reached a level that most teenagers could not even dream of coming close to. And even adults wouldn''t have fought so close to death as many times as he did.


    An officer came again to take them to the VIP area of their school. His team was the first to return and received many compliments from the director. They had won the match with frightening ease.

 Chapter 109: Old enemies

    Chapter 109 - Old enemiesIt wasn''t long before they were called again. Having rested a few minutes and being healed by the best of the best, they were ready to fight again without any hindrance.


    His second fight was just as easy as the first, mainly because this time Kayden used the Transcendence spell. The burst of strength he obtained was simply too much for others to handle.


    His every strike managed to reach his opponents without any problem. The best part was that the time he spent under the spell was minuscule and, added to the healing received after the victory, he wasn''t even weakened.


    His next few fights were relatively easy as well. The most difficult one had the two supports on their team eliminated, but it was also nothing unusual to the point that they had a chance of being disqualified.


    "The next fight will be to qualify for the second day. Are you ready, Kayden?" Astolfo asked the boy with a smile. There was just one more fight left for them to reach the same ranking as the previous one.


    It was practically guaranteed that they would qualify, mainly because this time his team wouldn''t abandon him in the middle of the match. Before Kayden could respond, the official in charge of his team came to pick them up for their next match.


    Once they arrived at the bubble, they had to wait for the other team. This gave Kayden a bad feeling. For some reason, he was feeling a small sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu.


    A few minutes later, the other team appeared. They were nobles, not just nobles, but some they already knew.


    "It seems that our rematch was destined to happen", the same nobleman from the last match said as soon as he saw Kayden''s team. This time, his natural arrogance was gone. A five-on-two defeat was more than enough to command respect.


    "Perhaps it is our destiny," Kayden replied with a friendly smile, seeing how the nobleman seemed to hold no grudges or be hostile.


    "Yes, now I will show the world that the Mudbloods just had a stroke of luck," perhaps Kayden judged the nobleman''s character too soon. The boy didn''t even bother to answer.


    Author''s note: I was rereading the story and saw that I didn''t describe the third melee fighter. lol. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "No prefabricated mana objects are allowed. In five minutes, we will start the fight", the judge gave instructions and waited. Quickly, five minutes passed. "Begin."


    With his order, the first thing Kayden''s group did was seal themselves in a bubble. As they couldn''t use Astolfo''s technique for family reasons, his team had no way of getting to the other side without receiving dozens of pieces of sharp metal.


    Within seconds, the bubble began to be bombarded by dozens of different lightning and metal element spells.


    "Two minutes, Kayden," Lunar informed. Since the bubble was being supported by the two of them, it was incredibly resilient.


    "Just wait, Klaus. I want full strength in the ax user." As soon as he gave the command, the bubble began to be attacked by three different types of weapons: the axe, the dagger, and a giant sword.


    "In three seconds, lift the bubble. Astolfo, focus on the dagger user. I want speed spells from Lunas and Solar." Briefly and directly, Kayden organized the counterattack.


    Three seconds later, the bubble fell to the surprise of the opponents. The first thing they saw was a sea of gigantic flames coming towards them, more specifically towards the nobleman.


    Their first reaction was to retreat. The nobleman and the sword user succeeded, but the assassin found himself paralyzed by a spell he didn''t even see coming. To make his situation worse, a spear appeared in his sidevision.


    SWISH!!


    The wind made a loud noise as it was cut at high speed by Astolfo. His blade was practically in contact with the knight when a wave of black smoke covered the assassin.


    His spear cut through this smoke but hit absolutely nothing. It was practically as if his opponent had mysteriously disappeared.


    "Argh!" A scream of pain resounded out of the smoke as Kayden''s katana struck the dagger user''s leg. All this time the boy was waiting for the knight to escape. He knew that the boy would not fight head-on and would have some escape tactic.


    Unfortunately, this was not enough to cause any significant damage.


    "Commoners fight like cowards," the noble said provocatively. Their taunts fell on deaf ears. The only response was a Pop Flash from Kayden that didn''t catch anyone by surprise.


    "Do you think the same mediocre tactics will work again?" Another provocation from the nobleman that received no response.


    "Strength for me and speed for Astolfo", Kayden ordered without taking his eyes off his opponents. "Klaus, try holding the wizards back for a few seconds." As soon as the boy gave his orders, he charged at the dagger user again.


    His intention was clear: to remove the weakest link in the chain. Mainly because he was injured in one of his legs. Seeing Kayden run towards them, the nobleman went to fight directly against the boy.


    His hatred and resentment drove him to be the first to arrive. With a shout, he brought the ax down towards Kayden, something the boy didn''t even deign to look at.


    The sound of metal hitting metal resounded as Astolfo parried the blow aimed at Kayden.


    "Your opponent is me, beauty," Astolfo said with a smile that infuriated the nobleman.


    His intrusion meant that Kayden could continue running after the dagger user. His only impediment this time was the blond knight wielding the giant sword. Kayden received his first full attack with his katana.


    "What the fuck is this?", the blonde was surprised to see himself being pushed back in a struggle of strength. His surprise came from the fact that he was at the seventh rank and still had a cultivation focused on his body.


    It was a shame for him that Kayden had his power a rank above him in physical fitness and absurd battle experience. Quickly, using concentrated lightning at close range, Kayden passed him as the boy became defensive.


    Using a Pop Flash above his head to hide the concentrated beam, he reached the dagger user quickly. His first attack was on his opponent''s injured side. The teenager''s only alternative was to try to defend himself with the dagger.


    Kayden smiled as his katana descended at high speed on the dagger. First, the killer lost control of the weapon. When he tried to continue holding the weapon, his wrist was broken by the force of the katana.

 Chapter 110: Old Enemies [Bonus]

    Chapter 110 - Old Enemies [Bonus]Before the blade reached the opponent''s head, he was removed from the arena. Thanks to the judge''s intervention, his only injury was a broken wrist that could be easily healed by any magician healer.


    With no time to waste, Kayden turned to watch the battle. Klaus, with the support of the support mages, was holding his own against the two offensive mages of the noble team. Only the nobleman and the blond knight were left.


    Kayden quickly turned to the blonde knight who was heading towards Astolfo. Using a concentrated beam with a low mana cost, the boy ran after the blonde. His spell was just to draw attention and take focus away from Astolfo''s opponent.


    And he did exactly as he intended when the knight turned to Kayden in surprise. He thought his companion would be able to buy a little time, at least enough for him to put pressure on Astolfo in a two-on-one fight.


    He no longer had time to be surprised when the katana came like a torpedo into his side, forcing him to use the sword as a shield. When he tried to retreat, the next blow came even faster, forcing him onto the defensive.


    Each blow he parried was soon followed by another even faster one. It seemed like the katana didn''t need to build up strength for the next strike. That was very true. The technique the boy developed was based on his movements being reused.


    Seeing that he would soon be eliminated, the boy decided to use his mana technique. Normally, knights specialized in cultivating the body, but most, at least those who had some talent, practiced some mana technique that could help them.


    In the blonde''s case, it was a wind technique capable of increasing his speed and reflexes. What demonstrated that he was using this spell were small green breezes surrounding his entire body.


    Not only that, but he began to counterattack Kayden''s blows. For the first time in a long time, Kayden was enjoying a duel. Without using his strength to end the match, he just took advantage of a fight using his techniques.


    Unfortunately, all good things don''t last long. Kayden received a small cut on his leg from a piece of metal. This finally made him notice that their fight lasted long enough for the other team''s metal mage to get away from Klaus.


    Not only that but Lunar was also removed from the fight, leaving this fight a four-on-four. S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Sighing, Kayden decided to end their duel. The first thing he did was start putting his eighth rank strength against the blonde. Furthermore, it used several concentrated rays to slow its movement and open gaps in its defenses.


    "He was joking," that''s what the knight thought as he saw Kayden start to give it his all. His morale completely plummeted, as while he was giving his life to win the duel, Kayden was just taking it easy.


    His defense fell in quality along with his morale and, in just a few exchanged blows, he was already full of cuts on his body. Even with the metal mage raining attacks on Kayden, he was still doing well.


    Little by little, his blows were getting closer to finishing his opponent. Until a small slip in the blonde''s posture caused a fatal attack by Kayden towards his neck.


    Simple and easy, another opponent was removed from the match. At that moment, the advantage was completely on Kayden''s team. The boy turned around and ran towards the metal mage at high speed.


    The problem was that several pieces of metal were coming towards him, making it impossible for him to get closer effectively. Little by little, the boy began to take his fight closer to Klaus.


    Without the woman noticing, they were practically next to each other, with Kayden reuniting with her team while on one side was the metal mage and on the other the lightning mage.


    "Take care of the metal mage," with a quick command, they switched positions and Kayden found himself facing a new opponent. This time, it was easier to get closer, since there was no spell the mage could cast against him that would keep him away.


    Well, there were several beams and balls of electricity being launched at the boy, but they were not able to slow down his movement, mainly because of his large size, making his trajectory predictable.


    And while Kayden also threw his lightning, further disrupting the mage''s life, finally, after a few seconds, he managed to get close enough to make it a hand-to-hand fight.


    When the boy approached, his speed was too great for the girl to keep up. The first blow was horizontal and, even though she retreated, she still suffered a deep wound on her waist.


    Without mercy, Kayden conjured a concentrated beam at point-blank range and, when his opponent was paralyzed, he performed a horizontal cut that would have split the girl in two if the judge hadn''t removed her from the arena quickly.


    When Kayden turned to watch the battle, he was surprised to see that only Astolfo was left, Klaus and Solar managed to eliminate the metal girl alone. The boy smiled to himself.


    That was a good team. Even though Kayden and Astolfo did most of the fighting, their team was still able to hold its own when necessary. When he started to interfere in Astolfo''s duel, he received a shout from his friend.


    "Don''t come, Kayden, I''m going to show this trash that he''s just a little shit", Astolfo''s tone was intoxicated. Kayden did not doubt that he lost himself in the emotions of battle and, oddly enough, this was common for Astolfo.


    Astolfo and the noble were dripping with blood. While the nobleman had a ghastly-looking gash on his left leg, Astolfo had a large gash on his chest. Kayden didn''t even know how the boy was still breathing.


    Their movement was already weakened. Astolfo was barely defending himself while the nobleman wasn''t even able to lift his ax properly. After a few minutes, the fight became boring for everyone watching.


    It took a while, but finally, a winner had triumphed in this duel. The nobleman smiled victoriously when he saw Astolfo being taken out of the arena. Unfortunately, their happiness was short-lived.


    Kayden threw a blow through his blind spot that ended up removing the nobleman from the arena. With the nobleman gone, Kayden''s team celebrated their victory. They had entered the placements to receive the prize.


    Even Kayden was happy this time. If he correctly utilized the prize, combined with the remaining mana stone, he could reach the eighth rank within six months. His cultivation speed was frightening.


    Of course, he couldn''t train or do anything else in his free time. It would practically be 16 hours of cultivation a day, but this way he could advance an absurd position for his age.


    On this path, even reaching the wizard level before the age of 14 was not out of reality. Then an officer came to them to take them to the VIP area. This time, they no longer needed to fight that day.


    Because those who qualified only needed to fight on the second day of the championship and there were only two fights if they were lucky. Otherwise, it would be three matches. The top ten could compete in the state championships against other cities.

 Chapter 111: Elite Academy

    Chapter 111 - Elite AcademyAuthor''s Note: Bonus Chapters will be released this weekend as I don''t have time to write much during the week


    Logically, the prize should be much better. Kayden couldn''t even think about what it would be, but without a doubt, none of it would be spectacular and the best thing would be the chance to compete in the last phase that took place in the capital.


    "Congratulations, boys and girls, you were spectacular. The school has already arranged transportation to take you home in the best possible conditions." As soon as they stepped into the VIP area, they were greeted with applause from the other students and the director.


    Again, Kayden and Astolfo''s team were the only ones capable of qualifying, but that was expected, considering that the two were the best in the school with an absurd difference between them and the other students.


    This time, Astolfo''s master didn''t levitate as they were leaving the arena, perhaps because Astolfo hadn''t used anything he shouldn''t have.


    Kayden liked the feeling of driving home, it was much faster and more comfortable, and he could very well get used to it. When he arrived, he went straight to eat something and rest.


    The next day, everyone was together in the VIP area, even the teams that lost were invited to watch the event, but only those from the school that managed to qualify.


    In the end, there weren''t many and even though they had more than 50 teams, they barely had ten schools, this was mainly because private schools managed to maintain more than one high-performance team in their range of teams. S§×ar?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Similar to the previous day, the mayor was floating in the air with a friendly smile and a relaxed posture. Kayden wasn''t sure about the man''s realm, but it shouldn''t be low for him to have control of an entire city.


    The boy guessed that he was between the second and third kingdom, it wasn''t anything that impressed him after being around people in the fourth kingdom who could easily eliminate this city from the map with a thought.


    "Hello everyone, today we will start the last phase of our tournament, I hope everyone is as excited as I am, in a few minutes we will start the event, grab your snacks and drinks and get ready", the man''s voice resounded throughout the stadium.


    It didn''t take long for Kayden''s team to be called, this time they managed to see a few matches before being called into the arena, as there were fewer teams, and there were few simultaneous fights.


    Probably, if they win this fight, the next one will be done uniquely, with just one team to be watched by everyone in the entire stadium. Once they entered the bubble, they were faced with a well-balanced team.


    They were only women, and Kayden recognized the coat of arms on their clothes, they were from one of the schools aimed only at women, and they held the position of the second best school in the city, second only to the main school maintained by royalty.


    The royal academy was something that had branches throughout the cities of the kingdom, its focus was mainly on recruiting and nurturing noble talents, they usually had the best teachers and resources.


    The other team had two swordswomen, two offensive mages, and a support mage. At least that''s what Kayden was able to identify from the clothing and equipment each of them carried.


    "Start", after five preparatory minutes, the judge started the fight, this time Kayden''s team went on the offensive. At this level, they could no longer count on silly mistakes from their opponents.


    "Strength and speed," Kayden urged the two girls, Klaus was left to do what he thought best.


    Now it was just a fair and straight fight. This was the best plan Kayden could think of after seeing that his opponents were the cream of the crop.


    The first thing the boy did was use transcendence and gain a surreal increase in his physical capabilities, the two swordswomen were the first to receive the impact of a Kayden with three buff spells.


    Even though they were two against one, Kayden was not afraid and his first blow was horizontal against the knight who was using a thin sword similar to a rapier, the girl even tried to defend, but the boy''s strength was on another level.


    She found herself being pushed completely away and leaving her guard open for Kayden''s next strike to dive towards her jugular, but before that could happen, a jab from a spear from the second girl stopped Kayden from continuing.


    This would be an exchange that would not be worth it, taking advantage of their attention, he released a pop flash almost at the same time as he defended himself, this caused momentary blindness in his opponents.


    This little time he gained was used to give the girl another blow with the rapier, this time she was unable to defend herself and tried to retreat even though she was blind, unfortunately for her, Kayden was a difficult person to let go of.


    With a straight line blow, his katana entered the girl''s shoulder causing a scream of pain, the blow wasn''t very deep, but it would make it impossible for her to use that arm completely.


    The first to recover was the one carrying the spear, her first action was to try to take advantage of the fact that Kayden wasn''t paying attention to her and deliver a strong blow bathed in flames to the boy''s back.


    Unfortunately, Kayden was not someone without any experience and knew this would happen, his katana drew an arc and bounced the spear to the side, at the same time, he released a concentrated beam at the blonde carrying the rapier.


    Because of the short distance, she was unable to defend herself and was paralyzed, against her expectations, Kayden rushed at the redhead using the spear, because of her technique, no force was dissipated in her defense and her next strike arrived before she could. build a defense again.


    Like a snake, Kayden crouched down and threw a blow with all the momentum accumulated at the girl''s waist, a ball of fire came towards him at the same time, and at that moment, he had to decide.


    Deciding to play it safe, he performed a feint, dodging the fireball and delivering a weaker horizontal blow. Unfortunately, the redhead had already recovered enough to defend the blow.


    "Is he just focused on strength?" That was the girl''s thought when her hands shook under the impact of her spear with the katana, Kayden looked like a monster under the effect of transcendence and a few more strength spells.


    Only a true ninth rank could rival him in this state and the girls weren''t the two were impressive being in the seventh rank and the other in the eighth, it was something worthy of an elite academy.


    This time, the one who stopped Kayden from delivering a mortal blow to the redhead was the girl using the sword, her intrusion made Kayden have to retreat again, the boy had to admit that the two had good synchronization together.

 Chapter 112: Next fight

    Chapter 112 - Next fightIt seemed like they were always ready to intervene at the exact moment. This time, the boy lost his advantage and had to think of another plan to fight them. The boy smiled when they came together against him.


    Quick as lightning, he dodged the spearheading towards him with impressive footwork. This brought him face to face-with the blonde. The girl was quick to lunge at Kayden.


    The boy responded with a strong horizontal blow at high speed, with enough force to make the rapier rise into the air. Before Kayden could land a good blow on her, a spear appeared in his peripheral vision.


    The boy smiled, causing a bad feeling in both of them. Stepping back, he parried the spear with his katana and, at the same time, blasted a pop flash at his back to stop the blonde from coming at him fast.


    Once again, he found himself in the situation of receiving a fireball directly in his face. The only difference is that this time his katana cut her in two and, surprising the spear user, he delivered a deadly blow to her neck.


    This time, there was nothing she could do. Before the girl was beheaded, the judge removed her from the arena. Kayden didn''t have much transcendence time left if he wanted to maintain a good physical state for the next fight.


    So, even though several parts of his body were burning with burns, he didn''t even lose concentration. Turning to the blonde, he used a concentrated beam to get the girl''s attention.


    He knew he didn''t have many chances of landing this attack. Even though it was called lightning, it wasn''t something fast. It traveled like a small bird. It was fast, but not very fast.


    As soon as the two were close to each other, they began to exchange blows. Kayden focused on the side where the girl''s shoulder was injured, and every time she defended, her hands shook.


    Little by little, Kayden pushed the blonde to her limit. Kayden had already turned off transcendence and his body was starting to become sluggish in its movements. After using the spell for a long time, he learned to respect his limits and the rebound.


    As long as it was not used for a certain amount of time, he would be able to heal normally, as if his body was just tired after a long marathon.


    Using a combination of pop flash and concentrated beams at close range, Kayden made the girl almost exclusively defensive. Finally, after many blows, he caught her off guard as she was paralyzed by concentrated lightning.


    Taking advantage of the opportunity, he delivered a decisive blow to her chest that would practically divide her into two halves if it weren''t for the judge''s intervention.


    "It took a while, Kayden", Astolfo''s irritating voice rang in the boy''s ears. This made him realize that the rest of the enemy team had already been eliminated. It wasn''t surprising at all considering it was four against three.


    But the impressive thing was that this battle didn''t even last two minutes. It was extremely fast for a battle on the second day. The audience''s screams entered the bubble, making Kayden look around in a daze.


    There were thousands and thousands of people shouting his name and that of his colleagues. For the first time in his life, he felt one of the most intoxicating emotions humanity has ever had: fame and glory.


    Not even alcohol or other drugs were capable of taking a person to this ecstasy of emotions. Moved by the heat of the moment, Kayden turned to the side of his school, where more people were shouting his name and that of his team and bowed.


    Similar to an orchestra when a good show ends, his gesture led the crowd to scream even louder. Unfortunately, all good things don''t last long. Kayden watched as the officer came to get them.


    As soon as they stepped in, they were greeted by a completely enthusiastic director. For the first time, someone from his school had made it into the top thirty. There was no way to describe the emotion the man was feeling.


    All he had to do was wave a fan and serve cut fruit in his mouth to Kayden''s team. The next fight would put them in the top 10 or, if they were unlucky, they would have to fight again.


    This time, they were able to rest for almost an hour before being summoned again. During that time, they watched several matches and practically knew the fighting style of all the participants in the championship.


    Kayden was surprised that some of them were extremely experienced even though they were mere teenagers. Most were still average, but some escaped common sense, especially the mayor''s son boasting his ninth rank.


    As soon as they entered the bubble, they saw a team with four knights and a female magician. Each knight carried a giant sword, the only difference between them being the colors of their clothing.


    Other than that, they were practically identical, all of their physical characteristics were simply identical, with no clear differentiation between them. It simply seemed like everyone was the same person.


    Quickly, the five minutes of preparation given by the judge came to an end. This time, Kayden''s team''s tactic was to play slowly, since most of their opponents were melee, they would advance first.


    And there wasn''t anything else. The girl used an area acceleration spell on the four, causing them to run toward Kayden''s team extremely quickly. S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Everyone is at least in the seventh realm," Kayden thought in surprise at seeing the speed of his opponents. His team only had two people in the seventh rank and Astolfo in the eighth. They were probably part of an elite school.


    "Klaus, area attack. Solar and Lunar, speed on me and strength on Astolfo. Astolfo, your job is to deliver the final blows, I will create gaps for you", within seconds, a plan had been put together.


    First, Klaus would paralyze his opponents with a hail of spells and then Kayden would step in between the four. It seemed crazy, but the more opponents he had, the better his technique performed, as he could simply take advantage of the remaining strength of a blow to deliver another at high speed.


    As soon as his opponents got close to a certain minimum line, Klaus began to launch dozens of attacks against his opponents. Most were not fatal, but could easily weaken the affected area.


    This short time was used by Kayden to activate transcendence and get close to his opponents. Right behind him was Astolfo. His first victim was the green-robed knight, a concentrated beam was thrown from his blind spot, paralyzing him instantly.


    This opportunity was taken by Astolfo to strike his opponent''s thigh, not causing a deep wound, but it was something irritating capable of slightly weakening the boy''s movement.


    Kayden walked past them and headed toward the other three. A smile appeared on the red knight''s face, giving Kayden a bad feeling. He hadn''t noticed, but he was quickly trapped in a triangle by the knights.

 Chapter 113: An impressive fight

    Chapter 113 - An impressive fightNote from the capitalist author: dear readers, inflation has knocked on our door, now there are 15 stones per bonus Chapter (:


    "Looks like we have a lost bird here, brothers," said the black knight with sarcasm. The arrogance in his tone was obvious.


    "Shit", without wasting any time, Kayden carried out an attack on the red knight with all his strength. Even though it was a katana against a giant sword, the knight found himself being pushed back by the impact.


    And his surprise didn''t end, as the katana passed under his arms, opening a horizontal wound on his torso with a medium depth. Unfortunately, Kayden was unable to continue attacking him, as he had to defend a blow from the knight in black.


    Using his remaining strength, he continued attacking. In a few seconds, that one-on-three fight turned into a kind of chess game. At Kayden''s slightest mistake, he would be stabbed by one or more blades.


    Every defense and every step of his had to be perfectly carried out so that he could launch the next attack. Little by little, the boy fell into a state of semi-consciousness.


    He didn''t need to think to carry out his attacks and defenses. It seemed like something that came from his subconscious. Even though he was in confusion by the sounds of metal clashing and spells being cast, his mind was in complete silence.


    Defense, attack, retreat, advance, flash, concentrated beam. It looked similar to a dance. It was beautiful to see how every little thing was being done to perfection.


    The boy was too focused to notice, but even the other participants in that match stopped fighting to watch his fight. She was mesmerizing. Little by little, his blade turned a shade of black without him noticing.


    "A katana technique? Who taught that to the boy?" Astolfo''s master, who was in the audience, recognized that small coating on Kayden''s blade instantly. His technique took on a pink or purple hue, depending on the variant he used.


    But that wasn''t the problem. The crux of the matter was the fact that he needed hundreds of thousands of fights to establish his technique. It took centuries to do this.


    "The reincarnation of a god?" That was Sasaki''s thought as he continued observing Kayden''s technique.


    Every second, he became faster and more lethal. It was as if nothing but his blade existed. There were no breaks between blows. It was a sequence of attacks connected.


    His enemies already had dozens of cuts caused by the katana and it didn''t seem like they would win that at all. Kayden had subconsciously turned off Transcendence a long time ago.


    Even though his strength and speed were not much higher than his current rank, his technique at that moment was at an absurdly high level. It seemed like there were no flaws for the three knights to take advantage of.


    It was simply impossible for them to touch a strand of Kayden''s hair. It didn''t take long and the first one was eliminated. After that, it seemed that Kayden slightly decreased his speed.


    This was plausible considering he used the strength of his movements to gain strength and speed. With fewer opponents, he had fewer attacks being carried out.


    Even so, he still hadn''t come out of his hyperfocused state. A few seconds later, another opponent was removed from the arena. This entire time, all eyes were focused on Kayden.


    No matter how much the knight defended or attacked, Kayden was always ready to defend and take advantage of every opening he gave. Quickly, another opponent was removed from the arena.


    This time, Kayden stood still, staring into space, as he began to realize what had happened. It took a while, but his memories of that period came back. That had been...bizarre.


    Even if he was fighting four or five knights, it would still be the same. Its level was completely surreal. The boy was mentally grateful for having gone through the war experience on the steps of the Sol academy.


    If it weren''t for that, he would never be able to even come close to developing something like that, even if he still wouldn''t be able to use the technique again as soon as he wanted to, as logically he needed to reflect on what happened and absorb this new knowledge.


    "I quit."


    "I quit."


    Kayden''s performance took away any hope of the other two being able to win that. His morals were thrown in the trash and trampled on, and as if that wasn''t enough, the trash was placed over boiling oil and lit on fire.


    "Kayden... what the fuck was that?" The first to recover from what happened was Astolfo. His response was a Kayden smile. If not even the boy knew, how would he explain it to others?


    A few seconds later, the officer took them to the VIP room again. This time, the director even cried with emotion. The keys had already come out and they were lucky not to have to fight again.


    This meant they could compete in the state championship in two weeks. Kayden mentally sighed. He had achieved one more thing, if it weren''t for him taking a unique path in the world, he wouldn''t have been able to do any of it.


    Kayden shut down and began to meditate on his experience. He had to do this when the memories were still fresh in his mind.


    "Kayden, it''s our turn to compete for first place." Astolfo''s voice brought Kayden out of his thoughts. Now he had to make a decision. If he left now and did anything else, he wouldn''t be able to keep the memories so clear in his mind.


    "I''m sorry, but I''m in no condition to fight right now. I need to reflect on the last fight and if I go now, I won''t be able to do that." Kayden didn''t want to do this, but reflecting on his last fight would give him better rewards than ranking in the top spots.


    The most he would receive would be resources like mana or beast cores from his elements. That wasn''t something that would help him right now. Developing your technique would be much more useful in the long run. Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Astolfo realized this quickly and knew the value of good sword technique.


    "I''m kind of under the weather myself." Astolfo supported the boy openly and shamelessly. No matter how much the director begged, his prayers fell on deaf ears. Kayden had already gone back to meditating.


    The next phase took two hours, which was plenty of time for only nine teams. This was because the fights not only took longer but also had a longer gap between them.


    At that time, Kayden managed to get an idea of what happened in their fight. He did not have complete mastery of his technique, but he could use its main concept, making part of the technique useable by him.

 Chapter 114: Progress [bonus]

    Chapter 114 - Progress [bonus]Once again, he was grateful for the thousands of battles he fought in the illusion. The boy promised himself to return there every year. It was simply the perfect training ground.


    When he had this thought, a doubt arose: why didn''t nobles train their children this way? It was simply perfect for developing battle techniques and experience.


    His only conclusion was the cost. Maintaining an illusion of this size should be something that only a kingdom could afford. Otherwise, there would be geniuses by the thousands when it comes to weapons training.


    Again, a special car took the boy home. This time, he was notified about the reward in a week and about the next phase of the championship, which would take place in about two months.


    Author''s note: I don''t remember if I said it a month or two before, but I put two because it will be the best at this moment.


    The week passed like a breeze. During that time, Kayden had almost one life-and-death fight a day. He felt that he was getting closer and closer to unraveling the technique he used subconsciously.


    Only fights that pushed him to his limits were able to shed some light on his doubts. This was also good for him in the monetary department. Kayden had almost three hundred gold coins accumulated now.


    After he reached the seventh rank, he was able to fight stronger opponents who had more resources than the previous ones. Even though there weren''t many resources, they were still something meaningful to him.


    Another discovery he made was about the seventh rank. He was simply a mana accumulation rank, he had absolutely nothing to improve. Kayden only discovered this after asking Han.


    According to the old man, after reaching the seventh rank, you were an advanced apprentice and your foundation had already been established. The biggest difficulty during this period was accumulating mana and advancing to the mage.


    But compared to the other ranks, the advanced level floor was the easiest to climb, but also the hardest to break. Most people spent years trapped in peak ninth ranks.


    Even though their cultivation method was different, Kayden noticed that it was similar in reality. The more mana he accumulated, the closer he seemed to be to advancing.


    This time, Kayden didn''t need to be picked up by anyone and hired a taxi to take him to the reward area. It was the same organization, with several tents and a kind of giant garden in the center.


    As soon as he arrived, he was greeted by the government support team who were on site and taken to his school''s tent. Considering it was still 9 am and the prize wouldn''t be given until noon, Kayden was early and didn''t find anyone there.


    The boy just took the opportunity to have breakfast again with the delicacies arranged on a table in the center of the tent. Not only that, but he continued cultivating. That was the only thing he could improve on at the moment. His technique had reached an impasse and he wouldn''t be able to improve it just by reflecting. So, his best option was to cultivate.


    Over the next few hours, all of his team members arrived. Astolfo had arrived just half an hour before the start of the event and looked like he had spent the night partying. His hair was all messed up and his clothes had drink stains.


    A few minutes before noon, the mayor appeared floating in the air.


    "Hello everyone. First, I would like to congratulate everyone who made it to the state championship and also those who became eligible to receive today''s prize. You have six hours to cultivate freely. Good luck everyone," the man''s voice resounded throughout the place.


    Kayden and Astolfo headed to the penalty area and looked for a good place to settle down. It wasn''t long before they found two chairs with a giant umbrella projecting a cool shade.


    "Six hours left," a genderless voice resounded, and at the same time, mana exploded everywhere. Kayden''s mind went into hyperfocus and an absurd degree of clarity thanks to the spell.


    Without wasting any time, Kayden began to pull all the mana in the surroundings towards him. The boy looked like a big black hole sucking in everything around him. Once again, he caught the mayor''s attention.


    The man remembered that Kayden had already done something similar six months ago, but that wasn''t the only thing that caught his attention, it was the fact that the boy was in the seventh rank, which meant that he had undergone a quality breakthrough in just a few seconds. months. S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    This was impressive. It was more than that, it was abnormal. Considering the boy was nine years old, he was only slightly below the level of high nobility. The mayor made a mental note to recruit the boy as soon as he had time.


    Meanwhile, Kayden was experiencing one of the strangest sensations of his life. After ingesting mana for nearly an hour, his body seemed to be completely swollen and full.


    Similar to when we eat too much, but the problem was that this was about mana. Kayden had never experienced anything like this before. It was completely bizarre. It took the boy about half an hour to return to his normal state.


    After testing his mana flow a bit, the boy went back to cultivating in the crazy way he had before. This time, it took a little less time for him to absorb enough mana to feel full.


    About 10 minutes less and the digestion process also took a little less time. The boy entered a sort of cultivation and digestion cycle for the next few hours, and at the end of the six hours, Kayden felt like he had made tremendous progress.


    "If I use the remaining mana from the stone in the forest..." Kayden was shocked by the thought that began to emerge in his mind. Perhaps he would be able to advance again in less than a month.


    That would be unbelievable.


    Author''s Note: I know it may seem like I''m rushing the story too much, but don''t think about it. Everything that is happening was already predicted by me, and he needs to have a power boom. I promise it will be worth the wait.


    Without wasting any time, the boy returned home after saying goodbye to Astolfo. Barely able to sleep with the intrusive thoughts in his mind, Kayden continued cultivating until late in the morning.


    Overcome by tiredness, he went to sleep with a discovery. Every time he reached the state of bursting from excess mana and then went through the digestion process, his heart and veins would become a little stronger.

 Chapter 115: Advancement [Bonus 2]

    Chapter 115 - Advancement [Bonus 2]Author''s note: Kayden is not a good guy, he just has morals, at least until this moment, I finally reached the part where the real story begins


    He only noticed this because he was needing a slightly larger amount of mana to reach the same limit as before, but without the support of the mana zone, each cycle lasted almost a full four hours.


    As soon as the boy woke up, he went to the forest without even thinking twice. He still had some time before heading to the state championship. Again, the boy went through meticulous preparation.


    He wasn''t going to spend a week there again. This time, as he had time, he would just wake up early and come and then leave in the afternoon, when there was still some natural light for him to orient himself.


    It didn''t take long for the boy to find the same tree and enter the passage. The interior was exactly as he had left it last time.


    "Wait a minute..." Kayden felt the density of the mana was different. The boy was extremely sensitive and noticed that, even though it was something tiny, there was still a slight increase.


    This meant that this mere stone was more than a reservoir of mana, as it could recover. This increased its value by at least a few thousand times. This style of stone was extremely rare.


    Kayden estimated that he could make a full recovery in about a year and a half or two, as the more he recovered, the faster er recovery became. Leaving that aside, the boy sat down and began cultivating.


    This time, the cycle only took an hour to complete and Kayden barely used much of the mana from the stone, as this time everything was used and nothing was being thrown away like in his previous advance.


    According to his estimates, he should be able to advance one more rank before the championship at this rate, but he would need to give up everything else, from fights in the ring to leisure activities.


    It would be two months of just cultivating nonstop. For a few minutes, Kayden weighed on the scales what he should do. Without much difficulty, he chose to try and advance. His technique had reached a barrier that would take time for him to break and training with his team was secondary.


    The boy sighed and returned home. S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Almost two months later, Kayden was in the same tree where it all began. Finally, he managed to reach the threshold to force a breakthrough. The boy did not expect this seclusion to be so exhausting.


    The loneliness and the extremely repetitive process were difficult to adapt to at first. Only halfway through the process did he manage to get used to it? After that, his speed increased considerably.


    The absorption and digestion cycle had its time reduced to just 30 minutes. Kayden had become very good at just pulling out mana at will. He was almost like a fully functioning black hole.


    "Alright, let''s go." Kayden sighed and began the process of advancement, slowly gathering mana until his system was slowly overloaded. The process had to be done gradually.


    This was so his veins and heart could suffer small ruptures and he could increase the strength of his base to support more mana than before.


    Time began to pass similar to all his advances. His body was on fire from the inside and hurting like crazy. Small leaks of blood could be seen from several of its orifices.


    "This shit again." Kayden felt endless hatred for whatever shit was trying to limit him again. It seemed that he always had to overcome a barrier that was simply there as a shackle of his genes.


    Kayden knew that animals had this shackle in their genes, but he was a human and had never heard of it for his race. Sighing, the boy calmed down. This was one of the problems with his technique, but it was still worth continuing with it.


    The boy was absorbing and repairing his foundation thousands of times. It had been more than an hour and he hadn''t been able to overwhelm himself enough to move forward. Even so, he continued, as he did not feel that his imposed limit on nature was threatening to kill him.


    At most, it was painful. After another thirty minutes, Kayden felt like he was about to break at any second. Trying his best, his body began to boil at an absurd level.


    Even through the insane amount of pain, Kayden smiled. He was in the last stages of his advancement. Absorbing mana even more crazily, Kayden breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his core crack.


    In a process that could only be described as magical, his heart began to crack at several points and automatically improved. His veins gained reinforcement, allowing more mana to course through them.


    What took him hours to try to elevate nature, he did in seconds. But Kayden didn''t care. The advance lasted a few more minutes under intense pain and then relief came.


    Kayden began to test his body, even over a trace of pain. Compared to everything he had been through in his life, small pains didn''t even tickle his conscience.


    After a few minutes, the boy sat down on the floor satisfied. His body was roughly at the beginning of the ninth rank, bordering on intermediate. If he used transcendence, the boy estimated that he could pass the peak of the ninth rank.


    Unfortunately, he wasn''t in a position to test that now. Another thing was if he used the last level of transcendence. The boy got goosebumps just thinking about how strong he would become.


    The most shocking fact was that he was only at the eighth rank. When he was at ninth, could he fight a mage? Kayden was delighted with this possibility.


    "I''m still far away", that was the boy''s thought when remembering Apollo. Even though he is exceptional, there are still others better than him. Therefore, the boy did not let his ego go to his head.


    Before returning to the orphanage he burned all the black substances that came out of his body and using wind magic threw them out of the tree. It was better to clean it up before the goo stuck to the ground.


    Kayden started to head back home, he only had three more days to prepare for the state championship, in that time he should consolidate his progress and train with his new strength so he could get used to the sudden change.

 Chapter 116: Preparation

    Chapter 116 - PreparationAuthor''s note: three Chapters in one day, if you see errors please report


    When he arrived at the orphanage, he came across Han.


    "What in Merlin''s name happened?" Even the calm and expressionless old man couldn''t hold back when he saw Kayden in the eighth realm. This was bizarre and inhuman.


    "I had an epiphany, Dad." Kayden decided to go for a safer approach that wouldn''t lead anyone to investigate his secrets.


    "I see, congratulations, kid." The old man said in a dazed manner. He didn''t remember epiphanies being common enough for a person to have them without fighting hard for them. And without a doubt, Kayden hasn''t experienced anything traumatic in the last few days. Han was sure of it. He could feel the boy''s aura and confidently say that Kayden was in top physical and mental condition.


    After saying goodbye to Han, Kayden went to his room to consolidate his base.


    Two days later, Kayden received a package in his name. Sitting on his bed, he analyzed the yellow-colored package. Unable to guess who could have sent it or what it was, he decided to open it.


    Carefully, he used wind magic from a distance to cut the package and remove it. There was little care in this chaotic world. As soon as she opened a decent cut, a letter fell out of it.


    "A gift from the army?" The letter was brief and congratulated Kayden on achieving a spectacular rank for his age. The question that arose in his mind was: why didn''t he receive anything when he advanced to the seventh rank?


    This was answered a little further down the letter. It was simply because ranking seventh at the age of nine was something excellent but common among geniuses. Ranking eighth at the age of nine was extremely rare.


    Many would be happy with the gift, but Kayden didn''t even see what it was while his mind was racing. He hadn''t left or told anyone about his advance. This meant that the army was keeping a heavy watch on him.


    With a shiver and a mental note, Kayden decided to be more careful not to accidentally reveal any of his secrets. The boy sighed and decided to put that aside for the moment.


    Turning to the present, Kayden found himself in possession of a book titled "A Guide to Advancing Kingdoms." First, the boy was surprised. Afterward, he realized that his rapid advances had probably worried the army.


    As soon as he started reading the book, he realized that it explained many points that the boy had to learn from the harsh experience of failure, especially in terms of mana manipulation. Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The deeper he went, the more the boy felt that this wasn''t just any book that anyone could have. Especially when it came to the part about advancing kingdoms. At that moment, many doubts were removed from his head.


    As Kayden didn''t have time to fully read the work at that moment, he was just quickly flipping through the pages and making mental notes about the various topics the book covered.


    The next day, Kayden woke up early as usual and waited for his ride. Around noon, a black sedan car appeared on the horizon of the orphanage. Within seconds, he parked in front of the house.


    A middle-aged man dressed in a black suit opened the door and looked around. As soon as his eyes met Kayden, he lit up and addressed the boy.


    "You''re Kayden, aren''t you?" His tone was friendly. "I came to take you to the meeting point."


    "I''m ready." Kayden had already left his suitcase with some clothes and some coins ready the night before.


    "Mister Kayden, where is your guardian for the trip?" The man asked a question that caught Kayden off guard. He didn''t know he needed to take someone with him. Nobody had warned him about this.


    Before either of them could say anything, the door to the orphanage was opened, revealing a smiling Ryan walking out with a suitcase in his hand. Right behind him was Han watching everything.


    "I asked Ryan to accompany you, Kayden." Not that it was a stretch for the boy, as he was given a few days off from college. When Heimer went, Han sent someone else from the orphanage in adulthood. In this world, an adult was someone who had already entered college, regardless of their age or rank. Kayden was happy about this little surprise. As Ryan entered college, they didn''t see each other as often.


    "Hello, Mister Han," the butler bowed in respect. "Kayden and Ryan, please follow me." After saying goodbye to the old man, Kayden got into the car and relaxed as he waited.


    In the meantime, he talked to Ryan about the boy''s academic life and discovered that he was doing very well and had already reached eighth rank. But his friend was embarrassed when he discovered that Kayden was also at that level.


    A few minutes later, they arrived at a huge train system outside the city. This was the fastest and safest way to travel long distances, so Kayden wasn''t surprised to see the huge station.


    The butler took them to a very spacious private cabin. Inside, there were two beds and a sofa. Additionally, there was a minibar and a television. The environment exuded an air of elegance and luxury, with decor entirely in black and white.


    After they got comfortable, Kayden picked up a small booklet that was on the couch. It contained all the recommendations for the championship. In it, Kayden discovered some more peculiar things.


    The championship lasted four days, the first three only to reduce the number of participants to the top 25. One of the places was already guaranteed for the school that won last time.


    The prizes were with great mage-level mana stones, which Kayden discovered was the second realm through the pamphlet. Each top ten winner could choose one with their favorite element.


    But the grand prize went to first place, who won a third realm mana stone. The pamphlet did not mention the name of this kingdom. Kayden had already noticed this in his daily life.

 Chapter 117: Problems

    Chapter 117 - ProblemsTypically, most adults reached the peak of the first realm and those with more dyads reached the second realm, but the third and fourth realms were never mentioned in anything, it was almost as if it was taboo to talk about them.


    The pamphlet gave some more information about allocation and things like that, other than that the top 100 had a cash prize. The reading lasted barely 10 minutes and Kayden decided to take advantage of the minibar.


    The trip lasted about four hours and he finally managed to see the city that was the state capital. As each state was gigantic to a surreal level, they all had a capital that functioned as a miniature of the real capital.


    The king could not manage all locations, so the state governor was practically a god in the territory that he commanded as he saw fit, logically as long as he respected certain ethical and moral limits...minimum.


    As soon as they got off the station, Kayden met up with his team, it wasn''t difficult since Astolfo was shouting his name like crazy in front of the station exit. The boy was accompanied by a thin girl with blue hair.


    She had short, shoulder-length hair with black highlights, making her hair very eye-catching. Her body was toned, showing an amount of muscle befitting a trained warrior.


    "Hello, Astolfo, hello..." Kayden didn''t know what to call her.


    "Hi Kayden, my brother talks about you a lot, a lot." Her sentence made her receive an elbow in the ribs from Astolfo.


    "This is my sister Ingrid", Astolfo introduced while the girl seemed to catch the air expelled by the force of the elbow. Once she recovered enough, Kayden was left unsure of what to do so she made Astolfo a punching bag.


    A few seconds later, she finally stopped hitting him and straightened her clothes as if nothing had just happened.


    "Come on, get up, don''t cause a scene." With a kick to Astolfo''s back and a threat to continue the beating session, the girl broke into a wide smile. "Hello, I''m Ingrid, nice to meet you."


    After everyone introduced themselves, the four went to the hotel in the city center. They decided to walk to enjoy the experience and Kayden was impressed by the architecture of the place, it was always full of trees and glass everywhere.


    There was little concrete and other unsightly materials, it looked like a clean, futuristic city.


    The train dropped them off right in the city center and the hotel was just a kilometer from the station. The walk only lasted a few minutes and they came across a huge black building, clashing with the harmony of the place.


    As soon as they entered, one of the attendants came to help them and quickly allocated them to the rooms reserved for them. The room had three rooms, one living room and two bedrooms with bathrooms.


    There was no type of minibar, as the employee explained that you just had to call and they would deliver the order. The level of luxury offered by the government was awe-inspiring, but Kayden understood that with magic, mundane things lost their high value.


    How could you buy the price of a sword made from third-realm materials with a mere sports car made from cheap metal?


    "Kayden, are we going out to dinner later?" Astolfo said as he went in to unload his luggage in the room next to Kayden and Ryan''s.


    Sometime later, Ingrid guided them to the best restaurant in town. The girl had also competed there in her adolescence and already knew the city. She took them to the top of a mountain.


    The passage to the site was made by a small set of trams supported by steel cables. The top of the hill was completely flat, and in the center of the area, there were several trees and chairs arranged outdoors. Some even on top of trees. S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The most beautiful thing was the sky in the place, some kind of magic was applied leaving the stars highlighted and bright, it seemed like they were practically a foot away.


    When they went up, they were served by a waiter who allocated them to one of the tables at the top of one of the trees. Seeing how crowded the place was, they got lucky. Sitting comfortably in the chair, Kayden almost had a heart attack when he saw the price of the food.


    The cheapest dish cost one gold coin, which was insanely expensive. Fortunately, the government fully paid the expenses for this trip, and as long as it wasn''t spent on things that didn''t meet certain requirements, everything was fine.


    The night promised everything would go well and the four of them calmly enjoyed the next few minutes with a great meal and fine wines. Since Astolfo and Kayden were considered minors, their wine was alcohol-free.


    The alcohol was removed from in front of the boys by a beautiful, well-crafted magic that pulled small drops of alcohol from the glass. The magic didn''t seem practical at all, but rather like a show.


    A group was also playing the violin to a calm and steady melody. And the best thing is that, if you didn''t want to hear it, a transparent bubble was placed on your table, preventing the sounds from reaching the group.


    But still, the most impressive thing was the stars in the sky. They seemed to be suspended just a few meters high, with different colors and sizes, they caught the eye in a surreal way.


    "Hey!", a voice broke the flow of the group''s conversation. "Could I have the honor of having this princess''s number?" A boy with yellow eyes and red hair looked suggestively at Ingrid.


    Along with him, there were still other people dressed very elegantly, and it was obvious to everyone that they were nobles and did not appear to have a low ranking in the hierarchy. His look was a bit disgusting and he didn''t seem to have received many rejections in his life.


    "Sorry, but I date," the girl''s voice was quick to make her refusal. His tone and words caused the nobleman to display a look of disgust and anger.


    "And who is your boyfriend? That trash next to you?" He pointed at Ryan in a mocking tone. "A mere level eight, what a joke." His companions laughed as if he was telling the funniest joke in the world.


    Ryan wasn''t the calmest person in the world it was quite the opposite. The boy developed a weak emotional balance in college, especially since the place where he went was the law of the jungle. The strongest dominated and he was greatly ridiculed for entering at a mere level 6 of the apprentice rank, this meant that any stimulus triggered an explosion in his psyche to deal with his opponents.


    "And at what level would your majesty be?" His mocking tone took everyone by surprise, especially Kayden who didn''t know where he got his courage from. Unfortunately, it was too late to stop the disaster from happening.

 Chapter 118: Ego

    Chapter 118 - Ego"I am in the ninth rank at 11 years old." The boy''s smile was like someone who had made someone fall into his trap. "Not only that, but I''m Duke Ashford''s direct son, and you? What trash do you come from?"


    His tone was extremely sarcastic and rude. This time, Ryan couldn''t say anything. He was humiliated and surpassed in every language. Meanwhile, Kayden just stayed quiet. The boy knew that this was not a person he could offend.


    "Still, I prefer to remain here, thank you for the invitation." With Ryan''s silence, Ingrid came to his defense, making the nobleman''s eyes turn furious to the boy.


    "I hope you know what you''re doing." His tone was harsh. Just as they appeared discreetly, they also departed discreetly.


    "Ryan, are you stupid? Ingrid too, do you two want to kill each other by chance?" Kayden was the first to speak. "Two were with him were mages and the old man seemed to be beyond the first realm." Kayden was sure of it, his mana heart-enhanced instincts were screaming at him.


    The old man wasn''t even noticed by the other three, just Kayden who was always alert as much as possible. Reading many novels in his past life made him smart enough to know that nobles were never a good sign. His instincts told him to run from the two wizards, but the old man gave off a more dangerous feeling.


    "We''re in a public place..." Ryan tried to interrupt the boy, but couldn''t continue before Kayden freaked out again.


    " Idai? He''s a fucking nobleman, Ryan, wake up to life. He just needed to wait for you to get out of here and do whatever he wanted with you. Ingrid and Astolfo have a strong back with their family supporting them, but you and I have nothing."


    Kayden never wanted to rely on Han, as he didn''t know exactly what level of strength the old man still had and even his heroic deeds wouldn''t be enough to stop someone who had real strength at the moment.


    Seeing the facts being laid out in front of him, Ryan could only clench his fists in embarrassment. He knew Kayden was right in his words and harsh reality knocked on his door.


    After that, the night only lasted a few more minutes with a strange atmosphere between them. Fortunately, the nobleman didn''t do anything and everyone managed to return to the hotel calmly.


    "I''ll take a shower," Kayden told Ryan who was still crestfallen. His shower lasted a good twenty minutes and when he came back, he saw no sign of Ryan. Fearing that something had happened, Kayden went looking for him.


    Without wasting time, he went to reception and asked them to look at the security cameras and discovered that the boy was in the hotel''s training area. Kayden went down the stairs to the basement and came across a gigantic space.


    There were several bubbles each measuring more than 10 meters in diameter. Some were colored to impede vision and others were completely transparent. The boy went straight to the one he saw on the recordings.


    Once inside, Kayden found Ryan with his fingers bleeding as he stabbed a metal dummy with his sword. His eyes were red and it looked like the boy had been crying.


    "Ryan?" Kayden''s voice woke him from his stupor.


    "Oh, hello, Kayden." The boy seemed to be embarrassed at being caught in this situation. "Sorry about that, I made a mistake." The boy looked like he was about to collapse. "I didn''t want to be humiliated and I ended up losing my temper."


    "Ryan, to err is human, just don''t let it happen again," Kayden said amicably.


    "NO, KAYDEN!" Ryan lost control in front of Kayden. "It was a mistake that could cost our lives and why? For nothing, simply for nothing." This was the first time Kayden had seen his friend change like this.


    But on the other hand, he never spent much time with Ryan. He probably spent more time with Astolfo than with the boy.


    "I once saw a very good sentence in a philosophy book." Kayden kept his tone calm, looking into Ryan''s eyes. "Show me someone who has never made a mistake and I will show you someone who has never achieved anything."


    His sentence hit Ryan deeply and neither of them said anything for the next few seconds.


    "Take this experience as motivation in your life, Ryan. We were not born with a silver spoon. Everything we want we must conquer with blood and a lot of struggle. I''ll leave you alone now to sort yourself out mentally."


    Kayden didn''t have much else to say. He knew this was something Ryan would have to overcome on his own. The boy returned to his room. He would go to bed early, as the next day would be the start of the state championship.


    The next day, Kayden woke up early as usual and saw Ryan lying dead in bed. Kayden gently woke his friend with a pillow hit to the face. For a few seconds, Ryan was confused.


    "Kayden!" As soon as he regained consciousness decently, he screamed. "I have advanced to the ninth rank, thank you for yesterday!" The boy even bowed.


    "It was nothing, Ryan," Kayden was happy for his friend and also surprised. It seemed like it was just a trigger he needed to move forward.


    Then, the two went to have coffee at the hotel restaurant. It was very common in this kingdom for establishments to only offer coffee included in their plans and, if the customer wanted lunch or dinner, they would have to pay.


    When they got there, they saw Astolfo sleeping in the chair and Ingrid calmly drinking coffee. A few minutes later, everyone on your team gathered there, including the director who was unable to attend yesterday due to certain commitments.


    A few hours later, everyone left in the same limousine that would take them to the event location. The championship was held outside the city, as it brought together an absurd amount of people.


    As soon as they left the city, they were able to see the huge tents that were set up for the event. Some were over a hundred wide. There were different colors, making the environment extremely cheerful.


    Along the way, there were street vendors selling food and other things, such as clothes and lottery cards. The number of tents was incalculable and stretched out for miles.


    As they went further, Kayden noticed that the tents formed a circle around something, but because of how far away he was, he couldn''t tell exactly what it was.


    A few minutes later, they were dropped off at a white tent with a sign identifying their team''s location. The tent was spacious and contained several sofas and tables distributed throughout the place.


    Furthermore, there was a huge television on one of the walls of the place. As they still had some time until the competition started, everyone just sat down and enjoyed the free good quality food. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 119: First test and strange event

    Chapter 119 - First test and strange eventSometime later, the director gathered everyone outside and, using a basic wind spell, lifted everyone into the air. Everyone there had flown before, but it was still incredible to feel the air hitting your face and the ground passing quickly beneath your feet.


    Several teams were also in the air, heading towards the center of the event. A few seconds later, Kayden finally looked at what would be the center of attention for the next hour: a huge marble circle had been assembled, levitating a few feet above the ground.


    It was simply gigantic and easily reached the margin of two kilometers in diameter. The circle was divided into several squares, demarcated by floating red flags.


    The director took them to one of the squares without the slightest hesitation. Within seconds, the place was packed with people. Everywhere Kayden looked, there was a team.


    "Welcome little ones," an old man who was floating in the air called everyone''s attention. The height of his voice made it seem like he was facing Kayden, even though he was dozens of meters away. "This year, we had an increase in the number of participants, so we are going to do an elimination test. It consists of..."


    A shiver ran down the spines of all the participants.


    "I''ll use my mana pressure. We''ll decrease the number of participants by four times, so good luck." As soon as he said that, a small weight on every teenager''s shoulder was felt.


    "What the fuck is mana pressure?" Kayden was the first to break the silence in his group.


    "When you reach higher levels, you can exude your mana into the environment, similar to spiritual sense. The difference is that this time, the layer is not thin, but heavy and made to oppress," Astolfo was the one who responded.


    For the next few minutes, neither of them felt anything much. Kayden wasn''t even feeling the weight on his shoulder.


    Poof!


    The sound of a body falling was heard to his right. When he turned around, he saw Klaus collapsing to the ground. But he wasn''t the only one. Several other participants began to fall, one after the other, until a point of equilibrium.


    It took five minutes and the balance was broken again, with some bodies falling to the ground. Meanwhile, Kayden was sitting in the lotus position, studying this invisible pressure.


    Since there was nothing to do, it was better to try to learn something from this, right? Furthermore, the pressure was barely felt by him. Only after 15 minutes did his body start to feel heavy. At that moment, the twins were also disqualified.


    It was a strange sensation, as it was not a physical pressure, but something spiritual. His movements were heavy, but it didn''t seem like he had any difficulty performing his basic actions. But even so, there was still physical pressure. It was inexplicable.


    By the time he reached twenty minutes, he was finally feeling some real pressure. It looked like he was carrying a bookshelf on the shore. Astolfo was red-faced and dripping with sweat.


    Kayden thought they would let us know when the participants reached the right number for the next phase, but it was taking a while. Over the next five minutes, Kayden finally understood something.


    The pressure was against his will. It was practically as if he was facing himself. His own body was telling him to pass out and every minute seemed longer.


    Now he understood why so many people had fallen, including Astolfo, in these last minutes. How will you defend yourself against your conscience?


    It finally reached 40 minutes and there were few people in the arena now. Most had already been removed. At this point, Kayden felt like a car was being placed on his back.


    But the problem was... it didn''t even come close to making him tremble. His will was iron, unbreakable. A few dozen more participants fainted. The time passed to the 50-minute mark.


    This time, there were a tiny number of people standing. Most of them were already known from previous tournaments. Few new faces like Kayden were on stage. When one hour arrived, the number of participants was less than 100. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden felt like a mountain was on his shoulders. It felt like he was carrying the weight of an entire world. All his body wanted was to close his eyes and rest. For every minute that passed, it felt like another mountain was placed on his shoulders.


    When another 3 minutes had passed, only 30 people were standing. Kayden watched as each of them was placed center stage. He didn''t even feel his body being pulled in that direction.


    Even with all this pressure, Kayden didn''t even show any reaction. He doubted anyone could break his will. His life experiences made him different from others.


    He was focused and determined to an unhealthy level. He put his goals above all else, no matter the price he had to pay. His mindset could be summed up in one sentence:


    Everything can be achieved as long as you are willing to pay the necessary price.


    Five more minutes and they had Kayden and four other people. This entire time, he had been sitting in the lotus position, studying this pressure. Little by little, he understood its working principle.


    Five more minutes and they had Kayden and two other boys standing. Neither of them seemed to be making any effort. One of the boys had dark red hair tied into a bun with two strands falling to his shoulders. His fine clothing identified him as a nobleman.


    The other boy was short in height and had short black hair. His skin was tanned, as if he spent all day in the sun. A calm smile balanced his appearance as a friendly and likable person.


    "I didn''t expect to find the king of kings here," a low laugh accompanied the boy''s sentence. For a few moments, it took Kayden to realize that it was him the boy was talking to.


    "Sorry, sorry, it was my mistake. Why be so serious?", the boy said, looking up at the sky. Kayden began to think he was crazy. Turning his attention to the other boy, he noticed that the boy appeared to be frozen.


    Surprised, he began to look around. Nothing seemed alive, it was as if time had stopped. Before he could open his mouth and say anything, the other boy was faster.


    "Remember that you owe me a favor in the future for helping you with Merlin", the boy''s sentence left Kayden even more confused with everything that was happening. And before he could ask anything, the boy''s body fell to the ground.

 Chapter 120: Glory.....

    Chapter 120 - Glory.....Author''s note: this is more of a rant, so you can skip it if you want. I finally got to the part where I always wanted to write (I''m a few Chapters ahead) and... it wasn''t how I wanted or imagined. Life really is a longing to have and a boredom to possess


    Everything returned to normal in the blink of an eye, Kayden only recovered from the shock when the other boy''s voice reminded him of the situation he was in.


    "It''s clear that he has already mastered the pressure of sister grandmother", the boy said, looking up. Kayden was surprised that the old man was the boy''s grandmother and was surprised to hear the old man''s response.


    "He has not dominated, until now it is only his will that keeps him standing", his tone showed genuine surprise and his sentence caused absolute silence in everyone watching.


    Those who were in the first realm and above understood what the phrase implied and the weight of what Kayden was doing.


    "Boy, I''m going to increase my pressure to the maximum, do you want to continue?" The old man gave Kayden an ultimatum. The boy didn''t even need to think before facing the challenge. He was sure nothing could bend his will.


    "Do your best", as soon as Kayden said that, the pressure increased thousands of times. It was as if he weighed an entire galaxy on his shoulders. All the air in his lungs was emptied.


    The boy found himself kneeling on the ground and having difficulty breathing, but... still conscious. And this time the force of the pressure did not increase over time. Second by second, Kayden got used to it.


    Your body could be bent, your bones could be broken, but your mind would not be bent. His will was unshakable.


    Crack!


    The boy heard his bones cracking as he began to try to get up. He looked like a dummy controlled by strings. Its movement was erratic but constant. Inch by inch, he rose.


    The pain of having his bones broken didn''t change his actions at all. Under everyone''s astonished gaze, Kayden stood straight as an arrow. His eyes showed no feeling.


    It took him 10 minutes to overcome the old man''s pressure. This meant that in 10 minutes, Kayden surpassed the will of a wizard in the fourth realm who was hundreds of years old. The silence was palpable. Nobody knew what to say.


    "Monster", that was the first phrase that came out of the crowd.


    "He''s from the north," someone quickly identified Kayden.


    "The monster from the north is", a new nickname received by the boy. But it wasn''t just a nickname. This time, he got an insanely high highlight. In the coming days, his name would probably appear in every newspaper in the kingdom. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Even though he was standing proudly, Kayden''s teeth were clenched from the effort. Every inch of his body was being utilized to its maximum strength. He didn''t know how long he could last like this.


    "That''s good, isn''t it, Argus?" Another voice came out of the air, revealing a completely stunning middle-aged woman. Her blond hair bordering on white flew beautifully in the air.


    Her white skin and red lips gave an angelic image to the woman. Kayden could feel a mystical vibe from the woman, almost as if he wasn''t present in the place.


    "Sorry, Amanda, I got a little carried away", the old man rubbed his head with an expression that showed he wasn''t sorry at all. "Kid, what do you think about becoming my apprentice?"


    "I''ll give you double what the old man offers you," the woman said quickly, without giving Kayden time to understand the situation.


    "You should give your elders due respect," the old man said arrogantly.


    "You''re the same age as me, Argus," the woman revealed that she was old without even thinking twice. Even with such stunning beauty, she didn''t have the slightest bit of vanity.


    "He already belongs to the army", another voice came out of nowhere, surprising the two who were fighting. The surprise came from the fact that they had not noticed his presence before.


    "I see..." The old man accepted without even blinking. His only action was to pull a book out of nowhere and throw it at Kayden. "A little gift, boy." It was obvious to everyone that the old man recognized Kayden''s potential and decided to start a good relationship with the boy early.


    " Humph !" The woman snorted and threw a rock at Kayden. "It''s a lightning element mana stone, it''s only at the second realm, but it should be of some help." Kayden was surprised by the two gifts and, even in pain, bowed in gratitude.


    It was something unexpected, but very welcome for the boy. This stone would accelerate his cultivation and at the same time strengthen his understanding of his element. Before he could truly say thank you, Kayden was taken out of the arena.


    After being healed by the medical team, Kayden was handed over to the director who was jumping with joy. Everyone on his team congratulated him. What he did was ridiculous.


    In another tent, the nobleman who ridiculed Ryan last night was breaking everything around him in uncontrolled rage.


    "How did I lose to that trash?" His voice had been far from reason for a long time. He was eliminated just a few minutes into the competition and seeing Kayden have that unbelievable performance took away the last strands of the boy''s patience.


    "Young master, calm down. The next stage of the championship will be completely yours." The one speaking to him was a wizard dressed in a suit. His tone and movements seemed extremely disjointed as if his bones and muscles were not in sync.


    "Yes, that''s right."


    ********


    The next day, Kayden woke up normally and calmly went to drink his coffee. After taking a few bites of his bread and drinking some coffee, he opened his cell phone and... overnight his social networks exploded with followers.


    He had almost three million followers. Overnight, he became a sub-celebrity. Considering that, in this world, a few million people were a minuscule amount, Kayden was still not a very well-known person.


    But it was still impressive. He could live the rest of his life peacefully just by publishing advertising and receiving percentages. This was the dream of many in their past life.


    The famous dream of being a digital influencer and living in glamor and a fake life. At least that was the dream of many, but Kayden was terrified of having such a calm and boring life.


    Limiting his direct messages and mentions to mutual followers, the boy calmly continued his breakfast. A few hours later, his entire team gathered for the second test of the championship.

 Chapter 121: Second test

    Chapter 121 - Second testThis time, the fights would begin. There was a surreal amount of people participating, and from what Kayden learned, this phase would be a fight between more than one group simultaneously.


    Mainly to reduce the number of participants quickly, five teams entered and only one of them left. But the detail is that the team that eliminated the most opponents could go to the next phase together with the winner of the bubble. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    This gave Kayden a very interesting idea, which was nothing more than attacking everyone like a madman, but logically waiting for the right moments to do so.


    "We''re going to focus on defending at first and then try to take out as many opponents as possible at once," Kayden passed the strategy to his team as they entered a huge bubble.


    There were already two other teams waiting there, and within a few minutes the other two that were missing arrived. The majority there had a balanced composition, Kayden was entirely covered in cloth so as not to be identified.


    He knew what teenagers'' egos were like, and surely some funny guy would try to focus on him to gain credit.


    "We will start in five minutes, everything is allowed except pre-made weapons," a judge dressed in purple was floating in the air. With his instructions, the teams began to prepare.


    Kayden''s team began gathering mana to raise a barrier as soon as the start signal was released. Considering that the three conventional mages on his team would raise the barrier together, it would be stupidly resilient.


    "The fight has begun," the judge''s voice began the confrontation. And as Kayden had imagined, everyone quickly started attacking each other. It looked like a war scene with dozens of spells being cast simultaneously.


    Kayden was just not stunned, as he had already faced a much worse situation in the illusion, with millions of people fighting and dying around him, with the ground and all the trees smelling of blood. This shitty mess of spells wasn''t even close.


    Some came to Kayden''s bubble, but few were in the mood to waste energy tearing down a bubble. Several insults were directed at his team, mainly calling them cowards.


    A few minutes later, most of the competitors were already fighting more carefully. The first confusion of attacks was to test the strength of their opponents and recognize the strong and weak.


    It didn''t take long for the teams'' weak links to be eliminated. The number of people dropped from 25 to 21, there was practically one person from each team of the four. You could tell this was a balanced bubble in strength levels.


    For the next few minutes, the battle became a stalemate. Little by little, the fight became a battle of attrition, with no strong advance on either side. It was practically a fight of who could last longer.


    This lasted for the next thirty minutes and only changed when Kayden''s team bubble started making some strange noises. It was like a drum rhythm, the sound was loud enough to disturb everyone and stop them from fighting.


    The sound was beating harder and faster as the seconds passed. Not only that, but the bubble began to slowly move towards one of the teams.


    Because of the strange situation, she didn''t even retreat. Firstly, they had never seen an apprentice-level bubble moving. Most participants began to feel apprehensive as the rhythm of the beats increased.


    Finally, the bubble began to unravel. Everyone''s vision was 100% focused on seeing what was causing all this confusion. The first thing they saw at the top of the bubble falling by layers was a raised katana.


    "Transcendence", Kayden activated his strongest spell at the same time as he blasted one of the most powerful Pop flashes of his life. Practically everyone around was blinded by the light.


    Kayden rushed at a mage from the nearest team using his bizarre speed because of transcendence. His first blow would cut her in two if the judge didn''t remove her from the arena.


    Kayden didn''t even waste time seeing if she was disqualified. Long ago, he realized that the government officials were fast and he didn''t even need to complete his move for the opponent to be taken out.


    It was a small flaw that he only thought about taking advantage of now. It was enough for him to gain a few milliseconds.


    His next strike was at a knight wielding a large axe. Even though he was blind, he tried to protect his body with a huge weapon. But Kayden was like a snake and tried to hit his unprotected neck.


    One more was eliminated and Kayden ran to the mage a few meters to the side. Even though she managed to briefly regain her vision, that didn''t stop Kayden from removing her from the arena with a well-aimed blow to her neck.


    The other opponent left was a swordsman carrying a spear. He had already regained his vision but was still in shock at the turn of events. His defense was practically done subconsciously.


    The sound of iron against iron made him regain consciousness of where he was and focus on dealing with Kayden. The problem was that the boy was already very close. His spear couldn''t be used in its entirety and Kayden wouldn''t let that happen.


    Each blow from Kayden was defended with the handle of the weapon or, the most he could do was use the spear halfway.


    "What a shit boy," the spearman cursed at Kayden''s persistence in staying on his tail. He didn''t have a second of peace. If he made even one mistake, he would be disqualified.


    One wrong move. That was all it took for Kayden to deliver a concentrated beam of lightning to his opponent and strike his right leg. The cut was deep enough to weaken the spearman movement.


    After that, it was just a matter of a few more strikes for Kayden to finish him without difficulty. In less than 30 seconds, an entire team was eliminthanTaking a breath to catch his breath, Kayden looked around.


    Astolfo and the other three managed to eliminate four other people as well thinks eight casualties for his team alone. Kayden deactivated transcendence and raised his hand.


    "I give up" Along with his sentence, the others on his team also came out surprising everyone who was watching, it took a while for everyone to realize that they were deceived.


    Kayden''s team went on to the next stage, as there was no way any other team could surpass theirs in terms of points for removing opponents, when the two remaining teams understood this they began to fight as if their lives depended

 Chapter 122: The fight against the beast

    Chapter 122 - The fight against the beastBut this had nothing to do with Kayden, he and his team were being taken to the principal again, who was once again ecstatic about his students'' performance. This time it was a joint effort and an excellent example of strategy.


    No matter how strong their opponents were, they were blind and completely unprepared for what happened. In normal situations, none of this would probably have happened.


    "Your strategy was impressive, Kayden," Astolfo was the first to praise when they returned to the hotel. Ryan also agreed with the boy, it was something simple, but it had the desired effect.


    "Tomorrow the real fights will begin, the third and final test to take out the remaining teams is a magical beast of the peak ninth rank," Astolfo''s sister said in a serious tone that made them both agree with her.


    Kayden had already found out about this through rumors spread on the internet, but having confirmation made him apprehensive. It was one thing to fight beasts of your level, something that was already very difficult, but to face a level above and still at the peak of the rank?


    This was something completely different, it would be a ridiculously difficult fight.


    "But that''s something for tomorrow, let''s go out to eat again", Astolfo was the first to encourage the quartet. It seemed like the boy was a source of good energy and enthusiasm.


    **********


    "What the fuck?" Astolfo cursed when he saw the huge crocodile in the center of the arena. It was at least four meters long and covered entirely in scales that looked like metal.


    His aura identified him as a peak beast among his species, a natural predator, born for combat. When the animal opened its mouth, it was possible to see a huge row of completely sharp teeth.


    "You have five minutes to decide your strategy," the judge''s voice boomed above Kayden''s head. The boy was reflecting on the situation. This was the last test before the top 25 came out, that is, this was done to remove only the best of the best among all the participants.


    "Me and Astolfo are going to try to distract him. I want several debilitating spells on him, ice on his paws, stone blocks, anything that weakens his movement", Kayden began to give orders calmly. "First we must remove both of his eyes from functioning. Klaus, your function is to burn the entrances to his body, focus on his mouth, ear, and ass."


    His last order was met with a strange look from his companions, but no one dared to say anything. Even though it wasn''t the prettiest strategy, it was still the best option they had.


    "The battle begins," the judge ordered once the five minutes had passed. The crocodile seemed to regain some degree of consciousness and began to look around. As soon as his eyes landed on Kayden''s team, he let out an animalistic roar and rushed at the five.


    Author''s note: I looked it up and they do roar, it''s quite scary actually. I recommend watching it on YouTube as a curiosity.


    Apart from Kayden, the other four were nervous seeing the huge beast coming towards them. For someone who had fought against human beings all his life, it was not easy to see a frightening beast coming towards him at the speed of a car.


    "Strength and agility," Kayden ordered. And after a second, it received the two "Transcendence" buffs. Going all out at the start, he rushed at the huge beast. Seeing his friend advancing, Astolfo snapped out of his shock and advanced as well.


    Taking advantage of the surprise factor, Kayden used a Pop Flash. It was surprising as the beast had never fought it before and this proved correct when it stopped in its advance with its eyes closed.


    Kayden didn''t even think twice before climbing onto the animal''s back and, holding the katana in both hands, stabbing it into one of its eyes with all the strength he had. A few sparks flew, but his blade failed to penetrate the animal''s eye.


    "Shit," Kayden thought before seeing the animal rolling over to lift him off its back. With a jump, he landed on the other side of the animal and, without giving it time to recover, ran against the crocodile.


    The beast tried to grab Kayden, but its mouth was entirely shaped with a large piece of stone, the magic was so fast that she didn''t even notice, the twins did this by connecting their magic with the target beneath the ground.


    It was slow, but when you had time it was a good strategy, Kayden took this opportunity to jump against the crocodile again, this time he used more than 100% of his strength in an upward blow.


    After many sparks came out, his blade entered the lower part of the eye, the blow resulted in a tower of blood and the blinding of one of the sword''s eyes, the problem was that Kayden''s sword got stuck and when the animal rolled he had to let go.


    At that moment Klaus threw several balls of fire against the animal''s mouth, the fire entered burning all the soft tissues, this made the beast learn a lesson, it shouldn''t roar.


    S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 123: End of the fight [BONUS]

    Chapter 123 - End of the fight [BONUS]With one blind eye and her entire mouth burned, she jumped at Astolfo. The spearman didn''t know exactly how he should attack something so big, so he just flanked it. S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    With a quick swipe of her tail, she threw Astolfo to the other side of the arena. It was so fast that none of them were able to react. The beast ran after the boy with frightening speed, and before Astolfo could even get up, he already had hundreds of teeth in his neck.


    Or at least it would have if he hadn''t been removed from the arena. At that moment, Kayden continued running against the animal. Even without his sword, he still had to do something.


    "Klaus, I need you to get close to burn the other eye," Kayden yelled at the boy. Even though he was shaking with fear, the boy followed Kayden''s command. "I want stone magic on your legs, fast!"


    The girls worked twice as fast to fulfill Kayden''s order in time. When the boy got close to the beast, he saw something he didn''t expect: it was standing still, just watching the boy''s movements.


    It seemed that he had accepted that he was a dangerous enemy and that he should not take action without thinking. This was a classic example of intelligence in magical beasts: the higher their rank, the greater their intelligence.


    "Klaus, be careful", Kayden started running against the animal without even thinking twice. His attack was met with a blow from the animal''s tail at high speed. With a leap, he landed on the animal''s back again.


    His speed was not superior to that of the crocodile, but his battle experience undoubtedly was. This allowed him to predict certain movements of the animal and deal with them in the best possible way.


    Quickly, the animal tried to roll over but found itself prevented by strong restraints across its body. This small amount of time was enough for Kayden to reach for his sword and, against the expectations of those watching, he did not remove the weapon.


    Instead, he dug in deeper and swung the blade, drawing a roar of pain from the animal. Realizing his mistake, the crocodile quickly closed his mouth, but at no point was that the team''s goal.


    A super-concentrated fireball that was launched at low speed hit his healthy eye at this moment. The fire came directly into contact with his organ and burned everything in sight.


    This time, the pain was much greater. With an increase in strength caused by its survival instincts, the beast broke free from its restraints and rolled to take Kayden away. His next move was to run away. The boy jumped to the opposite side of her.


    Or at least she tried. Since her sense of direction always depended on her vision, she wasn''t very aware of where each of her attackers was. She ran to the center of the arena and stood still.


    She didn''t know what to do. She was always the king of her kind. No one dared challenge his reign, and even those who did were ruthlessly killed.


    "Girls, tie her back up carefully and circulate the air," Kayden ordered as he stood up. "Klaus, keep an eye out for any sign of him opening his mouth." As soon as he passed the orders, Kayden began to walk slowly.


    His footsteps were practically inaudible and with the air being circulated, the beast couldn''t even pick up Kayden''s scent. She was practically waiting to be shot down.


    This was an execution from the beginning and Kayden knew it. The superiority of reasoning in this case was great and with him acting as the front line, his team was not in danger of being removed from the arena, at least the majority.


    When he was just a meter away from the animal, he raised his hand, and with his signal, several stone vines began to attach themselves to the animal. At that moment, he ran to retrieve his sword.


    The beast even tried to move away, but the time it took to free itself from its bonds was enough for Kayden to grab the katana. Along with that, he also fired a concentrated beam into the animal''s eye.


    Unfortunately, it wasn''t enough to melt the crocodile''s brain into jelly, but it slowed its movements significantly, almost as if only one lobe of the brain was damaged.


    "Prepare a cocoon for me." This was one of his plans a long time ago and it finally had the opportunity to be put into practice.


    Without opening its mouth, the beast started to run but crashed head-on into an earthen wall. In the meantime, a wall nearly 4 meters thick was erected around them by the twins.


    Considering it was just piled dirt, it cost almost no mana. Kayden ran against the animal and, taking a risky stance, threw himself under the animal.


    The space he had was little, but it was enough for a blow from his sword to cut the beast''s abdomen from one side to the other. The animal noticed the attacker beneath its body and, in an attempt to crush him, released all its weight.


    Unfortunately for her, Kayden was already in a hole six feet above the ground. The beast began to run against the earthen wall again and crashed violently into it. Its huge body made the ground shake every time it hit the wall.


    It didn''t take long for her to break through the barrier. Unfortunately for her, Kayden was on the other side and again attacked from below. This time, the boy put all the rest of his mana into a concentrated beam.


    His katana went through the wound that was already open and his spell burned several of the animal''s organs. She didn''t even have the strength to try to crush Kayden. His body just fell to the ground at such a speed that the boy was able to easily get out.


    Kayden deactivated transcendence and collapsed to the ground. The boy didn''t even have the strength to stand up. This match lasted a little longer than he would have liked, fortunately, it didn''t go beyond a point that would leave consequences for the next few days.


    "The battle is over." The judge ended it when he saw that the beast was no longer able to fight. "The team advances to the next phase."

 Chapter 124: Two agreements [ BONUS]

    Chapter 124 - Two agreements [ BONUS]Kayden gave a satisfied smile. His team was among the top 25 in the region. That was a noteworthy feat. As soon as they returned, the director cried with emotion. His school had never gotten this far.


    This time, he could brag to the whole city. Even the elite private schools didn''t perform that well this year, with only one of them managing to rank in the top 25.


    Something Kayden reflected on was how they got there with relative ease. The tests were not something difficult or something that only a small privileged group could pursue. They were balanced tests.


    Apart from the last one, the fight with the beast, you needed to have a certain level of strength and strategy well honed. Furthermore, strength was not the most important thing. For example, in the case of Astolfo.


    Even though the boy was at a high rank, he was eliminated without even being able to land a single blow.


    The next day''s test would be the fights between the teams. First, the 24 best would face each other and then the 12 best.


    Until reaching the number of 3 best and, at that moment, there would be four teams: the 3 from this tournament and another team that won the last tournament and already had a guaranteed place in the semifinals.


    Kayden was already happy with his current prize. It wasn''t every day that you got a mana stone from the second realm and, best of all, it would be your second, as you had the elder''s prizes.


    *********


    The next day, Kayden woke up normally and ate his meal peacefully while waiting for his friends. Normally, he was the first to wake up. A few hours later, his entire team was gathered in front of the hotel.


    Again, the principal took them to his school tent. This time, they arrived well in advance. Each match lasted a maximum of one hour and then 30 minutes of rest.


    It was a short time, but that was the intention. The tournament started at 10 am and the final battles would only take place in the evening. It was practically a separate show from the entire championship.


    Author''s Note: I hate writing fights, why.


    When it was time for the competition, Kayden and her team were taken by the director to the center of the event. When they arrived, Kayden had a bad feeling. He saw the same boy who had called him "king of kings" earlier.


    His team was four knights looking like giant blocks of meat. They didn''t even remotely look like normal teenagers. Without a doubt, they were knights focused especially on the physical.


    "You have five minutes to think about your strategy", the judge''s voice resounded throughout the entire arena. Meanwhile, Kayden was thinking about how to deal with this team, probably the boy was at a very high level.


    He remembered what happened and had no doubt that this was a losing battle, time was frozen. He didn''t say that to anyone, because who would believe that a mere boy could stop time and not only that, but also in front of two elders.


    "The fight has started", the judge ordered as soon as five minutes had passed.


    "Kayden, how about a deal?" A mischievous smile appeared on the boy''s lips. "I give you the game and you owe me one more favor?" The proposal took Kayden by surprise, but it was short-lived.


    "As long as it''s something acceptable, I''ll accept it", Kayden didn''t even think twice before agreeing, and seeing his answer the boy smiled.


    "My name is Thoth, remember that", along with his sentence, everyone on his team raised their hands and gave up the match. Just like that, another match was over. Even the judge was surprised.


    Author''s note: remember this name, it will be very important in the future, but in like a thousand Chapters. /: S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    A withdrawal at this stage of the championship was unheard of, everyone who arrived here fought as if their life depended on it, as they didn''t know if they could ever get here again.


    "That..." Astolfo scratched his head as they were taken to the director. "It was weird." No matter how much his team pestered him, Kayden continued to say that he didn''t know why Thoth withdrew from the match.


    And deep down that was true, he didn''t know who the boy was, but without a doubt he was dangerous. The director this time even fainted with emotion and when it was time for the next match, a government official took them.


    As soon as they arrived at the bubble they came across another person that Kayden also didn''t want to see under any circumstances, the old man''s son was standing in the center of the arena. His aura was not that of someone ordinary and Kayden''s instincts screamed at him to avoid the boy.


    "You have five minutes to think of a strategy", the judge gave the basic instructions for the match.


    "Kayden!" The red-haired boy spoke in surprise, he didn''t expect to see Kayden so far ahead in the championship, after finding out from his grandfather that the boy was just a boy in the eighth realm of a random public school, all his hopes of having a strong opponent were taken away. from him.


    "Hello", Kayden tried to be friendly and gave the boy a nod, he didn''t know exactly how to react.


    "My name is Alexandre Ron Pei ", his name was that of a nobleman. "I don''t know how you got here, but this is your last fight, my entire team is at the peak of the ninth realm." When Kayden heard this his jaw almost dropped.

 Chapter 125: Duel

    Chapter 125 - DuelFive people at the peak of the apprentice realm, he didn''t even know how this was possible. The other four who were with him were wizards, but it was not possible to get any more information, as they were entirely covered in clothes and wore black masks.


    His team''s morale simply plummeted. It was too big a leap for them to cover with their ranks.


    "But don''t be discouraged, I want a duel with you", Alexandre smiled. "The winner gets everything and the loser gets nothing, what do you think?" Another surprising proposal was made in this tournament.


    Everyone watching stopped watching the other fights and focused on this one. On one side, the Monster of the North and, on the other, the son of the ruling family of that state. Everyone had seen Alexander''s fight against the beast.


    It was a massacre. The boy alone cut the animal into pieces using a modified sword, instead of just a sharp tip, his weapon had four sides of the blade sharpened.


    "Kayden... I will trust your choice", Astolfo was the first to speak and then received the support of the other three. It wasn''t like they had many options anyway.


    None of them were cowards, but they knew this was an unwinnable fight. So, if they had even the slightest chance to proceed to the next step, they would grab it with full force.


    "I accept your proposal," Kayden was ready to use his final trump card. This was a fight that would gain him a lot of experience. "Transcendence", Kayden used the final phase of his technique.


    He had already accepted that this would be his last fight in the tournament, but it would be worth it. In less than a second, his entire aura changed. Practically all the high-level mages who had their spiritual sense in the fight got a shock.


    Kayden looked like he was about to collapse from too much mana. His breath exuded a ridiculous degree of mana in gaseous form. But that wasn''t the most ridiculous thing. And yes, he looked like a small black hole swallowing the surrounding mana.


    "I''m coming," Kayden warned before picking up momentum and far surpassing the speed of a normal ninth rank. His first blow was parried by Alexandre at the limit of what was tolerable.


    The match almost ended there.


    "He''s at the eighth rank!?" His delay in defending was because of the speed with which Kayden reached him. It was just bizarre. But Alexandre was not someone normal either.


    A mere average ninth rank would never be able to match him. Over the next few seconds, an exchange of insanely fast blows were exchanged between the two. Each strike cut through the air at a terrifying speed.


    Kayden looked like a snake with quick, connected strikes. Every time he finished an attack, another one would land almost instantly. On the other hand, Alexander looked like a lion with strong blows.


    It was clear that the techniques used by the two were different. While Kayden had subtlety, Alexandre had strength.


    "I can barely follow their movements with my eyes," Astolfo muttered and began to wonder when Kayden opened such a big gap between them.


    None of them were using any spells. Almost like an unspoken mutual agreement between the two. His fight had barely lasted 5 seconds and he was already the center of attention throughout the event.


    Since when were wizard apprentices so fast? Kayden and Alexandre went into a kind of hyperfocus, neither of them had any thoughts in their minds, it was simply a big void.


    Only his strikes mattered. There was no hesitation whatsoever between his movements. The exchange of blows was looking like a dance. Kayden struck on the side and Alexandre dodged with a feint and then followed with a frontal blow.


    Kayden just countered with the flat part of his blade and tried to attack the boy''s opening, but his opponent was not new and fixed his opening, forcing another attack against Kayden.


    ''Is he crazy?????'' Kayden continued his attack towards Alexandre''s neck, the boy saw that he was going to receive a blow to the shoulder and, in these conditions, his experience spoke louder than his self-protection instincts.


    Alexandre took a step back at the last moment, avoiding a fatal blow, but still received a cut across his chest from one end to the other. Even though it was medium in size, it was still the first blood spilled in the duel. S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Alexandre began to take this seriously as a life-and-death battle and, without caring about the consequences, began using his family''s technique. A strong red aura covered his rapier.


    Her weapon no longer made noise as it cut through the air, it was almost as if she was ignoring air resistance. This greatly increased his speed and, consequently, the strength of his blows.


    Every save from Kayden caused his fingers to shake, but that didn''t diminish his aggressive style. If his opponent was stronger, he just had to stop him from attacking.


    His sword technique was perfect for this. After a few more blows, Alexandre managed to make a deep cut on Kayden''s rib, in exchange for having one of his legs pierced by the katana.


    The fight quickly escalated into a melee of exchanged blows. Within seconds, they were both dripping blood from every part of their bodies. Alexander had never fought such an exciting battle before in his life.


    All of his opponents were either too weak for him or were afraid of his family. This was one of the only times in his life that he had been injured in battle and it was turning out to be the best fight he had ever had.


    "I give up," Kayden took two steps back and quickly shouted at the judge. His time limit was up. His withdrawal was so unexpected that even Alexander froze in his movement, not knowing what to do.


    The judge took him to heaven in moments and, along with him, all the other members of the two teams too.


    "I reached the limit of my technique, it was a great battle", Kayden smiled at Alexandre.


    "Indeed, we will fight again when we are stronger," Alexander replied.


    Kayden couldn''t hear the rest of the sentence as his body collapsed from exhaustion. Fortunately, he was being held by the judge. If not, your fainting could have cost you much more than a good night''s sleep.


    Author''s Note: The next Chapter begins the real story:

 Chapter 126: Torture

    Chapter 126 - TortureNOTICE!!!! -> This Chapter may be a little unpleasant for some people, it involves physical and psychological torture, I tried to make it as mild as possible, but this part was necessary


    "Slowly, Kayden," Ryan supported Kayden as he tried to get up from the hotel bed. "You exhausted yourself too much," a lecturing tone was felt by Kayden.


    "Relax, Ryan, I''ll be back to normal in a bit." It would probably take a week again or even longer, because this time he went a little further than he should have, but the boy forgave himself for that mistake. It was too exciting a battle for him not to give 100% of himself.


    "I ordered food for you," Ryan pointed to the table with a nice plate of fruit and bread. "The last fights will be in four hours, there''s time for you to eat and we can go watch the final." Kayden readily agreed this would be a good time to gain experience.


    OCD! OCD!


    Several knocks on the door were heard by the two, Ryan didn''t remember anyone who was going to come visit them now, and Kayden''s team stayed behind after learning that the boy''s life was not at risk.


    "It must be the hotel staff, I''m going to go and see", Ryan got up and went towards the door, as soon as he opened it he was in for a big surprise.


    "Hello", the red-haired nobleman from a few previous nights was standing in front of the door, next to him was a man in a suit wearing a black mask leaving only his eyes visible.


    "What do you want?" Ryan didn''t have any good feelings towards this noble and didn''t show any friendly attitude. The response he received was a laugh and then the wizard simply froze Ryan with his mana.


    "Hello, monster of the north," Kayden turned around in surprise upon hearing the strange voice and found himself facing the two intruders and Ryan behind in the air. The boy didn''t even think twice before jumping to the hotel phone.


    Quickly dialing the emergency number, he turned to the two and received a cynical smile from the boy.


    "You think I didn''t think of that, idiot?" At that moment Kayden was immobilized by an invisible gel around him, no matter how much he tried to escape, nothing happened. The nobleman sat on a kitchen chair and stretched.


    "What do you want? We have no money or anything valuable," Kayden said with a neutral tone.


    "My name is KevinAshford, the heir of a duke and...", his tone began to get angry, "and I didn''t make it into the top 25, but a disgusting commoner did, how ridiculous isn''t it?"


    Kayden didn''t like the boy''s tone, he seemed exactly like the nobles in the novels of his past life, arrogant and a little crazy.


    "And not only that, but he was the commoner friend of the guy who humiliated me", he started laughing to himself, "so I decided to take my anger out on you". This time his tone was serious and Kayden understood that he was screwed.


    "Marco", with the young man''s command, the masked man took two black balls from his pocket. "Each of you will take one of them, one pellet is poison that will burn all the veins in your body for the next few days and the other is just rice dough."


    ''Shit'', Kayden didn''t know what to do, his body didn''t even respond to his movements, and his mana sense was at its lowest. At that moment Ryan broke free of the wizard''s spell and ran against him without thinking twice.


    Crack!


    Ryan''s nose was crushed in the wizard''s hand before he could even think of anything.


    "You were released, you worm, do you think you could escape alone?" the nobleman said as he kicked Ryan in the face, causing even more blood to come out. "Heal him," with his order, the masked wizard punched Ryan in the face again. S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    " Oops ", pretending to have made a mistake, the wizard apologized and healed the boy on the ground. "Behave now, okay?" he said as he broke Ryan''s finger with a crazy laugh.


    "Already good", the nobleman ordered him to stop, not because of mercy but because he didn''t want Ryan to break before the show he prepared. "Choose a ball, commoner."


    The noble threw them both to the ground facing a completely knocked-out Ryan on the ground. During this entire moment, Kayden was a sea of emotions inside, and the worst thing was that he couldn''t do anything.


    He seemed to be reliving his previous life when he lost Nicolas without being able to do anything but watch. When Ryan recovered, he refused to eat the pellet, and another round of beating and healing was done.


    "Let me eat", Kayden said and received a maddened look from the masked man.


    "Who allowed you to speak?" The beating was now over to Kayden and he didn''t even feel any real pain. His resistance to pain was ridiculously high, but he still pretended to be in great pain so that the two of them would get it over with.


    After a few minutes, the nobleman ordered Kayden to choose, and the boy had already accepted reality and simply ate either of the two. At this moment, Kayden did not have any turbulent feelings within him.


    It was not time to be carried away by emotions, he had to be cold and look for the best chance of survival, because in the future he could take revenge, but for that, he had to be alive.


    "It looks like you got lucky," the nobleman said after a few seconds without Kayden expressing any reaction. "Now it''s your turn", and at the same time, he turned to Ryan, this time he didn''t wait for the boy''s refusal and just ordered the wizard to force the ball down the boy''s throat.


    Kayden saw Ryan fall to the ground right after swallowing the ball, the boy started screaming nonstop and all the veins in his body started to stand out, the problem was that they were red, as if they were on fire.


    ''Shit, shit, shit, think Kayden, think'', the boy was free, but still stuck in reality, there was nothing he could do. The minutes began to pass and Ryan continued to scream louder and louder.


    It felt like a very strong pain. Finally, Kayden couldn''t take it anymore and attacked the nobleman, he simply lost control over himself, before he could even take a step, his face was punched by the wizard.


    What followed was a beating sequence and when Kayden regained consciousness, Ryan was still on the floor twitching, the nobleman was sitting in the chair playing on his cell phone, completely uninterested in what was happening.


    This torture lasted for the next two hours, at least that was how long the nobleman told Kayden. Every five minutes, the wizard would come and beat him and remind him to watch Ryan''s torture.


    Kayden was in a vegetable state, his mind was simply blank, he couldn''t deal with the situation and there was nothing he could do.


    "Hey Kevin, I think this one is about to die", the wizard commented casually to the nobleman. His speech finally brought Kayden out of his mental seclusion.

 Chapter 127: Torture[2]

    Chapter 127 - Torture[2]"Kill him, this shit has no one protecting him ." Before Kayden could reason and understand what was happening, the wizard burned Ryan to ashes with a fire spell. An endless hatred began to well up in Kayden.


    "Again the same shitty fate was screwing up his life and he couldn''t do anything but exist." Kayden started pulling in all the mana around him like crazy.


    "His veins were hurting and burning at an absurd level, but even so he continued without caring about anything, his mind had lost its reason a long time ago." Within seconds, he forced his body to a level beyond the second stage of transcendence.


    "All the mana in the room was being dried by the boy, it was almost ten meters of space in the apartment and he kept sucking it like crazy, within seconds he absorbed everything around him." Kayden estimated that he was at least five times stronger than when he fought Alexander, without wasting time he turned towards the nobleman, even if he lost his life, that was his goal.


    "Putting all the mana in his veins to work, he... couldn''t do anything. The man was rejecting his orders." "Let''s go! Do!" No matter how hard he tried, the mana''s will did not obey him.


    "He was disowned." His only true confidence in his second life was himself and his strength, even if it wasn''t much, he could still utilize it however he wanted.


    "But in the end, he was wrong. His mana considered him unworthy to use it, he could almost feel its mockery, the amount he absorbed was too much and there was no time for him to digest it."


    "Look what a joke young master, he can''t even use the mana he absorbed." The two began to laugh as if a big joke had been told between the two. Reality began to knock on Kayden''s door.


    "Unfortunately, he didn''t have time to reason before his entire body started to catch fire; it was an unbearable pain that started to grow uncontrollably throughout his body."


    "I forgot to say that one of the balls also had poison. I was just a little late." That was the last thing Kayden could hear before pain overwhelmed all of his senses.


    "The intensity was similar to when he was going through the first time in his advance, even though his body was completely dominated by pain, the boy was relatively calm in mind."


    "His focus now was to survive, at any costs, he slowly started heading towards the entrance of the apartment, every inch that his body moved took a few minutes."


    "He wasn''t sure where the noble was with the wizard, but he didn''t care, his mind was clear on his goals, nothing else mattered beyond that." Kayden had no idea how much time had passed when he leaned against the wall by the door.


    "Fortunately, his spatial memory was good enough to take him to the right place, at this moment the right part of his body was barely functioning, his left arm supported all his strength to bring his body to his knees."


    "The door opened to the outside and Kayden''s body fell out, the boy continued to crawl towards the elevators." His determination reached an inhuman level, he was going to kill the noble and the wizard.


    "His revenge would extend to everyone who bore the Ashford name, he didn''t care, even if he needed to kill a god or overthrow an empire, it would be done, whatever the cost."


    "Kayden!?" Darkness took over Kayden after hearing Astolfo''s sentence.


    *********


    At a hospital in Kayden''s hometown, two people were talking. One of them looked extremely worried as the conversation continued.


    "Are you sure, doctor?" David asked, not believing what he heard.


    "Yes, he will probably never be able to use mana again in his life, even if I heal his wounds. And even then, he may never be able to move again," the other voice said, without hesitation.


    "Please heal him. I will pay the agreed amount of 1 billion gold coins, don''t worry about it."


    All this time, Kayden was just listening. He had been awake for a few minutes, but the only thing he could do was listen. He quickly understood that he was in a similar situation to his first life.


    Confirmation came with the conversation between David and the doctor. After learning about his condition, the only thing he did was try to sense the mana... and nothing. It was as if he had returned to when he was born.


    He didn''t feel a shred of mana in the air or his body. When he calmed down, memories of the event came back like a bolt of lightning in his mind. An endless hatred assaulted his emotions.


    Not only for the nobleman but also for the sister who disowned him. This betrayal he felt was something that hurt more than all the physical pain caused by the ball. Why didn''t she obey his commands?


    He withdrew the main will of the mana, he was sure of it. The residue shouldn''t be enough even to hinder the most basic spell. His reflection lasted only a few seconds and he concluded that his cleaning was inefficient.


    "Never use mana again." That phrase started repeating itself in his mind over and over again. Time stopped making sense to Kayden. Any hope he had was shattered. He didn''t know what to do.


    "Even if it costs me my life." That''s what Kayden thought when he remembered the nobleman''s face. At that moment, reason returned to his mind. He still had dozens of years ahead of him.


    With a lot of hard work, he could feel mana again. Maybe it was something he would never get even close to, but that didn''t matter. The last barrier separating Kayden from something inhuman was broken. Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    His emotions were buried deep in his mind. He had a goal and that was all that mattered. Kayden was a strong person, even with the stress of his previous life, he had never truly broken.


    But now it was different.


    "Even if I have to kill millions."


    Ethics and morals meant nothing to him now.


    Kayden couldn''t think of anything else as unconsciousness soon took over him.

 Chapter 128: Path

    Chapter 128 - PathOver the next few days, Kayden continued to alternate between consciousness and unconsciousness.


    "Healing process initiated," a voice brought Kayden out of his thoughts. He knew he was about to be healed, as he had heard the conversations before. The boy felt nothing for the next few minutes.


    "This..." Kayden concentrated as much as possible. "Sis, this is sis." The boy felt, albeit faintly, a little bit of mana. It was a tiny amount, barely enough to perform a basic spell.


    Not even lighting a small fire above the fingers would be possible. The first thing Kayden did was... take out all the accumulated hate. With all his willpower and concentration, he began to pluck mana from the will of the world.


    Slowly, he imposed his will on her. He was no longer asking, but ordering. The mana would be yours and completely submissive to your desires. Most of the world''s will was wiped clean easily, but the remnants were bound tightly to mana.


    The boy had no idea how much time he spent cleaning every tiny bit of remaining will. His sense of time was lost long ago. For every 1% of progress, he gained twice the difficulty.


    Time passed slowly. Kayden''s body was already fully healed. He could get up now and try to live a normal life, but the boy was in a self-induced coma.


    It''s been three months with Kayden just refining the tiny bit of mana. After all this time, he finally managed to reach the end. There was just something minimal missing.


    "Bend over," Kayden ordered in his mind. And with all his willpower, the mana was cleared. "Finally..." The boy couldn''t finish the sentence. He found himself floating in the middle of outer space.


    All around him were gigantic stars and planets. Kayden felt tiny next to the size of the things around him. No matter where he looked, everything was gigantic.


    "Beautiful." That was the only thing he could say. The creation of the universe was a beautiful thing. Kayden had no way of denying the existence of a superior deity. Only a rational being could create something so spectacular.


    "But what am I doing here?" He perfectly remembered taking away the mana''s will.


    CRACK!


    Kayden felt crushed to the floor. Every inch of his body felt like he was carrying a mountain. The boy wasn''t bothered by the pain and tried to reason what was happening.


    Two golden eyes stared at him. He didn''t know where they had come from and couldn''t even see them. It was information that was introduced into his mind. As soon as he realized this, the weight on his body multiplied thousands of times.


    But that wasn''t the main thing. A surreal headache took over Kayden. It seemed like all the pain in his life was insignificant next to this. He couldn''t even think.


    His only action was to stay on the ground. A world of pain was presented to Kayden at an absurd intensity. The nobleman''s torture would be compared to affection. Time started to pass.


    The only thing keeping Kayden alive was his subconscious willpower. Living was embedded in his soul. He still had many goals in his life. In six months, there hadn''t been a single thought inside Kayden''s head. But after that, it was different.


    Reason slowly returned to the boy. He got used to the pain. This didn''t mean he was 100% functional, but he was now able to orient himself. The first thing he noticed was the golden gaze fixed on him.


    Kayden stared at him in kind and the pressure in his body increased even more. He didn''t care. It was clear to him, after all this time. This was a battle of wills.


    Yours against the mana of the world. He did not doubt that he was facing the battle of his life. Either he would subdue the mana or he would be subdued. This last option would probably result in his death.


    The pressure in his body increased more and more. He didn''t even have a correct comparison to make anymore. The pain in his mind was constant. It was as if this was the most a human being could feel.


    Time passed quickly.


    Days.


    Weeks.


    Months.


    Kayden remained firm in his goals. After four months, he was able to move his head, it was minimal, but it was progress.


    Time passed again.


    Days.


    Weeks.


    Months.


    Kayden managed to lift his entire head off the ground. Progress was slow but steady.


    Time passed quickly.


    Days.


    Weeks.


    Months.


    It had been a year since Kayden regained his sanity and, at that moment, he only had his torso raised, his hands couldn''t even support his body, it was practically his abdomen pushing on itself.


    Time passed quickly.


    Days.


    Weeks.


    Months.


    A year later, control of both of Kayden''s hands was regained. Even with all this progress, the pain and pressure were the same, but the pressure continued to increase, Kayden didn''t know how far it would go.


    And most importantly, at no point did he stop looking at the immense golden eyes floating in the void. He didn''t even blink.


    Time passed quickly.


    Days.


    Weeks.


    Months. S§×ar?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden managed to regain control of his two legs, practically his entire body was under his control, but he still hadn''t been able to get up, his eyes were stopping him.


    Time passed quickly.


    Days.


    Weeks.


    Months.


    It had been five years since Kayden had been facing the will of the world, that was how long it took him to be able to stand up and find the golden eyes above him, during all that time he could only have the sensation of seeing the eyes.


    There were two gigantic golden planets, Kayden couldn''t even define where it began and where it ended, each color in the eye looked like a planet, and the eyes were pure gold with some black dots.


    Kayden felt in front of a true god, the feeling he had was of insignificance, like a grain of sand in the entire universe, his death or triumph didn''t matter at all, in just a few years he would be forgotten in the river of time.


    ''And? '' Kayden didn''t care about recognition or anything like that, that pressure didn''t mean anything to him. He understood all this time that he was the god of his existence.


    The man was not able to resist his strength, his eyes met with golden eyes. He would no longer be submissive to anyone, they could break his body, but not his will.

 Chapter 129: Birth of a monarch

    Chapter 129 - Birth of a monarchThat place... was his mind. This whole time he was facing something inside his head. He was the master of himself, the owner of his will.


    "Get down on your knees"


    Kayden rose above the eyes. This time, the size difference became even greater, but it still didn''t matter. The pressure on his body was unimaginable, but it was nothing compared to Kayden''s willpower.


    This was the last stage and the situation finally reversed. Kayden was applying pressure to the eye. An invisible fight began between the two, it felt like a man pushing a boulder against a mountain.


    Time passed quickly.


    Days.


    Weeks.


    Months.


    Years.


    Ten years passed before Kayden managed to break the balance. This time, even with the difference in size between Kayden and the eye, the boy still seemed bigger, his aura was more oppressive.


    "Get down on your knees"


    The same words he repeated thousands of times during these years finally took effect. The huge golden ball finally expressed some reaction. This time she blinked, but that was all.


    "When you reach the false peak, look for me"


    Those were the words that resonated in the boy''s mind before he lost consciousness.


    Chapter 2


    David had not only paid for Kayden''s surgery but also cared for him throughout this time. It took a while for Han to accept his request, but after signing a few contracts, the old man accepted David''s request.


    Kayden was placed in a room where the variation of mana in the environment and his body was monitored 24 hours a day. Their vital signs and many other points were monitored in real-time and, if a variation occurred, a medical team was called immediately by artificial intelligence.


    BEP! BEP!


    An incessant sound began playing while David was in the middle of a meeting. At a huge table with almost fifty seats, everyone turned to him. This was something unheard of, no one had ever dared to enter this room with their cell phone on.


    Before anyone could reason about what was happening, David stood up abruptly from his chair.


    "Master!"


    David looked desperate. "I need to go out, I''m sorry about that, but it''s something very important to me!"


    A woman who seemed to be shrouded in darkness sat at the end of the table. No features of her were visible, she was practically a shadow.


    "You will still have to pay for your crime."


    His voice was neutral, but it sent a shiver through everyone in the room.


    "Even if I have to put my head on this table, I will gladly accept it."


    His words sparked the curiosity of everyone in the place to know what was so important that he was willing to trade for his life.


    "Can go."


    *********


    In a very distant place


    In a very distant place, outside of space and time, a dragon was lying down. Its size was monstrous, reaching more than a few hundred kilometers. It could easily be confused with a mountain.


    "Master," a smaller dragon called from elsewhere. It was difficult to say when or where this voice came from, as space did not exist in this place and time did not pass, it was as if the entire existence existed in the same time and place. "A monarch has arisen."


    The gigantic dragon opened its eyes in surprise. This was an infrequent event. His perfect memory reminded him perfectly of when the last one came.


    "It''s been a few billion years, hasn''t it?", he commented amicably, not even seeming to be the lord of several universes.


    "The last one was the human king, sir, do you want me to give the orders to look for him? He appeared in our area", the smaller dragon seemed eager to reach this person.


    "Yes...", he was interrupted before the bigger dragon could say anything.


    "I don''t allow them to look for him," a voice resounded out of nowhere. The two dragons remained motionless. Time had no direction in this place, so it was not possible to know how long they just stood still, but it was very long.


    "What was that sir?", the smaller dragon broke the silence after a long while.


    "I don''t know, but for him to be able to resonate his voice in here... that means he''s on the last step", a huge sigh came out of the dragon''s mouth. "Do nothing or our race could be annihilated in seconds."


    "I see", the doubt in the smaller dragon''s head was who that voice belonged to.


    *********


    Note: Get used to Kayden taking a thousand steps back to be able to take 1001 steps forward, that''s his personality type and he will always be willing to change everything to move even a millimeter forward.


    Kayden found himself on a large bed connected to dozens of wires. This time the boy had no confusion in his thoughts, as it was just like changing scenes, he didn''t even become unconscious.


    The first thing he did was look at his body. Firstly, he grew a lot and secondly, he no longer had any trace of mana, his heart didn''t even exist anymore. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    " Humph ", with a snort from Kayden, all the mana in the environment began to face his will and almost instantly all of it became neutral, or rather, without any trace of the will of the world.


    Easily directing all the mana into his chest, he began to build another heart, this time much stronger, using only pure mana that he completely commanded.


    His eyes turned a shade of blue for a few seconds because of the amount of mana that was entering his system. Slowly he shaped his new heart. The pain that always came with every process Kayden did was present, but it didn''t even take away a bit of his concentration.


    This amount of pain was simply insignificant to him. Again he repeated the process he had done years ago, he slowly built each cavity of the heart, manipulating the mana to fill each space.


    This time he managed to fix small mistakes that he didn''t have enough experience to notice in the past. The process was incredibly smoother and faster. What previously took almost an hour, this time it took barely 10 minutes.


    The mana came in a constant flow and his control reached an absurd level. Now he was just fixing the primary functions of the heart, like beating and... pulling in mana and completely cleansing it of the will of the world.


    That last part was something he decided on now and it was proving to be quite easy. He just had to make the mana go through several cycles inside the heart before it could be released.


    It was something done automatically, it was similar to training your immune system against a disease. In this case, the vaccine was a weaker virus and that was what Kayden was doing. Slowly the will of the world in mana was presented to his body as something bad.


    Another ten minutes later Kayden finished the process. He felt his body begin to be elevated to the first apprentice level and...

 Chapter 130 - 4 years after the coma

    Chapter 130 - 4 years after the coma"I am the master of my body." He stopped the force of natural advancement provided by nature and began to control where and how each thing would be improved. The pain of the process was hellish, but he didn''t even blink.


    His veins were being shaped to withstand more pressure than if the world had just raised his level naturally. Furthermore, he was making them in directions that would allow for better circulation of total mana.


    "It''s done." Kayden finished the process stinking because of the amount of impurities his body released. The boy was skinny and did not appear to be in good health.


    The boy began to pull all the surrounding mana into him. Slowly, his control expanded more and more. What he was doing was similar to entering the last stage of transcendence, only this time the amount of mana was even greater than when he was at the eighth rank.


    His eyes took on a blue glow and his breath was exuding mana in gaseous form. But the boy still hadn''t reached the point he wanted. His instincts were guiding him.


    He felt that even with his entire body cracking, he still hadn''t gotten to where he wanted to be. The man began to become unstable for a few dozen meters, almost as if he understood that something big was happening.


    "More, I want more." Kayden went into an absurd trance. Slowly, his control extended to nearly thirty meters around him. At this range, his mastery over mana was absolute.


    CRACK!


    Kayden felt something break inside him. His entire life was separated into before and after this moment in his mind. He finally understood his path. That was decades ago.


    Without him realizing it, this process had already begun in his other life and then in limbo, it was further refined. Those mere four years in limbo easily amounted to decades.


    If you add it, Kayden could easily achieve a century of productivity in this pursuit. The boy''s mind became calm.


    "I am a monarch." Kayden finally understood his life''s purpose. He was a king, nothing more. The entire man around the boy seemed to bow. It sounded like they were shouting in celebration of the birth of a king.


    "Kayden?" David''s voice came through the door. And as soon as Kayden''s eyes met David''s, the scientist almost had a heart attack. The pressure from the boy and the environment caused an instinctive fear in David.


    It felt like he was facing a living god. His mana bowed to him. His very existence felt wrong in space as if he were something ancient and dangerous that shouldn''t exist.


    In all his life, David had never been so afraid of anything as he was now. He felt tiny, like an ant facing an elephant.


    Pooft!


    Kayden fell to the ground unconscious. And David finally snapped out of the trance he was in and went to check on the boy. He was in shock to see the boy with something similar to the core and knew it was the mana heart they developed in the past.


    What he didn''t know was that it was no longer a mana heart, but a tyrannical mana heart.


    ***********


    "So it''s been three and a half years?" Kayden asked as he devoured some pasta and meatballs made by David. The boy had just woken up from another seven days of sleep.


    "Yes," David confirmed Kayden''s question. The boy didn''t know how long he stayed in there, but he was sure it was much longer than here. Time probably ran differently there.


    Kayden was fascinated by this, the ability to manipulate time itself.


    "What happened in that time, David?" The boy finally asked the question he had been putting off. The scientist gave a big sigh before continuing.


    "The nobleman who did this to you was unharmed, his family was too strong for us to do anything. The footage and evidence were buried." Kayden didn''t even change his expression, he already expected something like this. "The army also broke the contract with you, they came while you were unconscious."


    This Kayden didn''t expect, but he didn''t care either. After discovering his path, he no longer doubted that he would be able to reach the top in a short time.


    "Astolfo entered one of the most reputable elite colleges in the kingdom and Heimer continues to do very well and excel in the matrices field." David had done some research on Kayden''s friends to stay informed. "They came to visit you once every few months."


    In short, Kayden didn''t miss much.


    "One year," Kayden muttered to himself.


    "What''s a year old, Kayden?" David could hear even though he was short.


    "I''m 13 years old, I can still enter the Sol Academy." David remained silent for a moment, not knowing what to say. He didn''t expect to hear this and didn''t believe at all that there was time, even though he witnessed that scene seven days ago.


    The two didn''t discuss anything about it, David understood that it was Kayden''s secret.


    "Please take me to the orphanage, David," Kayden asked, he already had a plan to improve his rank, and that involved using the mana stone from the forest.


    "Thank you, Heimer." Kayden thanked the boy for taking him to the forest. Luckily, Kayden was lucky enough to wake up in December, and during that time, his brother was on vacation. This was better than him revealing the secret to someone else.


    The boy didn''t have time to have a proper conversation with Han, it seemed like the old man was avoiding him. Probably out of shame for not being able to protect Kayden and Ryan or for not being able to even take revenge for them.


    The boy also had to invent a miraculous excuse for his cure and he... threw all the responsibility on David. He simply said that the scientist had found an exceptional healer and did not go into further detail.


    "I''ll be back in a week, Kayden." The boy said after Kayden entered the tree. He still hadn''t quite accepted the fact that Kayden spent seven whole days there, isolated. This seemed impossible, Heimer was sure he would go crazy in this place.


    As soon as Kayden entered, he packed all his things and instantly began cultivating. The mana density here was much better than outside, and according to Heimer, the stone had returned to almost 100%.


    His initial focus was on increasing his rank quickly and then training in life-and-death fights endlessly. This was the best way for him to progress quickly with his new style of mana manipulation.


    Kayden began to draw mana towards himself. The boy looked like a vortex sitting on the stone, all the mana in the environment came to him naturally, and he had no resistance. S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    bonus Chapter tomorrow

 Chapter 131: Other side of the story

    Chapter 131 - Other side of the storyAuthor''s note: I discovered that I have a mild degree of Alzheimer''s and I''m only 19 years old, so if I get character names wrong or anything like that, please help me


    In an hour, he accumulated enough mana to pass another rank, but the boy decided to improve his base in every way possible. This took another full day, but it was worth the time invested.


    The breakthrough process occurred naturally, in fact, natural was the wrong way to express breakthrough, as Kayden controlled every part of the process and chose where and how his heart and veins would be improved.


    The time spent on your foundation was worth it. Kayden estimated that he was a two-rank leap forward with just his body at that moment, and by using Transcendence, he could reach the middle of the fourth rank.


    Transcendence was no longer such a strong spell in his arsenal, as his mana manipulation was already capable of simulating the full-time spell in a slightly weaker version.


    The last stage would probably make him jump three ranks, and if he added to his path, he could get even further. Kayden had been studying how to use it whenever he wanted, but it was a little too taxing on his body.


    "Regressing wasn''t so bad," the boy laughed to himself. Now, he had the opportunity to fix dozens of mistakes and go much further than before. The boy sighed and began a short break to eat.


    Then it started again with the cultivation process. For the third rank, he took a little longer and needed the rest of the week to advance. Again, its base has been polished to the maximum.


    At this point, he still maintained his two-level jump, and with Transcendence, he reached the middle of the fifth realm. Now, he was bizarrely strong for his rank. The boy would advance once more before starting to face opponents at the club.


    "Kayden?", the boy heard Heimer''s voice from outside.


    "I''m coming," Kayden prepared to leave.


    *********


    Kayden and Han were sitting drinking tea in the old man''s room. A strange silence accompanied the environment. It was an awkward silence, Kayden didn''t know how to start a conversation with the old man.


    It seemed that after his experience with the Path, he lost most of his social skills or feelings. It seemed like little things didn''t do anything to his emotions. For example, in that situation, he could spend hours there without feeling anything.


    "They are a family of dukes supported by one of the Great Ones," Han''s voice broke the silence. "I couldn''t do anything. There''s no way I could take any of them down," his voice was full of emotions.


    Kayden can feel all the hatred and bitterness that the old man held during all those years that passed.


    "Dad," Han looked up and faced Kayden directly. This was the first time their eyes met since Kayden woke up.


    The boy had calm and serene eyes as if he could bear the weight of the entire world and move forward. While Han''s had teary eyes, with feelings like guilt and shame visible in them.


    "I''m going to bring down that family", the boy said just that sentence. And he added: "I don''t blame you. I believe you did the best you could with your abilities." A huge weight seemed to be lifted from Han.


    "I lost my family in search of power to take revenge", his sentence took Kayden by surprise, who didn''t understand what that subject had about the situation. "The city I defended was not meant to be isolated. The government had full capacity to defend it."


    His sentence shocked Kayden. That was another part of the story he didn''t know. S~ea??h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "One of the main families of dukes had a feud with me, and out of ego, they put pressure on the entire army not to defend my hometown," that seemed like something certain types of nobles would do. "You already know the rest of the story, at least the main part."


    His face was completely closed, making Kayden unable to identify his state of mind.


    "After that, I was desperate to find my way and return to the peak of my power. I spent decades and decades chasing this goal and, in the end, I achieved it. But my ascension process destroyed everything around me."


    At this point, his voice was shaking as he recalled the past.


    "I didn''t even have the desire to pursue my revenge. My life was destroyed because of my greed for revenge, and in the end, I achieved nothing but empty power," Kayden finally understood why Han was telling him. This is for him.


    The old man was probably afraid that he would become crazy for revenge and would not be able to think about anything other than gaining power.


    "Dad," Kayden didn''t let the old man continue his story. "Don''t worry, I won''t lose myself in the desire for revenge."


    Kayden''s eyes showed that the boy was being frank and, along with his sentence, the boy gave the fakest smile of his life.


    ''I''ve already lost myself,'' he thought to himself.

 Chapter 132: Break[BONUS]

    Chapter 132 - Break[BONUS]Kayden spent the next entire month to break through to the fourth rank, but that was still impressive. The speed at which he was growing was simply ridiculous. Not even the best in the country came close to advancing that quickly.


    At the moment, the boy had stopped cultivating and was just fighting in the club like crazy. Typically, he had more than 50 fights a day. He still hadn''t recovered the level to go into the life or death category.


    Right now, he was facing people at the seventh rank in a completely even fight, and when he went against some at the eighth rank, he still had a chance of winning. But his focus at the moment was not on gaining experience but on learning to control his path.


    He noticed that he became extremely sensitive to mana, even though it came from his enemies. Each time, he was closer to discovering something. He could feel it. Every fight took him a little further. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Each time he felt closer to finding out, he felt his power increase tremendously. His mana control increased, the speed at which he controlled it increased and, consequently, his body became stronger.


    During this time, he also spoke to Astolfo and assured him that everything was fine. The boy had made a good friend who cared about him. Other than that, your month was nothing special.


    His focus was to train all day, every possible hour of the day. He did not take a break during this time. He didn''t have a leisure activity. Even his food breaks were timed.


    *********


    Another month passed and Kayden had been awake for two months. At that time, he had reached the fifth rank and could easily go head-to-head against people at the ninth rank. He advanced further on his path.


    Now, he learned two ways to manipulate mana. The first consisted of just imposing his will and ordering whatever he wanted. This way was not very exhaustive and was the normal way he had been doing it.


    The second was to subdue the mana, taking away any wills that were not his. This caused much greater mental strain and ridiculous pressure on his body. But, in compensation, his strength increased dozens of times.


    Not even a peak rank nine apprentice could fight against him. Kayden finally understood the difference between a person with his path and one without. Probably, Apollo had also discovered his path quite early.


    Transcendence was nothing more than utilizing his second way of manipulating mana now. Finally, he returned to fight in life and death fights and... lived up to his nickname. The boy simply killed more than 100 people in that month alone.


    Most of those who were weak in spirit could not even move when faced with their bloodlust. And even the veterans were still harmed, if only slightly.


    How could they compete after all the time Kayden spent just honing his will? And now, with the string of victims he has claimed, his bloodlust has reached extremely high levels.


    Not to mention his experience, which was growing more and more. The amount of fights he was facing was not for everyone. The wealth the boy accumulated during this time easily amounted to a few thousand gold coins.


    Who would have thought that the boy who didn''t have a coin in his pocket to go to the gym with Ryan today would be one of the youngest millionaires in the kingdom? But... that didn''t matter to Kayden.


    His objectives were clear.


    To train.


    Get stronger.


    Advance.


    Train again.


    Nothing more than that, his life became a cycle of cultivation and fights to the death, sometimes he even came close to dying and continued, as these were the fights that most pushed him to his physical and mental limit.


    At these moments it seemed simpler to enter his second mana manipulation mode, the boy dubbed this state of enlightenment, it was the best way to write what he felt.


    *******


    "Kayden, do you know why I called you here?" Han was sitting in front of the boy with a cup of tea in his hands.


    "No, dad," Kayden was curious as to what prompted the old man to suddenly summon him. Han let out a low sigh before starting to speak.


    "You stink like death, boy," the old man looked strange when he said it. "You''ve always been mature for your age and I won''t intrude, but...", the man hesitated to continue. "You''re heading down a path of no return."


    "I know, I always knew," Kayden no longer cared about taking lives, not even if they were millions. Han looked into the boy''s eyes for a few seconds and seemed to be plunged into an endless abyss.


    At that moment, he understood. Kayden had already lost any resemblance to the boy from years ago.


    "I need you to leave the orphanage, son," for the first time the old man''s tone was low. "Your aura is affecting the other children unconsciously. I will pay for room and board for you in the city."


    Kayden felt in the tone of voice and when he was called son for the first time in his life by Han that the old man was sincere and wanted the best for him. His aura was very wild and violent and affected the surrounding mana automatically, causing damage to children''s development.


    "Don''t worry, Dad, I can manage," Kayden said with a smile that represented peace. Han felt calmer when he saw that the boy understood the situation. For the next few minutes, the two just drank tea in silence.


    Something that was implied between the two was the rupture of their current relationship. Kayden knew the old man wanted him to return to the "Light" side, but... that wasn''t possible. Kayden would spend the rest of his life fighting and killing for his goal.


    Han was probably obsessed with honor and ethics, his past made that clear. He couldn''t accept Kayden with the boy''s aura making it clear how many people he was killing.


    Even more so the boy''s aura shows that his victims involved all types, from innocent people to people who deserved to die.

 Chapter 133: Isolation[BONUS]

    Chapter 133 - Isolation[BONUS]Sitting on a sofa in his rented apartment, the boy ate a meal of meat and first-class food. At this moment, he was reflecting on his journey so far.


    Kayden had been awake for eight months. At this point, its victim count had already passed one thousand deaths. His battle experience was honed to an absurd level for his age.


    More than 90% of his fights were now won solely using his technique. He didn''t even need to use brute force. His rank was at the peak of the sixth level and would be far above that if not because of the lack of mana in the stone.


    At this moment, he could face practically anyone at the apprentice rank, as long as they were average people. Against geniuses, he only had a few fights, and in most of them, he had to utilize his enlightened state.


    With that, the fight became... easy. His strength gain was ridiculously high and he could easily overwhelm his opponents and didn''t even need to go to the point of extreme exhaustion.


    At most, he needed to rest a few moments before going to the next fight. Kayden felt like he was no longer making progress fighting other people. The boy decided to focus completely on his state of enlightenment and cultivation.


    The boy ordered several different foods via cell phone and some items needed for him to spend a long period in isolation. He would live next to the mana stone until his date to Sol Academy. S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    *********


    The next day, the boy headed into the forest with a large sack on his back. The boy was no longer afraid of the animals around him. The mages cleaned out anyone above the apprentice level from the surrounding area, so he was practically a king in there with his current strength.


    As soon as he arrived, his first action was to clean up the environment and then he started cultivating again. He wanted to get at least the seventh rank before the championship and also see how many times he could double his mana this time.


    Slowly, the days began to pass. Kayden''s only company was himself. The only sounds that accompanied his life were those of the forest. One period of time he was cultivating, and in others, he was testing the limits of enlightenment.


    At first, he only did this inside the tree, but over time he started to go out to explore the forest a little, mainly looking for somewhere to bathe. This need of his was met when he found a large lake near the mana stone.


    Just by getting close, he felt the overload of mana in the water. Something wasn''t right there. After searching for a bit, he found several crystals at the bottom of the crystal-clear lake.


    They overflowed with mana, especially mana with certain characteristics of the water element. This was clear when seeing the small crystals getting wet even out of the water.


    From that moment on, Kayden began to use the lake to bathe and also to drink water. The boy first tested to see if he would have any adverse reaction to a small amount of water and, in the end, discovered that it clarified his thoughts.


    It was a very small improvement, but it managed to do a good job when taken constantly. A few times, Kayden was confronted by other animals, but they soon learned not to meddle with the boy.


    Kayden didn''t kill any of his attackers, as he needed them to get the message to the others. What was better than a strong beast avoiding a certain place and demonstrating this to the other animals?


    A month later Kayden was ready to advance to the seventh rank, the boy took several crystals from the lake to improve the mana in the environment and when added to the stone the amount of mana was very high, almost approaching five times the normal value.


    The boy was sitting on the floor in the lotus position, with each cycle of his breathing his heart calmed down and his mind became colder and colder, slowly he began the breaking process.


    The process was similar to his first breakthrough, but there was one small detail that changed everything.


    ''submit to your place'' Kayden thought when he saw a remnant of the world''s will entering the mana he purified, this time the boy would not tolerate even a grain of sand in the sea of mana''s wills that were not his.


    It didn''t take long and he finally had the mana to advance and without caring about the pain in his body the boy squeezed the mana to half its size, it didn''t even take 30 seconds for him to carry out this process.


    Then he continued pulling mana from the environment, this time he also didn''t need to worry about reprisals from his body, as he had finally reached an age suitable for his cultivation level, well... at least that''s what it seemed like.


    Ten minutes later the accumulated mana was squeezed again and the density in his body increased even more, without even losing focus for a millisecond Kayden began to gather mana again.


    This was where he had stopped the other time and wanted to know how far he could go, this time the mana accumulation process took about 30 minutes, as the amount of mana he needed to double was several times greater than before.

 Chapter 134: Folds and density

    Chapter 134 - Folds and densityWhen he reached his limit, the boy began to squeeze all the mana in his body into a tiny size. This time, the difficulty was much greater and the pain of the process increased dozens of times.


    Every part of his body felt like it was being used to its fullest and he was screaming for him to stop. All of this was ignored by Kayden. He knew how much his heart had improved his body with all his advances. He was practically made of steel.


    With an audible CRACK! One of the veins on his left arm broke in two due to the pressure caused by the normal and compressed mana. The new pain didn''t even stop Kayden from raising his eyebrows.


    The boy felt all the veins on the left side of his body begin to rupture. With superhuman willpower, he began to repair them while continuing to squeeze out mana.


    For the next few minutes, this process repeated itself throughout his body. The veins showed signs of cracking and he went there and repaired them, increasing their strength. The impressive thing is that he stopped squeezing the mana at no point.


    Multitasking has become second nature to him after spending decades honing his willpower and mind during his coma.


    After an hour, the boy finally felt the two types of mana coming together and the pressure on his body returned to normal. Along with this also came signs that he would make definitive progress.


    "No," Kayden ordered his own body to resist the changes. "Not yet." Again, he began to draw mana from the environment into his body. This time, the pain came at a much higher level.


    Every minute he spent collecting mana, his veins began to show more signs of tearing. More than half of the time he spent cultivating was spent strengthening his veins.


    It took him four hours to gather all the mana he needed and of that time, almost three hours were just arranging his mana veins. The pressure on his body reached an absurd level, and just one slip could cause his entire body to burst from the inside out.


    And yet he continued. This pain and pressure was nothing compared to what he went through. This sentence is wrong. In the same way that it would be impossible to compare the weight of an atom with that of a planet, it would be impossible to compare the pressure and pain in this situation with that of your coma.


    At this moment, he was squeezing the normal mana with the compressed one. The veins began to burst before he could have the chance to repair them. This forced the boy to have to create new ones while continuing to squeeze.


    The solution he quickly found was to decrease the circumference and increase the resistance of each vein he created. This way, it was easier for them to handle the new type of mana.


    The problem was that for everyone that exploded, he had to create two more. This took much more time than the boy expected. Slowly, the hours began to pass and the boy remained firm.


    No hesitation.


    No negative thoughts.


    No positive thinking.


    Anything.


    There were no emotions or thoughts, just a goal and a mind determined to achieve it.


    Ten hours later, Kayden finally felt like he was ready to force the two types of mana together. With one last effort, he succeeded. Within seconds, all the pain and pressure in his body disappeared.


    And before he could breathe, signs of the breakthrough began to explode in his body.


    "No", again the boy suppressed them and gathered again... "Where''s the sister?" He couldn''t feel anything around him. It was almost as if he had lost the ability to sense mana.


    In every direction he extended his senses, there was nothing. Not even a shred of mana. The closest he could get was to the wall of the tree, which somehow blocked the foreign mana from entering. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    This meant that he had dried up all the crystals and mana stones during his advancement. There was no way he could continue anymore. Accepting this fact, the boy allowed his body to move forward.


    Every inch of his body began to catch fire as he had his impurities expelled from him. His veins were improved and his heart also received an increase in endurance and strength.


    This entire process was controlled by Kayden, not even an inch was done against his will. This meant that something that should have taken minutes ended up lasting more than 6 hours.


    "That''s it," Kayden finally stopped trying to improve his body when he realized that the urge to rank up was gone. He could no longer do anything else as his body had finally reached the eighth rank and if he continued cultivating now he would damage it.


    This was different from his other advancements, in which he simply connected one after another without thinking. Because this time he broke a gigantic barrier and he had to be careful.


    The boy fell to the ground and passed out from exhaustion. Even if his mind could go further and remain conscious, his body could no longer handle this process. There were many hours spent awake under extreme pressure and when it was over, the boy allowed himself to rest.


    Once he woke up, the boy didn''t even check his progress before jumping on the food. In no time, he ate two weeks'' worth of his supplies. The hunger he felt was immense and it seemed like he hadn''t eaten for years.


    As soon as he finished his meal, the boy had a bulging belly from eating so much. His greatest desire was to lie down and rest, but... his mind would never let him do something like that.


    "My body is at the level..." The boy didn''t know where to classify his strength. Just by using his body as a base, he had already passed the peak of the ninth realm. He was almost twice as strong as when he was in the last form of transcendence and at the eighth rank.


    "Holy shit", finally the boy turned into a real monster. His strength was at an absurd level compared to his cultivation and if he utilized the enlightenment state, he could break even more steps.


    For the first time in his life, Kayden felt afraid of himself. His strength was far beyond what he had ever imagined before. Laughing to himself, the boy sat on the floor to reflect on what happened.

 Chapter 135: Plans

    Chapter 135 - PlansHe knew that if he had stopped at four mana folding he would not be anywhere near the level of strength he was at now. It was when he went to fivefolds that things changed. The boy was sure he had broken a barrier that divided a human from something higher.


    Putting these thoughts aside, Kayden began looking for the errors in his base. Right now, his focus was only on improving his use of lighting to an extremely high level, as that was the best way to improve his strength at the moment.


    Mainly that he would not have the mana to cultivate to the eighth rank. He could even return to the city with the stone unusable, but the boy preferred to stay in the forest. As incredible as it may seem, there he felt a much greater inner peace than outside.


    **


    Almost** three months later, Kayden finally left the forest. His clothes were in tatters, and his first stop was a clothing store to solve this problem. After that, he went straight to the train station.


    His destination was the house of David. The boy developed an idea during these months in seclusion that he wanted to discuss with the scientist. The process was smooth, as Kayden was now practically of legal age, and traveling alone didn''t cause any fuss among people.


    A few hours later, he was sitting across from David in the mansion''s kitchen. The scientist hadn''t said anything since placing his spiritual sense on Kayden. He couldn''t find words for how surprised he was.


    "Do you want to explain this to me?" Those were the first words David said to Kayden after long minutes of silence.


    "When I woke up, I found my way, David," Kayden began to say fearlessly. He trusted his friend with his life. "We say that it helps me when it comes to manipulating mana." His sentence explained a lot to David, but countless other doubts also arose.


    How did Kayden find out about this at such a young age? Not even he had come close to that until now. Even though he was curious about this, the scientist decided to keep quiet. Certain things shouldn''t be asked.


    "But that''s not the subject I wanted to discuss with you, David," the scientist focused on the boy. "I want to exchange the mana heart cultivation method for resources with the king during the Sol academy trials."


    *****


    "For the next ten minutes, all participants will be levitated. Anyone who resists will be disqualified. You will be placed at a random point in the forest and must face each other until there is the right number of participants. There are 100 kilometers of test area. Every hour, 10 kilometers will be decreased. We will automatically move people off the edge and into the test zone. Good luck ".


    A person completely covered in black clothes was levitated along with thousands of other people for the sun academy test. His only visible characteristic was that he was a katana wielder. Other than that, not even the color of his hair could be observed.


    As soon as he fell to the forest floor, he started running. The guy didn''t seem to care if he was noticed by other people. That seemed to be exactly his goal.


    It wasn''t long before he found a knight carrying a large club. Without even stopping in his run, he slashed directly at his opponent. His speed was extremely high and he easily managed to pierce the man''s defense and remove him from the test.


    This wasn''t even a fight. It barely lasted a movement. The masked person continued running and this process was repeated several times over the next few minutes. Those who watched thought he was combined in these fights, as most of the time it ended in just one blow, almost as if the opponent gave up willingly.


    Slowly, time began to pass and the masked man''s kills began to increase. Within an hour, he had reached the ridiculous amount of 100 people, and in no time, he faced even a challenge.


    He was facing his first real fight at that moment. His opponent was a teenage girl dressed entirely in black, with white hair and black eyes. His body was entirely toned and proportionate.


    This girl was the daughter of a count and was considered one of the 100 greatest beauties in the kingdom. And even so, his opponent didn''t even respond to his attempts to talk. And the worst thing was that she had a bad feeling as if she was facing someone who was holding back.


    At the moment, the two of them were just utilizing their sword technique. The girl was like a snake, quick and ready to attack any mistake the guy made. On the other hand, the masked man didn''t stop attacking.


    His every blow was connected to another. There was no break. His movements were practically instantaneous. The girl was having difficulty defending herself from Kayden''s blows, but she still had space to attack him.


    Zush!


    The sound of air cutting was heard by the two before an arrow stuck heavily in the girl''s leg. With a groan of pain, she tried to move away from her opponent so he wouldn''t take advantage of her vulnerability. But to his surprise, the masked man just turned towards where the arrow came from.


    "Skirt!" A young voice came out from within the large amount of clothing. Seeing that no one moved when he asked, the masked man took off at an absurd speed.


    Before the archer could even react and come out from behind the tree he was hiding in, a katana appeared in his peripheral vision. Thanks to his quick reflexes, he managed to roll on the ground and... appear next to a medical team.


    The masked man was simply too fast for normal people to compete against him. The guy walked back calmly toward the girl he was facing earlier. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Why did you hide your strength?" was her first sentence when she saw him emerge unharmed a few seconds after running against the archer.


    "Our fight would have ended very quickly, I wanted to try to learn something from her" his tone was dry and harsh, it was practically a slap in the girl''s face, and her ego was thrown in the trash.


    "What are you waiting for to finish me?" the girl started to look at the masked man strangely.


    "I''ll take you to the end of this match and you owe me a favor" the masked man threw a contract to the girl. "the favor doesn''t involve anything sexual" The last sentence was added seeing the strange look the girl was giving him.


    " How far does this favor go?" the girl didn''t want to get involved with something that could harm her in the future


    "There are no limits, this is a once-in-a-lifetime test, so I know its weight and how much this negotiation is worth" his sentence was followed by a heavy silence between the two, in the end, it was broken with the girl accepting the terms.

 Chapter 136: Contracts

    Chapter 136 - Contractsauthor''s note: we won''t have Chapters on the 24th and 25th, for obvious reasons, but if we hit 50 stones I''ll post (capitalist author)


    This was truly a once-in-a-lifetime chance and should not be wasted. She could never audition for this academy again and it weighed heavily on her mind.


    "My name is Agatha Kler", the girl made to bow as noble etiquette recommended in a presentation.


    "I understand. Let''s go." His presentation was met by a cold and unfeeling voice. Without even waiting for her response, the guy turned around and continued walking.


    The masked man continued with his strategy of looking for other people, but this time he didn''t run due to his new ally''s injuries. Even so, they still found plenty of people on their way.


    Most were destroyed with just one move and a few others lasted a few rounds, but in the end, no one could prevail over the guy. This began to create a wave of questions about who he was.


    Two hours later, the pair encountered their first big challenge. In front of him was a group of almost 40 people. It seemed that the strategy used by certain people a few years ago had become common practice in testing. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Surrender and we will accept you into our group," their leader was a noble, and his tone brimmed with confidence.


    "Wait here." The masked man didn''t even stop in his movement as he ran into the mass of people. This time, his speed was at the same level as when he faced the archer.


    "He won''t hold back", the girl was attentive to try to discover the teenager''s true level.


    "Hey! Stop!" The nobleman became visibly nervous. "Attack with full force!" With his order, dozens of spells began to be cast one after another, but none of them even came close to the masked man.


    His katana came down like a torpedo on the first mage he encountered. His opponent couldn''t even dodge. The difference in speed was simply too great.


    Before anyone could reason what happened, the next mage was knocked down almost instantly after the other. When everyone realized what was happening, a chaos of spells broke out against the masked man.


    The man seemed to be dancing as he dodged each spell and counterattacked. Each spell seemed to pass within an inch of his body, but none of them managed to even burn his clothes.


    For every second of fighting, the number of people rapidly decreased. Either by the masked man''s katana or by friendly fire from the wizards. Some knights even tried to get closer and fight face-to-face, but they were just plain ugly.


    Another thing that became clear was the difference in experience between the group and the masked person. Even though he had superior speed to everyone there, the man did not use brute strength at any time.


    "Back off!" The same wizard from before gave the command which was received with hesitation by the group. Most there couldn''t understand how they were being scared away by just one person.


    "The first one to run, I''ll follow," along with the nobleman''s order, the teenager covered in black clothes gave an ultimatum. His sentence was met with mockery by one of the knights who immediately began to run.


    Or so he tried. The masked man showed much greater speed than he was using before and eliminated his opponent with a well-aimed blow to the back of the head. At this moment, a dead silence appeared in the group.


    "He was playing with us", was the phrase that appeared in everyone''s head when they saw the teenager crossing a reasonable distance almost instantly. Most there could not even follow his movement.


    "Whoever is noble or the son of an influential family, raise your hand." His sentence caught everyone off guard and only half a dozen raised their hands. The masked man did not doubt that people were hiding their origins there, as the fear he imposed was clear in the eyes of the people in the group.


    "I will take you to the end of the test and you owe me a favor." Along with his sentence, six contracts were thrown to the group. The girl who was already accompanying him was stunned. What kind of person brought so many contracts to such an important test? Was that your goal from the beginning?


    "What if we refuse?" A mage raised this question that crossed everyone''s minds and quickly any hope was taken away from them.


    "I eliminate you" a dry and harsh sentence ended any chance of negotiation. After that, the six quickly signed the contract, what pressured them was the fear of their families, this was in their heads, preventing them from giving up or denying the agreement.


    "What about the rest of my group?" the same nobleman from before asked. There were still fifteen people left who didn''t sign the contract and were just commoners.


    "Get lost before I remove you from the competition", the masked man didn''t even wait for the group''s reaction before turning around and starting to walk. The six new members of the group joined Agatha. Most people there recognized her and tried to start a conversation, but they were received coldly by the girl.


    A few more hours passed and they reached the halfway point of the competition. The masked man continued to recruit people through his contracts. Their group grew to 20 people and was only made up of nobles and people from wealthy families.


    "One more group, Locke", a voice came from behind a tree and revealed two people: a large knight and a smaller boy with blond hair and delicate features. Practically everyone there recognized the prince and his faithful squire.


    "Just eliminate them all, Luan," the prince ordered. The group automatically became tense, but when they remembered the masked man''s abilities they calmed down. The blue-haired knight ran with a speed that didn''t match his size.


    The masked man hit head-on with his attack and... was pushed back slightly. This surprised Luan and Locke. The two knew that the knight was at the peak of the ninth realm and specialized in strength.


    Luan didn''t have time to think about it, as another katana strike came toward her. Even though he was defending the attack, the knight felt his hands shaking. Another blow came towards him, leaving no room for him to breathe.


    Each defense was made at the last moment, but the knight was still able to make some attacks. His fighting style typically saw his opponents retreat from his attacks.


    There were few times in his life that he faced someone with the ability to go head to head with his strength. Even so, the boy proved to be a genius, managing to adapt to the masked man''s strength.


    Each blow exchanged between them caused a loud sound of metal clashing. Even though no blood had yet been spilled, it was clear that the fight was unbalanced. The knight seemed to be giving it his all and yet he was barely able to hold on.


    After a few more minutes, Luan realized this and walked away.


    "Why are you doing this?" His tone showed irritation, as he understood that his opponent was not taking him seriously.

 Chapter 137: Memories

    Chapter 137 - Memories"Try new fighting styles," the masked man replied dryly. "Locke, you must be stronger than him and I don''t want to have to give my all in this fight. Let''s just go our separate ways."


    The heavily clothed teenager did not doubt that a prince was far beyond normal people. Perhaps he had even doubled his mana six or seven times, and that would be an absurd level of strength. The masked man would probably have to go all out, making it impossible for him to carry out the rest of his plans.


    "I agree, let''s go, Luan", the prince demonstrated very rational behavior for his position. Normally, nobles wouldn''t accept this kind of thing, but in this case, he realized his opponent''s hidden strength and chose the quieter path.


    As soon as the two were out of sight, the masked man gave the order for them to continue. Their forced recruitment process continued to be used, and this time the group''s number reached almost 50 people. There were only three hours left until the end of the test.


    At that moment, the masked man decided to just go downtown and wait. His order was for no one to attack any other participants and to just conserve strength. His goal was to pass the test, not win it.


    Slowly, the minutes began to pass and the number of people gradually decreased. No one considered attacking his group, mainly because of their size. Even those who had the courage were quickly slaughtered.


    Now, they were also accepting anyone into their group, but with no more contracts involved. The masked man made this decision mainly in case there was a group with a very large number of people in the test.


    In the last hour, the number of participants dropped drastically, and finally, the moment came when all the survivors advanced to the next stage.


    "My part of the contract is done," the masked man said to the fifty people gathered around him. Along with his sentence, he took out the participant medallion and broke it in two.


    His attitude took everyone there by surprise, but before they could complain, the masked man was already beside the medical team. After a few minutes of check-up, he was released.


    His first action was to go straight to his rented tent. He pissed off a lot of people today and couldn''t leave the event area without fear of reprisals. Fortunately, inside, not even a duke could attack a participant.


    The tent was a few minutes walk away, more specifically a few kilometers. It didn''t take long and he was able to see the entire structure in red. It was a simple tent measuring just a few square meters.


    As soon as he entered, he was greeted by a middle-aged person with messy hair.


    "You did a good job there, Kayden," David smiled at the boy and congratulated him on passing.


    "Thank you, David," Kayden removed the huge amount of clothes and thanked his friend. His disguise was so he wouldn''t be chased by the Ashford family prematurely. The boy knew that after what he would do in a few days, he would be persecuted. It was just a matter of time.


    "Are you sure about the plan, Kayden?" The scientist was visibly nervous.


    "Absolute."


    *******


    ''Here we go again'', Kayden stood in front of the huge 100-step staircase. It was the same ladder, but a different Kayden. This time, the boy was curious to know how far he would get.


    The test was the same as last time and the memories would probably be similar or identical. He had already been informed of this by David.


    "The test has begun," a voice boomed. Kayden looked up and sighed. He was sure the memory he would see would be Ryan''s death. After calming his mind, the boy stepped onto the first step and was greeted with an emotion of endless sadness.


    It didn''t even slow down his walking. Each step was stepped on and overcome instantly, not even managing to make him stop for a second. His speed was far beyond normal participants. S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Only a few people were able to follow his progress. While they quickly conquered all the emotions, the other participants were still mixed on different levels.


    Once he reached the floor of memories, Kayden didn''t even slow down. For a second, his vision went completely black and what appeared before him was a memory from his other life.


    The boy found himself lying in the hospital bed and... got up from the bed normally.


    ''I am the master of my mind'', the level of control and willpower he gained from fighting the will of the world was simply ridiculous. His tenacity against illusions was practically absolute.


    ''Disappear'', Kayden simply erased the illusion from his mind. This resulted in him waking up on the step again and, wasting no time, heading up to the next floor. This time, without a doubt, it would be Ryan''s memory.


    As soon as he stepped on the step, the boy found himself on the day all this shit started. The boy clearly remembered Ryan helping him get up and go eat the meal his friend had ordered from room service.


    This time, Kayden didn''t simply try to break the illusion. He forced himself to see every second of it. He saw the nobleman coming in and hitting his friend. He saw the nobleman giving one of the marbles to Ryan.


    Every second of this shit was relieved by Kayden.


    ''Goodbye, Ryan'', the boy ended the illusion as soon as he saw his friend being turned into ashes. After that, there was nothing else he wanted to see.


    Quickly, the boy climbed the next steps without wasting time, only stopping on floor sixty. This was the illusion of prison. Last time, he stayed here for 17 days and almost went crazy.


    The same cell with absolutely nothing around it was shown to Kayden. The boy looked at the food placed on a tray and simply ignored it. He knew he was inside an illusion and he didn''t need it.


    He would take advantage of this free time to improve his path. The boy sat on the floor in the lotus position and tuned out the world. Only your thoughts were important.


    Time began to pass without Kayden noticing. Hours turned into days and days into weeks. During this entire time, Kayden didn''t even open his eyes.


    "Hey kid," Kayden felt a hand on his shoulder. His first action was to quickly move away, but he found himself stuck in the air. Around him, there was a medical team measuring his vital signs.


    "What happened?" Kayden asked directly to the person who woke him up.


    "You spent more than a year inside. We thought you had lost your sanity." One year? Kayden felt like a lot of time had passed, but he didn''t think it would be long.

 Chapter 138: Temptations

    Chapter 138 - TemptationsAuthor''s note: I know we didn''t reach the goal, but I will post the bonus Chapters on the 24th and 25th so you don''t end up with nothing, my family for some reason celebrates Christmas on the 24th so Merry early Christmas to everyone


    He didn''t even feel any problem spending so much time just reflecting on his path. His coma had bizarrely changed his mindset.


    "How long has it been? Have I been disqualified?" Again his questions were direct and dry. For a second the officer didn''t know what to say. He didn''t expect the boy to have his sanity intact.


    "You have not been disqualified. It has been 3 hours. You are one of the last participants at the moment."


    "I understand. Please put me back." Doctors were unable to deny the boy''s request as they found nothing wrong with him.


    The boy walked a few more steps before falling into the illusion of the great war. Once again he found himself in Thomas'' body, with his two-meter height and strength beyond ridiculous.


    His first action was to start attacking everyone. His focus this time was to train the use of his path along with his technique. Even though he couldn''t control mana, he could still control his own body.


    This was the final step his technique needed to be complete. Slowly he began to make a river of blood on the battlefield. No one was able to rival his strength and only a few people were able to exchange a few blows with him when the boy used his full strength.


    Not even Thomas'' brother could stop him this time. The difference in experience between the two was no longer that great at this point, mainly because of the insane amount of life-and-death struggles the boy had faced.


    His fight was the push Kayden needed to complete his technique. Now the black tone accompanying his blade was present the entire time. His every blow was made using only the minimum amount of force necessary.


    This was only possible because he discovered his path, which allowed him to have absolute control over his body. The time he spent trying to lift millimeter by millimeter of his body against the will of the world taught him many things, and this was one of them.


    "I''ll call it reminiscence." Kayden thought the name matched the essence of his technique, as the word reminiscence meant something left over. He used the strength of his previous movements to deliver the next blow. S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    No energy used was simply dissipated. From the first to the last blow of a confrontation, the same energy was used. Whenever a sword strike is made on a shield, the momentum of the attack is lost. But in Kayden''s case, the impulse was repurposed.


    The only questions that remained in Kayden''s head were where this coloring came from. It wasn''t something he produced naturally. His only response was the small increase in his mana flow. It was something minimal, but with his absolute control, he could feel the mana in his own body emptying.


    This shouldn''t happen as he was in a world where mana didn''t exist.


    Author''s Note: I hope this is clear. Otherwise, tag me in the paragraph and I''ll try to rewrite it.


    After a long time inside this illusion, Kayden thought he was ready to come out. There was nothing more he could learn in here. His technique and his path came to a halt.


    As soon as he left, Kayden noticed that he had an increase in his killing intent. This time, it wasn''t as big as before, but it still improved his overall performance. This would be helpful for your plans.


    Without wasting time, the boy moved on to the next challenge. Again, he found himself in an illusion where he had to fight familiar people and, in another, defend a castle close to failure. This time, he managed to hold out longer, but the castle was still invaded.


    His next steps took him to the floor he had previously failed. The boy didn''t even hesitate as he stepped onto step number 80. Once again, he found himself in a beautiful family with loving parents and a younger sister.


    "I could be happy here," Kayden thought to himself. "At least if I were someone normal." That was his last sentence, along with an apology, before killing his entire family.


    This probably wasn''t the best way out of this illusion, but Kayden needed to bury these memories in the back of his mind. Even though it had been a few years, he still felt a certain attachment to this illusion.


    "Sorry," Kayden put that illusion aside as he stepped onto the next step. The boy found himself at the top of a building. By his side was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen in his life.


    Apart from it, there were others of similar beauty spread around a pool. The boy managed to identify that he was on the top floor of a luxury building and his interaction for the next few minutes showed that he was in the body of one of the richest people he had ever seen.


    His pockets were full of money, and as he walked onto the rooftop, he saw one of the most luxurious places he had ever been to. Even the floor was gold-leafed. These illusions could not be broken by Kayden''s willpower alone.


    Because most of them had a clear objective and, if he didn''t discover this, there was a great chance that he would fail even if the strength of the illusion came out.


    In the next few days, Kayden lived the life of a really rich person. But not just rich, but rich to the extreme. The boy drove cars that could buy a city. He went to stores and... he simply bought the entire store on his debit card.


    Everything was possible to do. Money bought opinions and friends.


    "This is addictive," Kayden had to admit this was one of the best experiences in his life. But he didn''t feel like continuing this illusion at all. In the end, this was an empty life doomed to nothing.


    "Break yourself," with an order to himself, the boy was snapped out of the illusion and promptly stepped onto the next step. This time, the illusion was similar, but in reality, he was a king of the world.


    Everything could be done at your will and desire. Nothing was denied to him. Even absurd requests were fulfilled to the letter by his subjects. This was the true meaning of power.


    And yet it didn''t bring Kayden any genuine happiness. They were empty achievements and, over time, his reign would be nothing more than history in old, dusty books.

 Chapter 139: Another side of the story.

    Chapter 139 - Another side of the story.Once again the illusion was broken by the boy. This time, he walked a few more steps without any illusion and the boy found himself in front of floor number 89. The illusion this time was on a completely different level.


    Kayden was a god. He was a god in the truest sense of the word. All he had to do was think and something would be done. Planets or galaxies were generated with a simple wish from Kayden. The boy saw his parents from his past life. Even resurrecting Ryan was possible. Everything could be done everything within his reach could be accomplished. Time had no meaning. Kayden was an immortal being. Days or millennia were the same length for him.


    And in the end, he broke this illusion like all the others. This time, he almost got lost. What brought him back was his path. He felt that even though he was a god, he was incomplete. Almost as if I had gotten there the wrong way, as if a part of the process had been skipped and that part meant more than anything.


    As soon as Kayden came out of the illusion, he found himself stuck in reflection.


    ''One day, one day, I''ll get there.''


    Kayden didn''t know how long this would take. Maybe he wouldn''t even be able to stay alive after tomorrow. But a new goal appeared in his mind.


    What came after this degree of power? Was this level possible to achieve? Kayden didn''t know it, but a desire arose from the bottom of his heart to reach that level.


    The boy stepped on step number 90, breaking all previous records for this test. As soon as he regained consciousness within the illusion, he found himself facing a dragon. But not a simple dragon. This one was entirely black, its scales looked like they were handmade, and they were simply perfectly symmetrical to each other.


    "Hello, child. Don''t be scared by what you''ll see here. The truth can be hidden, but not buried."


    The phrase resonated directly in Kayden''s head, taking the boy by surprise. And before he could say anything, he found himself floating in space.


    Everywhere I looked, there were stars. Below him was a huge blue mass that he quickly recognized as planet Earth. But that wasn''t what caught his attention. Floating in space were the dragon and... Adam?


    Kayden wasn''t sure about the last person. But he was 90% sure it was Adam. His memory reminded him perfectly of an old man with a clean beard and striking golden eyes.


    "I believe the apprentice has finally surpassed the master, don''t you?"


    Adam had a voice with perfect intonation. His sentencing revealed some more information for Kayden.


    "You are not my apprentice. A traitor has no master." sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The dragon''s voice echoed throughout the room. Kayden didn''t know where the sound was coming from. It seemed that reality itself expressed its words.


    "You were a threat to the human race. I had to arrest him."


    Adam made his sentences the source of truth.


    "You are not the owners of the planet. The barrier that protects our planet from alien invasion was raised by me. Remember your place."


    The dragon maintained his neutral tone at all times, even when his sentence seemed like something only an angry person would say.


    "No dumb animal is going to be able to save us when it falls."


    Finally, Adam loses his composure, revealing a dark side to his personality.


    "Get out before I kill you. You are banned from any territory dominated by beasts."


    The dragon gave Adam an ultimatum. And when the man tried to open his mouth to say something, he found himself on his knees, floating in the air.


    Even Kayden felt the pressure the dragon emanated. It wasn''t even close to the will of the world, but it was still beyond ridiculous for any living being. Adam looked like an ant before a god.


    "Humanity will betray you one time or another, child."


    That was the last sentence Kayden heard before losing consciousness.


    *********


    The boy woke up in front of the medical team again. This time, he knew he had failed the test, not because of any mistake of his own, but because what he saw probably had nothing to do with the step illusion.


    The boy asked to be placed on the floor. He needed to go to his tent and reflect on everything he saw. There was a lot of information that had to be fresh in his memory for him to make the best of it.


    The journey to the tent was completed in less than half the time. Kayden ran like a rocket and didn''t even notice the looks he was getting. The boy still didn''t understand the extent of the fame he achieved that day.


    As soon as he arrived, he didn''t even greet David and sat down to reflect. The minutes began to pass and he made some frightening observations. First, that Adam was alive.


    He was already powerful centuries ago and now he should be humanity''s greatest power. His second realization was that there was something stronger than him on many levels. The dragon appeared to have been trapped for decades and yet subdued the man as if he were a child.


    His third and most important conclusion was that the Garden of Eden was unreliable. The organization was not as beautiful as it was described in the story, especially with Adam being their leader.


    Kayden didn''t want to take sides directly, but the impression Adam gave when he observed the man was of someone who wasn''t really what he let on. His speeches and attitudes seemed false.


    The boy sighed. This wasn''t something that would make a difference to him at the moment. He was still too weak for any of the real chess pieces on this planet to care about him.


    Putting that aside, Kayden began to think about the next day. Tomorrow, his life would change forever or he would die a fool.


    *********


    Kayden sat in one of the VIP chairs reserved for participants eligible for the last test, in this position he had a privileged view of the entire arena below, the structure of the gym was truly gigantic.


    The arena alone reached almost 1 kilometer in diameter with its circular shape and around it, there were gigantic stands capable of easily accommodating thousands of people.


    Most wore a type of glasses sold for a few silver coins, these glasses zoomed in on their vision without losing image quality, this meant that even a person sitting at the furthest point from the event could watch as if they were right next to the event.

 Chapter 140: The birth of a legend or the death of a nobody

    Chapter 140 - The birth of a legend or the death of a nobodyauthor''s note: this was the moment I imagined before writing the first Chapter of the novel and in the end it seems that it was lacking in comparison to what I had idealized


    At that moment, Kayden was watching one of his old friends walk into the arena. Linus had a completely different posture than years ago. The boy developed physically and mentally.


    This was obvious when you saw how calmly he took to the stage. Once his rank was revealed, Kayden had to admit that the boy tried hard. Peak rank nine, even though he was a noble, was still a good achievement.


    "I would like to face a castle fully armed with soldiers," his sentence surprised everyone. Nobody expected something so peculiar. Even so, his request was granted and a 300-meter-wide castle was erected out of nowhere in the center of the arena.


    Several soldiers of different levels were placed in it. Linus didn''t even ask about it. The boy seemed unconcerned.


    "Do you need time to prepare?" the judge asked the boy. And upon seeing his head shake, he began the test.


    Linus began moving his hands and strangely manipulating the ambient mana. Sometimes he would throw some powders and similar things into the air. Kayden had no idea what it was, but he would be surprised to learn that it was just carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen in different compositions.


    The boy''s spell took about 10 minutes to complete. As the castle''s function was to defend itself, the soldiers could only watch and do nothing. When Linus stopped manipulating the mana, a small orange ball appeared in his hands.


    It looked like something harmless, made of gelatin. The boy used a wind spell to levitate the ball to a height of a few hundred meters. The spell had a curved trajectory, causing the ball to rise in height and move forward at the same time.


    Second, she was above the castle. No soldier inside had any idea what that was and, therefore, they were unable to think of any defensive plan. Finally, one of them couldn''t take it anymore and used a wind spell to try to push the ball back.


    BOOOOOOM!


    An absurdly large cloud of dust was kicked up before anyone could react. But that was a consequence of the explosion caused by the spell. The ball simply evaporated everything around it.


    The castle was torn to pieces. This degree of destruction shouldn''t be possible in the apprentice realm, it was simply disproportionate. After the dust was removed from the arena by the judge, what was left of the castle was revealed.


    There wasn''t a wall standing. Every part of the castle fell to the ground in seconds. All soldiers were evacuated before they were caught in the explosion. This degree of destruction was surreal.


    At the end of his performance, Linus came down from the stage. This time, the one who went up was Isaac. Kayden had never seen the boy fight before and the boy''s performance was impressive. He called for a fight against some opponents at the peak of the ninth realm.


    His fighting style disregarded the physical limitations of the environment. It seemed like any place could be used as support by the boy. For example, using air to move, as if it were hard and resistant enough to support your movements.


    Other than that, he wasn''t anything too extraordinary. The boy was just strong and talented. The next people who came up were unknown to Kayden, but he still paid attention to try to learn something.


    Another person who went up was Locke. Kayden expected something out of the ordinary from the boy and his expectations were met. The boy was a swordsman who also used a katana. This surprised the boy, as he didn''t remember seeing the boy carrying this weapon.


    "I want to fight a hundred apprentices at the ninth rank," an absolute silence emerged throughout the event. This request was beyond bizarre, it was surreal. A fight of one against a hundred.


    Quickly, a hundred ninth-rank apprentices were placed in the arena and the fight began with the judge''s order. What followed was a technical massacre. Locke didn''t use frightening strength, but the degree of perfection of his attacks was insane.


    Kayden couldn''t see a mistake in any of the prince''s thousands of moves. The opponents were simply swept out of the arena without even being able to react properly.


    In thirty minutes, the prince finished his performance, shocking the entire crowd. It was a completely disproportionate fight and he still triumphed. Kayden had to admit that royalty was on a completely different level than other people.


    "Candidate, your presence is requested," Kayden heard an officer next to him and calmly stood up. This was the most tense moment of his life. His heart should have been beating like crazy, but it wasn''t. The boy only had a cold look standing out over his clothes. S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    As soon as he arrived in the center of the arena, he saw the judge next to him looking at him, clearly waiting for his order. Surprising everyone, Kayden knelt on the ground and looked at the VIP section of the stands.


    "Your Majesty, I ask for a second of your attention," his action of kneeling now made sense to everyone. The boy was not the first to seek the king in this test.


    "Go ahead," an imposing voice resounded throughout the event area. Kayden knew he would be answered, his performance in the staircase test was exceptional.


    "My king, I want to be able to speak freely and for that, I will have to make a request", the courage that Kayden demonstrated when addressing the supreme ruler of the kingdom moved many people who were watching.


    "Continue," the same voice resounded again.


    "Before taking the test and continuing with my presentation, I request a contract with Your Majesty offering me protection for the next twenty years against anyone above my rank," his request caused an explosion of side conversations.


    "Insolent!"


    "Do not tolerate such disrespect, Your Majesty!"


    "Have him arrested!"


    Several screams like this were uttered by both the common people and the nobles, but the king said nothing and just waited for the boy to continue.


    "I may sound insolent, my king, but I swear on my life," Kayden took a contract from his clothes and held it above his head, "that this is going to be the most impressive performance this academy has ever seen."


    Only a few people were able to see the contract, but those who identified the terms on the parchment quickly passed the information on to others, as it only had a single clause.


    1)  Today I will revolutionize history or I will pay with my life the price of my own words.

 Chapter 141: Requests

    "I swear to protect your life for the next twenty years." The king¡¯s voice resounded, putting an end to all side conversations. At that moment, no one was dissatisfied, the boy would pay with his life if he was a charlatan. Along with the king¡¯s sentence, the sovereign signed a contract visible to everyone on air.


    Kayden began to take off her clothing and reveal her face. Practically no one recognized him, he was never really very famous.


    "When I was four years old, I was diagnosed with a Level 1 innate talent." Some people recognized Kayden, especially those who had contact with him in the past. "At that moment, I understood that I would need to pursue something different to stand out. That¡¯s why a good friend of mine and I invented the fourth magical path."


    His sentence first caused everyone to become confused as they digested the meaning of it. For as long as everyone could remember, there were only three forms of cultivation: you could cultivate your body, your core, or an animal linked to your soul.


    As soon as the penny dropped, millions of spiritual senses rushed at Kayden. Fortunately, the king kept his word and didn¡¯t let anything come within 100 meters of the boy.


    "I named it Heart of Mana and would like to propose the kingdom to sell it exclusively." His sentence again caused anger among some, how could he maintain something at this level when he was just an apprentice?


    "What¡¯s your price?" This time, the king appeared in person, floating above the arena. He was different from the king of Han times, the man had a youthful appearance with golden hair and a face clean of any hair.


    Signs of middle age were visible in the king and caused a feeling of wisdom and responsibility proportional to his position. Kayden had to admit that he was very similar to Astolfo, almost identical.


    "I know that the secret I carry is capable of causing a war between the kingdoms, so my price will not be cheap." Kayden¡¯s eyes showed absolute determination, and after having an oath from the king, he was not afraid of being attacked. "First, I would like to have free access to all the knowledge in the imperial library." The boy wanted to pave the rest of his path as a magician at that moment.


    "This can be done." The king didn¡¯t care about such a small detail. Knowledge was power, but in the end, only the truly powerful could carry that knowledge through time.


    "Second, I would like a monetary amount of around 100 billion gold coins." This was a ridiculously large amount, but this was within a few years¡¯ budget for any Big Ten family.


    "That can be done too." Money was just something useless to the king compared to knowledge.


    "Ultimately, I would like the highest noble title possible and the right to pass on my technique to those in my house." This was necessary for Kayden¡¯s revenge in the future.


    "Marquis is the most I can offer you, boy." The king didn¡¯t mind even giving the position of grand duke to Kayden. Long ago, he lost his attachment to worldly things, but he still had to show a certain respect to the nobles in his kingdom.


    "This is perfect, my king." Of the three requests, the only one Kayden couldn¡¯t afford to be denied was knowledge. The money was a bonus and the noble title was something he needed for his revenge.


    "What¡¯s your name, boy?"


    "Kayden, just Kayden, my king." The boy never had a last name and didn¡¯t care about it.


    "As the current king of the Sun Kingdom, I name Kayden Heart as the first marquis of your lineage. From now on, your entire lineage has the right to nobility and ascend to the highest level of society through the battles of the nobles." This was what Kayden wanted when he became a noble.


    Unexpectedly, he even got a surname directly from the king and, even though he didn¡¯t choose it, the boy liked it. It fit well with his second life and his achievements in it.


    A battle of the nobles was nothing more than a stronger noble eradicating a family and taking their titles and lands. This was the easiest way to climb the kingdom¡¯s hierarchy. Kayden only discovered this after talking to David, as according to the scientist, this is not something open to the public directly. S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden took out a small book from his clothes, and on the cover, it just said "The Heart of Mana" and the names of the authors underneath, in this case, Kayden and David Nakir. He handed it to the king, who promptly accepted it and disappeared from the arena.


    The exchange was relatively smooth and quick, with almost no interaction. The king was extremely calm and objective, he had no questions or pressure because of his position. He was just like someone who didn¡¯t have a care in the world at all.


    After a few seconds of silence, with no one saying anything, another voice was heard in the arena.


    "Proceed with the test with the marquis." Only a few people recognized the dean¡¯s voice and one of them was the judge in the arena who regained consciousness.


    "What¡¯s your test, Marquis?" Even the judge¡¯s tone changed. It was one thing to deal with commoners or heirs of nobles, it was another to deal directly with a high-ranking noble, even if it was just a title, it still carried a lot of power.


    "I apologize for stalling again, but this is necessary." Kayden waited for the judge¡¯s acceptance, which came with a nod. "Four years ago, my brother and I went to the state championship."


    Finally, someone in the crowd recognized Kayden and his previous nickname spread like wildfire among the spectators.


    "Kevin Ashford entered the hotel we were staying at and tortured my brother and me for hours on end. Not only that, he killed my brother without even blinking." The boy paused dramatically and returned his angry tone. "We spent hours under the effect of the anti-mage herb, I had the entire structure of my cultivation destroyed ."


    All adult wizards already knew the anti-magic herb. It was used for criminals of heinous crimes, mainly because they offered a painful and slow death.


    "My brother wasn¡¯t able to survive, but I was. And I promised myself I would get revenge. And my determination only grew when I came out of a nearly four-year coma and discovered that Kevin had gone unpunished and the case had been hushed up by your family." Another dramatic pause was made by Kayden.


    The boy was playing the audience like a violinist playing a solo orchestra. Every person who ever experienced a situation of abuse of power by a nobleman was sympathizing with the boy.


    "As a commoner, I could never take revenge as I could simply be killed and the Ashford family would not suffer any reprisal. But now? I am a noble and I will seek retaliation against the corrupt nobility of our country."


    Before Kayden could continue, an old man¡¯s figure appeared above the arena. He didn¡¯t have any very striking features, he had a completely shaved head and no visible hair, not even eyebrows.


    "Who do you think you are, you little shit ?" His voice resounded throughout the event and a frightening pressure of mana began to pour out of the old man.

 Chapter 142: Monster

    Before his pressure could even leave his body a meter, his head began to plummet. No one even had time to react before the old man¡¯s skull hit the ground and burst into a pool of blood.


    "Is my protection a joke for the Yasmim family? Well, as king, I order the end of the Yasmim Marquis family. Their entire generation must be exterminated." The king¡¯s voice thundered across the entire arena. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Even those in the fourth realm felt their bodies tremble and their instincts screamed at them to run. No one knew the sovereign¡¯s exact power, but it was now clear that he was not a normal wizard in the fourth realm.


    Over the next few minutes, confusion ensued as the royal guards executed an entire family of nobles because of the king¡¯s orders. Quickly, a high-level noble house was eliminated from the kingdom.


    At that moment, all the nobility understood that Kayden was untouchable for the next twenty years. Even the dukes were afraid. As much as they were at the top of the food chain, they were nothing more than weak before the king.


    "Continue the test." When all the confusion ended, the dean spoke again. Kayden scratched his head for a moment.


    "My revenge won¡¯t just stay on paper," Kayden continued as if nothing had happened. "At the moment, I don¡¯t have the strength to go against the entire family, but I will give a demonstration of what awaits them in the coming years. I challenge the Ashford family servant Marcos to a life and death fight."


    For a few seconds, no one knew what to say. No one knew Marcos or had even heard of him. Until a voice stood out in the crowd, drawing everyone¡¯s attention.


    "You¡¯re good at making up stories, kid." The speaker was a middle-aged man, wearing a black suit with a mask that left only his eyes visible. Kayden recognized him right away.


    The boy didn¡¯t even express any emotion. He wasn¡¯t feeling anything. His emotions were killed. He was nothing more than a machine pursuing his goals at that moment.


    "I didn¡¯t call you here to talk. I¡¯m here to kill you." Marcos¡¯ level as a wizard was instantly identified by everyone at the event and Kayden¡¯s words were taken as delusional.


    Never before has an apprentice managed to overcome a wizard in a fight. Regardless of how bad the wizard was and how genius the apprentice was, it was like an impassable river.


    "If you wish to die, so be it." Marcos floated to the opposite side of Kayden. The distance between the two was only a few dozen meters.


    "Judge, I need 10 minutes to prepare." Kayden sat on the floor, not worrying about anything else at that moment. The boy was resonating with his path.


    With each passing second, the mana in the surroundings began to feel strange. She seemed inert and lifeless. It started near Kayden and slowly spread. At first, no one noticed, but after a minute, everyone with a certain kingdom noticed this anomaly.


    Even the king stopped reading Kayden¡¯s book to pay attention to this anomaly. The sound of a rhythmically beating heart also began to be heard. It wasn¡¯t very strong, but it was constant and deep.


    "Leo, this boy¡­" The dragon that accompanied the dean looked thoughtful. "He makes my instincts scream to kill him." Kayden¡¯s tyrannical heart was causing a bad feeling to any beast at the event.


    From the smallest magical animals in the apprentice realm to a dragon in the fourth realm, their instincts screamed that a predator was near them, ready to tear them apart at the slightest sign of carelessness on their part.


    Over the next few minutes, some changes happened to Kayden. First, her hair was flying. Even without the boy opening his eyes, he could see a shade of blue shining in them.


    The mana around him became chaotic. Before it was lifeless and listless, but now it felt like a storm. This mana flow was insanely fast, even some elements started to be produced into the air because of the collision.


    When it reached 9 minutes, Kayden opened his eyes. All the mana within a 100-meter region instantly calmed down, not only that, but she seemed to be submissive.


    "I¡¯m ready." Kayden¡¯s voice sounded strange, his breath released mana in gaseous form.


    "You can fight." The judge¡¯s voice came out in the middle of the spell Kayden was preparing. Marcos just stood there with an air of superiority. Before anyone could notice, the mana in the surroundings had a significant change.


    " Collapse ." With Kayden¡¯s order, it seemed like all the mana in the arena knelt before a god and obeyed his orders. The pressure caused by the mana made it visible in the air.


    All this surreal amount of mana was suppressed around the mage instantly, an immense pressure preventing Marcos from moving for a few milliseconds.


    Then another unbelievable thing happened. Even more, mana headed towards Kayden and orbited around him. The amount of mana was far beyond what a mere apprentice could handle and even some mages wouldn¡¯t come close to it.


    The air itself was shaking from the immense amount of mana in the environment. The quantity was so much that it was visible. This entire flow of mana practically happened in a few milliseconds.


    Kayden used the basic acceleration spell he knew but with an insane amount of mana. The key point at this moment was that all the mana was not being directly digested in his body.


    It seemed like she was floating around him and being used outside his body to generate the spell. It was simply inexplicable to most people, even the king had no idea how this was being done.


    Kayden stomped hard on the ground and it opened a large crack. Time seemed to stop for a moment in Kayden¡¯s vision. The acceleration spell was thousands of times faster.


    SWISH!!!


    The sound of the wind cutting exploded in height and Marcos¡¯ head fell to the ground along with it. Kayden moved fast enough to end the fight in less than 1 second. Even though the mage could fight back and kill him dozens of times in that period, she couldn¡¯t do anything while being held back by the mana around her.


    Kayden was still standing, but it was clear that the boy was no longer awake. He had practically passed out right after killing the wizard. Even so, his body remained upright, holding onto the last will he had when he was conscious.


    "This kid is a real monster." An old man appeared next to the king. His features were very striking, with all the hair on his body in a pure white tone. Her hair was long and arranged in perfectly symmetrical braids that reached down to her waist.


    "Father?" The king was surprised to see his father suddenly appear. "I saw that he is a monster, but to the point of attracting your attention?" The king was indeed impressed with Kayden, but there were still some small monsters that had reached this level before. Apollo was one of them.


    "The mana around you responded to your desires at a level of control that not even I can reach." The old man¡¯s sentence surprised the king more than all the events in the last decade. His father represented the peak of power of a kingdom currently.


    "Should we kill him?" The one who said this was the king¡¯s brother.


    "No. We need to save all the strength we can. Even if they are uncontrollable monsters, he has 20 years of protection. We can¡¯t force a contract on him during this period, so try to tie him to royalty another way."


    "Yes, father." The two brothers responded together. They had logically seen value in Kayden. The boy even accomplished the historic feat of killing a wizard while just being an apprentice. But there were still other geniuses who deserved more of their attention, at least that was their opinion.

 Chapter 143: Rich, or rather, filthy rich

    Kayden woke up in a white hospital bed. For a moment, he was confused, but he soon remembered what had happened in the tournament and smiled to himself. He had done it, even though the pressure on his body had been ridiculous to the point where all his veins burst, he had done it.


    All this because he discovered another good part of his path and used the space itself to conduct his spell. This was the key part of his entire achievement. The boy didn¡¯t have to wait long and David appeared in his vision.


    "Hello, Kayden. You¡¯ve been sleeping for a while now", said the scientist, with a smile of triumph in the same measure as the boy. "About a month, if you want the answer." sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden wasn¡¯t surprised. He was already expecting something like that.


    "How was our plan?" asked the boy, referring to betting all the money they gained from exchanging the mana heart in the boy¡¯s fight. That¡¯s why Kayden asked for ten minutes to prepare, five minutes or less would be enough.


    "Perfect," David said, showing Kayden the bank account. "We achieved an ODD of a thousand times. Unfortunately, they didn¡¯t accept all of our money and I had to give my written word on a mana contract about who I was. But even so, we have something close to ten trillion gold coins."


    At that moment, Kayden¡¯s mind went into shock before the boy, along with David, started laughing like a maniac. At that moment, the two were, without a doubt, the two richest people in the country, apart from their large families. And even then, only the Big Ten could rival them.


    All that money could easily lift a family into the Big Ten. It wouldn¡¯t even require much effort on their part. And with Kayden being a high-ranking noble, it wasn¡¯t long before he reached the rank of duke in the future.


    "I divided half for each of us, as previously agreed", said Kayden, recognizing that the effort was always between the two of them and that there was no greed about this division.


    Over the next few minutes, the two talked a little about their plans. David would continue carrying out his research. He had already clarified that he would not enter into this power struggle with Kayden.


    Something that the boy respected, as he knew that the scientist still had many problems from his past and could not fight effectively. The conversation between the two was interrupted by a knock on the door.


    "KAYDEN!!! WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?" shouted an elated Heimer, entering the room as soon as David opened the door. A ridiculous amount of lecture was delivered in mere seconds to Kayden, and he was only interrupted when Han spoke up.


    "Congratulations boy. That was unbelievable," said the old man, entering so silently that everyone in the room only noticed his presence when he spoke. "You found your way, didn¡¯t you?"


    "Yes, Dad," Kayden said, not hesitating to confirm the old man¡¯s suspicions. It was obvious to anyone who looked at his presentation that this could not be achieved ordinarily.


    The two talked with Kayden a little more until Heimer remembered why he was there.


    "Kayden, I need to take you to the gym. Tomorrow is patron presentation day," said Heimer. Kayden had forgotten about this, but the boy quickly arranged with Heimer a time for him to come pick him up the next day. Even though he already had a good base at this point, Kayden would not deny even more support.


    **********


    " Where are we going, Heimer?" Kayden asked. It had been a few minutes since they had left the main districts of the capital and were diving further and further away from the center.


    "Sol Academy has a private district," Heimer replied. At that moment, Kayden¡¯s jaw almost dropped. A gym with the space of an entire city? This was completely ridiculous.


    It didn¡¯t take long and they finally arrived. It simply looked like a normal city with lots of buildings and houses without any notable features. But the deeper they went, the more signs of the academy appeared.


    First, Kayden saw several commercial stores advertising items for academic points and offering discounts to Sol Academy students. Heimer explained that there was a land grant in that district.


    The inhabitants of this region purchased the right to use the properties, but not the right to own them. Furthermore, most who came there used academic points as their main currency.


    The use of gold was frowned upon by the district¡¯s rulers and was only permitted in regions furthest from the academy and only for basic things. This was done so that students could not achieve everything through the power of their families.


    A few minutes later, they finally arrived at the district center. It easily had a region 50 kilometers long. What demonstrated its presence was an immense wall made of a yellow material bordering on gold.


    It didn¡¯t have any defensive items like crossbows or catapults. It seemed that the wall was more of a show of strength than a true defense. On it, there were several coats of arms of a golden sun.


    "We¡¯re going to need to get off the train here," Heimer said. He pulled a lever and the two of them were simply ejected out of the train in a small cloud that slowly slid to the ground.


    Kayden was impressed by the level of development of public transport in the capital. There weren¡¯t even any stopping points. You just sent a signal through the app and were pulled onto the train. And when he needed to leave, he just sent another signal.


    There wasn¡¯t even any human interaction. Everything was robotic. On the one hand, it was practical and fast. But, on the other hand, it gave Kayden a sad feeling that he didn¡¯t know exactly why.


    As soon as they approached the barrier, Heimer took out a medallion of the sun inside a pentagram and pressed it to the wall. Almost instantly, a man appeared floating above them.


    "Mr. Heimer and Kayden, please accompany me," the man said. With a nod from Heimer, the man pulled the two into the sky with him and headed toward the center of the academy.


    Even from afar, Kayden was able to see dozens of different buildings. From buildings that looked like a large urban company, to huge stadiums with different training bubbles.


    There was even a small forest with a calm lake in the center. It was possible to see some students walking on the surrounding grass or sitting on benches reading a book. It seemed like a pretty calm place to be.


    Quickly, they arrived at the center of the academy. The main building was on top of a mountain. The top was completely flat, almost as if it had been cut by an immense sword.

 Chapter 144: Recruitment

    Up there, there were some castles in the classic medieval style, with walls and an immense stone building. Some were black and others were gold, it looked like a very glamorous place to live.


    "Each of these castles is the home of one of the fourth kingdom teachers," Heimer whispered. Kayden was simply shocked, as he could easily count at least a dozen castles.


    This made the boy wonder when it became so simple to find high-grade mages anywhere he went. The wizard who was guiding them landed in a huge ballroom.


    The entire floor of the place was made of wood that gave off a pleasant smell to smell. Kayden felt his mind calm slightly just from entering the place. The two seemed to have arrived a little late as the hall was full of people.


    The space was simply immense, as it should have been able to easily accommodate ten thousand new students plus a huge number of patrons and companions of these people.


    As soon as Kayden entered the event¡¯s massive doors, the hall fell into an audible silence. Even a pin dropping to the ground could be heard at that moment. Then an explosion of conversation began, the main topic being Kayden.


    Being the center of attention caught Heimer a little off guard and he didn¡¯t quite know what to do. Kayden didn¡¯t even alter his state of mind in the slightest, as he had already dealt with much more pressure than that.


    "Heimer! Kayden!" Sarah appeared behind the two with a smile. "Come with us, we already have a table prepared." Heimer thanked the girl for getting him out of that situation. The attention of an entire hall was a bit too much for him.


    The girl quickly led them to one of the tables in the center of the room. When they got close, it was possible to see an immense round platform raised a few meters above the ground. On top of him, there was nothing.


    The Britten family table contained all the members Kayden had known years ago. Everyone greeted him happily and started asking Kayden a barrage of questions.


    "Kids, stop bothering Kayden." The insane amount of questions only stopped when the Duke intervened in the boy¡¯s defense. Then he spoke seriously to Kayden: "What do you think about accepting me as your patron? Heimer must have already told you the benefits."


    That was true. His friend had already made it very clear the amount of support the duke offered him, from protection using his name to monetary and cultivation resources. No wonder Heimer was already in the fourth rank of the mage realm. Kayden only found out about this after his friend told him.


    Author¡¯s note: This was supposed to be introduced earlier, but I ended up forgetting.


    "I appreciate the offer, but I¡¯d rather wait for all the offers first," Kayden promptly declined. Even though he was one of the Big Ten, Kayden wanted to see if he had any other more tempting offers.


    "I understand. This offer stands as long as I live", the Duke did not care much about the refusal. For the next few minutes, everyone chatted normally about random topics while waiting for the event.


    "I ask for a second of your attention, please." The dean appeared in front of everyone. "We will begin the patron and prot¨¦g¨¦ process. Those who want to be patrons will stand on the podium and call out their chosen ones, one by one." His sentence was simple, but he explained the process quickly.


    The first person who went up was... the king himself. This came as a surprise to many but was still expected. Everyone knew who he was going to call.


    "I choose Kayden Heart as my prot¨¦g¨¦." His voice resounded throughout the entire room, saying what everyone had already expected. Then, all eyes focused on the boy in the center of the room.


    "I accept." Kayden had no reason to refuse and didn¡¯t even stop to hear the benefits. That wasn¡¯t important at that moment. The king removed a pendant with the symbol of royalty plated in gold and levitated it to Kayden.


    The pendant had a sun being carried by a person. It looked very similar to the painting of Atlas carrying the sky on his back.


    "Present this to the palace when you need something." His tone was neutral and short. Kayden called out to him respectfully before the king could turn and leave. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Your Majesty, please give me a second of your time." The king stopped halfway but still gave the boy a nod. "Could you provide me with a building within the academy and the right to participate in this event as a patron?" Kayden¡¯s request surprised many, but the king still agreed.


    This wasn¡¯t difficult considering the boy was a high-ranking noble. The part that was a bit annoying to resolve was the part about giving the boy a building at the academy, especially since the royal family only had three there. And that was still a lot considering that only the dukes had enough power to obtain a building there and not everyone got this right easily.


    "Yes, the building will be handed over to your name before the end of the day and you must enter as a patron in the order of the noble hierarchy." With both of Kayden¡¯s requests met, he sat down in the chair as he waited his turn.


    Kayden¡¯s strange request was debated by everyone in the room and even the people at his table didn¡¯t know why these two requests were made by the boy. After a few hours, all the dukes chose their wards.


    Again, a huge amount of time passed before all the marquises finished and finally, it was Kayden¡¯s turn. As he was a relatively new noble, his status was behind all other marquises.


    What told the boy to go up was a small robot that appeared flying in front of him and pulled his sleeve to the center stage. Kayden didn¡¯t even have a name in his mind. He would make an announcement.


    "I don¡¯t have any name on the tip of my tongue. I will make an offer to all students. Tomorrow, I will conduct a test for those I will have in my care over the next few years. Anyone willing can participate. The location will be announced on my social networks."


    Before Kayden could get off the stage, a noble sitting in the first few pews shouted.


    "Who will choose to follow a mere child who has no influence whatsoever?" His tone made clear the mockery he had for Kayden. Kayden¡¯s only response was to calmly climb down and ignore the man who only had to grit his teeth in frustration. Kayden has already proven himself untouchable within the kingdom.


    The rest of the event was peaceful and went off without a hitch. The number of people who obtained a patronus was about half of the academy¡¯s freshmen, and most of them were nobles. Only a few commoners who stood out managed to gain the support of a House of Nobility.


    Author¡¯s note: hello, maybe we won¡¯t have chapters on January 1st because I¡¯ll be traveling, so happy New Year in advance, I wish you all a ?o?p?p?a?i?, I mean¡­.happiness this year.


    Author¡¯s note 2: I was reading on NovelFires and I noticed that when we use Google translation on the NovelFires website, some sentences disappear, that¡¯s right, they just disappear, they are not mistranslated or anything like that, they just disappear, so if you see any this type of error, check if it¡¯s not the automatic translator, thanks for the error reports!

 Chapter 145: Recruitment[2] BONUS

    "That was a little more than I expected." The testing location was in front of Kayden¡¯s building. The boy had to admit that the king was not stingy. The building was a mansion with more than 100 rooms and all the luxuries the boy could ask for, from swimming pools to private training areas.


    The entire building was equipped with the best technology and comforts money could buy. Furthermore, he also had several employees ready to respond to any order Kayden gave. The boy rose from nowhere to the top of the hierarchy in a short time. This was unbelievable.


    He only came to see the building today, as the previous day¡¯s event lasted until late at night and it would be disrespectful to leave early. The boy scheduled the test for noon. The entire Britten family, apart from the Duke, were with him viewing the mansion.


    As soon as he gave the time, a crowd of people appeared in front of Kayden. Mostly commoners who didn¡¯t have many options or nobles who didn¡¯t have full support from their families.


    Surprisingly, one person who was there was Locke, along with Luan. The two were, without a doubt, the people who least needed a patron in the entire crowd. This made most people think they were there to cause trouble.


    "Hello everyone," Kayden used mana to raise his voice. "First, I will tell you the terms and those who accept will be able to know the benefits. I¡¯m not just looking for prot¨¦g¨¦s, but people to be part of my home. So, I already made it clear that it will be a master and servant contract." The boy paused and saw more than half of the people simply leave.


    "The terms are simple: obedience and absolute loyalty to the Heart house." Another group of people left. "Now that we have a smaller group, I will present the benefits. First, you will have to give up any current form of cultivation and adopt the mana heart." His sentence took most people by surprise and a few more people left. Few were willing to throw away everything they learned.


    The mana heart was something coveted by those who stayed. Everyone knew that Kayden had used it within the academy¡¯s third test and knew that it would be worth it, even if they had to start their cultivation from scratch.


    "I will personally train everyone and provide all the resources that money can buy. I will also protect to the best of my capabilities." Finally, Kayden fell silent as he stared at the group of approximately 200 people left.


    "Since everyone is clear about their decision, I will explain the test." The boy opened a smile. "The test is to damage your mana core and destroy any foundation you have." Kayden¡¯s sentence took everyone by surprise.


    They didn¡¯t know that the mana heart would already force them to do this anyway. So it seemed like the kid was asking for a completely ridiculous leap of faith. This time, of the 200 people, only 30 remained in the place with conflicted looks.


    "You have five minutes to decide what you are going to do." As time passed, the number of people decreased. Most were geniuses who represented the pinnacle of the kingdom in terms of power and genius.


    Giving up everything for an uncertain future was not something most people would even dare to dream about. And incredible as it may seem, one of the people who remained in the crowd was Locke, the only person who, without a doubt, had a guaranteed future.


    " Ugh !" A person groaned in pain as he fell to the ground. His entire body was full of bulging veins. It was obvious that he was going through immense pain, and yet the boy continued until all remnants of his cultivation were undone.


    After him, a sequence of people took the Kayden test. In the end, only 15 people remained. All of them were covered in sweat as they looked at Kayden. At this moment, they were their last hope.


    That was complete madness. No one in their right mind would have done that to follow a 14-year-old boy. But they all saw what Kayden accomplished, and not only that, but he offered a new path that had never been shown to the world before.


    "Very well," Kayden threw a healing pill to each of the 15 that remained. "Follow me." The boy took them to the entrance of the mansion, which was a gigantic living room full of sofas. Along with the living room, there was a fully furnished kitchen, where some employees were preparing several different foods.


    After everyone was seated comfortably and food and drinks were served to everyone, Sarah put up a sound barrier so they had a little more privacy. He then left the bubble along with Heimer and the other members of the Britten family.


    "First, I would like to thank you for putting so much faith in me," Kayden was surprised that there were so many people. "Here is the bond contract." Once again, he took several contracts out of his pocket, causing people to look at him strangely. Type? Who was the madman carrying so many contracts like that?


    The terms of the contract were quite simple:


    1)Absolute loyalty


    2)Absolute obedience


    3)Kayden would defend and support them to the best of his ability. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Kayden, I can accept the first two terms as long as they are more lenient," Locke spoke for the first time. The boy seemed much calmer than when Kayden met him the other times.


    "I won¡¯t accept anything less," his tone was harsh, even though he knew who the boy was. Locke seemed to be making the most difficult decision of his life. "Don¡¯t worry, I will never send you to your death or give ridiculous orders." The boy included this in the contract to make the 15 more comfortable.


    Locke was thoughtful for just a few seconds before accepting, it might not seem like it, but he was the person with the biggest pressure on his shoulders in that room, mainly because that pressure came from himself.


    After a few minutes, everyone signed the contract. Kayden¡¯s performance is stuck in his memories. They were mesmerized by his power. Admiration and respect for Kayden were at the top of his emotions.

 Chapter 146: The weight of being a shadow of a genius [BONUS]

    "How many of you know what a path is?" That was Kayden¡¯s first question and he received some doubtful looks. Sighing, the boy told everyone what it was and what it meant to have a path as a wizard. "My path is Mana Monarch, which allows me to have absolute control over mana." S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden was revealing too many secrets at once and it didn¡¯t even make him blink. The contract satisfied any insecurity about betrayal that he might have.


    "The mana heart requires you to abandon the ancient method of cultivation, so it was more of a test of will than anything else. Before I teach you how to make the mana heart, I will demonstrate a mana manipulation method similar to my way."


    This was something Kayden discovered in one of his numerous attempts to manipulate his path and test the different nuances of it. This method was limited to removing all the will in the world, but leaving something so minimal that it wouldn¡¯t make a difference and at the same time wouldn¡¯t provoke the fury of the two golden eyes.


    Kayden began to manipulate the mana around her and take the world¡¯s will from it. Quickly, he reached the level he wanted and left the mana in the environment.


    "Feel her will. This is the maximum level you can reach without dying. I forbid you from going beyond that point." For them to break this ban would instantly result in their death from the contract, so Kayden wasn¡¯t worried about that. "Once you master this point, you will have access to a minor path called the Prince of Mana, and at that point, you can begin cultivating the mana heart."


    Then everyone started trying to manipulate mana in this way. Since they only had minimal control, it was difficult. Virtually no results were observed in the next few minutes.


    "You have to impose your will to take away the will of the world." Kayden started giving tips and they showed slight improvements. "It will probably take you a few months to get the hang of it."


    "Months?" One of the boys spoke in surprise and expressed what everyone was thinking. "But what about the gym?"


    "Only at the end of the year will the tests begin, so don¡¯t worry about that. The best thing is going to be a little mockery." Kayden knew it would be much more than just mockery. "At the first rank, you will have the body of a second-rank knight and the same amount of mana as someone in the middle of the second rank." Kayden¡¯s sweet words visibly eased their nervousness.


    "You just need to go to theoretical classes. The practical teacher, at most, will bother you, but there¡¯s not much he can do. Right now, your goal is to learn this secondary path as quickly as possible."


    "Kayden, why are you revealing your secrets so easily? Even though you have the contract, aren¡¯t you afraid that we will become stronger than you?" The one who asked was Locke.


    "Have you ever reflected on the true meaning of mastery? Does being a master come down to having a technique superior to everyone or being superior to everyone with a common technique?" Kayden¡¯s sentence left everyone thinking for a few seconds and, in the end, everyone agreed with the boy.


    "I don¡¯t mind selling all my secrets. I¡¯m the best using them, no matter how much time passes." Kayden¡¯s degree of confidence in himself was beyond ordinary.


    "You can choose any room in the east wing. For now, you have no name for me. Only those who can form the heart will be formally accepted."


    With his last sentence, the boy dismissed everyone.


    "Locke, stay back for a second." After everyone left, Kayden turned to Locke and his faithful squire Luan.


    "Why are you here? Don¡¯t make up stories." Kayden¡¯s tone made it clear that he was utilizing the power of the contract in his question. Locke¡¯s gaze hardened before he began to speak.


    "You know my brother Apolo, you know the level of genius he has, so you must know the weight I carry as his shadow. I¡¯m doomed to live behind him, but I don¡¯t accept that."


    The boy seemed trapped in memories and took a few seconds before continuing his sentence.


    "Four years ago, I abdicated the right to the throne. My brother was willing to give the kingdom to me, but I understood that this would be useless, because, in the end, I would have achieved nothing but a fake throne."


    Kayden could understand, this was a classic case in every royal family of all the stories that have ever been written, the difference is that this time the prince didn¡¯t try to usurp the throne in any way.


    "I spent the last few years looking for something that could set me apart from the common level of genius and my best bet at this point was you, which also proved correct when I saw the secondary path and the benefits of the heart"

 Chapter 147: The beginning of the school year

    Author¡¯s note: before the end of the week we reached 45 stones, so I¡¯m going to send this bonus chapter and as I said today we won¡¯t have a chapter.


    Kayden understood that Locke had gone through some traumatic events in his life, as this was the only option for such a huge change in personality in a few years. Kayden decided to leave this matter alone for now.


    "I understand, find a room and look for me when you can manipulate the mana to that point," Kayden said goodbye to the boy, even though he was a prince he would not receive any different treatment from Kayden.


    He didn¡¯t care one bit about the origins of his subjects, as long as they fulfilled their side of the bargain he was fine with whatever their backgrounds were. Afterward, the boy talked a little with Heimer and the Britten family.


    "Find decent servants to look after this mansion, Kayden. It forces them to sign contracts of loyalty and silence." Sarah was the first to raise this issue with Kayden. "I sent a number to your phone for you to negotiate hiring employees."


    The boy promised that he would look into this after the first few days of school had passed, he still had a lot to do and he didn¡¯t know how difficult the classes would be. A few hours later, everyone said goodbye, leaving Kayden alone in the mansion.


    ****************


    Sol Academy had different buildings for each subject. At the moment, the ten thousand freshmen were sitting in one of the huge stadiums spread across the academy, it was 9 a.m. and everyone was waiting for the dean.


    Kayden was with Linus and Isaac, his 15 subjects were also sitting around him. The boy didn¡¯t ask to be called master or anything like that, these formalities had no value in his eyes.


    "Good morning everyone", Leonardo descended from the heavens riding his dragon. When he landed, he continued his sentence: "I hope everyone has managed as best they can during this month."


    All students were located within the central area of the academy in different dormitories that varied in their degrees of luxury. Right now, no one has merit points, so the first month was almost like a credit card purchase.


    The problem was that only nobles and people who performed excellently in the three tests were able to negotiate to stay in the most luxurious spots, while the majority only stayed in ordinary rooms in generic hotels.


    It is worth mentioning that even an ordinary room was infinitely more luxurious than any room outside the academy. First, the space of any accommodation reached more than 20 square meters. Second, it was fully furnished with the finest furniture.


    ¡¯The poorest rich man is still richer than the richest poor man,¡¯ Kayden thought when he saw the advertisements for the apartments offered by the academy.


    "The freshmen will be divided into 100 rooms with 100 students. At the moment, we will not have a classification among you, but every six months a general test is carried out and the classes with the best performance are listed."


    The information the dean was presenting was completely new to everyone as this information had been protected from leakage by spiritual contracts since the college entrance test.


    "First, form groups with your friends using the gym app." Along with the dean¡¯s sentence, a notification arrived on everyone¡¯s cell phone, even those who were in silent mode.


    The next few minutes were spent with students arguing with their friends about how many people to put in the group. Most had time to meet other people during this 1-month break without classes.


    "Send a request to me." Kayden organized his group quickly, with him totaling 18 people.


    "Kayden! Let me join your group!"


    "Me too! My father is a duke!"


    "My father is a marquis, but I am very strong, invite me too!"


    When people saw that the boy was organizing his group, they rushed to join. After the championship, Kayden had a new nickname: "future wizard god".


    "I am no longer accepting participants," Kayden said dryly and began to ignore the thousands of orders popping up on his phone. The boy had no desire to introduce more people to his circle.


    "Now you will be organized into rooms with your respective groups," Leonardo explained when he saw that the majority had already created their circles. "Each room has a leader who can be challenged by position. Only the strongest can lead. The leader has the right to expel people from the class and call others in, so make an effort not to be marginalized."


    Kayden was surprised for a few seconds and then nodded in understanding, it was a lot of power for just one person to control, but that should be exactly the goal, as this would make everyone fight for this position tooth and nail.


    "The class receives several merit points monthly depending on their classification, in addition, the best placed have preference for trips and activities exclusive to the college"


    It seemed that competition was encouraged throughout the college structure.


    "You can now see your classes and the leader is the person who performed best in the admission test, anyone can challenge him in a fight for the position, losers cannot fight the same person for a year"


    As soon as the dean spoke, everyone went to check their classmates on their cell phones, Kayden didn¡¯t particularly look, he already knew he would be the leader and probably wouldn¡¯t know anyone in the room.


    "you can choose which classes you want to take through the app, at the moment they are all free, but after the first year, they will have different merit point costs" Kayden went to see the new tab, and classes that appeared on the app with the dean¡¯s speech. Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 148: First day

    There were dozens of different classes, from basic mana manipulation to advanced forest survival guides. The boy was surprised by the number of courses available.


    "We don¡¯t have attendance or failure, only some classes have prerequisites. Today is reserved for choosing your classes and leaders. Other than that, they are free." With the last sentence, the dean flew out of the stadium, leaving all the teenagers alone.


    What followed was a confusion of voices and challenges being thrown at the same time. Only a few rooms didn¡¯t have their leaders being challenged, one of them was Kayden¡¯s.


    The first thing Kayden did was... give up the leader position.


    "Kayden!?" Linus saw the message in the class¡¯s private chat and couldn¡¯t understand the reason for it.


    "My subjects won¡¯t be able to participate in this year¡¯s test, so it wouldn¡¯t be fair for me to maintain the position of leader when they will likely be expelled." His sentence earned him a lot of points with the fifteen.


    Then, the leader position was passed on to another person who performed well in the tests and, in this case, it was Linus. The problem was that this time the boy started receiving several challenges.


    The application itself selected the place and time for the competitors so that it was not disadvantageous for either of them. Unfortunately for Linus, he would have to face several battles today.


    Kayden dismissed his subjects and went with his friend to the academy where the battles would take place. While his friend was fighting, he was doing his class worksheet. Some that caught Kayden¡¯s attention were "Introduction to Lightning", "Battle with Katanas", "general battles", "body training", "unarmed combat" and "Initial breathing techniques".


    Apart from these, the boy also chose some classes focused on useful knowledge, such as "basic magical beasts", "plants and Herbs: how to recognize their Value" and "How to identify areas with mana veins?".


    His focus was to acquire as much knowledge as possible in a short time. Therefore, his classes started at 7 am and ended only at 5 pm. Kayden didn¡¯t even set a lunchtime.


    The boy could have taught until nine o¡¯clock at night, but he chose to set aside time to cultivate quietly. Considering this division, he would have around 6 or 7 hours free during the night, leaving 7 hours of sleep.


    It wasn¡¯t exactly ideal, but Kayden could live with this stressful routine. Even more so since the boy practically created a guillotine in his head. His protection would only last 20 years, after which the radical wing of the nobility would try to deal with him.


    A few hours later, Linus was defeated by another noble. His opponent used a bow and arrow to fight and focused entirely on deadly attacks. This prevented Linus from being able to cast any of his spells well.


    Linus, Isaac, and Kayden went to the college food building. They had both been there before, but for Kayden it was new. The building was a multi-story structure, each with a different type of food.


    Kayden was simply amazed. There were at least ten floors, each easily accommodating a few thousand people. It was an immense structure to support so many people. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The two nobles took Kayden to a floor where they sold foods similar to the Eastern culture of Kayden¡¯s old life. The price was one merit point on any of the floors.


    The building was a large circle with elevators at the ends. Inside the floors, there were several round tables of different sizes. Ordering food and consulting the menu was done via the college¡¯s app.


    Kayden ordered an insane amount of dishes, leaving his two friends amazed. The worst part was that when it arrived, he ate it insanely quickly and even ordered more dishes. The food arrived almost instantly, floating above them and landing gently on the table.


    "Hello, Kayden." A female voice surprised the three. The owner of the voice sat at the four-seater table. She was a red-haired girl with stunning beauty. Her skin felt like milk and appeared soft to the touch. "Can we talk more intimately?" A smile appeared on his lips.


    "No, please leave the table." Kayden immediately understood what it was about. He was already expecting this type of paparazzi, whether he liked it or not, he was a great catch at that moment, a rich young man with a bright future ahead of him.


    "You know who I am?" The girl¡¯s voice became shrill.


    "I don¡¯t care, leave." Kayden¡¯s tone was cold and he even let some of his killing intent escape. This time, the girl didn¡¯t say anything and just walked away from the table.


    "That was weird," Linus was the first to comment.


    "Indeed," Isaac agreed.


    "Without a doubt," Kayden agreed as well. He needed to do something about this before it became unbearable.


    ********


    Kayden¡¯s first class of the day was "general combat." This class was taught by a former army commander and this was clear from his presentation in the first minute of class.


    "Hello, class. My name is Kanye Kien and I am a former army commander. Due to an injury to my core, I am retired, but I should still be able to teach you something." His tone was friendly and matched his appearance as a kind old man. "Pair up and fight in the different classroom bubbles."


    Saying "classroom" was a little strange considering they were in a huge open plain. Kayden had to use GPS to find this meeting point. His class had approximately 50 students.


    The same subject could be taught by other teachers at different times, which is why Kayden believed that his class had few students. Most didn¡¯t want to wake up early and spend 3 hours killing themselves.


    Over the next few hours, the boy also discovered that his teacher was an executioner. The pairs had to keep fighting without stopping and he would give specific tips to each person.


    It looked like the man had dozens of eyes. Not only that, but he was also a healer, so no matter how much damage someone suffered, they had to keep fighting without stopping.


    For Kayden, this was great. In just 3 hours, he corrected several useless movements or small things that he couldn¡¯t see. Not only that, he was able to face other people using all his strength.


    Most managed to do well against Kayden and their fights were balanced, as long as the boy didn¡¯t use his path. All of his opponents were at the ninth realm or the peak of the ninth realm.


    The boy also did not suffer any kind of persecution or anything like that because of his performance in the academy test. The teacher treated him like any other student, the difference was that he called Kayden "marquis", a sign of respect for the nobility.


    Author¡¯s note: 15 stones is too easy now, so now there are 20 stones per bonus chapter (:

 Chapter 149: First day[2]

    Kayden¡¯s next class was theoretical and was taught in an auditorium. The theme of this class was "magical beasts and their peculiarities". The auditorium was in a specific building for theoretical classes, with dozens of other auditoriums.


    Some reached thousands of seats. Kayden¡¯s room was once again not crowded, this time it was more because of the topic of the class. Few people were interested in delving deeper into magical animals.


    "Welcome, freshmen, my name is Beatriz, just Beatriz." The teacher gave a short presentation and started the class right away. "First, let¡¯s review some concepts about magical beasts that we have in the class book."


    The woman was old and seemed to have fought dozens of battles. A huge scar ran across his entire arm. His hair was entirely white, in addition, there were some wrinkles on his face.


    The book could be downloaded from the academy app or, if a small fee was paid in silver, you could have the physical version of it. Kayden opted for the digital version, as he didn¡¯t want to carry weight during class changes.


    "First universal rule of a mediocre hunter: the beast will always be stronger than you in a one-on-one fight. You¡¯ve probably already heard something about this. Well, forget it, that¡¯s just nonsense."


    Kayden had to agree with the teacher. Most normal beasts could be defeated in a one-on-one fight, it only required the mage to be strong and have experience.


    "Most of you should be able to do this as long as you properly learn the practical beast disciplines in the coming semesters." Then the woman began to explain the different classes of beasts.


    This was information that Kayden had not previously known. According to the woman, there were different types of beasts. Humanity divided them according to their main attribute, for example, into electrical physical types and so on.


    The class lasted around two hours and was full of information from beginning to end. The first six months were just general information and identification of the beasts. Only after this period would they begin to learn about specific breeds.


    Kayden looked at the clock and saw that it was noon. Normally, people eat lunch between 11 am and 2 pm. Sighing, the boy headed towards his next class. His meal was a package of bread and meat.


    The detail was that there were almost twenty loaves, but that was just a small, despicable detail. His class now was about herbs and plants that could be found in nature.


    Again, its duration would be two hours. His teacher was a middle-aged man. His class barely numbered 15 students, probably due to the class schedule. Because of this, the class was a mix of practical and theoretical, as it was taught inside the teacher¡¯s private greenhouse.


    The man had a clean beard and was dressed identically to a 20th-century farmer, with a plaid shirt and straw hat. Your class was...


    "Throw up in the bucket." The teacher¡¯s voice repeated for the tenth time. His class involved a little theory and then having students collect what he demonstrated. The problem was that they had to taste the herb to see its true effects.


    Kayden would have already vomited dozens of times if it weren¡¯t for his absolute control over his body. Apart from him, there was only one girl who hadn¡¯t gotten sick, but the difference was that she seemed to know what she was doing.


    At no point did she eat anything wrong and her questions to the teacher were very different from those of a lay person. Kayden didn¡¯t have a hint of shame on his face and asked the girl several questions whenever he was in doubt about eating something.


    After a bit of conversation, he discovered that the girl was extremely antisocial. His responses were monosyllabic at best. The boy couldn¡¯t even find out his name.


    His appearance was that of someone who took care of himself. The girl had long brown hair and perfectly tanned dark skin. She looked like someone who spent a lot of time in the sun. Her body was small, but she was already showing signs of growing into an adult woman.


    As soon as the class ended, Kayden had to rush to the next one. But he made a mental note to try to get closer to the girl. Now he had a noble house to manage and his focus was on recruiting talent.


    The next two classes were katana combat and unarmed combat. Combat with a katana lasted two hours and unarmed combat lasted just one hour. The difference in time was because unarmed combat took place every day of the week, while katana combat took place only on specific days.


    To Kayden¡¯s surprise, the person teaching the katana class was someone he knew. It was none other than Sasaki Kojiro, Astolfo¡¯s master. The room this time was in one of the college stadiums and easily had 300 people in it.


    Kayden didn¡¯t think he would be noticed in the crowd, but to his surprise, as soon as the old man stepped onto the stage, he looked directly at Kayden and smiled.


    "I¡¯ve expected great things from you, boy, and I have not been disappointed," the old man¡¯s voice rang in Kayden¡¯s head, surprising the boy. He just nodded in thanks to the old man.


    "Good afternoon, students. My name is Sasaki Kojiro and I am currently the strongest katana user in our kingdom. I hope we can have a good school semester," Sasaki bowed slightly to the audience.


    "First, I will go over the basic principles and techniques of the katana. We will make an introduction to all the katana styles that I have mastered. This should last two months. After that, we will go to the practical part, where you will learn to fight using the style you chose", said Sasaki.


    The next two hours were just Sasaki demonstrating the advantages and disadvantages of some styles. In two hours, the old man presented about four katana styles. Kayden was impressed and was once again sure that he was truly a master. Because in two months there would be around 200 techniques or more, and the old man had excellent command over each one.


    It wasn¡¯t long before Kayden was on his way to his last class. The day was tiring, but Kayden had an iron mentality. The classroom this time was close to the noble buildings. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The class was in a fancy-looking gym. It was half of a lying egg, made entirely of black glass and marble. As soon as Kayden entered, he was faced with... an overwhelming majority of nobles in the room.


    ¡¯s note ( IMPORTANT) -> I thought more about the story and realized that it¡¯s been 4 years since Heimer was at the academy, as everyone goes through the first year, it doesn¡¯t make sense that he only advanced three levels in 3 years, that¡¯s why I¡¯m going change his rank to 6 rank in the wizard kingdom, sorry for this error.


    Note 2 -> In the near future I may have to include Kayden having libidinous relationships, I won¡¯t write directly, but he will have to go through this experience for the character to mature, he won¡¯t have emotions, my main doubt is what your opinion on this.

 Chapter 150: First day[3]

    There were around 500 students in that small gym and almost 70% of them were nobles. Kayden didn¡¯t know why there was such a big discrepancy, but he didn¡¯t feel like it was a good sign.


    The teacher arrived promptly at 4 pm. He was a relatively young man, his hair was red and he had no facial hair other than a mustache above his lips. Her outfit was entirely luxurious, with gold adornments and other jewelry. The impression he gave was of someone very rich and wasteful.


    "Hello class, first I would like to divide the room between the nobles and commoners so that we don¡¯t have... confusion." Without even introducing himself, the man already made this request and placed the commoners on the right and the nobles on the left.


    During that time, Kayden saw someone he still hated.


    "Hi Uncle Arthur", Kevin¡¯s voice penetrated Kayden¡¯s ear and caused endless anger to well up in his mind.


    "How¡¯s Kevin?" A smile appeared on the man¡¯s face. "Now, let¡¯s begin. Class, my name is Arthur Ashford and I will be your teacher this semester. Please call me Marquis Arthur, as is required in social etiquette."


    "Holy shit," Kayden already understood that this would be a pain in the ass.


    "We¡¯ll start by introducing the basic movements first and then we¡¯ll move on to practical classes. Any questions?" Without even giving the students time to respond, he continued. "Kayden, come help me with the demonstrations, please."


    Even though he was taken by surprise, Kayden got up and fulfilled the teacher¡¯s request. Even with her instincts screaming that something was wrong, her walk to the center of the gym was slow and confident.


    All eyes in the room were fixed on the boy, looks of hatred, envy or desire could be seen by the dozens.


    "Hello professor," Kayden greeted him normally. The boy would not call the man by his title of nobility, as he did not call him by his. S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I clearly remember making it clear that students were to call me Marquis," the teacher¡¯s irritating voice rang in Kayden¡¯s ears. She was full of arrogance and arrogance.


    "Noble etiquette does not require me to call someone of my rank by their title," Kayden¡¯s voice came out confident and neutral. This attitude of picking fights was not something that suited him, but at that moment he was a noble and needed to defend his name.


    "It may seem silly, but in the future, the honor and morals of his house would open doors for him, especially when it comes to forming partnerships and recruiting people." The old man was quiet for a few seconds. He didn¡¯t expect such boldness from Kayden.


    "I¡¯ll start by demonstrating some basic movements. Try to understand the force for each movement and how it is being applied," Arthur just pretended that the previous interaction hadn¡¯t happened.


    Over the next few minutes, Kayden had confirmation that his instincts were right.


    "I¡¯m sorry, I made a mistake with my strength", it was already the third apology the old man had made after hitting Kayden. His blows were hard and meant to hurt. Unfortunately for him, Kayden didn¡¯t even feel any pain.


    It was obvious to anyone who looked that Kayden was being punished for his performance. His skin began to show shades of purple in some spots and yet not even an inch of Kayden¡¯s face expressed any dissatisfaction with the situation.


    In the end, the class went smoothly. Kayden managed to learn a lot. Unlike the other students, he was facing a fighter specialized in the techniques they were learning.


    And the best part was that he wasn¡¯t holding back. His attacks were at the speed of an apprentice, but¡­ his technique was far beyond what any apprentice or even mage could achieve.


    "That¡¯s it for today, class. I¡¯ll wait for you here again tomorrow", the teacher calmly said goodbye to the class. But before he could leave, a voice stopped him.


    "Professor, I hope you pay for the medical treatment for your mistakes," Kayden wanted nothing more than to humiliate the Ashford family, by any means possible.


    "Mistakes are normal to happen during training, Kayden", the teacher¡¯s tone was ironic and, upon seeing Kayden¡¯s smile, he felt like he had fallen into a trap.


    "I see, a third realm fighter from the Ashford family must be prone to making mistakes against beginners," the boy shook his head as if it was a common situation.


    Before the man could respond, Kayden left the room. Once again, the boy made a fool of the man, but it wasn¡¯t entirely his fault. Practically, he was never challenged by children.


    Kayden¡¯s next few days he was passed quickly. With all of his daytime occupied by training and cultivation, he didn¡¯t even feel the passage of time. His subjects were progressing quickly and would soon reach the point Kayden requested.


    This was mainly because of how much Kayden was supporting them and clearing up any doubts they could have easily had with just a few demonstrations. Whether you like it or not, this secondary path was a subpath of your main path.


    It had been two weeks since Kayden had been at the gym, and in all that time, his knowledge had increased by several folds. First, the boy learned to fight unarmed. Even though he was beaten 90% of the time, he made a huge leap in learning.


    This was normal at first. The first contact with anything new resulted in rapid learning that would slow down over time. But his main gain during this time was the knowledge of beasts and plants.


    He could already define an animal¡¯s class and specialty just by looking at it. It might not be 100% accurate, but he was able to recognize the basics. And, when it comes to plants, their "friendship" with the strange girl in their class gave them a lot of knowledge beyond what the teacher shared.


    Other than that, he also learned about mana veins in a specific class about it. His knowledge of katana techniques has increased considerably. The boy would not change his current style, but he could make small changes that he considered better in other techniques.


    Kayden¡¯s biggest gain during this period was a class called breathing techniques. It was taught by an old lady with completely white hair and short stature.


    The elderly woman had all the characteristics of a happy and friendly grandmother, but... her personality was different. She was strict to the extreme and any mistake was punished with a blow from her cane.


    Kayden didn¡¯t see any problem with that and tried his best to make the most of everything she was going through. It was difficult at first, but over time he got the hang of it. The initial breathing technique she taught was to increase your breath.


    There was nothing magical or spectacular about it. It was something that normal people could easily learn over the internet, but, according to the teacher, this was just the beginning for them to find it easier later on.

 Chapter 151: Coliseum

    His cultivation also made rapid advancement. The boy bought several mana stones just to increase the mana density of his room. He managed to increase the mana density by almost 10 times easily.


    With his current resources, he could go much further than that, but according to his head butler, anything above that wasn¡¯t easy to keep fixed in one room. According to the old employee, this situation was similar to that of water in the blood and cells.


    When a very high concentration of something was present, water from outside the cell came in to "balance" it, and when the cell was too full of water, the liquid came out.


    It has not yet been discovered how to make mana not leak naturally. The only way was strong mages preventing her from leaving, but this technique required a lot of resources and was not 100% effective.


    Still, Kayden estimated that it would only take a few more days to break through to the eighth rank. All this time, he was just tidying up his base, as the process of accumulating mana could be done quickly using his path.


    TOC!TOC!


    A few knocks on Kayden¡¯s door brought the boy out of his cultivation. He wasn¡¯t expecting any guests, especially since it was about 3 a.m. Sunday. The boy only realized this when he looked at his watch.


    Lately, he was having difficulty doing certain normal things, like sleeping. His control over his body was simply surreal, and if he focused on spending a few hours cultivating it, he could easily lose track of time and spend days in that position.


    "Hello, Locke and Luan," Kayden greeted the prince and his squire friendly.


    "I have finished learning the way of the Prince of Mana," Locke was the first to speak and surprised Kayden with his words.


    "Demonstrate," with Kayden¡¯s request, the prince began to pull in the mana around him and cleanse it of the world¡¯s will. It took him a while, but in the end, he reached the level that Kayden considered ideal.


    "Very well," Kayden took a book out of the closet and tossed it to Locke. "Here are all the steps to cultivate the heart. Study and then we will do them together. You should only need a week to understand the procedure."


    It took Kayden years to make the heart, but in the end, the process was extremely short and simple. It was nothing more than simulating a mana organ and inserting it where you wanted.


    "Thank you, Kayden," Locke¡¯s eyes were shining with anticipation. The boy was going crazy without doing anything other than taming his mana every day.


    After some more explanations, Kayden dismissed the two and decided to sleep. He had a full day ahead of him.


    A few hours later, the boy woke up refreshed. His first action was to have a large meal and later call Linus and Isac.


    The three of them had agreed to go to the college coliseum. It was a gigantic Roman coliseum. As soon as Kayden arrived, he noticed the old style of the place¡¯s architecture from afar.


    As soon as they entered, they went straight towards the place. It was nothing more than a huge circle with several different attendants separated by metal walls. Each desk had a computer and several different papers.


    "Hello, I would like to apply for the wizard apprentice category," Kayden sat on the chair and went straight. The girl who was assisting him seemed to have done this a thousand times and just asked for Kayden¡¯s name and for him to sign some papers.


    "One of our instructors will walk you through the rules," as soon as the woman said that, a man appeared next to Kayden. He was dressed entirely in black with a sharp suit. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Hello, Kayden. My name is Aeneas and I will be your instructor here," the man began walking with Kayden to the stands. "The rules are simple. In a one-on-one fight, anything goes. The judge takes out the one who is about to die. Students in the top 100 earn merit points equivalent to their ranking."


    The two went outside the structure where the bleachers were. Kayden noticed that the entire place was temperature-regulated by air conditioning, which was very luxurious considering the size of the coliseum.


    "We have team fights too, but only the top 25 earn weekly merit points. Teams are made up of 4 members from the same kingdom."


    After a few minutes of walking, they arrived at a specific part of the stands.


    "I normally stay here and when you want to fight, you should come to me so I can inform the team."


    The man explained some more rules and advice to Kayden then, for example, that the apprentice category only had first years, which surprised Kayden, as the boy didn¡¯t imagine it would be that easy to move up to the wizard rank.


    The number of fights per day was free, but you could only challenge the 20 people in front of you, that is, the maximum number of fights per day was 20 matches, with one exception, which was a fight between two people with more than 20 positions. difference, this could happen if the two agreed.


    According to the instructor, there were a total of 5,000 students already classified and Kayden could challenge anyone above the top 999, as it would be his first fight.


    "I want to challenge the top 1,000, please." Kayden didn¡¯t want to waste time with endless fights.


    "Wait a few minutes until he is called." The man had explained that anyone could be challenged at any time and if you didn¡¯t respond within 24 hours, you would lose your position.


    Fortunately, Kayden¡¯s opponent was nearby and responded a few minutes later. It wasn¡¯t long before Kayden found himself inside a bubble facing a wizard specializing in earth spells.


    "Everything is allowed as long as it is made or produced by you. We start in 1 minute." Kayden found out about this detail because there were students from secondary professions competing for positions as well.


    Even though the academy test was the main form of entry, there were still other tests to collect talents, mainly for blacksmiths or alchemists. According to the man, there were around 6 or 7 thousand of these students, and most of them used the coliseum to show the effect of their work.


    "Begin." As soon as the judge¡¯s voice came out, Kayden¡¯s opponent erected a large stone wall and began to throw dozens of stone spikes at Kayden.


    "That¡¯s weird." Kayden activated transcendence and rushed at his opponent quickly. No stone thorns even came close to touching him. His first strike was a kick that easily shattered the stone wall.


    A huge amount of dust was kicked up and at that moment Kayden felt a small tear opening up in his leg. The boy walked away in surprise and understood what had happened: the thorns were connected by small threads of mana. What attacked him had come from the ground behind him, which is why he didn¡¯t notice the projectile approaching.


    "You quickly realized the trick." His opponent didn¡¯t look very happy and changed his fighting form instantly, placing a stone protection on his hands and rushing at Kayden.


    Author¡¯s note: I asked for a review for hiring, wish me luck (: ,I will keep the chapters free

 Chapter 152: A brutal example

    He was fast and at the same time strong, Kayden had to dodge his opponent¡¯s punches at the same time as he dodged the spike attacks that didn¡¯t stop even for a second.


    After a few minutes of this stalemate, Kayden decided to use some of his path and his speed increased drastically, causing the balance of the fight to tip easily towards his side.


    The fight ended in Kayden¡¯s next three moves: the first knocked his opponent off balance, the second opened his guard completely and the third removed him from the arena before it was divided into two halves.


    As soon as Kayden was placed in the stands by the judge, the boy went directly to talk to his instructor. He wanted to face an opponent ranked 20 places ahead of him. S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    His request was answered quickly, but the problem was that his opponent was not in the gym area and this could only be done the next day. For this reason, Kayden faced someone 19 places ahead of him and... won.


    For the rest of the day, the boy just faced lots and lots of people. In just a few hours, he climbed to rank 400. That was about 30 fights in a row without rest. Kayden ended up getting lost in the fights and lost track of time.


    What stopped him from continuing to fight was the arrival of Linus and Isac looking for him. It was already close to 6 pm and the sun was beginning to set over the horizon. The two boys fought a few fights but were unable to advance much beyond the 900th position.


    The two were watching Kayden¡¯s various fights from the stands and, according to both of them, the boy had a strange and distant look the entire time. They didn¡¯t think it was a good idea to interrupt the fights, they only did it at that moment because the coliseum was closing.


    "Where did you learn to fight like that, Kayden? It feels like years since you fought in a coliseum," Linus was surprised by his friend¡¯s performance, especially when his fights didn¡¯t just involve brute strength itself.


    "I¡¯ve always liked fighting and spent a lot of time doing it," Kayden¡¯s answer was short and without depth, as logically there was no way for him to explain that he spent years fighting in a secret club formed for the entertainment of his city¡¯s elite.


    "Shall we have dinner? I want to try the pasta floor", Linus understood that the boy wasn¡¯t going to say much and moved on to the next topic. The path wasn¡¯t very long and they could walk.


    A few minutes later, Kayden saw a scene that he had expected to happen at one time or another: one of his subjects was being cornered by three other people and it looked like they knew each other.


    "So you¡¯re in the first rank, Sirius? What a joke," whoever said this was the leader of the group. The boy was of average height with red hair, practically nothing very relevant.


    Before anyone could say anything, the leader punched Sirius in the stomach and his companions started laughing as if it was the funniest thing they had ever seen.


    Then the three took turns hitting the boy. Meanwhile, Kayden was just watching and thinking of the best plan of action. Linus and Isaac had their teeth clenched.


    Years of protection by the Duke caused a certain degree of alienation in both of them. Seeing other people suffering violence in a cowardly way caused strong emotions in both of them.


    "What is the punishment if I kill the three of them?", Kayden¡¯s tone was cold and scared the two boys.


    "Killing them could result in expulsion from the academy and, if they are high-level nobles, imprisonment. But anything outside of that, at most, will result in a fine or something like that," Linus replied after some thought.


    As soon as Kayden heard this answer, he left towards the three. A crowd of people began to gather to see the "fight" that was taking place.


    "Hey!", the boy shouted, catching the attackers¡¯ attention and releasing all his killing intent at once. Those watching from the outside seemed to see flickering figures coming out around Kayden, but the three who received it directly were paralyzed as if they saw a demon.


    The exact sensation was that dozens of hands were pulling on his legs and different parts of his body. Several faces they had never seen before were screaming and biting their body.


    The first to wake up from paralysis was the leader, as he received a punch in the face from Kayden that made him fall directly to the ground.


    "Do you know who I am, you trash?" The boy didn¡¯t have time to continue his speech when another punch came his way, completely taking away any sense of direction he had.


    In the next few seconds, only the sound of Kayden hitting the redhead¡¯s face, it seemed like there was nothing other than the sound of bones and flesh being ripped and broken, it was hideous, it didn¡¯t seem like something natural.


    "Kayden, it¡¯s already good", Linus¡¯ hand touched Kayden¡¯s shoulder, the boy seemed to be going overboard.


    "There are still two left." The redhead had already passed out, but his two companions were still alive and watching the beating without being able to look away. When Kayden turned to the two, they made to run away.


    "Whoever runs dies." His tone colder than an iceberg sent a shiver down the spines of everyone around, his slow walk increased the heartbeats of the two bullies.


    "He is my subject, anyone who is at the first level of an apprentice is under my protection, am I clear?" They both nodded. "Unfortunately, one of you must serve as an example, which of you should I choose?"


    His neutral and emotionless tone only made the situation more hideous for the people around, it seemed like the boy had no feelings, no pleasure, or anything related as he casually beat someone until they almost died.


    "I have a health problem, sir, if I get it I could end up dying." One of them quickly came up with some lame excuse and...that resulted in Kayden punching him at high speed.


    The boy was utilizing his path to the fullest and coupled with his killing intent, it seemed like he was facing people who had never cultivated before in their lives.


    "Good, then if you die it¡¯s not my fault." Again, Kayden punched until his hands hurt, the boy on the floor could barely breathe properly, and his nose was a mess of blood.


    "You there, take them both to the infirmary and tell them they fell down the stairs." The apology Kayden said made the people around almost vomit at Kayden¡¯s shamelessness.


    He then took a healing pill out of his pocket and gave it to Sirius, within seconds the boy had all his wounds healed, the boy thanked Kayden several times before the boy cut off his barrage of thanks.


    "Let¡¯s eat, Sirius can come with us if he wants." Kayden had no reason to exclude his subjects, even if they hadn¡¯t yet passed the final test. The walk to the cafeteria was silent.

 Chapter 153: Advancement and success of a subordinate [BONUS]

    The atmosphere seemed strange between the four of them, only when everyone sat at the table and had their dishes ready, did Linus break the silence again.


    "Why did you go so far, Kayden? I thought you were going to kill one of them." Issac and Sirius were attentive to the boy¡¯s response.


    "For example, they had to serve as an example to the others, if I just knocked them out it wouldn¡¯t be as effective." Kayden¡¯s sentence left the three thinking for a few moments and in the end, they had to agree with the boy.


    "And what was that uncontrolled bloodlust?" This time, it was Issac who asked.


    "We all have our secrets, don¡¯t we?" Kayden¡¯s tone ended any further questions on this matter. "Why were they bothering you, Sirius?"


    "They are children of a family of barons from my hometown and they hated me from an early age because of my talent." His tone was neutral, but it was possible to feel the amount of hatred he held towards this noble family in question.


    Kayden understood his situation perfectly. He had already read dozens of novels with identical stories. It was practically a universal clich¨¦ that was bound to happen regardless of reality.


    "If they bother you again, just let me know." Kayden was willing to defend each of his subjects, especially since each of them was an investment for the future.


    ********


    Another week passed and Luan also mastered the level necessary to perform the mana heart procedure. He was currently reading the book Kayden had given him.


    "You can¡¯t stop halfway if you don¡¯t want to die and you know that, don¡¯t you?" Kayden was inside a room in the mansion. The mana flow there was around 30 times normal.


    This was because of the king, who was in the room observing the entire procedure and drawing mana for his son. Kayden didn¡¯t have any major interactions with the man, but she noticed that he was very protective of his children.


    "I read the book, Kayden," Locke said, answering Kayden¡¯s specific questions for the last 30 minutes. "And yes, father, I¡¯m sure of it." The king had questioned whether his son was sure at least a few dozen times.


    "You can begin then," Kayden said. He no longer had any doubts about Locke¡¯s knowledge of the subject. As soon as the man left the room, Locke began to accumulate mana in his level 1 pseudo-core.


    At the very least, a base was needed for the mana heart to be built on top of. To do this, Locke had to reach the first apprentice rank. Kayden took advantage of the great mana density to cultivate.


    The heart process would take at least a few hours, and according to the king, there was no problem for Kayden to cultivate in the meantime. The amount of mana that was in the environment was more than enough for a dozen apprentices.


    Without wasting any time, Kayden activated his path and began to draw mana from the surroundings into his body. He had been cultivating to move on to the rank process for a while now, and at that moment, he had all the necessary conditions to do so.


    A frightening amount of mana was being injected into his body without a second¡¯s pause. Kayden seemed like an endless pit. Quickly, he accumulated the mana he had used to advance to the eighth rank years ago.


    And yet, he continued. There was still a large amount of mana left. Slowly, the minutes began to pass. While Locke was facing the worst pain of his life, Kayden didn¡¯t even have a different expression on his face.


    The final accumulation process and to correcting of small errors in its base lasted about three hours. The boy could have advanced quickly in just an hour, but he took advantage of the excess mana to test his base and correct errors he found in the process.


    The pain of touching his heart on fundamental levels was absurd and his mind was screaming at him not to do it. It was practically like messing with your DNA, it was something unnatural and wrong from the body¡¯s biological point of view.


    Pain was no longer an obstacle for Kayden. He could think normally even if he was being roasted alive. These small tests revealed several errors that were naturally caused by the limitations of his own body. S§×ar?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Finally, Kayden was ready to advance and, at that moment, all he had to do was leave his body inert and he would advance naturally. But that wasn¡¯t something the boy wanted. His path was literally about absolute control, and once again, he would control every part of his advancement.


    His heart began to increase in size and Kayden just watched, ready to make whatever improvements he felt were necessary. His goal was to try to increase the force with which his heart pumped to each part of his body, as with each advance his reflexes became faster and he needed his mana flow to keep up with this progress.


    It didn¡¯t even take five minutes for his heart to grow twice its size and begin to increase in strength. This process was also simple and didn¡¯t take much time. Next, the boy focused on his veins. His focus was to increase them without losing resistance. This took a while, but it was still completed.


    After half an hour, he got everything he needed right, and at that point, he just had to let the universe do the rest. Even if he wanted to control everything, there were still some nuances that he was unaware of, for example, improvements to his flesh and bones.


    His body began to boil and release various impurities, and at the same time, Kayden felt a feeling of release, almost as if a weight was lifted from his shoulders. This process only took twenty minutes and Kayden found himself in the eighth rank again.


    "You took your time," the king¡¯s voice brought Kayden out of his thoughts.

 Chapter 154: A peculiar class [BONUS]

    "I had some errors to correct in my base, Your Majesty," Kayden maintained the highest level of politeness in all his sentences and actions.


    "What¡¯s your path?" After seeing how Kayden manipulated his mana and the performance he gave at the academy test, it was obvious that the boy had found his path.


    "Monarch of mana", the boy didn¡¯t mind handing over his path to others. In the end, if someone was better than him at something he developed, it was just a sign that it wasn¡¯t his true path.


    "I understand, you can start using the imperial library as soon as you want", Kayden still didn¡¯t have time to use the library he didn¡¯t even go back to find out where it was.


    Even though it was a completely new path for the king, he didn¡¯t feel compelled to ask more about it.


    "Thank you, Your Majesty," before Kayden could say anything, Locke fell to the ground unconscious, it seemed like the heart process had come to an end.


    Then, the boy¡¯s body began to release various impurities in the form of a foul-smelling black goo, it was very similar to the one that Kayden released during his advances, the only difference was in the quantity that was coming out.


    It was just a minimal volume, Kayden quickly made the connection with the fact that the boy had undergone several rituals to strengthen and purify his body when he was a child, probably using rare and unique materials that only a prince would have access to.


    A few minutes later, this whole process ended and the king gave Locke a warm water bath using a floating ball of water, in addition to burning the impurities and changing all the air in the room using basic fire element magic.


    "See you later, Kayden," the king picked up his son with a hand of mana and flew out the window, Kayden didn¡¯t even have time to respond before the man disappeared into the horizon.


    Shrugging, the boy began to test the limits of his new rank, it didn¡¯t even take a few hits for Kayden to freeze in shock.


    "I can¡¯t qualify anymore", he no longer had a comparison to place his level, not even his old self using transcendence at its maximum would come close to the level he was at now.


    Probably not even using transcendence at the ninth rank could he match the same strength, slowly but effectively the boy was building a cultivation capable of breaking any existing barrier.


    Another thing was that transcendence had become useless in his body at this point, his veins were so strong that just overloading them didn¡¯t increase any real gains in his performance.


    Only by using his path combined with transcendence could he hope to see any real results, but this was something he did not want to test all the time, mainly because of the wear and tear generated by this.


    Even acceleration became useless to him, but that was something he already expected it lasted much longer than he thought possible, acceleration was just a basic spell that could be used effectively from the 3rd to 6th level of the realm of apprentice.


    On the other hand, his concentrated beam spell and Pop flash had a considerable increase in performance, mainly because of the amount of mana he could allocate to them now.


    "I need to change my spells," Kayden quickly came to this conclusion after some thought.


    ********


    "Kayden, stay a little after class", Sasaki¡¯s voice woke the boy from his reflection. The boy just responded with a nod and waited for everyone to leave.


    "I see you haven¡¯t chosen any style yet, do you have any of your own?" Kayden nodded and, at Sasaki¡¯s request, began demonstrating the technique he had been refining for years.


    His display was impressive and once again Sasaki observed how Kayden seemed to have his movements connected without loss of strength or speed. The first time he observed it was at the city championship when the boy fought against three knights.


    "She¡¯s not 100% polished yet, but it¡¯s enough," Kayden made a confused face, what was it enough for?


    "I have a special room, show up there at 7 pm every day, you don¡¯t need to come to that class anymore."


    Kayden received a paper with an address written on it. Additionally, Sasaki gave a small bracelet with a katana hanging from it. According to the old man, this was so the boy could be identified when entering the building.


    After a few minutes where Kayden answered some questions, the two said goodbye. The boy continued his classes for the day normally and once again faced Arthur¡¯s beating without opening his mouth, well... only on special occasions.


    "I hope to continue learning from your mistakes, Professor Arthur," the boy bowed before leaving the class and shouted to the man.


    A few hours later, Kayden was in front of a huge structure with oriental features. It was a mansion made entirely of wood and with characteristic roofs.


    Only when he got here did Kayden realize that he was in the territory of the wizards of the fourth kingdom? This meant that Sasaki had managed to advance one more realm while the boy was in a coma. Considering he spent decades stuck in the third realm, it wasn¡¯t all that surprising.


    The boy climbed a small staircase and knocked on the gate that delimited the property. The one who answered him was Sasaki himself. The old man was dressed in casual clothes and had a calm smile on his face.


    "Come in, Kayden, welcome", as soon as the boy set foot inside he came across an immense garden that even contained a lake in the center. Further towards the back of the property was the huge house that he had seen from afar.


    Everything seemed extremely well cared for and done in a way that fit perfectly with the environment. Even the grass was a similar height at all points.


    "I hope you like the environment, I made the furniture and everything in here myself", his sentence took Kayden by surprise. He didn¡¯t expect that the calm old man beside him was also an experienced carpenter and gardener.


    Author¡¯s Note: Thanks for the rocks this week guys S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 155: Information is power

    It seems that no magician lives solely on magic and training, everyone should at least find some hobby to relax, and that was probably Sasaki¡¯s. The two walked in silence to the first floor of the house.


    As soon as the door opened, Kayden saw at least two dozen eyes fixed on him. In the room, there were all types of people, the only similarity between them was their age, which appeared to be between 20 and 30 years old. But that didn¡¯t say much, as wizards stopped physically advancing their age over time.


    "This is Kayden guys, he¡¯s a new member of our club," Sasaki had never seen the old man speak so casually before.


    "Is he The Freshman?", a black girl with braided hair down to her waist asked, and her response was a nod from Sasaki.


    "Afterwards you will have time to get to know each other, first let¡¯s go to today¡¯s class. Reyna can show you your technique", the same girl from before went to the center of the room. When he got into better lighting, Kayden could see some shades of purple in his hair.


    Then, the girl began to show each nuance of her technique and explain how to use it. As everyone there, including Kayden, had signed a contract of absolute silence, there was no hesitation in the girl¡¯s eyes when exposing her secret.


    His technique was limited to denying air resistance to accumulate speed to levels much greater than should be possible. Kayden was delighted and didn¡¯t miss a second of the girl¡¯s explanation.


    Not only did this happen, but everyone gave opinions and tested the technique to try to find errors. Quickly, Kayden realized that everyone there had a story with the katana. Anyone there had rich combat experience.


    "Are you coming in, Kayden?" Sasaki knew that sharing his main technique was something risky and that few dared to do. So he promised Kayden a demonstration of the club and that he could refuse entry.


    "Yes, thank you for the invitation", the boy didn¡¯t mind giving his technique in exchange for others, especially when they were of a high level and could be improved upon in his technique.


    *******


    It had been a month and a few days since Kayden entered Sol Academy. In that time, his knowledge and strength had grown exponentially. What increased his strength the most were the private lessons with Sasaki.


    Every person there had impressive katana art and everyone was willing to share every possible experience. During this time, they just focused on Reyna¡¯s technique.


    Nobody there was in a hurry. The academy lasted a decade at least. The order of techniques belonged to the people who were leaving first, as they had already received a lot of knowledge from their seniors and had to pass it on to the freshmen. S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Another thing Kayden noticed is that most of them were in their second year and beyond, with some even in their senior years. Furthermore, everyone there was in the mage realm, with some even in the second realm.


    This made Kayden understand a small detail: all freshmen passed to the first realm. According to his seniors, this was because of the reward from the last tournament of the year.


    Even the lowest ranked were rewarded decently enough to advance. Because of silent contracts, they couldn¡¯t comment to Kayden about what exactly the prize was.


    In that time, all of his subjects managed to decently master mana control to the level that Kayden desired. At this time, only Locke had managed to perform the mana heart procedure. The others were still studying the details thoroughly.


    The hardest part was bearing the pain. The process was relatively simple for those with a high degree of mana manipulation and experience. This was the case for most of the students at Sol Academy. Furthermore, they also had a small ingredient that made everything easier: talent.


    The boy also arrived at position 101 of the Coliseum. At this point, he was just waiting to face his next opponents. His last fights were difficult, but they were still not battles capable of pushing Kayden to his maximum effort.


    Kayden lost a few fights, but that was to his opponent¡¯s credit most of the time. Mainly because they use strange techniques and unusual things, something that Kayden realized was quite common in the gym.


    "His knowledge also had a great increase in several areas; now, he was able to recognize some characteristics of plants and beasts and fit them into a certain species, knowing their commercial value and their main use.


    Something he understood was that plants were not 100% effective when used alone and, therefore, they must be mixed to create medicines and pills. This realization made Kayden reflect on whether he should invest in a basic alchemy course.


    This was useful knowledge that could save his life in the future. He didn¡¯t expect to become an alchemist and make money from it, but if he ended up trapped in a forest or lost in non-human areas, alchemy, combined with his knowledge of plants, would be extremely useful.


    Other than that, Kayden also greatly increased his experience with unarmed combat. Beating Arthur every day was starting to take effect. Other than that, his cultivation continued to increase more and more.


    "You want to buy our restaurant and keep the same staff? What¡¯s the point in that?" Kayden stood in front of a pot-bellied, middle-aged man wearing a wrinkled chef¡¯s outfit.


    "I will pay your debts and buy the restaurant. My reasons are private." Even without the man understanding the reason for the boy¡¯s actions, this was too good a deal for him to pass up.


    Even more so considering that the boy promised that all the profits would stay with them; they just had to meet certain requirements and maintain the business stable for a few years.


    "I accept your deal." With the man¡¯s confirmation, Kayden took a contract out of his pocket; It contained some very simple things to understand.


    I will pay all the establishment¡¯s debts and buy the restaurant at the current market value.


    No one can talk about the second contract; breach of contract results in death.


    The second question created a warning sign in the man¡¯s head, but as Kayden promised that no one would be forced to sign the second, he became calmer and, without thinking much, signed the contract.


    Then Kayden took out another contract from his pocket and showed it to the owner; this time, the man was sure he was getting into something big.


    Report useful information from nobles and anything like that.


    Collect information from Academia Sol students who visit the establishment; any information should be noted and passed on to Kayden.


    "If you and your team don¡¯t sign, you will only be fired and I will replace you with other people", Kayden¡¯s tone turned cold when he saw the hesitation in the man¡¯s eyes.


    "No! You can leave it to us." The man knew that this was a golden opportunity and that this job had its risks, but they were few compared to the advantages that Kayden represented.


    After a few more minutes, all the smallest details about the store and how the information should reach Kayden were agreed with the owner. As soon as the boy left, he saw that the sun had already set; Without thinking much, he called a car to his mansion.

 Chapter 156: Kidnapping

    Author¡¯s note: I made a chapter that explains certain things and also has a thank you to the three best-ranked people on the Fans list, if you could spare a second of your time and read it I would appreciate it.he is first in the index. I also realized when I saw the list that even though I am a small author I have great readers who have been with me for a long time here, That¡¯s why we¡¯ll have a bonus chapter today.


    Last week, Kayden began recruiting small local businesses in the region, especially those left aside by most large families. In total, there were 23 establishments under his command.


    It barely took a toll on his back. The amount he earned from lending his money to the national bank alone was dozens of times that amount. And even if it came at a cost, he wouldn¡¯t care. This was a necessary investment to strengthen your home.


    A faint sweet smell began to be smelled by Kayden. As soon as he inhaled this, he felt his body start to feel limp and drowsy. Quickly, he caught his breath and forced his body to stay alert.


    "Aren¡¯t you going to sleep, boy?" The driver seemed surprised but didn¡¯t show any reaction. Kayden didn¡¯t even respond as he sent a distress signal to the mansion¡¯s head butler.


    "It¡¯s still a little early, isn¡¯t it?" Kayden tried to gain some time, but his hopes were shattered in the next second.


    "No signal will come from this car, Marques." The man continued driving normally. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I understand." With that, Kayden became quiet and¡­ began cultivating.


    "What the fuck is this? Where are the questions? The screams?" Finally, the man showed emotions upon seeing Kayden¡¯s indifferent attitude. The boy didn¡¯t even respond and continued to wait while he was taken to the destination his kidnappers wanted.


    Despite several questions and threats from the driver, Kayden just kept quiet and waited. A few minutes later, they parked in front of a huge building, a few kilometers outside the gym¡¯s perimeter.


    "Let¡¯s go." Kayden didn¡¯t even wait for the man to get down and was already waiting for him on the sidewalk. This attitude only enraged the kidnapper even more. Unfortunately for him, Kayden didn¡¯t care at all.


    The two entered the building¡¯s reception. It was an environment entirely decorated in black, with luxurious sofas and furniture. The strange thing was that there was no person in the place other than an attendant.


    The man didn¡¯t bother to talk to the employee and just went to the elevator. There were a total of 100 floors and the chosen one was floor number 100. The building was so big that it took just a few minutes for them to go up.


    As soon as the elevator doors opened, Kayden was faced with another dark wooden door closing off the entrance. They got out of the elevator into another square room, in the center of which there was a kind of intercom.


    Before either of them could do anything, the door was opened and revealed a spacious living room, with a large sofa in the center and a fireplace in front of it. There were also several beast heads and fur scattered around the place.


    On the sofa sat a woman who looked to be at most 20 years old. Her hair was a dark purple shade and flowed down to her shoulders, very similar to Black Widow¡¯s hair from Kayden¡¯s previous life.


    His skin tone was light and his features didn¡¯t look real. His most striking feature was his upturned nose, which looked like it had been carved by hand. As soon as she turned around, Kayden saw deep violet eyes.


    "Hello, Marques, feel free." The woman gave an inviting smile and Kayden just sat down on the next couch without hesitation.


    "I see you are someone brave. What if I try to kill you here?" The once friendly smile became dry.


    "Then I¡¯m going to die, simple as that," Kayden responded neutrally, his emotions were perfectly buried and no worries could be seen on his face.


    "You¡¯ve got balls, boy." The woman laughed at Kayden¡¯s dry response. The boy wasn¡¯t worried about this whole situation, because if someone managed to kidnap him under the king¡¯s protection, he couldn¡¯t do much with his strength.


    This also meant only one thing: the king knew this and allowed all this interaction.


    "Can we get straight to the point? I need to get back to cultivating." It seemed like the further Kayden went, the less time he had. His cold tone irritated the woman and an absurd pressure began to shadow Kayden¡¯s shoulders.


    "Show some respect, kid." The woman¡¯s voice made Kayden¡¯s eyes go dull. Respect? This was something that the weak were supposed to demonstrate to the strong, and at that moment, Kayden had the king¡¯s protection to grow up freely in 20 years.


    This was more than enough time for him to become a powerhouse. It might not come close to the powerful old men, but its potential would make investors surround them. For example, the king himself could understand a contract for him in the future.


    Kayden¡¯s eyes turned to the woman. His body and actions carried themselves as if the mana pressure around him didn¡¯t exist, not even messing with a thread of his expression.


    His eyes were empty and looked like an abyss. The more you looked at them, the more you would get lost in the endless darkness. They were not the eyes of a normal person. They looked like someone who had lived for centuries in isolation and being tortured.


    Dead.


    Apathetic.


    Unshakable.


    "I am a marquis and my respect extends to those who show it to me. The way you brought me here does not deserve an iota of my consideration." There wasn¡¯t a hint of fear in Kayden¡¯s eyes.


    After a few seconds of silence, she recognized the boy¡¯s words. If she wanted a stable partnership, the minimum was for them to have respect for each other.


    "Sorry about that. My name is Angela. I¡¯m part of an intelligence guild known as the Spiders. After seeing that you were gathering informants, I became interested in you. How about joining the Spiders?" The flood of information took Kayden by surprise, but he quickly arrived at his answer.


    "No, but thanks for the offer." The boy continued to sit calmly, without showing any reaction.


    "First listen to my proposal, Marquis." The woman took a contract out of her pocket. The terms were simple: obedience and loyalty to the organization. Other than that, it presented the benefits and size of the organization.


    The size...it was simply beyond what Kayden expected. According to the information given, they had a gigantic reach in 4 of the 5 five kingdoms. Not only that, but they could obtain information from anyone, even kings and emperors.


    The boy was a little skeptical about all this, but at the end of the contract there was an oath of truthfulness on Angela¡¯s life, so everything that was there was probably true.


    Not only that, but the organization had influence over several important noble families, as well as techniques and skills that were not sold to the public. For a few seconds, Kayden was interested, but in the end, that would be another set in his way.


    "I¡¯ll still have to refuse." His tone remained neutral. "I don¡¯t want to stay in one organization right now." His refusal caused the woman to sigh and take another contract out of her pocket.

 Chapter 157: A great deal

    "This is the real contract," the woman said, showing Kayden a document. The contract stated that Kayden would be an investment in the organization, which would provide him with resources and help when he needed it. In return, in the future, Kayden would have to fight for his political agenda.


    This seemed simple, but it was a double-edged sword. Since Kayden would only need to pay off this debt in the future, he didn¡¯t know how much it would cost him. On the other hand, the information he could obtain would be extremely helpful.


    "I can accept that, as long as the favors are only performed if they don¡¯t harm me or go against my goals," Kayden said. The woman reflected for a few seconds and accepted. It wasn¡¯t a very exorbitant request. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Welcome to the organization, Marquis Kayden," the woman said, smiling amiably. Simply and quickly, Kayden made another strong ally for his journey, all simply because he decided to team up with the right people.


    Over the next few minutes, Kayden began to receive information about the Ashford family, such as the number of wizards and their strength. According to the woman, they were a family of fake dukes.


    "What would a fake duke be?" asked Kayden, who had never heard this statement before.


    "This means that they are supported by another power and their strength in itself does not match their social class. The strongest wizard in this family is Duke Ashford, and he is a mere wizard of the third realm," said the woman, as if the third realm was nothing more than common trash.


    "Just him?" asked Kayden, amazed by the new information.


    "There are a few more third kingdom wizards in the family, such as Arthur, who you already know. But they are all sacrificed wizards. The rest isn¡¯t even worth considering. They don¡¯t even have a genius in this generation, a family doomed to failure," said the woman.


    Sacrificial mages were people who sacrificed their cultivation and future in exchange for advancing a realm. Nowadays, they are not so common, as in the early years of magic people desperately sought advancement, without caring about anything other than power.


    As long as they could rule over thousands, humans willingly sacrificed their future. The technique they used was called final sacrifice and was currently no longer in circulation. Only really powerful people, like high-ranking nobles, could have access to it.


    "Which force supports the Ashford family?" This was Kayden¡¯s main question throughout the conversation.


    "That..." there was a hesitation in Angela¡¯s speech. "We do not know. All our spies were killed. We estimate it to be some high-level secret organization, but why they decided to invest in a few hundred losers, we don¡¯t know."


    The whole situation was becoming more complex as time passed, but that didn¡¯t even tickle Kayden¡¯s resolve. The downfall of the Ashford family was already written in the lines of destiny.


    "I will burn every human that carries this family¡¯s blood," Kayden thought, almost letting his killing intent escape. Fortunately, he was no longer the same out-of-control child as before.


    "Do you have any form of investment? I have some money lying around to use," Kayden asked. He knew that idle money was nothing more than a useless piece of gold.


    One thing he learned from his uncle in his past life was that money didn¡¯t take kindly to insults. He should be treated with as much respect as possible, as even the greatest fortune in the world could be turned into nothing overnight.


    "I wouldn¡¯t call a few trillion just some money," the woman commented, slightly surprising Kayden for a second. But he soon calmed down. After all, they were an information organization.


    "We have several businesses and sources of income. If you want to invest with us, we will maintain a percentage of 2% per month", said the woman. That was a lot of money. In real estate, Kayden only made 0.5% profit at best. In stocks, it was just 1%. These are investments without major risks, which was something the boy was looking for. He had neither the time nor the desire to learn about economics. His focus was power. The money would come as a consequence.


    Author¡¯s note: 0.5% and 1% rental yield data on dividend stocks are relative to my parents¡¯ values. I recognize that in some places properties are more expensive, but here we have a lot of territorial space, and it is more expensive to build a house than the land, in proportions of 5 times.


    "I would like to transfer a trillion for you to handle, then. Logically, I want a contract for that amount," said Kayden. He might even be within the organization, but at that moment he didn¡¯t trust anyone, regardless of how many kind smiles Angela showed in that interaction.


    Within minutes, a negotiation took place between the two. First, Kayden could only withdraw this money one month in advance and, in exceptional cases, he could withdraw a certain percentage of the total sum within three days.


    The organization would bear all the risks and send 20 billion to Kayden¡¯s main account, in a clean and untraceable way, every month. The money would come in the name of a third-party company that would be passed into Kayden¡¯s name anonymously.


    The boy could invest all his money and just use the proceeds, but the phrase that stopped him from doing that resounded every time his mind tried to be greedy:


    "Don¡¯t put all your eggs in one basket."


    "Another question, what information about me was sold and what is the price?" Kayden didn¡¯t have much information, but he needed to be meticulous, especially in case some prankster tried something at the orphanage or anything like that.


    He was prepared to abandon everyone, but that was only his last option.


    "Since your introduction, we have not sold any data about you, mainly because we want to recruit you. But a few years ago, the Ashford family bought everything we owned. Currently, its information is estimated to be around a few trillion, this is to discourage curious people."


    This wasn¡¯t an organization to trifle with. Years ago, he was nothing more than an unknown, talentless commoner, yet information about him was available for purchase.


    After that, they worked out small details. Kayden quickly left after that, in a real taxi this time.


    "Lucas, did you see the boy¡¯s eyes?", the woman turned to the man who brought Kayden.


    "Yes, it felt like I was staring into an abyss, unshakable and endless," Lucas replied. The woman filled a glass with wine and silence prevailed until it was broken again by Lucas. "You know how big of a fight we¡¯re getting into, right?"


    "My instincts tell me it will be worth it, even Olympus could fall", replied the woman.

 Chapter 158: Investment

    Over the next week, all of Kayden¡¯s subjects were able to perform the surgery, even more so after Locke willingly shared a breathing technique to deal with pain and increase concentration.


    Kayden tested it out and was impressed with the results. It was practically like having your mind immersed in cold water all the time. Everything was sharp and slow in his vision. The pain could be ignored with just a little willpower.


    "Now that everyone is here, let¡¯s begin the meeting," Kayden said. He and his subjects were sitting at a long wooden table with different foods arranged on the table. "I will give half a billion gold coins every month to you."


    "Isn¡¯t that something like 30 million gold coins each? That¡¯s crazy, Kayden!" His servants didn¡¯t know that the boy had won even more money besides the bet with the king.


    100 billion was more money than any of them would see in their entire lives. This amount was reserved for a minority of people in all of humanity. The amount that Kayden was giving them would be around 6 billion a year and, adding all the household and employee expenses, the boy would only spend 7 billion a year.


    That would be if Kayden only had 100 billion...


    "I don¡¯t think you understand. It¡¯s 500 million each," said the boy, smiling. This made the 15 teenagers fall silent, not knowing how to respond. Even for Locke, this was a reasonable amount.


    "Of course, this has a price. First, your expenses must be noted and justified. I don¡¯t care if you spend it on women or send it to your families. I just want one thing: I want you to reach 9th rank before the final competition ."


    They still had about 10 months to reach that level. It took Kayden longer than that to go from first rank to eighth, but he didn¡¯t have the conditions they would have now. S§×arch* The Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    If they utilized the money correctly, they could purchase mana stones and cultivation techniques that would be ideal for their styles. The boy took a contract out of his pocket and showed it to everyone.


    "This is a proposal. Those who do not reach the target will be expelled from the family, but you can also continue as normal without this amount." This caused some to swallow hard. First, they got a taste of unlimited wealth and then they were knocked out of this imaginary paradise.


    The first to raise his hand was Sirius. The boy had come from a poor family. He knew the value of money and hard work. Many times, his cultivation was hampered just because of hunger, but he still managed to get to where he was. So, he would accept this money without even thinking twice.


    After he signed the contract, Kayden asked the boy to check his bank account. There was the promised 500 million. Sirius almost didn¡¯t cry when he saw his bank account. But Kayden¡¯s next sentence made him cry outright.


    "Anyone who wants to bring their family members to the academy district, please speak to the head butler. He will sort out all the legal details, but remember that you must pay for his service out of your pocket."


    As soon as Kayden finished his sentence, a series of hands were raised. Everyone wanted to sign the contract. In the end, it would only benefit them in one way or another. The majority there were commoners. Apart from Locke, there were only three other nobles: two barons and a son of a viscount.


    "Finally, I want you to abandon your current surname and take on the name Heart. At this time, you are worthy to bear it." His sentence was something everyone had already expected. It was not necessary to delete the last name they currently had, but Heart should be the last name. Because, in this kingdom, only the last name symbolized your status and power.


    Locke was the first person who raised his hand to sign the name change contract. His action surprised everyone who imagined that he should refuse to lose the royal surname, which, without a doubt, carried much more weight than that of a newly formed family of marquises.


    What they didn¡¯t know was that Locke had already jumped into this adventure. There was no going back and he felt the strength that ran through his body. It wasn¡¯t something he could achieve any other way.


    Many would think that he could have gotten the technique from his father and didn¡¯t even need to enter Kayden¡¯s house. But in truth, his focus was on the person who developed the mana heart. This proved correct over time.


    Locke had gone through the biggest revelation of his life when he understood the size of his insignificance, at that moment he would accept a dog as a master if he could take him to levels beyond the ordinary.


    After that, Kayden explained a little about trading mana stones and other things fundamental to cultivation that only money could buy. Another thing he made clear was that they should continue to live in the mansion and should not disturb the peace of the house.


    After lunch, Kayden headed towards the royal library. To do this, he had to take one of the buses. Incredible as it may seem, the library was not located in the palace area, but in a district dedicated only to libraries and theoretical academies.


    Kayden was impressed with the magnitude of the place. As soon as he arrived, he noticed how every street had cafes and shops for people to relax while reading. Not only that but also dozens of second-hand bookstores and bookstores.


    The royal library occupied an entire block and looked like a building because of its height. Kayden estimated that, at a minimum, it should be 10 stories high. The structure was entirely made of yellowish stone and marble. There were huge pillars that seemed to ascend to the heavens along with the building.


    As soon as the boy entered, he realized that it was much more crowded than he expected. At least 80% of the tables on the first floor were completely occupied. He thought he would be a little more selective in getting in.


    "Hello, first time at the library?" A middle-aged man wearing casual clothes approached Kayden. Upon seeing Kayden¡¯s nod, he continued: "Our library has 11 floors. The first 10 are released to the public, but you must have authorization to access each of them. The eleventh is reserved only for royalty."


    The man¡¯s speech seemed to be rehearsed and repeated thousands of times every day. Kayden had already done his research and knew all this information. He already had the catalog of books from all floors on his cell phone and he already knew which books he was going to read.


    "Take me to the manager, please," Kayden asked politely, surprising the attendant. Anyone in the kingdom would recognize Kayden at that moment and everyone knew he had the title of marquis. But... he was very polite to commoners. This was the reason for the employee¡¯s surprise.


    A few minutes later, he faced a ridiculously old man, at least in appearance. His white beard reached his waist and his skin was entirely wrinkled. Matching his look, he had light blue eyes.


    "Hello, Marquis." The man made a small bow of respect to the nobility.

 Chapter 159: New skills

    "Don¡¯t worry about these formalities." Kayden had read the library rules and knew it was inappropriate to call others by their titles in there. In fact, everyone was treated equally, without class distinction.


    "The king has already made me aware of your visit. Any floor of the library is at your disposal. I will assign one of our guides to you. If you have any questions or requests, come to me." The old man¡¯s tone was very friendly, especially after seeing that Kayden lacked noble pride.


    Kayden talked to him for a few more minutes and answered most of his questions. Without delay, he was introduced to a child around twelve years of age.


    "My name is Paulo, I am at your service, Marquis." The child had a blindfold on his eyes, his hair was black and he was small in stature. sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Take me to floor nine, Paulo." Once Kayden placed his order, he was guided to the elevators. Paulo had an access key for each of the floors.


    "Paulo, are you blind?" Kayden asked directly, without mincing words. The boy got around very well and, as he wasn¡¯t a wizard, there was no way he could have a spiritual sense yet.


    "Yes, Marquis. I use a modified spiritual sense. If you¡¯re interested, it¡¯s on floor four." Kayden was really interested. Even if he only had a few more months as an apprentice at most, it could give him an advantage in some situations.


    "How difficult is this technique, Paulo?"


    "Average/high. It all depends on how proficient you are in manipulating mana." Mana manipulation for Kayden was almost like a game when he used his path.


    "Take me to the fourth floor first, please." Quickly, the boy guided Kayden to the book containing the technique, and, to his surprise, the author¡¯s name was Paulo, the blind man. This made him look at the boy with new eyes.


    It only took Kayden an hour to read and fully understand the technique, but using it took a little longer. The skill consisted of pushing his body¡¯s mana out while keeping his will in it. The detail is that it had to be extremely thin and each mana point had to be spaced out.


    This meant that a lot of information was lost, but the main ones were kept. This was done so that the apprentice could use the least amount of mana possible, as logically their mana stock was smaller than that of a wizard.


    "Holy crap!" A flood of information opened up to Kayden. His sense of touch seemed to have been magnified dozens of times. He was able to feel the floor and shelves around him as if he were touching them.


    That was the best way to describe this feeling. Even the passage of air could be felt by him. It seemed like his body had grown in size. At the moment, he only managed to expand 50 centimeters around him. Each increase in space had to be carefully crafted, otherwise the mana points would be destroyed.


    "Don¡¯t expand it too much or you¡¯ll end up vomiting." Paulo tried to warn Kayden, but he was already completely sick and vomiting. But because of his control, he just ignored it and continued expanding.


    The expansion reached ten meters and did not go beyond that. It felt like a barrier had imposed itself on him, and no matter how much mana he put in, he was not able to increase the spiritual sense of distance.


    "Did you reach the five-meter limit? According to my studies, our brain is not capable of handling more information than that. And even if you extend the spiritual sense, your brain stops reading the information you collect." Paulo spoke when he saw Kayden open his eyes. He was sure that the boy had managed to maximize the skill in just a few hours.


    That was scary. Paulo took years to develop it and anyone he taught took at least a few days to reach maximum range.


    ¡¯5 meters?¡¯ Kayden could see for 10 meters, and without knowing exactly why, he placed the blame on his heart. This was the boy¡¯s mistake, because in fact what allowed him to go beyond the normal level was the process of discovering his path.


    "Take me to the ninth floor please." For the next few hours, Kayden just studied countless lightning element spells and some neutral ones. In the end, he could barely find one that met his demands.


    The library was too big and had a lot of book options. Some had many of the same spells and he needed to keep checking them all to see if there was any difference in performance.


    The spell he chose covered his body in small lightning bolts and increased his speed. It was no longer as drastic an increase as the Haste spell was in the early apprentice levels, but it was still a nice gain.


    Mainly, this spell used little mana, as its mechanism worked cyclically. Any unspent spell was used as fuel to maintain it. Now, Kayden was looking for someone who could make his rays stronger.


    The boy had already abandoned the idea of Pop Flash, mainly because first-realm magicians no longer depended on vision alone and could use their spiritual sense to make up for this deficiency.


    It was only in the late afternoon that Kayden left the library and, even though he spent hours there, he didn¡¯t get to see all the spells he needed. Over the next week, Kayden gave up his cultivation to focus on finding better spells.


    The time to get here was less than 20 minutes if he took the express underground metro. It was a great distance, but with the mana boost and protection spells, the train was able to move faster than sound.


    "Thanks for your help, Paulo." Kayden made a mental note to himself to try to recruit this boy in the future. Furthermore, he should look for solutions to his sleep, he was wasting a lot of time sleeping that he could be improving.


    ********


    Next week, Kayden finished his trips to the royal library by choosing three spells. The first was the Elegant Ray, which gave Kayden additional speed. His second spell was called Body of Thorns.


    Countless rays surrounded his body and sword. The moment Kayden confronted an enemy, they sporadically moved from his body to that of his opponent. It wasn¡¯t solid, but it was capable of freezing his opponent¡¯s movements for a few milliseconds.


    The last and certainly his strongest spell at the moment was called Zeus¡¯s Bolt. Kayden was supposed to channel to summon lightning directly at his enemy. The best thing about this technique was that it used a low amount of mana, at least about its effect.

 Chapter 160: Marriage offer

    Kayden just needed to draw the nature path and it would do the rest. It was practically high school physics in his past life applied using mana. Unfortunately, this technique required him to predict where his opponent would be, as it took a few seconds to land.


    The boy tested the new techniques in the coliseum and the results surprised him. Even with the obstacles of Zeus¡¯ lightning, Kayden managed to place his opponents exactly where he wanted, at least the majority of them who didn¡¯t have much combat experience.


    But those in the top 100 and below were experienced, it was almost a dividing line. Kayden had few fights in this range of opponents, mainly because of his lack of time.


    At the moment, Kayden was facing the number 84-ranked player. His fight was based on strong attacks masked by a mist. He wasn¡¯t a difficult opponent, but his specialization in hiding and sneak attacking was extremely boring.


    Unfortunately for him, Kayden had a spiritual sense capable of detecting every movement around him. Even if his opponent was invisible, he could still know where to attack.


    At the moment, the two were in a stalemate. Kayden couldn¡¯t brazenly advance because of the amount of traps laid out in the mist. His spiritual sense was detecting dozens scattered throughout the environment.


    His speed allowed him to escape them, but the problem was that his spiritual sense could not keep up with his speed. That¡¯s why the boy had been facing the same person since he arrived at the Coliseum.


    His deal with his opponent was simple: while he trained his spiritual sense, the opponent trained his ability to hide and improve his fighting style. Kayden¡¯s greatest difficulty was maintaining his spiritual sense while on the move.


    It felt like his body was losing all feeling and direction. There was no longer left or right, front or coast. It was just a cluster of tactile sensations spread in all directions.


    Fortunately, for every fight he faced, his ability to deal with the enormous amount of information and at the same time keep the spell active improved. For a split second, Kayden felt his opponent to his right.


    Taking momentum, he rushed at his opponent. He quickly dodged three explosive traps planted in the ground. His attention was so focused on the traps that he almost couldn¡¯t dodge the dagger attack coming towards him.


    By just a few millimeters, he missed having his neck slit. Fortunately, his reflexes were freakishly fast. Taking advantage of the remaining strength he used when dodging, the boy threw a diagonal strike.


    His attack was masterfully deflected by the opponent with a star behind him. Bizarre things like this became common for Kayden after facing this opponent for more than a few rounds.


    Without feeling any traps ready, he just rushed at the opponent without wasting any time. His strength and speed were superior in direct combat, so he didn¡¯t need to worry about being defensive.


    The boy feigned a feint to the right and cut fiercely diagonally to the left. His speed was too much for the opponent to handle and his only defense was holding the daggers crossed across his chest.


    The force of the impact threw him backward and Kayden continued to follow him. Kayden¡¯s spike spell hit the boy in that little exchange and froze his movements long enough for Kayden to deliver an attack that would have split the boy in two if the referee hadn¡¯t stopped the fight.


    "Thanks for the fights," Kayden didn¡¯t forget to show a friendly attitude. You never know when he will need to recruit more people and all doors must be open.


    "I appreciate the opportunity to face a marquis", the teenager was equally respectful, perhaps a little more, but it was normal considering the noble hierarchy.


    Kayden met with Linus and Isaac outside the coliseum. The two boys also fought a lot in the last few days and still barely managed to reach the two-hundredth position.


    Considering that they were the top ten thousand freshmen in the country, this position was quite significant. However, within the academy, there was only a division between strong and weak. Being the best in the country meant absolutely nothing there.


    "We¡¯re eating on the second floor today," Kayden commented, looking forward to the meal. The second floor was only magical beast meats, and most students had to be careful not to eat too much and suffer from mana poisoning, but for Kayden, this was nothing more than child¡¯s play.


    Halfway there they met up with Sarah and Heimer, it had been a while since Kayden had spoken to either of them, all his useful time was used in training and cultivation, and not even a minute was left for leisure.


    "Eighth rank? Have you advanced?" The first to notice was Sarah, Linus and Isaac weren¡¯t even aware of Kayden¡¯s advance, while Heimer just remained more reserved.


    "I had a lucky break," Kayden remained humble as ever. "Where are you, Sarah?" Her next question changed his focus, this was a doubt that the other three also had, but Sarah never revealed anything.


    "Seventh rank of the wizard realm", surprising everyone she replied to Kayden with confidence and pride, but all these emotions withered when she saw that not even a glimpse of recognition or shock passed through Kayden¡¯s eyes.


    "Since when did you jump the barrier of the seventh rank?" Heimer asked in an exasperated manner. "As?" His only response was a smile from Sarah and her usual characteristic phrase.


    "Try for yourself or it won¡¯t be your achievement", at the apprentice level the rank barriers were not so strong, but in the next realms every three levels the cultivator must face a real battle to advance.


    After a few minutes everyone was arranged at the table eating normally, well... at least most of them, Kayden looked like he had just faced the Roman Empire alone and ate enough for a family to spend the weekend.


    The meal was going smoothly when the group was approached by a girl with white hair and completely black eyes, matching her look and wearing a beautiful black dress that highlighted her slender and proportionate body.


    "Hello, Marquis Kayden", the boy had recognized Agatha from afar but waited for the girl to speak first. "Can we have a private conversation?" The girl was the daughter of an earl and still owed Kayden a favor, so the boy responded in a friendly manner.


    "Can we, what topic do you want to discuss?" The boy started to get up from the table and froze in the middle at the answer.


    "Marriage," the girl saw Kayden pause and continued before he dismissed her. "First listen, I guarantee it will interest you", the boy decided to give it a chance even though he was almost certain he would refuse.


    "Sorry guys, I¡¯m going to have to leave you early," Kayden got up from the table. sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Why do you waste time listening to the offer of a mere family of counts?" Sarah¡¯s voice surprised everyone, normally the girl was quiet and polite, Linus had never seen her being rude before.


    Agatha couldn¡¯t even retort, the difference in strength between the two families was simply too great, one wrong word and she could decree the end of her family, just for offending a superior noble.

 Chapter 161: Sarah is.... crazy

    Please report bugs, thank you!


    "We should never close a door without seeing what¡¯s inside." Kayden didn¡¯t continue the conversation and left with Agatha, it wasn¡¯t just because he was a marquis that he forgot his origins.


    The two walked to the outside of the food building and started walking in a random direction.


    "Tell me your proposal," Kayden broke the silence before it lasted forever.


    "I know you must be overwhelmed with proposals and offers, but I want to offer you a fake marriage," Agatha said. Kayden raised his eyebrow quizzically. In fact, he had everything from marriage proposals to master-apprentice links, the latter coming mainly from combat teachers.


    "We won¡¯t have any ties or anything like that, but with this you solve your problem of harassment and I improve my family¡¯s reputation", Agatha explained. Her last sentence made it clear to Kayden that this idea had not come from her, but the boy still reflected a little. He hadn¡¯t thought about this possibility, and the harassment was actually reaching a bizarre level.


    At least once a day he had to deny a girl¡¯s request or advance, sometimes even one who had already been rejected before. Probably if he faked a marriage this would greatly reduce these harassments .


    "Sorry, but my name is worth so much more than just stopping the harassment," Kayden said. He knew this deal was just beginning. Agatha was silent for a few seconds and spoke again.


    "We will provide support for you with all our strength, we currently have 3 mages at the third peak realm, other than that we will offer the vows of loyalty to your house," she said. Finally the real negotiation ended.


    "And what more do you want?" His name alone wouldn¡¯t be of much use.


    "We want financial and later political support," Agatha replied.


    "How much financial support exactly?" Kayden wouldn¡¯t be able to support an entire noble family, in fact he would and he would still have a lot of money left over, but that wasn¡¯t an expense he wanted to have.


    "A few tens of billions," Agatha said reluctantly.


    "I¡¯ll think about that offer," Kayden already had his answer. "I¡¯ll be in touch in a few days." Then the boy saw his friends leaving the food building and went towards them.


    Logically he would not accept an offer from a fallen family. It was clear to Kayden that they were bankrupt and their strength was only a few mages in the third realm. Even if it didn¡¯t cost him anything it was still worth it.


    "How was the conversation, Kayden?" The first person who noticed Kayden was Linus and his speech caught the attention of the entire group, especially Sarah, who turned around waiting for Kayden¡¯s response.


    "She offered herself marriage and the loyalty of her house," Kayden said with a neutral tone, but his friends were excited.


    "She is considered one of the 100 greatest beauties of our kingdom¡­" Before Heimer could continue he was cut off by Sarah.


    "You accepted?" His tone was dry and cold.


    "I haven¡¯t given her the answer yet," Kayden replied without noticing anything wrong. After that they talked a little more about other topics and in a few minutes they said goodbye.


    Only Linus followed Kayden to his mansion, according to the boy he had some things to discuss with Kayden. As they walked Linus started with a topic that Kayden wasn¡¯t expecting at all.


    "Sarah¡­ is in love with you," Linus said. His speech caught Kayden by surprise and several different thoughts appeared in his mind at the same time. "Before you say anything let me explain, she is actually obsessed." Sear?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Linus sighed and paused to think of better words.


    "A few years ago she had also fallen in love with a boy, she did absolutely everything for him, but Sarah had an unhealthy degree of jealousy. She doesn¡¯t actually have any feelings of love, she likes to possess something rare and exotic."


    In this world, nobles were free to have a relationship with whoever they wanted, as long as they maintained the family¡¯s power, so it was not strange to have a relationship before getting married definitively.


    Kayden didn¡¯t really have many interactions with Sarah, mainly because she was in a coma and when she woke up they had very different class schedules, but even so he didn¡¯t expect such a strange... personality.


    "What happened to her last boyfriend?" Kayden didn¡¯t understand how someone with that level of obsession would end a relationship. "She killed him, her boyfriend cheated on her and she just killed him and convinced Dad to decimate his family, the worst part is they were barons." Killing him was acceptable, not really, but Kayden could accept that. The problem was revenge against the entire family. This was much more than just mere retaliation.


    "Why is she interested in me? We¡¯ve barely had 5 conversations our entire lives." "You are currently the best catch in the kingdom. You would be the perfect dating trophy for her." That... was strange. The two talked for a few more minutes, and Kayden was grateful for Linus¡¯s warning. Kayden didn¡¯t think much of it. Her safety was guaranteed for the next 20 years, and if she presented a good proposal, the boy wouldn¡¯t mind having a relationship with her.


    Sarah was the direct heir of a duke and a genius above all. Kayden needed all the strength he could get. The boy would give her anything she wanted. Flowers? Declarations? All of this could be done, but... love? No, he couldn¡¯t give her love. His feelings slowly died during his coma. His mindset hardened to survive the ordeal. His only goals were to get stronger, no matter the path. If he had to use the Britten house as a springboard, it would be done.


    Kayden went madly cultivating and put those thoughts aside. One time or another, everything would be resolved. There was no point in wasting useful time thinking about useless things.


    The next day, ten thousand students gathered in one of the stadiums. Even with this huge amount of people, it still felt like the stadium was half empty. A stage was placed in the center of the arena, and the dean was standing on it. At his side was a large black dragon. Kayden was sitting with his subjects in the stands, along with them were Linus and Isaac. A few days ago a special class was announced that would be taught to everyone, and the dean himself would present it. The main topic was not revealed.


    "Good morning everyone," the dean¡¯s voice rang out at the exact second of the start of class. "This class will be about the process of ascension to the mage realm." Kayden was taken by surprise. This subject could not be found in books, not even in imperial books. It seems that this secret was kept under lock and key.


    "First, you should know that just cultivating won¡¯t advance you to the realm. Cultivation is the easy part. The real problem is learning about the concepts." Most of the students looked strange, not knowing what this was. "Have you ever stopped to think about what makes a forest? First, we have to have grass, which later allows bushes to grow, then we have small trees. Only on this small path were three steps. An apprentice focused on the elements of earth and water You can do this in just a few minutes." Really, anyone could do this with a little training, it doesn¡¯t even necessarily need to be focused on these two elements.

 Chapter 162: Concepts[BONUS]

    "Right now, you should focus all your free time on learning the different concepts of your choice. By the end of the year, everyone should have learned at least one concept."


    Kayden had already stopped paying attention and started thinking about different concepts that could be learned and choosing the best one for him.


    "We have a book available online that lists all the concepts known to date. Some of them we have teachers who learned them, while others you will have to look for books and other means."


    Kayden left with his friends after this short talk full of information and went to lunch. The boy didn¡¯t say a word the entire way and didn¡¯t even respond when called.


    His mind was entirely focused on searching for concepts, but even after a few hours, he didn¡¯t get anything relevant. Kayden had never come close to understanding any concept.


    His path was something brute and formless. Even though it was strong, it was not refined. There was no concept involved in it, it was just a path.


    "My path¡­ is a concept." The revelation hit Kayden like thunder and silenced all his other thoughts. His concept was... he didn¡¯t know. The Monarch of Mana? Could this be a concept?


    Countless doubts began to bombard Kayden¡¯s head. For the first time in a long time, he found himself completely at a loss as to what to do next. The boy sat on the bed and began to reflect.


    Slowly, time passed and Kayden didn¡¯t even move an inch of his body. His focus was completely on deciphering the doubts in his head. Even if an assassin entered the room, he wouldn¡¯t notice anything.


    Which concept to follow?


    This question repeated itself in his mind over and over again. This was a decisive moment in his life. The entire basis of your future development will depend on this. He needs to follow a straight line of concepts.


    "Straight line?" Kayden caught on to that sentence. Why did his knowledge have to be gradual? His path was not an aggregate of concepts, it was just a raw concept of absolute mastery over mana.


    This reflection made him understand that he could learn concepts at levels higher than the basics. For example, he doesn¡¯t need to learn the concept of a drop before the concept of rain, but this would make the process easier thousands of times.


    His next thoughts were about what concepts he should learn. Kayden wanted to maximize what he already had. A master of many areas is nothing more than a master of none. His options were to invest in his element and his path.


    He still couldn¡¯t find something that would connect the two at that moment and didn¡¯t even know how he should invest in his path, but in the case of lightning, he saw a sequence in the application ready.


    Kayden opened his eyes and his first thought was...


    "I need to eat." Looking at his cell phone, he realized that he had been in that position for three days. Fortunately, constant advances in his body allowed him to go much longer than a normal person without eating and drinking.


    After eating all his meals, Kayden responded to his friends who were worried about the time without contact. They even tried to invade, but the head butler did not back down even under pressure from the British name.


    Kayden decided to give the man a generous raise. It wasn¡¯t every day that he found such high-quality employees, especially since he went through the actual training and signed the loyalty contract with Kayden.


    Kayden opened his cell phone to see where he could learn the first level of the lightning element concept tree. According to the book made available by the academy, the first concept was called spark.


    If Kayden wanted to learn about him, he should go to the alchemy building in the basement. The boy was a little confused, as he didn¡¯t understand how he was going to learn about electrical discharges while being underground.


    Without wasting any time, he went to the location. The alchemy building was located inside a huge crater entirely populated with trees and plants for medicinal purposes. The air itself revealed a certain medicinal aroma.


    The walk took a few minutes and finally, Kayden came across one of the strangest buildings he had ever seen in his life.


    The alchemy building stood majestically, contrasting with the lush vegetation that surrounded it. Its structure did not follow traditional architectural conventions; instead, it felt like a fusion between a tower and a laboratory, blending elements both harmoniously and intriguingly.


    The base of the building was wide, circular, and made of a material similar to stone, but with an iridescent hue that reflected soft colors as the sunlight fell on it. As the building rose, it transformed into a slender tower, with translucent glass walls that allowed a glimpse of the interior filled with complex alchemical equipment.


    The structure resembled an ever-changing fractal, with geometric shapes intertwined in ascending spirals. Several strategic openings in the glass wall revealed small hanging gardens, where exotic plants grew in crystal vases, and streams of water flowed in elaborate channels, apparently connected to alchemical experiments.


    A series of small terraces and balconies extended at different levels, creating an almost organic appearance to the structure. On the edges of these terraces, open-air laboratories were visible, where alchemists worked among plants and natural elements, carrying out experiments and magical manipulations. S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden had to admit that it was the strangest and most beautiful building he had ever seen. He gave a real sense of knowledge. As soon as he entered the building, he was greeted by an employee dressed as... a maid.


    "Hello, Mr. Student, how could we help you?" His practiced speech and friendly smile welcomed Kayden with open arms.


    "I need to talk to Professor Bolt," Kayden said. He found it funny that the teacher¡¯s name meant, in a way, "lightning", and he was someone who taught about concepts related to this element.

 Chapter 163: Spark[BONUS]

    "Wait a minute, I will call you." A few minutes later, Kayden was in front of a little man with a completely white head full of wrinkles. Contrary to his old appearance, the elderly man had lively eyes that brimmed with vitality. His hands had the calluses of someone accustomed to performing mechanical work.


    "Hello, professor, I would like to learn about Spark from you," Kayden said, bluntly. As soon as his sentence left his mouth, he saw the old man open a smile on his face.


    "Why didn¡¯t you speak up before? Come, come, most prefer to learn from Cayne just because my method is not very common", said the teacher.


    The boy found out about this. In the corner of the teachers and concepts page, there was a warning above Bolt¡¯s name: "Your method is not recommended for people with low pain resistance, but, on the other hand, your method is faster".


    The two walked a few meters and took the elevator down a few floors. Kayden thought it was incredible that the elevator was just a floor that was controlled by airflow. You couldn¡¯t even feel the vibration of it moving. S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    They went down to a floor with several people working on different experiments. It seemed to be something very deep in the backyard, with things scattered everywhere and some benches even catching fire.


    The two walked to a simple door at the end of the room. As soon as it was opened, Kayden was surprised to see an empty room. Not entirely. In the center of it was a huge gray rectangular structure with a half circle on top. Bolt explained that it was called the Van de Graaff Generator.


    That wasn¡¯t even the most surprising thing. The strange thing was that people were sitting around getting small lightning bolts on their skin. They were so thin that if they didn¡¯t glow, they couldn¡¯t be seen.


    They didn¡¯t seem to be strong and just marked the skin, leaving it red. Kayden noticed that most of the people there didn¡¯t look like they had been training for long, as their skin was immaculate.


    "Sit anywhere and try to understand the concept," Bolt advised Kayden. The boy didn¡¯t know how he should learn the concept, but he had a vague idea because it was the same way as his path.


    There was no way to explain how a concept or a path worked in words. It was an understanding that came from the person himself. It would be similar to explaining a three-dimensional world to a two-dimensional being.


    As soon as Kayden sat down, he received a shock to his shoulder and then another to his leg. Dozens of small shocks that barely caused a hint of pain began to be felt by Kayden.


    The boy was one step ahead of the other students, as he had already understood a path and had a vague idea of how it should work. He tried to understand every nuance of the spark.


    What was the mana flow? How was it formed? Why? What is the principle? What is the beginning and end of the spark? All of this began to be debated in his head and, at the same time, his body absorbed the impacts of dozens of small electrical discharges.


    Slowly, Kayden fell into a trance. Time no longer meant anything to him. His focus was entirely on unraveling the mysteries of the spark. This state of absolute concentration was difficult for most people to achieve, but for Kayden, it was just a matter of breathing.


    Seconds turned into minutes and minutes into hours. His entire body was already red. There wasn¡¯t a point where the sparks hadn¡¯t reached. Even the skin over his eyes was red and swollen.


    This pain prevented Kayden from losing himself within the confines of his consciousness, but it was only by a thread. Pain has long ceased to be an obstacle for Kayden. If he wanted to, he could just ignore his arm being taken off with a blunt knife.


    "Kayden?" Bolt¡¯s voice was unable to break the boy from his trance. "Hey, boy!" Not even a scream in his ear changed anything. This made Bolt let out a sigh. He had seen this level of focus before, the problem was that only in high-level mages.


    When the teacher touched Kayden¡¯s shoulder, the boy woke up instantly and his eyes locked onto Bolt¡¯s. For a second, the wizard who was at the peak of humanity felt lost.


    Kayden¡¯s eyes seemed like two endless abysses, there was no life, there were no feelings, there was absolutely nothing, not even the dead could express such a huge void.


    " I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t hear your call teacher" Kayden quickly understood what was happening and his eyes returned to a normal expression. He saw that he was alone in the room.


    "We¡¯re close to midnight, so I thought I¡¯d better get you out of the trance, come tomorrow morning boy, I promise to help you personally, in two months you¡¯ll master this concept" An excited smile appeared on the teacher¡¯s face.

 Chapter 164: Master and disciple

    It had been a long time since he found a diligent student like Kayden, the boy had been sitting in the same position for hours and didn¡¯t even stop to eat, most of his students were just people who were attracted by the offer of quick learning.


    author¡¯s note: we reached 60 stones at the last second, the cap bonus comes out tomorrow, I only realized because a reader warned me lol, thanks for the support


    "Sorry teacher, but I have a lot of classes this period", Kayden didn¡¯t know how to give up so many classes without seriously damaging his learning, his response made the man¡¯s smile visibly diminish. "Besides, I will first try to reach the peak of the ninth rank before focusing on the concepts, I just came to do a test and ended up getting carried away."


    Every word from Kayden felt like a stab in Bolt¡¯s heart, when he thought he had found the perfect apprentice he was knocked out of paradise in seconds, but even so the old man didn¡¯t give up.


    "Come cultivate in my room, I can increase the mana in the environment by almost 35 times and I have countless runes of focus and mental clarity", the man¡¯s offer took him by surprise, but Kayden didn¡¯t know the level of madness of high-ranking mages. level in finding a successor.


    "Why are you doing all this?" Kayden was surprised by the teacher¡¯s goodwill.


    "I know your potential, Kayden, I have seen your struggle and I have been looking for an apprentice for a long time, this is my offer to you, just take my knowledge and pass it on as you wish," Bolt explained.


    Kayden hadn¡¯t yet reached the top of the world so he didn¡¯t know how the death process worked among the powerful, most ended up dying of old age, and there weren¡¯t many fights or big battles at the top.


    Currently, the human world was experiencing a stagnation of power, no one knew exactly how to advance beyond what they were and they had nothing to do, slowly they were dying and would disappear.


    Another main point is that no one knew exactly how long they would be able to live, the world still didn¡¯t have enough history for that, but the desperation of living at the top and the loneliness of being the only ones made the fear of oblivion come into play. their hearts easily.


    "I don¡¯t look for a master, because I look for my path", Kayden said bluntly, he would never give up everything he has already achieved for another type of knowledge.


    "I can accept this, just receive my inheritance and apply it however you prefer, but make it clear to the world that I am your master and that my abilities have value", a glint of madness appeared in the teacher¡¯s eyes.


    Kayden was interested in the proposal, even though he didn¡¯t know anything about Bolt, the wizard had to be at least in the fourth realm to be a teacher who taught concepts, that alone was something very good and he also knew the fight that Kayden had gotten into in the test from the gym and accepted that.


    "First explain to me who you are", Kayden¡¯s request was appropriate to the situation and did not seem disrespectful.


    "I am Bolt, the Lord of the Heavens, I am currently at the peak of the fourth realm and hold the title of marquis, furthermore, I have a fortune valued at over 10 trillion gold coins," Bolt said. Kayden barely paid attention after hearing "peak of the fourth realm", this was far bigger than anything he had ever seen.


    Probably, the king was at that level or beyond, but only Bolt confessed this to him, even without knowing the teacher¡¯s reputation, he had already made a decision, his power was too great to be denied.


    "I will probably have other masters in the future," Kayden commented.


    "As long as I remain solely responsible for teaching about lightning," Bolt replied. His request was also acceptable and Kayden found himself kneeling reciting an oath not to let his new master¡¯s teachings die in time and even if it was the last thing he needed to do in his life, he should pass on everything he learned. S§×ar?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Besides that, he no longer had any great request for absolute loyalty, just respect and obedience to his master¡¯s teachings and rules. A mere trip made Kayden a big gain.


    The boy said goodbye to his new master and returned home, unfortunately, his night was not over, he still had an appointment with his head butler, it was not something really pleasant, but necessary.


    As soon as he arrived at his mansion, he headed directly to the basement. As soon as he entered, he found himself in a well-lit room with a metal table in the center. Up to this point, everything was normal, at least as far as possible.


    The strange thing was the various signs and symbols painted on the ground in black. It seemed like a great ritual was being prepared. A man was sharpening some tools next to the table.


    He looked like someone who had taken care of himself all his life. Even with his beard and gray hair, he had a strong physique behind the shirt. His blue eyes resembled Kayden¡¯s in a clear summer. Otherwise, he had a square face that exuded confidence that Kayden found enigmatic.


    According to the butler, he decided to follow Kayden simply because he had no better option. He was stuck in the second rank because of old battles and, therefore, he just lived his life and provided his services to whoever paid the best.


    "Lie down on the table while I finish arranging the procedure, my lord," said the butler. Kayden obeyed the butler¡¯s request and just waited.


    "This procedure was discontinued decades ago, mainly because everyone who had it went crazy over time, or ended up dying from pain and a heart attack mid-surgery."


    The sound of the man sharpening his tools and at the same time telling this story as if it were nothing would cause fear and regret in making this decision. This would be the point at which many would backtrack.


    "In my time in surgery, I performed this procedure dozens of times on idiots who thought they were important, no offense, my lord," said the butler. Kayden understood that he was revisiting not-very-pleasant memories. "You will only be able to remove this curse when you reach the second kingdom, do you understand that, my lord?"


    His tone made clear his concern and how he disapproved of this procedure for Kayden. But even so, the glow of decision in the boy¡¯s eyes didn¡¯t diminish even a millimeter. He was right about his decision.

 Chapter 165: The end of sleep and the beginning of a madman

    "I enjoyed my last night¡¯s sleep yesterday." Kayden didn¡¯t say anything else, he had already decided: that sleeping was eating up a lot of time in his day, so he looked for a way to solve this problem.


    What he found was a forbidden surgery of placing a small mana stone along with a spell inside his head. This would prevent you from sleeping and would not harm any part of your life.


    Your growth as a teenager would not be hindered, your information storage process would not be hindered. It was pretty much just earnings. Even the risk of him receiving a blow to the head did not exist, as the spell would simply dissipate and then return using the stone¡¯s mana.


    This was a medical miracle when discovered. The person who developed it was currently called the god of medicine and enjoyed a free pass to enter every country on the globe.


    The problem was that not everything was perfect and, over time, defects in the technique began to appear. The tiredness of not sleeping did not exist, but rather a mental fatigue that accumulated from remaining for a long time without real rest. This would slowly destroy the person¡¯s mind.


    Day by day, she had to accept the fact that she couldn¡¯t sleep and wouldn¡¯t even be able to rest, regardless of what happened. And trying to force unconsciousness would accomplish nothing, as the body would not rest or take a break.


    Even unconscious, the spell would still work and you would just be sleeping with your body awake. In other words, it would be useless. You would have to deal with this weight for many years.


    "Only in the second realm will you be able to get rid of it completely. Because at first, you don¡¯t need to sleep, but it would still help you rest your mind and relax. In the second realm, this becomes useless, we have mental reset spells that do the job of sleeping instantly."


    "I¡¯ve already made my decision, Sebastian." With the boy¡¯s sentence, the butler finished pretending to put away the tools and turned to Kayden.


    "We can¡¯t use anesthesia, so resist the pain." As soon as he said that, Kayden closed his eyes and... felt the cold of sharp metal touching his head. What happened next was a true horror show.


    A hole was opened in his head with the boy conscious. Furthermore, the process was done slowly so as not to damage anything. Just opening the hole took 30 minutes. The pain would have made anyone at least scream or cry. sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Even the toughest soldier would become a young lady during this surgery. But Kayden... just had his eyes closed and the scariest thing was that, from time to time, he opened his eyes and just watched Sebastian.


    It sent a shiver down the head butler¡¯s spine every time. He had never seen anything like it. It seemed like he was performing the surgery on a demon or a person who didn¡¯t feel pain. But he knew Kayden was in pain. He often saw the boy complaining about kicking the corner of the table. It was silly, but the surprise and pain of having your little finger crushed was universal.


    "I will begin the final process." Kayden just remained quiet and... watched the process trying to learn something from it. The head butler used some paint and... started drawing strange symbols on Kayden¡¯s brain.


    The feeling was... ridiculously painful. But the strangest thing was that the pain was coming from different areas of his body. It all depended on where the brush was passed. The painting only lasted 5 minutes and then came the mana stone part.


    To do this, Sebastian had to remove a small part of Kayden¡¯s brain. According to the butler, this part was insignificant, as it didn¡¯t even work properly. The test to find it was using a mana wave and, where there was no reaction, it was the right place.


    The doctors didn¡¯t know what exactly this area was for, but everyone had it and it represented absolutely nothing. Even people who had it removed lived for centuries without any consequences. Furthermore, it was the only point in the brain that did not accept mana.


    Again, great pain invaded Kayden and his entire body began to vibrate from being invaded and inspected. He attributed this to the wave of mana passing through his brain. It felt like every inch of him was being turned over


    Kayden found himself disoriented for a millisecond but soon returned to normal. That was because Sebastian had taken a part of his head. That millisecond was his brain being reorganized to live without a part of him, even if it was useless.


    The next pain was from something else being introduced into his head. Kayden didn¡¯t feel anything this time. It was just a pain in the region. Once again, he found himself disoriented for a moment and soon after returned to normal.


    Then Sebastian took a healing pill out of his pocket and was ready to put it in Kayden¡¯s mouth, as he had done countless times with other patients. But again the boy surprised him by catching it himself and eating it quickly.


    The very act of chewing was making his head burst with pain, and yet the boy did it without complaining. This was the final step and he would finally be free. In just a few seconds, all of his injuries healed.


    "Kayden? What¡¯s your name? How old are you?" Sebastian began asking several different questions to test Kayden¡¯s memory and intelligence. The butler knew that any mistake would result in a vegetable.


    All questions were answered expertly by Kayden. The boy did a physical and mental review and could only notice one difference: he wasn¡¯t sleepy, even though it was his standard bedtime. Furthermore, I didn¡¯t have the fatigue of spending a lot of time awake.


    "I¡¯m fine, thanks for that, Sebastian. The payment for the surgery is on your account." Even though the old man did this willingly, Kayden decided to reward him. Money was nothing to him. This was more of a goodwill gesture than actually a payment.


    "Thank you, sir, salary bonuses are always welcome." The old man left, leaving Kayden alone in the room. The boy wasted no time and started cultivating. His immediate goal was to reach the ninth rank.


    Now he had 7 more hours of cultivation left. This increased his progress by several folds. The boy estimated that it would only take a month if he used an environment with 15 times the amount of mana and added it to 14 straight hours of cultivation daily and reached 48 straight hours during the weekends.


    To do this, he would have to leave aside the coliseum and any event on the weekends. Your life would practically become hell and not even the unluckiest slave on planet Earth would have such a high workload.


    Kayden smiled.


    "The world will doubt reality with my progress."


    *********


    "Boy, what the fuck?" As soon as Kayden stepped into the alchemist tower, he was greeted by an enraged Bolt. "Did you throw your whole life away just to not waste a few hours sleeping?"


    Kayden¡¯s initial confusion was replaced by understanding.


    "Don¡¯t worry about that." His tone was neutral, but upon seeing his master¡¯s second explosion coming:


    "Master, I¡¯m not a child. I know what I¡¯m doing." Kayden¡¯s voice was cold and his eyes cut off any challenge from Bolt.


    His age compared to his new master was like that of a newborn to an adult. But Kayden¡¯s eyes were those of an existence that saw the birth of civilization and survived to the present day. His mental age was far beyond his physical age.


    "Alright, come on, let¡¯s cultivate until you die then." The old man seemed hurt that his apprentice had left him in the dark about this matter, even though the master-disciple relationship was only affected yesterday.


    This time they went to a room on floor number 20. It had several rooms with increased mana levels and, in front of them, a price in terms of merit points per hour.


    The most expensive one increased mana by 30 times and cost an incredible thousand merit points per hour. This was a high number for Kayden at this point, considering his only source was the coliseum and he only gained 10 merit points per week. This amount of a thousand points was still something far away for him.


    Environments with 30 times or more the amount of mana were useless for apprentices, as most were unable to utilize all of the mana in the area. However, they were still useful for advancements, where the amount of mana needed to be higher than recommended to increase the rank.


    He didn¡¯t even know how to get merit points. The only way he knew how was to complete the class he chose with merit and that was decided by the teacher. Each class with merit earned a thousand points, it was practically a gold mine for a hard-working student.


    "When you feel hungry, just let me know. We will try to do at least eight hours of cultivation." Bolt put in a high number of hours as he believed Kayden had the potential to do so.


    He, when he was at the apprentice level, could barely cultivate for more than eight hours at a time and his maximum was twelve. This was still considering that he was always very hardworking and had strict discipline.


    "Do you have anything to do later, master?" Kayden didn¡¯t understand why only eight hours of cultivation.


    "No, but eight hours is a lot of time already, Kayden. We shouldn¡¯t put too much effort into just one thing, otherwise your mental health may deteriorate."


    The boy finally understood what was happening and smiled.


    "Don¡¯t worry about it, master. Just wake me up before class." Bolt was confused for a second. It was still Saturday, classes would only start on Monday. Before he could say anything, Kayden closed his eyes and began to cultivate.


    Wasting no time, the mage gathered mana for the boy and just focused on doing other things during this period. Only by utilizing his spiritual sense could he command the entire building, at least in the area he was responsible for.


    Not only that, but he could cultivate and not even lose concentration on any of his tasks. Moving up a kingdom was more than just power, it was a change in practically everything. Slowly, you would lose your humanity and become a god. Splitting your mind was a basic thing that any second-rank mage already could do.


    Kayden looked like a vortex-absorbing mana. He had never had so much mana available for so long. Every centimeter, or rather every millimeter, was being tested and altered to get the best performance possible.


    Was the mana vein too short? Kayden increased it. Was it too soft? He hardened her. Did you need to touch your own heart and the pain felt like you were taking an organ out of yourself? It didn¡¯t matter. The pain meant nothing.


    Slowly, the hours began to pass. Kayden didn¡¯t even remember the time. That didn¡¯t exist inside his head. His focus was absolute. But someone else remembered. Bolt had all his attention focused on Kayden, waiting for the boy to break down.


    "18 hours straight? What the fuck?" He had never seen this in an apprentice. Even a wizard didn¡¯t have the mental development for that. It would have to be at least a second realm wizard.


    And not even the amount of mana that the small black hole called Kayden absorbed per second decreased. Bolt assessed his clarity runes. Could it be that he placed a divine tier rune here?


    That was the question running through his head when he arrived at 24 hours. He didn¡¯t even know if there were divine-level runes and still went to check. It didn¡¯t seem real what Kayden was doing.


    "When school starts..." Finally, it made sense in his head. The boy wasn¡¯t kidding. He was simply crazy. The next few hours passed slowly for Bolt.


    Every hour that passed, his ego got a slap in the face. He was always the hardest worker of his generation and truly reached the top of the world, but he was watching a kid who hadn¡¯t even turned 20 destroy everything he believed in.


    When it arrived at 6 a.m. on Monday, Bolt touched Kayden¡¯s shoulder and the boy still didn¡¯t wake up. He had to throw cold water on Kayden and shake him a lot.


    "Sorry, master," Kayden woke up and soon understood the situation. "Thanks for your help. I¡¯ll be back this afternoon." The boy walked out the door, leaving Bolt unresponsive. He couldn¡¯t understand.


    Where were the negative reactions?


    The outbreaks because of this inhuman effort?


    Author¡¯s note: I was out of time so I compiled two chapters into one, the bonus caps are now 25 stones, once again you were above expectations and I need to increase lol

 Chapter 166: Insane progress

    "Just two weeks¡­" Bolt had been repeating that phrase for the last entire minutes as he watched Kayden advance in rank. He knew the boy was at the bottom of the eighth realm and had reached the top in just a week. The hardest part has always been the advancement.


    Getting to the top of a rank became easy for Kayden after discovering his path. The most difficult thing was to consolidate the basis for the advance, which was done at an absurd speed.


    "Two weeks without sleep or rest." Bolt had never seen this before. This was inhumane, it shouldn¡¯t even be possible.


    He wasn¡¯t that fast even to advance to the initial levels, but on the other hand, he needed to sleep at that time and the fatigue accumulated. Furthermore, he didn¡¯t have a mage pulling mana at a density of 35 times the environment at all times for him.


    With his path, no mana was wasted. He could use every fold of mana at his disposal. Another thing was that Kayden dropped out of classes those two weeks and stopped going.


    He knew it had been a hasty move and maybe not so smart, but he needed to end this soon to be free. Now it would only take him a few more days without classes to max out the ninth rank.


    "Let¡¯s go." Kayden was stepping onto a plateau he had never reached before. The boy was curious to know how far his strength would go at this moment. As soon as he began the process of advancement, he felt the world trying to take over, and¡­ he once again denied that control to the universe.


    The boy himself began the changes in his heart. First, he decreased his size as much as he could and then began increasing his stamina to accommodate and pump mana. He went as far as he considered acceptable.


    This process was incredibly painful, as again Kayden was messing with something on a macroscopic level. It felt like he was changing his DNA. The boy spent at least an hour regulating the size and strength of his heart.


    One thing he noticed was that when he was in his normal state he couldn¡¯t do this. It felt like something was missing and he found himself unable to touch the macroscopic level of his foundation, but when he was on a breakthrough, everything seemed clear.


    Kayden called it an impulse. With every advancement, he received a boost and could do things he was not capable of before. This made him wonder if he could use this drive for another task.


    Without knowing the consequences of this, the boy left it aside at that moment and just focused on his advancement. Now he would improve his veins. He needed something resistant and at the same time large, as his path allowed him to use a lot of mana, and for that he needed to have the corresponding structure to do so.


    His veins were entirely modified, from the smallest one that reached the tip of his smallest toe to the ones that were coming out of his heart and were much larger.


    This time, the boy was determined to raise his base to perfection, especially considering that the amount of mana he had available would not run out, unlike when he advanced with the king.


    The entire ascension process took twelve hours. Kayden improved every inch he could and when he finally finished, the boy gave a smile that sent a shiver down Bolt¡¯s back.


    Kayden still didn¡¯t respond because he was in the only moment where he couldn¡¯t control anything. His flesh, blood, and bones began to be remodeled. The pain would once again be unbearable for an ordinary person, but Kayden didn¡¯t even flinch. Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Success?"


    "Perfectly." Kayden did some tests on his body and once again he had no way of qualifying. Kayden one rank lower would barely last 10 moves against him now.


    "Let¡¯s continue to the top of the ninth master rank," Kayden ordered and instantly sat down.


    The boy closed his eyes and only opened them every 48 hours to feed. This madness lasted four days and he had reached the peak of the ninth realm. He could no longer gather mana.


    He could. But every time he did this, a feeling that he was going to advance would take over his body. Kayden knew that his path could be used as a concept for his advancement and he confirmed this hypothesis now.


    Even though advancement as a mage now seemed excellent, Kayden knew not to rush perfection. He still had a lot to learn and could gather more concepts to reach a much greater degree of strength.


    The boy performed some tests on his body and couldn¡¯t wipe an insane smile off his face. His speed was at least four times faster, his strength was close to five times faster. Kayden was slowly taking his steps to break out of his weak human shell and ascend into something greater. He didn¡¯t know it.


    Controlling lightning had always come naturally to Kayden, but now he was able to keep his path open much more comprehensively and for a longer duration of time. This allowed him to reach levels very close to the level he reached during the admission test.


    The main factor here was that getting to this stage didn¡¯t cost him anything. He had no sequelae. His body could hold the weight of his path. He still couldn¡¯t use it at full strength, but the boy thought that was normal.


    Even though it was a difficult truth to swallow, Kayden knew that he would have to climb many kingdoms to be able to use 100% of the path of the monarch. His intuition told him that, or rather, screamed it every time he appreciated that he was breaking a limit that shouldn¡¯t be crossed...yet.


    "Professor, I need to fight someone at my level, in the coliseum. What belt do you think I can find someone like that?"


    Bolt closed his eyes and extended his spiritual sense to the files. In just a few seconds, he saw dozens of fights and found the people Kayden was looking for. The boy was strong. Bolt saw him using his path and almost salivated with envy. His level of strength when he was young was nowhere near Kayden¡¯s, but that was normal. New generations would always surpass the previous ones. This was the theory of evolution being applied in reality.


    "Only those in the top 10 can pose a challenge to you now as they have all discovered their paths too."


    Kayden was surprised for a moment and then mentally slapped himself.


    "The smart man¡¯s mistake is to think that only he was born smart."


    Kayden thought the path made him unique, but his vision was the same as a frog stuck in a well. He was better than 99% of people, but there were still others who could surpass him.

 Chapter 167: Dragon girl

    Happy author¡¯s note: My contract is under review and if nothing goes wrong I should be hired in just a few days, at the moment I can¡¯t write extra chapters to celebrate, but as soon as the novel is hired I promise you that the price of the chapter bonus will go down to just 15 stones and this will last for a week.


    Reflective author¡¯s note: I have read two masterpieces in my life, Supreme Magus which introduced me to the world of novels, and God of the Sword in a World of Magic, the first made me vibrate with excitement to read all the novels I could, the secondly it made me question whether I could write something as good, it was the first work that had such a big psychological effect on me, maybe I¡¯ll never be able to come close to any of them, at least not in this story, but someday in the future, maybe In another work, I will be among the best, I promise.


    "I hope you give me a worthy fight," a teenager with brown eyes and black hair was standing in front of Kayden, this was the last opponent he should face to advance to the top twenty.


    All his progress was made... in just one day, Kayden massacred his opponents without mercy and used his path indiscriminately, at that moment his focus was only on advancing and he didn¡¯t care about learning from his opponents. S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden didn¡¯t respond to the boy and as soon as the judge gave the start signal, he pushed his way as far as he could and ran at his opponent without thinking about anything else. The brown-haired teenager went at Kayden with his bare hands and, as incredible as it seemed, he managed to block Kayden¡¯s blow with his hands.


    The problem came next, when another attack connected with his body and then another, he was unable to keep up with the wave of attacks that seemed to come from every possible angle.


    For every two blows he defended, another two drew blood from his body, not only that but it seemed to have no end, Kayden didn¡¯t leave his foot for even a second, if he retreated the katana was waiting for him, if he advanced or dodged the katana was waiting for him.


    This wasn¡¯t even a fight but a one-sided beating, it didn¡¯t even take 30 seconds for Kayden to end the battle with a deadly blow to his opponent¡¯s jugular.


    ¡¯Finally¡¯ Kayden wasted half a day on this, most of the time because he had to wait for the candidates to come after receiving the challenge. The boy was looking for a good opponent and nothing more.


    "I want to challenge student number 10", Kayden quickly asked and his challenge was declined because that specific student was not at the academy, the boy had the option of waiting 48 hours, but he just decided to move on to the next one.


    In just a few minutes a teenage girl appeared Kayden had to rub her eyes to see if she wasn¡¯t dreaming, the girl had a long and scaly tail, her hands had claws and some scales were visible on her body. Her golden hair contrasted with the green of some scales giving the girl a great appearance. Considering her toned body from exercise, she would easily fit into a category of beautiful people.


    "Have you never seen a dragon hybrid!?" the girl shouted at Kayden after the boy looked too closely at her. Their race was the result of experiments in previous centuries and therefore suffered enormous prejudice.


    "Sorry, it¡¯s my first time", Kayden realized his mistake and recognized that his attitude was rude, luckily the girl was used to it and didn¡¯t pay much attention to it.


    "I didn¡¯t see you at the tryouts, so I was surprised."


    "I joined by invitation." This cleared up all of Kayden¡¯s doubts, he knew that some people who had achieved exceptional feats had received exclusive invitations to join the academy without having to pass tests.


    "I understand", Kayden didn¡¯t say anything else while waiting for the judge¡¯s signal, in a few seconds this signal came and the girl assumed a boxer¡¯s position and waited for a movement from Kayden. Kayden let out a long sigh before assuming a state similar to that of a black hole, all the mana around him came towards him, in every possible direction the mana knelt in his presence.


    Countless lightning began to rotate around him, the world itself recognized his will and prepared it for him, stomping down to the ground Kayden rushed at his opponent, his first strike was so fast that the sound of air being cut exploded in loud volume.


    The girl just defended with her arm and, oddly enough, Kayden only managed to get a scratch, the girl was surprised, it had been a long time since she bled, but that didn¡¯t stop her from throwing a hook at Kayden.


    "Argh!" she moaned in pain when she felt the boy¡¯s blade passing through her rib, once again the cut wasn¡¯t deep, but it managed to draw blood, the teenager didn¡¯t even understand where that attack came from and instinctively backed away.


    "Use your path or this will seem like a joke", Kayden¡¯s voice was loaded with mana and caused a shiver in everyone watching the fight, even though it was something planned by surprise, there were thousands of students watching. It wasn¡¯t every day that great powers faced each other and no one wanted to miss a thread of that fight.


    "My path is strength." The girl would never use this in an ordinary fight, but Kayden¡¯s last sentence entered her head as "use your way or die", for the first time in her life she felt genuinely pressured. His entire body began to be covered in scales and a smile of excitement appeared on his face, instantly his aura began to change, Kayden seemed to be facing an indestructible mountain.


    SWISH!


    The wind cut when Kayden took the initiative again, nothing would shake his confidence, not even a powerful aura, this time all his blows were being received by the girl¡¯s head-on.


    It seemed as if his body was entirely made of the toughest stone in the universe, Kayden¡¯s sword began to turn a black shade as his reminiscence technique was used at full blast.


    Her ray armor was working at the highest level of performance, making Kayden look like an angry god, unfortunately, the rays couldn¡¯t get past the girl¡¯s scales.


    " Fuuu" the sound of the girl filling her lungs caused an alert in Kayden¡¯s mind, mainly because it didn¡¯t seem to be air, before the boy could move away a puff of flames at close range was thrown at him.


    By contorting his entire body, Kayden managed to get out of the central area of the attack, but the entire left part of his body was burned, his flesh was charred and his skin was no longer even visible.


    Fortunately, he had his spiritual sense switched on at all times and felt which way the blow would lean more, which was probably the only reason the judge didn¡¯t immediately take him out of the arena.


    When everyone thought it was over Kayden continued attacking without pause, not even a moan of pain left his lips, his eyes were cold as emptiness, and his mind was calm as a lake.


    "Give up boy, you can¡¯t face a hybrid" The girl didn¡¯t want to fight against a weakened opponent, but to her surprise, Kayden continued with the same strength, he didn¡¯t seem to feel pain.

 Chapter 168: Raising your goals

    Another incredible exchange of blows took place between the two. Using a path was exhausting, and the dragon girl only had one or two more breaths of flame left before she was completely exhausted.


    Seeing that Kayden wasn¡¯t going to give up, she started to gather another puff but was stopped midway when she received the biggest kick of her life to her belly. Everything she was accumulating was wasted. This kick cost Kayden 60% of all mana under his control. His leg had all its bones cracked by the impact.


    Before the girl could compose herself, she saw a katana at her neck. She knew that if Kayden wanted her to, she would be dead now. When her eyes met Kayden¡¯s, she saw endless emptiness and absolute trust.


    BOOM! A gigantic blast of lightning landed just a few meters away from them. This was the place Kayden would have pushed her in a few seconds if she hadn¡¯t gotten careless and caught the kick squarely.


    "QUICK, HEAL HIM!" The medical team rushed into the arena and, before Kayden could say anything, he began receiving a multitude of healing spells. The healing process took an incredible five minutes as the flame appeared to not have fully extinguished and was still burning Kayden alive.


    "I want a rematch," said the girl, along with the medical team at Kayden¡¯s side. Despite doctors¡¯ advice for the boy to accept a knockout so as not to have any more pain, Kayden preferred to remain conscious.


    "I can¡¯t use my path again today," was the only response he gave to the dragon girl. And what he got was a pout and a frown.


    "What is your name and path?" His questions were direct and he didn¡¯t even care about Kayden¡¯s condition. In truth, she wasn¡¯t calm enough to notice, because if she had been, she would have been speechless to see Kayden respond to her with this degree of pain.


    "I am Kayden Heart, my path is the Monarch of Mana," he said. Many attentive ears heard this and began to spread this gossip, even more so when the teenager¡¯s next question was answered.


    "Your path is strong, why are you revealing it ?" Kayden hadn¡¯t even stopped to think about it. He responded naturally, the boy was no longer afraid of being killed by stronger entities.


    "If someone wants to pursue it and is better than me at it, that just means that wasn¡¯t my true path, but that¡¯s not going to happen," he said. His sentence dripped with confidence that made people sick. His tone was practically saying that not even a god could match him.


    Many thought the boy was disproportionately arrogant, but they soon kept quiet. His sentence had no arrogance, he wasn¡¯t boasting, he was stating a fact.


    "We¡¯re done here, try not to kill yourself next time," said the doctor in charge, looking at the craziest patient he¡¯d ever cured.


    "Sorry, thanks for the help," Kayden said, thanking him and getting up from the gurney. His next destination was the Fa¨ªsca concept rooms. Before he could continue, he was interrupted.


    "Hey wait, don¡¯t you want to know about my path? Who I am?" Ashley couldn¡¯t understand Kayden¡¯s lack of curiosity.


    "No," Kayden said, not turning around again and just continuing walking. But, against his expectations, the girl walked beside him again.


    "What if I tell you how to strengthen your path?" Finally, some emotion was seen in Kayden¡¯s eyes.


    "Name your price," he said. Nothing was free in this life.


    "I want to fight you again," Ashley said. Kayden nodded. That wasn¡¯t even a big ask.


    "Do you know why my body is so strong?", asked the girl, expecting a kick or some response from Kayden, but only received silence.


    " Okay, I understand that you¡¯re dull. It¡¯s because I learned a concept called Protection and it aligns with my path", she said. His sentence was like lightning hitting Kayden¡¯s head.


    He had never thought that he could keep improving his path by adding concepts to it. Kayden always thought he was something immutable and had nothing to do with the concepts he learned.


    "Thank you," Kayden finally expressed some genuine emotion and smiled at the girl. The two talked some more and Kayden discovered that the girl was called Ashley. He also changed their phone numbers.


    Kayden didn¡¯t waste much time on this and hurried to leave. He still had a lot to train for. This fight was just a test to see where the limit of his strength was and the limit of the generation he was in.


    What he didn¡¯t see were two eyes as blue as the sky staring at his conversation with Ashley with the purest hatred. She was invisible in the crowd and left before anyone noticed her presence.


    "You know you lost that fight, don¡¯t you?" Bolt spoke as soon as Kayden stepped out of the Coliseum. With a nod from Kayden, the two began discussing all the mistakes the boy had made.


    What was clear to him was that, if the girl hadn¡¯t hesitated after using the first breath, Kayden would have lost the fight without being able to fight back. His last attack consumed a lot of his mana and he probably only had one more attack to make. Exhaustion was dangerous and should be avoided.


    "I didn¡¯t expect the Top 9 to be this strong," Kayden commented as they flew towards the alchemy tower.


    "Those in the Top 5 are already at the mage level. Not only that, but they have their paths and concepts formed," Bolt replied. Kayden was in shock for a few seconds and could only utter one word.


    "As?"


    "Coincidence of discovering their ways early and then being trained hard by their clans and organizations. None of them have weaker protection than yours," Bolt explained.


    In the end, Kayden just had to accept it. Among trillions of people, some could discover their path early and a minority of these would be recognized by large organizations. It was just a game of probabilities and it was rarer than finding a needle on a planet. But still, 5 managed to stand out. Kayden thought he was at the top of his generation. S§×arch* The n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    At that moment, he realized that his feat of fighting a wizard could probably be replicated. He wasn¡¯t special. He was just the only one who received fame. This realization made the boy realize something else.


    "I need to come up with four concepts," he thought. A concept would make you mediocre and shorten your future. Two concepts would make him special among the weak and still kill his future. Three concepts, he would become a genius the size of Leonardo, capable of ascending to the highest levels of society and strength in this world.


    And in the end, he would be just another genius among countless. His path would make him special, but it still wouldn¡¯t be what he was looking for. Kayden needed four concepts to rise above everyone else.


    "I need time," he thought. Kayden decided to cut some classes so he could focus on learning more concepts. First, he would cut out the physical fighting. It would be very useful to him in moments without a weapon, but he didn¡¯t have that time now.

 Chapter 169: Breathing technique and concepts

    General combat wouldn¡¯t help him at all at this point either, his opponents in this class were too weak for him to be able to use his full strength and this hindered his learning.


    *********


    "The spark is the beginning of everything in electricity. It works when we have a high energy point and another with low energy. The high energy point moves some of its energy to the lower one, and if the difference is too large, a spark will form."


    Kayden had been sitting for hours receiving electric shocks and seemed completely lost. But that quote from Bolt opened a door in his mind. At that moment, he understood that he was at the lowest energy point.


    "Try to balance the electricity in the system and you will stop getting lightning." Kayden did as Bolt ordered, but his attempts only resulted in him receiving more electric shocks. His skin was already looking like a red pepper.


    It had been two weeks since Kayden had been intensively trying to learn spark from Bolt. Every day he seemed closer to understanding something. His training time easily exceeded 15 hours a day.


    He did nothing but sit and get shocked during this time. His only other activity was attending a few specific classes he couldn¡¯t miss. Not even having lunch with his friends on the weekends was on his agenda anymore.


    So far, Kayden has not felt any problems after having the surgery. His head felt a little heavy. It seemed like day and night didn¡¯t exist for him. Ever since he put the rune on to not sleep, it felt like it was just a long day.


    "It¡¯s class time, Kayden." A few minutes later, the boy was taken out of his concentration by his master. After just a short time together, Kayden realized that he had made the right choice in choosing a master. S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    His learning was accelerated dozens of times because of the knowledge and resources that Bolt was able to provide. Besides, the old man was... crazy. He loved seeing progress in Kayden¡¯s development. So, he forced the boy to always train at his maximum. Not that Kayden needed encouragement to do his best.


    The old man also worried about him and always made an effort to make Kayden take short breaks, even if it was just for him to eat. It was literally how every master-apprentice bond should be.


    The only thing Kayden couldn¡¯t understand was Bolt¡¯s desperation to teach Kayden everything he could in the shortest possible time. It was almost as if he was at the end of his life and needed to pass on all his knowledge.


    Kayden¡¯s class that day was on breathing, a class that lately Kayden had been discouraged from taking. The boy couldn¡¯t say that it was useless, but the techniques taught only increased strength or endurance a little. Nothing beneficial.


    As soon as he arrived, he saw the same smiling old lady with white hair who exuded good vibes. It just exhaled, because she was a tyrant as a teacher. But as a person, she was kind and friendly.


    "Today we will learn how to introduce mana into our breath." Kayden gave a mental sigh. Finally, something really useful. "Breath is toxic to our body if introduced directly. Therefore, before attaching the technique that I am going to teach you, we will learn how to break the mana into harmless parts."


    The woman began to walk around the room and distribute a sheet with step-by-step instructions. It was simply making the mana lose its form and making it anemic. It was similar to taking a clump of mana and taking most of it away, leaving only a very small part.


    "This process should take a few days for everyone to be able to do it correctly. You can look for me in my office as soon as you can." With her sentence, she closed the class.


    Everyone started reading the manual as if their lives depended on it. For the first time, they would learn a really strong technique. Kayden gave it a light read and started doing the steps step by step.


    In just 30 minutes, he managed to make the mana weak enough to be put into the technique. With his path, any manipulation of mana became incredibly easy.


    The teacher¡¯s office was in a tall tree. Kayden guessed it must be at least a kilometer tall. His shadow cast itself across the entire region. The walk to the top was possible because of several evenly placed wooden steps.


    As soon as he arrived, he smelled tea latent in the air. At the top, there was a small two-story house with a spacious garden around it. Kayden didn¡¯t even know a treehouse could be so luxurious. Luxury wasn¡¯t the best word, as everything there was done in a simple but harmonious way.


    "Hello?" Kayden didn¡¯t even see a light on and assumed the teacher wasn¡¯t home.


    "I¡¯m in the garden, Kayden, you can come in." The elderly woman¡¯s gentle voice reached Kayden¡¯s ears as if she were by his side. With the teacher¡¯s permission, he entered and noticed that the garden was even more beautiful inside, with different types of flowers organized in such a way that their colors did not overshadow or stand out from each other.


    "What do you need, little one?" The elderly woman asked as soon as Kayden appeared in her vision. The woman was sitting on a bench while having a cup of tea in front of her and a book on her lap.


    "I finished learning the technique you gave." Kayden stood still, not knowing what to do.


    "Come, sit down and show me." The woman didn¡¯t even accuse Kayden of being a charlatan and continued with her gentle tone. After seeing the boy¡¯s demonstration, she was excited by Kayden¡¯s learning speed.


    "Very good, Kayden." The old lady raised her hands and a book came floating out of the house. "Have you ever thought about why we gain more energy when we breathe? Logically, there is a scientific side and complex things ... but they are useless to us right now."


    Kayden received the book from the teacher. It was a small leather book, with the only writing in gold letters being the teacher¡¯s name: Isabella Montgomery. Before Kayden started studying it, he decided to pay attention to the teacher¡¯s words.


    "What you have to understand is that when we breathe, the air is automatically converted into energy to be used in our muscles and other parts of the body. It is only non-toxic because it is processed quickly."


    Kayden was understanding where she was going.


    "Our race does not have any organ capable of automatically filtering mana, which is why it is toxic in our organism. The divine breathing technique consists of breaking mana into small harmless parts and, when it has been increased in breathing, the mana must be automatically directed to the required movement."


    This meant that as long as you breathe, you could make up for any tiredness and lack of energy in your body just by using mana as your primary fuel.


    "Unfortunately, your brain is not capable of performing this task in a correlated way with others. Therefore, you will only be able to use this technique in its entirety when you reach the rank of wizard."

 Chapter 170: Higher realms[BONUS]

    "Why?" Kayden knew very little about the realms above the apprentice, his knowledge bordering on complete ignorance.


    "When we pass the kingdom, we have a complete transformation in our body. In the first realm, you are a human being who has surpassed all mortal limits, but make no mistake, you are still a mortal. Your brain and everything in your body is changed to a higher stage."


    "And in the other kingdoms?" Kayden asked curiously. Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "In the second realm, or realm of great mages, you are still on the same pedestal, but again everything within your reach has been improved. It¡¯s not as absurd a degree as from apprentice to mage, but it¡¯s still a big increase."


    "Do you stop being human in the fourth realm? Do you become some kind of demigod?" Even though he knew the answer to his question was no, Kayden decided to try to get some more useful information from the teacher.


    "Wizards in the third realm are called wizard lords. Again, they have a big increase in everything, but nothing discrepant. At least in normal people, not geniuses. Each realm is an insane transformation. At this stage, you don¡¯t need to eat or sleep. In the fourth realm, you are in a sort of transition from a mortal to a demigod, at least that¡¯s what we believe. This realm is called transitional mage."


    Isabella was silent for a few minutes, almost as if she completely forgot about Kayden¡¯s presence. The elderly woman was just going through several memories and a slight aura of sadness and remorse leaked from her.


    "We don¡¯t need to eat or sleep, we don¡¯t have any physiological needs, even breathing is no longer necessary, but we can still die over time. Slowly, we feel our lives slipping away without us being able to do anything. The fourth kingdom is the prison of the enlightened."


    "Do we have mages above the fourth realm in our world?" This has always been a question for Kayden. He remembered that Adam was called an archmage in the story Nicholas told him.


    "This is a matter that you do not yet have the level to discuss, little one." The woman abruptly ended the conversation and kicked Kayden out, leaving the boy wondering what he had done wrong.


    It wasn¡¯t his fault. Isabella just didn¡¯t like this subject, as every day she felt her life force decreasing and she spent more time in the fourth realm than in all the others combined. This slowly caused her to become sensitive to the matter of the fifth realm.


    This kind of emotion was shared by most people in the fourth realm, at least those who had lived a long time. No one knew if the fifth kingdom existed, it was practically a theoretical dream of all the magicians trapped in this prison.


    A few minutes later, Kayden was sitting with Bolt. He decided to learn everything he could about the kingdoms above, he had been avoiding it for a long time.


    "Magicians in the first realm have a lifespan identical to a normal healthy human. In the second kingdom, we live for 150 to 200 years. In the third kingdom, we can reach 300 years. In the fourth kingdom, we don¡¯t know. The oldest wizard in this kingdom is 700 years old."


    ¡¯700?¡¯ Kayden remembered perfectly that mana was discovered no more than 600 years ago. This meant that this person was alive before awakening.


    "The estimate is that we can reach a maximum of 1000 years of age." Bolt let out a sigh and before he could continue, Kayden interrupted him.


    "How is he older than mana awakening?" His question made Bolt realize the mistake he had unintentionally made. For a few minutes, he just didn¡¯t know what to say.


    "When you arrive in the higher realms, I will tell you the truth about this and many other matters. But for now, you don¡¯t have the power to know." His tone made it clear he wasn¡¯t going to say another word.


    "He belongs to Eden, doesn¡¯t he?" As soon as the words left Kayden¡¯s mouth, it was as if the world faced the wrath of a god. The entire environment became frozen, even the drops of rainwater running outside were frozen.


    Small lightning began to ravage the entire region. The rain that was once a small summer drizzle grew into a gigantic storm with dozens of lightning strikes falling without stopping.


    "I have no connection with them, control yourself, don¡¯t make me regret having you as my master" The killing intent that Bolt was releasing could cause a third-rank assassin to find himself paralyzed, but Kayden couldn¡¯t have your mind broken.


    Not even a god would be able to move even an inch of his will, his self-control and willpower were molded from iron and reached a level that probably no other mortal would reach in the entire history of planet Earth.


    The boy¡¯s cold tone was like a bucket of cold water to Bolt, instantly the storm outside normalized, time seemed to run normally again, and the killing intent gradually diminished until it disappeared.


    An absolute giant was scolded by a child, Bolt chuckled to himself before turning back to Kayden.


    "How do you know about them? Only those who arrive in the fourth kingdom or work for Eden have the right to this knowledge, not even the princes have this information" Bolt¡¯s question was genuine and expressed great curiosity, he believed Kayden had no involvement with them, simply why not he thought Kayden might lie to him.

 Chapter 171: Those who control the world [BONUS]

    The boy¡¯s heartbeat didn¡¯t change for even a fraction of a second during the entire event. His hands did not express the slightest sign of sweat, his speech was clean and without tremor. There was no sign of lies or fear.


    "I can¡¯t tell you master, but I can sign a contract declaring I¡¯m not part of them." Even if Kayden told his master, he probably wouldn¡¯t believe he was reincarnated. Then he had to sign a contract and only after that did Bolt completely relax.


    "Sorry about that kid." The old man let out a sigh as he reviewed painful memories. "When you reach the fourth realm, you have to sign a contract of obedience to the master of Eden. I was a hot-headed young man at the time, I reached the fourth realm at the age of less than 100."


    In their previous conversation, Kayden discovered that reaching the fourth realm in just 100 years was not difficult if you had talent. The easy part was getting to the third realm, it could be done in just a few decades. The really difficult part was moving from the third realm to the fourth, this process could take centuries. Most people end up stuck in this stage for the rest of their lives, but if you have talent, you can go from the third to the fourth realm in just a few days. S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I was at the peak of my life, I was one of the greatest talents of my generation, I had money and land, and practically no one other than the king could get me to lower my head until I received a visit from Eden." At this moment, his tone became low and anger was apparent in his voice.


    "I refused to join them, who would join an unknown organization? Even though they dominated me in strength, I still denied it, I thought I was a genius capable of rising above the fourth realm, I wouldn¡¯t bow down until they forced me. In front of me, they killed everyone in my family, my father, my mother, and my younger sister."


    From anger, his voice turned to sadness.


    "At the time, I signed the contract with a lot of hatred, that hatred lives on today. My goal in life is to kill every single person in this organization, unfortunately, I don¡¯t know if I will be able to accomplish this task."


    A lot of information poured into Kayden¡¯s mind all at once. He knew that Eden wasn¡¯t supposed to be the good guy in the story as he was portrayed in Nicholas¡¯s tale, but he didn¡¯t expect them to be so ruthless. This made the boy realize that probably the king and all the other kingdoms were just pawns in the hand of some master, perhaps a true level-five wizard or something beyond.


    "Wars and all major movements are orchestrated by them, all in search of the development of the human race to face the aliens again in a few centuries."


    "Who is the master of Eden? What is your strength level?" Kayden asked as Bolt was lost in thought.


    "I don¡¯t know who he is or his strength level, I just know that he is the strongest wizard I have ever seen in my life."


    "Is there any way to escape Eden¡¯s reach?" Kayden knew that one day he would arrive in the fourth kingdom and he must be ready to escape, he would rather be a fugitive than a slave.


    "The forests, no member of Eden can enter one meter into the great forest, the small forest is the first thousands of kilometers. I don¡¯t know why, but this is the first order we received. Other than that, we are free to even attack Eden if we want, but in command of any member, even an apprentice, we have to obey or die."


    The two were silent in their thoughts for the next few minutes. Time seemed to have no meaning for either of them and, in the blink of an eye, an hour passed, Bolt turning over memories he didn¡¯t want to and Kayden with his brain working at full speed.


    It was easy for him to connect the dots now. Eden didn¡¯t enter the forest because of the dragon he saw in the illusion. Adam was probably the master of Eden, he was also above the fourth kingdom. In the story of Nicholas, he was called an archmage. Yet another set of nebulous information opened up to Kayden.


    "Let¡¯s practice?" And this information has been left aside for now.

 Chapter 172: The first concept

    There was absolutely nothing in Kayden¡¯s mind, it was completely blank. Time meant nothing, pain and other sensations were a distant illusion. How much time has passed?


    Days?


    Decades?


    Kayden had no idea and didn¡¯t even care. All this time was spent just studying the concept of spark. The small burns and stings on his skin were no longer physically felt.


    At this moment, he could feel the flow of energy. His hair arched to receive the shock in place. Your body learned to detect the spark before your mind was able to understand it.


    Kayden had received thousands of shocks, perhaps even millions. But it was all worth it. His mind could detect the energy in the air. It wasn¡¯t possible to explain it in words, it was almost like a seventh sense. sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    In the same way that our sixth sense works, now Kayden had opened his world to the seventh sense. Each person had different senses regarding what they trained. Kayden could feel the energy.


    He saw the area where he was as a small point of low energy and the cylinder in the center of the room as a large center of energy. Unfortunately, the process of accumulating energy and, consequently, creating the spark was still too fast for him to see.


    Bolt said that when he reached the first realm, he might be able to study this nuance, as his brain would receive a major upgrade. In a way, things would slow down in his vision.


    His entire focus was on observing the energy differences between himself and the cylinder. There were a few other low-energy spots in the room, but Kayden¡¯s mind ignored them entirely. Its existence was irrelevant.


    The boy opened his eyes and began to manipulate the mana around him. The first thing he did was activate his path to maximum. All the mana around him became anemic and submissive. A tunnel from him to the mana cylinder any will in the world appear in seconds.


    No one but Bolt noticed this. The mana was only manipulated near Kayden, done perfectly so as not to disturb anyone. The old man saw Kayden¡¯s breath create a flow of mana.


    He drew mana and released it. This was the technique he learned from Professor Isabella. It wasn¡¯t exactly that. Kayden made some changes under Bolt¡¯s supervision.


    The difference is that the original technique served to slowly restore the user¡¯s mana and help with muscle fatigue a little. Kayden¡¯s was to balance the mana overload in his body.


    Every breath he took drew the toxic surplus from his muscles. This allowed them a few moments of rest, but it was only a short time, as they were soon flooded with mana again.


    This small change increased Kayden¡¯s time to stay in his path by 40%. That was a huge increase.


    ¡¯Balance¡¯. That was the first thing Kayden was doing. Within seconds, his body stopped receiving the dozens of sparks. The energy between his body and the cylinder was practically identical.


    ¡¯Come on, boy.¡¯ Bolt was excited like every time Kayden had reached this point over the past few weeks. The problem was the next part, the real obstacle for the talented and the insurmountable mountain for the mediocre.


    ¡¯Imbalance¡¯.


    Kayden instantly became the point of greatest energy. For the first time, he succeeded. His skin began to tingle and every hair on his body began to stand on end.


    His hair, which was cut short, began to float. His black eyes began to blink with a white hue that Bolt identified immediately. The man was happier than Kayden. This was visible when seeing the smile on his face.


    ¡¯1 month and 1 week¡¯. Sparks began to come out of Kayden¡¯s body and head towards the cylinder. There were so many that it looked like a gigantic flash. This was normal. The boy still didn¡¯t know how to regulate his new domain very well.


    The event scared the people around and everyone stopped to see what Kayden was doing. Little by little, they realized that the boy had achieved what they set out to do.


    Most of them had entered in the last two weeks. Few had been there longer than that. Giving up on this method was brutal. Few students learned the concept from Bolt.


    As the minutes began the bird¡¯s flow of sparks dwindled to a number small, now there were only 3 leaving Kayden¡¯s body towards the cylinder, and his control once again proved absolute.


    The boy ended his path, and a flow of mana assaulted everyone around, a cold and unwilling mana, dead but powerful, charged with electricity passed through everyone, it was just a small aura incapable of hurting even a mosquito, but What was important was what it meant.


    "I¡¯m finished master," he said once Bolt, who was already excited, let out a laugh of joy.


    *******


    BOOOOOM!


    A tree measuring almost 10 meters was reduced to wood chips. A shockwave shot out from the explosion area and reached a few tens of meters before disappearing completely.


    "150%" Kayden estimated that this was the gain in strength from applying the concept he mastered in his Zeus¡¯ Bolt spell. Not only that, but the speed at which he fell was much faster than before.


    Now it barely took a few seconds before the enormous flash descended to the ground. The boy estimated that any ordinary wizard apprentice would be instantly killed and only those at the top of the magical chain could receive this attack and remain alive.


    His other spells also received a slight boost, but it wasn¡¯t as strong as Zeus¡¯s Bolt, but it was still somewhere around 30%. What Kayden hadn¡¯t yet managed to do was integrate the concept into his path.


    This was slowly taking away his sanity. He spent a lot of time learning this concept and now it was useless? Kayden couldn¡¯t accept this. For the moment, he stopped his apprenticeship with Bolt to focus on just that.


    He warned the transition mage that he would not learn any concepts until he solved this problem. Bolt just left the boy alone but warned him that he had two weeks and then he would train under the wizard¡¯s supervision.


    This was not a request, but an order from a master to his apprentice. Most of Kayden¡¯s time at this point was spent just meditating and trying to figure out what to do now.


    The difficulty of his task was simply gigantic. He was the first in his path, both from the Monarch of Mana and the Heart of Mana. The two things have never been seen in their world before. Each step had to be explored slowly by him.

 Chapter 173: A new concept

    This was not a request, but an order from a master to his apprentice. Most of Kayden¡¯s time at this point was spent just meditating and trying to figure out what to do now.


    The difficulty of his task was simply gigantic. He was the first in his path, both from the Monarch of Mana and the Heart of Mana. The two things had never been seen in his world before, each step had to be explored slowly by him.


    *********


    "Where are we?" Kayden¡¯s vision was obscured, but he could feel the cold wind around him and his breath producing steam. Bolt¡¯s two-week time span extended to a month.


    The man did this so Kayden wouldn¡¯t miss class. They were currently in the sixth month of the year, and during this period, all college classes stopped so that students could train with their classes for the mid-year test. Kayden and his subjects weren¡¯t going to participate, so it was a month¡¯s vacation for them.


    "We are on the Mountain of Indra. There are more species of the lightning element here than in the entire kingdom." Kayden could feel the electricity in the room, almost as if he were inside a storm. "You came here to learn my technique that made me able to reach the top of the world, at least the fake top." The last part was added too low for Kayden to hear. "Have you ever wondered what the limit of spiritual sense is?"


    Bolt¡¯s question made Kayden reflect. The man didn¡¯t rush the boy and let the minutes pass, in the meantime, he lit a fire and started cooking fish as if it were the most normal thing in the world.


    "I don¡¯t know, master." Kayden ran dozens of tests of his spiritual sense during those minutes and found nothing debilitating.


    "At the moment you won¡¯t understand, but as you advance through the realms, spiritual sense becomes obsolete in combat. Firstly, he is slow in responding to information. For each realm you advance, your reflexes become insane. Milliseconds can decide the outcome of a fight."


    If someone asked Kayden how long the spiritual sense copy he used was delayed, his answer would be zero, the information reached him instantly.


    "After the second realm, this delay can be used to deceive your senses, but that is not the main thing. The important point is that it doesn¡¯t help you predict the future, you can only see the opponent¡¯s movement and adapt to it, you can¡¯t be a few steps ahead of your opponent."


    At the moment, Kayden was able to predict and prepare for his opponent¡¯s blows, but after listening to Bolt¡¯s speeches it was clear that as soon as he advanced to make this small advantage would completely disappear from his portfolio.


    "What I¡¯m going to teach you is the basics of the skill that allowed me to be known as humanity¡¯s fastest wizard." A smile of someone who fooled the entire world appeared on Bolt¡¯s face. "The funny thing is that it doesn¡¯t increase my speed, it allows me to react faster than my opponent." S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden was beginning to understand what this magical ability of his master was.


    "My ability works based on the energy of the opponent¡¯s body, not only his but everything around him. You will be able to identify every little variation in the system, even the flapping of a mosquito¡¯s wings has energy. And the best thing is that this skill only requires knowledge of the concept of spark and energy."


    Kayden took a while to think, but as soon as it hit him he was surprised, because the technique his master used was at the level of someone from the fourth realm, but only needed something basic that anyone could learn in a few months.


    "But make no mistake, Kayden. It¡¯s not easy, I had to spend decades to understand it enough to use it in combat. You must understand what each energy point means and what its variation means. That¡¯s why I brought you to learn the second concept. As you already know spark, everything gets easier. It should take you a similar amount of time or even less."


    "Master, if it¡¯s so easy to learn different concepts, why do most people get ahead with just one?" The boy was going to learn his second in just two months.


    "Learning concepts is simple, Kayden. With focus, you can learn a dozen in a year, logically if you train correctly. If you want, you can spend decades accumulating hundreds or thousands of concepts. But the real difficulty is bringing them together to move forward. That¡¯s why if you learn antagonistic concepts you may not be able to put them together to move forward."


    This was similar to having just one rope to pull something out of a river. You may be able to pull something out of the currents, but you won¡¯t have time to pull two items unless they are together.


    This made Kayden think his way through. He urgently needed to find a way to combine the concepts he was learning along the way, otherwise all of this would be a huge waste of time.


    "Your role for the next few days is to live blind and just try to move around the power points. You are prohibited from using your spiritual sense. Logically, you won¡¯t be able to fight or do anything difficult. I just want you to understand the concept of energy."


    For the next few minutes, Kayden just sat there as he tried to feel things around him. Because of the spark concept, he could see large points of energy, for example, his master beside him.


    Over the next few hours, he was able to see a few different spots, but nothing more. His master instructed him to walk and assured him that he would be safe. This opened his horizons, now he saw large points of energy constantly.


    Not only that, but he managed to differentiate them by their types. There were minimal variations, but in some points, the mass of energy was more violent, and in others, it seemed calmer. Kayden couldn¡¯t understand the difference between them as he was blindfolded.


    As the days passed, Kayden noticed an increase in all of his senses. His sense of smell became more acute, his hearing was increasingly better, and, incredible as it may seem, even his taste was more refined.


    Energy variations have been classified into different types. Kayden began to understand when someone was attacking or performing basic tasks like walking. Everything could be observed by variation and intensity.


    Before, he could only sense things close to him, at most ten meters away. But now, his vision range reached nearly 30 meters. The further away, the lower its accuracy in detecting energy variations.


    The only weakness at the moment was that he had not yet understood how to sense the energy of lifeless things, for example, the ground and relief. This was a huge hindrance in a fight, especially when your opponent used sneaky attacks.


    "Energy is present in everything, Kayden. Each thing releases energy differently. Most are undetectable. Remember that energy is different from electricity." This phrase repeated itself in Kayden¡¯s head all the time.


    Kayden couldn¡¯t understand how electricity was different from energy. The boy didn¡¯t know how much time had passed and he didn¡¯t care. His focus was absolute. He had already gotten used to living blind. His vision had always been a crutch and in this training, he had the chance to change that.

 Chapter 174: Everything is mana

    Each day that passed, Kayden learned something different, whether it was about the concept of energy or his other senses. For example, he was able to differentiate the passage of the day just with the temperature or know if it was going to rain just by feeling the wind and humidity in the air.


    Kayden was sitting on a large rock he found on one of his walks. This was his favorite place these past few days, mainly because it had a mystery to it.


    The stone had energy, and it was not something small. Kayden estimated it must be at least 5 meters wide. The strange thing was that he couldn¡¯t identify anything beyond that. He had been sitting on it for days and nothing different had happened.


    His energy was calm like a lake in winter, not even the slightest hint of movement could be felt. Was this alive? Kayden¡¯s answer would be no, but that would also go against his knowledge of energy.


    "What the fuck?" Kayden felt a tremor through his body and then found himself being lifted into the air. The rock energy that he had been studying religiously every day became active.


    What was once dead has become alive. Kayden couldn¡¯t understand this. His body was still attached to the animal, his mana was making small ropes and holding his body. For some reason, he wasn¡¯t being attacked.


    This situation made him rethink everything he knew about energy. The energy was not something living or dead, it had no form, it had no meaning, and energy was just energy.


    Electricity was nothing more than a type of energy, resistance was nothing more than a type of energy. This realization opened up a new world for Kayden. Within seconds, he directed his focus to the floor.


    He was dead, but he still had energy. He had no life, but he was exuding energy. What Kayden saw before as just a big nothingness, now he saw that nothingness was the energy he was looking for.


    A new world opened up for Kayden. The wind on his skin was energy, his very existence was energy, and practically everything that existed was made of energy, but... mana was like lux in this world of energy. S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    She had all forms and at the same time none. She was like the color white that brought together all the colors and she was also like the black that had no color at all. She was an unknown quantity in the energy world.


    "Incognito?" Kayden found himself pondering that word. Why was mana everything and nothing at the same time? Slowly, an idea began to mature in his mind. Time passed, and before Kayden knew it, he was in the alchemy tower.


    All this time, he was focused on his mind. It wouldn¡¯t even matter if someone took him to hell for a ride.


    "It is not the mana that is everything, but that everything is mana." It¡¯s a small change of words, but a big difference. At that moment, Kayden understood something fundamental¡ªpractically the first universal Law of the magical world.


    Mana was the raw material for everything that exists. She was the little piece that held everything in place. The ground was made of mana, trees were made of mana, nothingness was made of mana, and probably time was made of mana.


    This revelation made Kayden¡¯s eyes light up. At this moment, he understood the concept of energy. He was looking at everything the wrong way. A new world opened up to him.


    His attention focused around him and...


    "Where the fuck am I?" As soon as he opened his eyes, he found himself in a gray room that he had never been in before. The mana density in the room was ridiculously high and there were several concentration runes and other benefits.


    Before he could reach the door, it was opened by Bolt, who had his spiritual sense turned on the entire time.


    "What¡¯s up, kid?" Bolt said with a crazy smile on his face.


    "I learned." Kayden could feel everything around him vibrating at a low intensity. Everything was mana and at the same time, it wasn¡¯t. What he previously called energy now had another meaning.


    "I achieved."


    *********


    It took Kayden three weeks to learn this new concept. His speed was due to the ease with which his brain adapted to the situation of blindness and also because he worked 24 hours a day. The first thing he did when he returned to college was reassure his friends, that he had been gone for a while, so everyone was worried.


    The boy decided to take the entire next month off just to understand the concepts he learned and how he would put them together into one. Bolt accepted his request calmly, in the end, Kayden would need to do this at one time or another.


    He also followed the progress of his subjects and saw that most were above the fifth rank. That was good news, everyone would probably be able to reach level nine. The problem was the concepts, Kayden didn¡¯t know how many each person would be able to learn. The boy estimated that at least two should be the average between them.


    Kayden was going to watch the first showdown between the rooms today. After that, he would isolate himself to understand both concepts as much as possible and try to put them on his path. The first fight would take place between room number 30 and room number 70.


    "This is going to be a massacre," Linus commented while eating popcorn. Along with Kayden were everyone, Linus and Isaac. Heimer was trying to make a breakthrough and was unable to come to see the game.


    The match was very simple. The nearly two-kilometer radius stadium was entirely forested with trees and hills, and even a river meandered through the environment. Each room was placed on one side and had to defend a fixed flag at the far right end of its side. This caused them to be completely diagonal to each other.


    The two rooms were composed of the best in the kingdom, but there was a very discrepant difference between them. While room number 30 only had mages at the ninth and peak realms, room number 70 had half its members below the ninth rank.


    In charge of room 70, there was a teenager with green hair and short stature. His completely straight body gave him an air of childishness, but anyone watching his team would think otherwise.


    "You little shit, I already told you that the dam has to be two meters high", the teenager¡¯s angry voice was the only thing that could be heard in the weaker camp. "You piece of trash, do that smoke bomb right."


    Each team had an hour of preparation before the match began. While the weaker team carried out several different strategies, the stronger team just sat there doing nothing.


    "Idiots, this is going to be a massacre," Kayden could feel the arrogance of team number 30 from afar. It was the same arrogance that would bring down a god. Time passed quickly and the real match began.

 Chapter 175: An intellectual massacre

    Author¡¯s note: the chapters became premium in a few days, so I¡¯ll leave them free until the 29th or 30th, the novel was contracted and I can receive gifts now (:, next week the bonus chapters cost only 15 stones


    "Stay smart, commanders, team of assault, stand ready at my signal." His room was perfectly divided, with each person having a role and performing it with excellence, they seemed to have been trained thousands of times to do the same thing.


    Just five minutes later, the first wave of attack was at the door of room 70, there were only thirty of them, but they were the best students in terms of speed, their strength was clear to anyone who looked, and their posture was calm even when facing a large number of opponents.


    Calm wouldn¡¯t be the ideal word, they were excited, in their head, this would be like taking candy from a child, without worrying about the environment, they entered the clearing and only saw a few people.


    Barely 20 people were defending the flag. The majority started laughing, their thought was that the opposing team¡¯s strategy was to just attack and try their luck, unfortunately, the discrepancy in strength was too big and that would be a stupid move, something room 30 was not.


    "Formation 1!" The commander¡¯s scream made the ground where the thirty opponents were standing soft and prevented anyone from walking without sinking, a few noticed this and used an ability to fly.


    "What the fuck?" Before any of them could react, another command came out of the commander¡¯s mouth.


    "Formation 2" Within seconds, a hail of boulders began to be thrown against room 30, there were hundreds of them, it was enough to force even the strongest of them to go on the defensive, but only that, it wasn¡¯t something strong or relatively fast.


    "Final formation" With their attention focused on the boulders, none of them could hear the teenager¡¯s voice or even notice the large dark cloud forming above their heads.


    Kayden could feel the latent electricity in that cloud, that spell was far beyond the apprentice level, if he hadn¡¯t seen it with his own eyes, he would have thought it was a lie, but dozens of students from room 70 were chanting the same spell and adding up they each other.


    Quickly, a colossal storm formed in just a few tens of meters, the cloud was so thick that its color was entirely dark gray, and its mere presence exuded static energy.


    "Fire at will" For a few seconds, only white flashes could be heard, the sound only reached the stands later, the light was always faster than the sound and when it arrived, it made all the students feel their blood run cold.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    There seemed to be no end, it was like a constant bombardment, it seemed like hell on earth, no mercy, no rest, just raw and pure power, a performance worthy of the best geniuses in the kingdom.


    When the lightning stopped there was no sign of any students, within seconds thirty-five from room 30 were eliminated like rats, they couldn¡¯t even react, and room 70 didn¡¯t celebrate, they quickly went back to work to solidify the rest of the plans.


    Over the next few minutes, several people came to talk to the commander to tell her about what they discovered, these people were scouts and observed every movement in the other room.


    The strategy in room 30 was the same again and once again had the same end, this time there were thirty -five people, making the fight become 1 to 2, and an overwhelming advantage was opened.


    Now, the strategy was changed, the leader of room 70 finally noticed that something was wrong and decided to launch small scouts to collect information, unfortunately, he had already sent his fastest soldiers in the first attack.


    What followed was a series of ambushes, not even a scout made it back, room 70 had only thirty participants, and not even thirty minutes had passed, they were in the dark, overpowered, and oppressed.


    At this point, room number 70 decided to make the final attack, bringing together all its members, they would launch a two-pronged attack, and the commander was counting on the indecision of the other room.


    Her guess proved correct, as the leader of room 30 was none other than Ashley, her focus was always on strength, strategy was not her strong suit, so she didn¡¯t know what to do and was fuming in her head trying to guess. What to do now?


    The attack began with artificial rain that muffled the sound of room 70¡¯s footsteps, and when they were only a few dozen meters away, the rain became a storm. Ashley noticed the anomaly instantly and ordered her members to plow the area while she took the flag with her.


    As long as it was within a zone, the room could keep the flag constantly moving, but the problem with that was that every time the flag moved, it released a red signal into the sky, signaling where it was.


    The next stage was the one-sided massacre with teams of 5 students perfectly balanced in attack and defense. It didn¡¯t even take 10 minutes before only Ashley was left.


    Even though the girl fought bravely and took down around 50 students from room 70, she still lost miserably when she was overpowered by the superior numbers from the other room. However, her feat was not forgotten and her name soared among the college students: one room against one student and she still took half of them.


    "That was a one-sided massacre," Linus commented as he saw team number 70 become room number 30 and double their resources in just 1 and a half hours.


    **********


    "4 to 1 to me, looks like you¡¯ve gotten weaker," Ashley commented as Kayden was sprawled out on the floor. The day after the room fight, Kayden decided to accept the dragon girl¡¯s request for a rematch.


    "It was you who got stronger," Kayden understood that quickly. As much as he had advanced in strength, his opponent had also advanced and it was not a small amount.


    "That¡¯s true, guess what concept I learned in that time?" The teenager had a proud smile.


    "I don¡¯t know," Kayden¡¯s response was a blow to Ashley, who stuck her tongue out at him.


    "Boring!" She let out a huff. "I learned the concept of weakness, it fit perfectly into my path. My attacks are now much stronger and aim to take away the worst point of the opponent¡¯s defense, not only that but I can defend myself without showing my weaknesses." S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Just one concept and the fight between them has become one-sided. Kayden learned two concepts, but they didn¡¯t resonate with his path naturally. The boy began to reflect and became trapped in his mind, forgetting everything around him.


    "HEY, Kayden!" Ashley felt like she was being ignored, and when Kayden didn¡¯t respond to her first call, she threw a small rock at the boy. The rock bounced off Kayden¡¯s stomach and didn¡¯t even make him open his eyes.


    "Wake up!" She shook the boy, threw cold water on him, and even drew a caricature on his face, but nothing seemed to have any effect. The girl just gave up and left him there, as they were in one of the gym¡¯s gyms, he wasn¡¯t at any risk.


    "Why did I learn two concepts? My path is the answer, I am the path, I am my concept", Kayden took 6 hours to reach this conclusion. When he woke up, he saw a sign next to him that said "Free kisses."

 Chapter 176: The first fake love

    Author¡¯s Note: This was one of the weirdest chapters I¡¯ve written


    As strange as it was, Kayden didn¡¯t pay much attention. Only when he left the gym did he pay attention to what was written on the sign? When he woke up, he was confused. As he walked, he noticed several looks from other people. It looked like he had something on his face.


    Using a mirror, he saw his face... marked with lipstick. For the first time in a long time, the boy felt ashamed and didn¡¯t know what to do. For a few minutes, he just stood there. Had he missed his first unconscious kiss?


    "Son of a bitch," Kayden cursed Ashley when he realized he was in a closed environment and this was all an elaborate prank. Wiping off his lipstick, he returned to his master¡¯s tower.


    Unfortunately, this news came to someone with blue eyes and blonde hair.


    "Master," Kayden bowed in respect to the man. It was only for a short time, but he developed a high degree of respect for Bolt.


    "Are you done reflecting, Kayden?" It had barely been a few days since they finished training.


    "I¡¯m going to have to give up learning the next concepts from you. I understood that my path has no relation to the lightning and I am running in circles", his sentence took Bolt by surprise and the two remained silent for the next few minutes.


    "Are you sure about that?" Bolt¡¯s tone only expressed sadness and nothing more.


    "Yes, master," with Kayden¡¯s confirmation, he let out a sigh.


    "I will still teach you my main skill. Once you rise to the rank of mage, we will continue with it. The rest depends on other concepts, so it¡¯s not worth your time." In the end, the old man just accepted it without blinking. He knew Kayden well enough to know the boy wouldn¡¯t back down.


    "Thank you, master."


    ********


    Note: There will be no romance. Kayden only seeks benefits and would even marry a door for that reason.


    Around 10 p.m., Kayden was eating another meal. Now that he didn¡¯t sleep, the boy had to eat a much larger amount. At least two or three more meals to maintain the necessary calories.


    Kayden was in the kitchen and heard a knock on the door. Normally, it was the head butler who received visitors, but as he was already nearby, he decided to see who it was. Of all the people he knew, this was one of the ones he least expected.


    "Hello, Sarah", the girl was looking with her beautiful blue eyes and a pout on her lips at Kayden. She didn¡¯t look very happy.


    "Hi, Kayden," his tone was dry and neutral. A few seconds later, the two were sitting on the couch without saying anything. Kayden didn¡¯t know the reason for the visit and Sarah was just staring at him.


    "So¡­ how can I help?" Kayden decided to break the silence so he could get back to training as quickly as possible.


    "You¡¯re dating?" With the teenager¡¯s question, everything became clear to Kayden. She probably found out about the lipstick marks on Kayden¡¯s face.


    "Hum no."


    "Can you sign a contract proving this?" At that moment, a small sign of irritation passed through Kayden. He decided to put an end to this matter before it got too big.


    "I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t owe you any satisfaction," Kayden had already noticed Sarah¡¯s constant vigilance, whether when he was fighting or just having lunch. This was starting to get boring.


    His speech caught the girl by surprise, who could only look into Kayden¡¯s eyes without knowing how to respond. At that moment, Kayden did something that in the past he would not have even chosen, as it was against his ethics, something that was now irrelevant in his life.


    "But if you were my girlfriend, that would be different," he just kicked things off and let Sarah think what she wanted about his line. This proved correct when she pondered for a few seconds.


    "Be mine," the girl said in her most seductive tone, and for a second, Kayden¡¯s heart seemed to stop as he was mesmerized; At least that¡¯s what would happen to the Kayden of old. At the moment, his only reaction was emotionless eyes.


    "What do I gain from this? I need strength for my home and I no longer have the right to relationships without at least some political end." That was... a lie. Kayden didn¡¯t need any of that. "And have a good proposal, as other ducal houses have already offered me wizards of the fourth kingdom and many other benefits." Another lie. Kayden didn¡¯t even read the proposals.


    This time, Sarah reflected for several minutes. She had never needed to assert herself in anything. Normally, just her beauty added to her name would make even one of the princes accept her hand without thinking too much. But her beauty didn¡¯t even cause Kayden¡¯s heart to flutter, not even a second of hesitation. This hit his ego deeply.


    "Protection of the Brriten house, money, and resources that only one of the greats can provide. We have 5 wizards of the fourth kingdom in our army, and if you count the family members, we have 10." The gears started turning in Kayden¡¯s head. With this protection, he could become untouchable even after twenty years of the king¡¯s protection.


    The effort on your part would be minimal. Probably playing the role of a good boyfriend and continuing to stand out so that Sarah would be happy. Nothing really difficult. It was just quick wins. For a second, he wondered if he was blessed by the heavens. How long has it been since he had such great luck?


    "I accept and I can sign the contract if you want." A smile appeared on Sarah¡¯s face. Just seeing that Kayden was willing to sign the contract was enough for her.


    "Kiss me to prove your sincerity." Kayden didn¡¯t expect the girl to have such an initiative, but it was normal considering the culture of this kingdom. The boy had never dated and hadn¡¯t even missed his first kiss, but like every teenager in his not-so-pleasant phase, he had read his fair share of adult novels.


    The boy approached slowly without taking his eyes off Sarah. His hand went up her arm and then her waist, slowly moving up to her chin. One thing he learned from all his reading was that the woman wanted a hero for a boyfriend, someone who could make her feel safe, at least in public. sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    In bed, she wanted a shameless scoundrel. This was not a rule, but it almost always proved correct.


    Kayden¡¯s hand went under Sarah¡¯s chin as her mouth moved downward. When he got closer, his hand went down to the girl¡¯s neck and squeezed without the slightest consideration. Sarah was a mage far above Kayden in the power hierarchy, but the surprise of the move prevented her from doing anything. As he began to lose his breath, Kayden¡¯s voice appeared in his ear.


    "I didn¡¯t know you were such a dirty slut." Kayden¡¯s hand left her neck, giving her room to breathe, and before she could respond, Kayden¡¯s mouth closed on hers.

 Chapter 177: Lost

    Quickly, the next few months passed and Kayden was unable to learn any concepts; he was lost. He tried to understand the concept of dominance, the concept of supremacy, and the concept of control and he was unsuccessful in any of them.


    His relationship with Sarah improved by leaps and bounds; his only obligation was to be the golden boy at some royal banquets and events. Furthermore, he needed to give public gifts and things like that to the teenager.


    In the end, what Sarah wanted was attention and fame, and that¡¯s what Kayden provided for her. Another thing that happened during this period was that the world of sex was introduced to Kayden. Incredible as it seemed, Sarah was a virgin.


    Her last boyfriend couldn¡¯t even give her a peck on the lips. It wasn¡¯t that he couldn¡¯t; I just didn¡¯t have that courage. Kayden had several of his advances turned down at first. Sarah just wanted to use him as a trophy boyfriend, but slowly she let him.


    The way Kayden treated her was mesmerizing. Outside the house, he was the ideal boyfriend, and inside he became the boss of the relationship. Every great moral champion was a hypocrite. This was something he learned a long time ago.


    If Sarah wanted control, she liked being controlled, and that proved right over time. The two lost their virginity together, and Kayden had to admit that nature did a beautiful job with the dopamine released in this act. It was addictive and intoxicating, but it was just a tool for Kayden. All of his kisses and lines were perfectly thought out until this moment. He wanted benefits, not love, and that¡¯s what he was going to get.


    Most students had already understood at least two concepts and were trying to connect them. The top of the faculty was interconnecting three concepts, while the geniuses among the geniuses had learned 4 concepts and were interconnecting them.


    Kayden couldn¡¯t even fight Ashley anymore; the girl¡¯s strength eclipsed him. The new generation was constantly surpassing the older one. While Leonardo only achieved three concepts, the geniuses of this generation achieved four. This was mainly because of the resources and knowledge acquired by the elders.


    Even his subjects had achieved two concepts and some three concepts. Kayden decided to ask Han for help. Hence, he was sitting in the same room he had come to many times in the past. In front of him was the old man with a cup of tea and silent as he thought about Kayden¡¯s problems.


    "I¡¯ve had two paths in my life and two trees of concepts," Han¡¯s sentence went against everything Kayden had learned. "I won¡¯t go into details, because they don¡¯t matter, but I learned from this that concepts and our path are just projections of our person, adding up our personality, preferences, appearance, practically everything. You don¡¯t have a way, you are the way." Han was a freak of nature, twice challenged and twice crowned a champion.


    Kayden spent a month gathering all the knowledge he could about himself. He reviewed every part of his memory. Everything was placed under observation. He wrote his memoirs and tried to give the best details to them. There were only two months left until the last competition of the year. Kayden might excel over all the average students, but against true geniuses, he would fare poorly even with his superior path.


    When most people should be getting the pressure of their lives, Kayden was calmly reflecting on what he needed. Not a hint of nervousness passed through the boy. ¡¯Freedom.¡¯ After much effort, Kayden arrived at this concept.


    This was what he would try to understand, as he spent his entire first life imprisoned, and in his second he had to subject himself to the randomness of fate. Nowhere Kayden looked did he find anyone who had understood this concept, at least in college. Mainly because it was an abstract concept and didn¡¯t offer any major performance gains at all. Kayden didn¡¯t need an instructor for this.


    The boy just relived his memories for days and tried to learn something through them. This process was taking a little longer than Kayden expected, as in a short time there was only 1 month left until the final championship. Locke had already secured a room for them, and Kayden saw how the prince strategically prepared the room and knew he couldn¡¯t do better. Locke was at the peak of ninth rank and had learned three concepts.


    His progress in one year was completely monstrous. Most of the subjects had only reached the peak eighth rank and were striving to break through the ranks. For the most part, they only managed to learn two concepts.


    Kayden decided to take a trip to try to learn this concept more quickly. Their destination was one of the monk towns on the mountain. It was only 4 hours away.


    ¡¯ this.. is beautiful¡¯ a crossroads of mountains decorated only with cherry trees that according to the tour guide bloomed all year round, the energy they exuded made the mind calm down.


    The city was known for having only happy and smiling people, mainly because of the effect of the cherry trees, without knowing what to do Kayden decided to just walk along the great wall that cut across the entire territory.


    His purpose in coming here was because this 100-kilometer walk was considered one of the best ways to get out of a crossroads, it cost an incredible 1000 gold coins for those who wanted the benefits and was free for those who just wanted to walk around.


    Kayden paid the money without even blinking, his savings made it look like change for bread, as soon as the boy started walking he saw someone walking with him, the man barely exuded mana and seemed to be just an apprentice, Kayden didn¡¯t pay much attention to it and continued walking along the walls.


    The wall that stretched before Kayden was an impressive work of nature and engineering. It followed the curves of the mountains, rising majestically like a natural barrier decorated with the effervescent beauty of cherry blossoms. S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "The weather is nice today, isn¡¯t it?" The old man next to Kayden interrupted his thoughts with a casual phrase, out of politeness Kayden responded.


    " This is perfectly pleasant" After that he returned to his thoughts and continued ignoring the old man, in just a few minutes he had already walked a kilometer, this trip was supposed to be done in a few days.


    For every kilometer the fleece made a comment or question, he just seemed like someone nice, Kayden responded every time, and the vibrations that the elderly man gave were too kind for him to be rude.


    "What¡¯s your name boy? My name is Omar" Slowly his questions made the two slightly more intimate before Kayden realized they had walked 30 kilometers together and neither of them seemed to be even tired. Every few kilometers, specialized magicians replenished resistance and performed concentration spells.

 Chapter 178: A double concept

    Night approached and the wall became even more beautiful. The cherry blossoms released a faint pink glow that illuminated the entire environment, making the wall splendid. Kayden still hadn¡¯t gotten around to understanding his concept.


    "Have you ever wondered the difference between a human being and a beast?" Kayden didn¡¯t even blink to respond. He had already gotten used to the old man.


    "Humans are rational beings." That was the normal response.


    "What defines rationality? Are we smarter than them? Does this give us the right to enter their territories and kill them for monetary purposes? In that case, if a race much more intelligent than the human race invades us, can they treat us like cattle? The difference in intellect would make us appear irrational to them."


    Kayden didn¡¯t know what to say, because the old man¡¯s analogy made perfect sense in his head. In a way, he considered it to be correct, because, like it or not, that was what humanity was currently doing, nothing more than the survival of the fittest.


    A few more kilometers passed. At this point, Kayden had already been walking for a whole day without resting, because, due to the large number of healing magicians, he was not losing stamina.


    "What¡¯s your goal here, Kayden?" Once again, the boy responded automatically.


    "Learn the concept of freedom." The old man was thoughtful for a few seconds. He had never heard of anyone learning this concept. It was... very abstract, it didn¡¯t seem like it fit into any kind of spell.


    A few more hours passed and Kayden was unable to learn the concept he wanted. It felt like there was one last part missing, almost as if this concept needed something else to be learned.


    Finally, there were only ten kilometers left to the end of the wall. Kayden was not discouraged. This was just an attempt. If it worked, fine. If not, it didn¡¯t matter either.


    "I could spend my whole life walking these walls." Kayden agreed with the man.


    "I could too, but I have to go back to college to..." At that moment, it was as if lightning struck Kayden. His mind went blank and his movements froze.


    "Freedom." What is freedom? Kayden asked himself this question. For him, it was being able to do whatever he wanted without worrying about other people¡¯s opinions or someone controlling his movements. It was being free to decide your future without a shadow watching your movements. But that was superficial. The theoretical part of freedom was simple to understand, but what Kayden understood now was the specific concept.


    "There is no freedom, as we are trapped by the consequences of our actions." It was a simple revelation, but he automatically felt a new power coursing through his body. The concept of freedom was understood perfectly by Kayden.


    His mind remained focused. He felt like he was close to discovering one more thing, it didn¡¯t seem like it was over yet. His mind began to wander in every direction. The minutes quickly passed.


    In Kayden¡¯s mind, it seemed like just a few seconds, but he had been standing in the same spot for a day, trying to catch the momentum of having learned another concept. Another very intimate concept with freedom, Kayden understood it secondarily, practically.


    What does it have to do with freedom? Kayden listed dozens of possible things.


    "Shit." Kayden mentally slapped himself. He reviewed his memories and understood that the second concept he wanted to learn was slavery. In a way, it wasn¡¯t exactly that word, but rather the opposite of freedom. Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    By understanding that freedom does not exist, the boy understands that everyone is trapped in the same invisible prison. The best way to stop a prisoner from escaping is to make sure he doesn¡¯t know he¡¯s in prison.


    In the end, we are trapped and freedom does not exist at all. Even if he manages to overcome all the limits of the universe, he will still be trapped in some other, invisible, higher-level prison.


    The understanding of this concept was profound and much more than just understanding that they were in a prison. The concept of slavery referred to the true sense of lack of freedom, something inexplicable, but sad and depressing.


    Kayden began to feel discouraged and unwilling to cultivate. At that moment, he thought about simply giving up, since, in the end, his effort would only lead him down a dead-end path that would repeat itself infinitely.


    "These emotions¡­ are not mine." Kayden understood this in seconds, the concept was confusing his mind, the boy didn¡¯t understand how it worked, but in the blink of an eye that was an end to those thoughts.


    When Kayden opened his eyes they were surrounded by mana, the two concepts were perfectly linked to his path and did not even need to be interconnected, kayden had no gain other than the increase in efficiency on his path.


    As soon as he woke up he saw that the old man was nowhere to be found, Kayden wanted to thank him for his help on the way, only now did he realize that the old man¡¯s questions were perfectly placed about his concept.


    ¡¯Who was he?¡¯


    ********


    As soon as Kayden returned from his trip, he was in for a huge surprise. First, his path was at least four times stronger. At that moment, he could easily reach the same level he used in the tournament for a few seconds without any consequences.


    Normal use was also improved and he could function as a pseudomage. He was no longer at the apprentice level, but he had not reached the mage level either. His fight with Ashley became relatively easy, with him winning in 75% of the encounters.


    His speed has been improved insanely. His overall strength received a huge boost, but the main one was his use of his spells. Zeus¡¯s thunderbolt was now possible to play without pauses.


    His armor became a massive cluster of lightning. Before, they only momentarily froze the opponent¡¯s movements, but now they were capable of dealing lasting damage.


    His best spell also received an unbelievable buff, but this was yet to be tested by Kayden. He didn¡¯t have much time, as just two days after returning from his trip, he received a summons from the commander of room number 90 to attend training.


    Kayden wouldn¡¯t even give a second of his time if it weren¡¯t for Locke being the leader of the room. He knew he was a little late and had little time left, but he wasn¡¯t too worried. Their strength combined with that of their subjects should easily place them in the top rooms.


    As soon as he arrived, he saw a crowd of students training in groups of ten people. Each group had a specialty and element. They were in one of the college¡¯s huge gymnasiums, this one was identical to the one in the capture the flag test, with the same trees and rocks in each place.


    Kayden also saw several people just walking around and decorating the space. Some had papers in their hands to write down the best possible routes of attack and movement. Kayden was impressed with Locke. He was trying hard to train the class, even with little time available.

 Chapter 179: The last test[BONUS]

    Author¡¯s note: this was the weakest week of the novel in Stones ): this week the bonus chapter is only 15 stones away


    In the center of the coliseum, Locke and some of his subjects were seated around a table. The discussion seemed to be heated, but once they noticed Kayden¡¯s presence, they fell silent until he arrived.


    "Hello," Kayden greeted everyone friendly. He didn¡¯t know everyone at the table, so he sat next to Locke and waited for them to continue. Over the next few minutes, they filled Kayden in on all the nuances of his team.


    Their strengths and weaknesses, the specialty of each student, and how this was being done to be used to the maximum advantage. The discussion they were having was to see who would lead the team.


    Most thought Kayden would take the reins as the strongest. At the moment, Locke was in charge. Whether out of envy or spite, not everyone there had the best feelings towards the prince.


    Kayden looked at some faces he knew. The first one that came to mind was Sirius, the boy tried at least twice as hard as anyone else. Ever since Kayden defended him, Sirius had given him his goodwill. But when he started receiving a large amount of money and was still able to bring his family close to him to enjoy a life of luxury, Sirius gave his undying loyalty to Kayden.


    All your effort was rewarded. He was at the base of the ninth realm, his progress in just one year would make anyone doubt reality. Not only that, but he learned two concepts and interconnected them.


    Another subject was Amy, a girl who specialized in sneak attacks and assassination. Her level was only at the peak of the eighth realm, but before the trial, she would advance. Unlike Sirius, her loyalty was only to herself. But as Kayden reached out to her, Amy wasn¡¯t going to throw that opportunity away. At the moment, she only had one concept, but it was high-level. The concept he learned was called shadows.


    Luan also reached the ninth realm and had two interconnected concepts. He didn¡¯t say much and just followed Locke. He knew he owed Kayden a great debt, but if he had to die for Locke against Kayden¡¯s orders, he would do it.


    Apart from the four that Kayden knew, there were only two other people who came from outside. They were the ones asking for Locke to remain in charge, while Sirius was the voice that supported Kayden in every way.


    "Locke will remain in command. I don¡¯t seek glory or anything like that, I seek victory and I recognize that I can¡¯t command." Recognizing one¡¯s deficiencies was an attitude that few could take, but Kayden didn¡¯t even blink to expose his weakness.


    "What¡¯s the plan of attack?"


    *********


    The big annual competition was also in the capture the flag model, the difference was that instead of just two classes participating, there were four, and in addition the students who helped the most earned corresponding merit points.


    For example, a frontline warrior should knock down other opponents, while a healer should heal. The means of evaluation for each of them was different and each one should only be concerned with their task.


    Another difference is that there was a fifth barrier in the center that gave the equivalent of 3 flags in points. She was the main focus of the students because if they managed to get her the game was practically won.


    The merit points earned in this competition would define the prize that each student would receive. The more points you get, the more benefits you can obtain, but they would only be for the items available in the competition.


    "Welcome everyone. Today we will begin the last test for freshmen. Each of you already has a team and knows what to do." Leonardo was floating in the center of a stadium before the eyes of ten thousand students and all those invited to the event. The number of people easily reached half a million, but as the dean spoke not even a peep was heard in the crowd.


    "First of all, I will present the prizes to you as a boost in your desire for first place." Since everyone signed silent contracts, there was no problem showing the prize to strangers. The dean took a transparent pot out of his pocket and there was a golden liquid in it. "This is known as the ambrosia of knowledge. Just 1 ml is capable of making you learn a latent concept and connect it to what you already had." S§×ar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    If someone already had two concepts, they could learn one more and connect them, becoming a three-concept wizard. This realization caused a wave of murmurs in the crowd. It was simply too unbelievable to be true.


    "Everyone who tries hard enough will receive a milliliter, but with merit points, you can get more. You will have to use it right after the competition ends in three days. This is not optional."


    This meant they only had three days to come up with a concept that balanced what they already had. This information took everyone by surprise. Kayden even saw Locke drooling next to him.


    "That came from Eden." This was the only explanation for the fact that the prince of the kingdom had never used this nectar and did not even know about it. Kayden didn¡¯t know what concept he should learn now and decided to put it aside for now.


    He had already decided to swim against the current and would not advance to the rank of mage yet. His goal was the four concepts and even if he had to spend the entire next year as an apprentice, he would do it.


    At this moment, he had to be cool and not lose his head for momentary gains. His opponents were the true geniuses. Kayden wanted to be out of the curve even among the best and just three concepts would make him special, but only special among geniuses and weak among the geniuses of geniuses.


    The stadium was large enough for several teams to fight without interfering with another¡¯s fight. About 20 teams could fight at the same time. The stadium was just a rectangular stand on one side and a long field in front.

 Chapter 180: The first fight

    Author¡¯s note: uploading chapters for privilege


    Guests and students could watch the match floating above the participants or on television in the seats, but just looking was impossible, even with magnifying glasses, as there were many trees and reliefs in the match.


    Kayden¡¯s class would be one of the first to participate. The order was from the worst teams to the best, and they did not expect many difficulties, as they would face teams numbered 92, 91, and 89.


    His classroom¡¯s strategy was very simple: Kayden would cause as many casualties as possible in the center, while Locke led 75 students to quickly clean up the other flags. They were giving up their flag.


    "All ready?" Kayden asked the 24 suicide bombers on his team. Your only mission was to prevent the other teams from winning the main flag. They would probably face around 50 to 70 students from other classes, totaling more than 150 opponents.


    As soon as they arrived at the center, they saw that it would be carnage. A huge plain of grass stretched out, and a single flag stood in the center of it all. Around her, there was a bluish barrier.


    From afar, Kayden could tell that it would take several attacks to break it. This meant that only the team that massacred all opponents could triumph in this match.


    Within a few seconds, the other teams also arrived and rushed to the flag automatically. Kayden commanded them to wait and let the other teams kill each other. A huge fight had already started before they could realize that the barrier would not be broken easily.


    The majority there were students without discipline and could not command or be commanded. So even when the person in charge saw that this was just a futile fight and wanted to reorganize the troops, he was stopped by the disorder of spells and explosions.


    Meanwhile, Kayden¡¯s team was finishing off everyone who tried to escape the fight. As soon as they set foot outside the plain, they were hunted like animals by three-member groups specializing in trapping, obstructing, and finishing. They weren¡¯t fair fights.


    In just 10 minutes of battle, almost 40% were simply removed from the arena by crossfire or some carelessness, while 10% were disqualified by Kayden¡¯s team. This left only half of the fighters from the beginning alive.


    As the minutes passed, more and more were removed from the arena. The confusion of spells was increasing more and more, as with more space, wizards could use area spells. S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Meanwhile, Locke had already managed to conquer one of the three flags. They specifically targeted the team that Kayden reported took the most students. It was a decision based on the correct information at the correct time that guaranteed this flag.


    In thirty minutes, there were only 50 students left on the plain. For some reason that none of them knew, the reinforcement they requested a long time ago did not arrive. Nobody had time to worry about that, so they had to keep fighting.


    At this time, 25 people appeared in battle. They didn¡¯t communicate anything, they didn¡¯t address anyone. They just arrived and, in groups of three, began to neutralize the strongest opponents.


    His appearance took everyone by surprise. They did not expect new forces to appear out of nowhere, but quickly those with a little more intelligence understood that this was team number 90. What followed was a one-sided massacre.


    While groups of three gradually eliminated their opponents, a masked man eliminated all those who tried to run out of the plain. It took another 20 minutes for them to eliminate everyone. The cost was about 15 members of their team, but in the end, they triumphed.


    "Break the barrier and take the flag. We will join Locke. He¡¯s attacking the third flag." In the meantime, the prince achieved another objective: his team¡¯s flag count was no longer possible to exceed.


    They were one of the first teams to manage to finish the match. Kayden was feeling the cold wind on his body as he was levitated back to the stadium. They would have about an hour of rest before having to fight again.


    With just one game, they reached the top 25. It was easy and quick, but now that the real battle would begin, only those who triumphed through force or strategy would be at this stage.


    This time, only 3 teams were competing in each match. Team number 1 did not need to participate in this round, totaling around 8 matches consecrating 9 teams for the next stage.


    Once the rest time was over, Kayden stood up and was levitated along with his friends to the next stage. This time, they would fight with all their might for the surrounding flags, while Kayden and Linus would gain time on the center flag.


    It was a risky strategy that depended solely on Kayden and Linus, but Locke had complete trust in Kayden, who in turn trusted Linus. The battle began normally once again, with the teams sending half of their forces to get the center flag.


    The difference is that this time the forces sent were smaller and they were more cautious. As soon as they saw that team 90 was not actively competing for the flag, they sent this information to their leaders.


    At this moment, Kayden appeared on the plain just studying the surroundings. Most people there recognized him and knew which class he belonged to. Recognizing its strength, no one dared to attack first.


    "Team 90 is ingrained in defending itself like cockroaches by any chance?" A voice called out to Kayden and a small smile appeared on his lips. Those who knew him knew this was not a good sign.


    "That¡¯s right, we are with all our students defending the flag tooth and nail." His answer took everyone by surprise. Where was the honor and courage of team 90?


    The new information was quickly passed on and commanders began to wonder about it. Scouts were immediately sent to the location of the flag and, as soon as they arrived, they saw a fort raised on boulders and several people strolling around the site.

 Chapter 181: Second fight

    Meanwhile, Kayden was just sitting there waiting for the confrontation between the two teams. He shouldn¡¯t let any of them win the flag. Its function was to buy time, so it made its actions seem strange and suspicious.


    A few minutes later, reinforcements appeared from team 26. 30 more people arrived, making the number of people completely uneven. Within seconds, the environment became a confusion of spells being cast in different directions, spells of fire, lightning, and water, all elements were seen, even light and darkness.


    Team number 45 sent the fastest student to call for support, and in just a few minutes, the battle was even again. All bets were on this flag, as they knew that whoever took out the most opponents at that moment would win.


    Team number 90 would need at least 10 minutes to return with enough students to unbalance the battle. The point here was to win quickly so you could get the flag in the center. This was an idiotic attitude, as it threw a lot of points into luck.


    If Team 26 hadn¡¯t made that decision, none of them would have done this. With every second, the battle escalated further. Everyone was doing their best. In just 5 minutes, the number of participants on each side dropped drastically, but team number 26 was visibly faring worse.


    Their leader didn¡¯t give the best commands. His attitudes were driven by emotion and any provocation caused him to attack and send his subordinates towards a trap. Kayden felt that if they didn¡¯t intervene now, the difference would be too big.


    "Linus," with Kayden¡¯s call, the boy began to gather mana in his hand. This would take a while, but it would take most of the opponents out of the match. Unfortunately, they quickly noticed this and recognized Linus¡¯ movement.


    The two teams momentarily separated and entered into a tactical agreement to stop Linus. At this time, around 90 students were coming towards Kayden and Linus. Kayden¡¯s job was to buy time.


    Activating his ultimate path, Kayden released some Zeus beams in random directions just to buy time. Each lightning bolt eliminated an unsuspecting person. He then rushed into the crowd and was met with dozens of spells.


    Fireballs, lightning, arrows, everything was thrown towards him. His speed was far superior to any of them and he just quickly dodged their attacks. Before the front line could reason, Kayden was above them, unleashing attacks like a madman.


    The surprise factor helped him knock two opponents out of battle with a fatal strike to their necks. They didn¡¯t even have time to scream, but their friends reacted quickly and paid Kayden their full attention. Unfortunately, that was everyone¡¯s mistake. S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden popped a Pop Flash directly over dozens of people watching. The effect was immediate: when everyone retreated, they began to release random spells. Some of them eliminated another portion of the participants.


    Taking advantage of the opening, Kayden ran to Linus and put his friend on his back. It then shot off in a random direction. Nobody expected this and they didn¡¯t know what to do. For about a minute, they just retreated before starting the battle for the center again.


    Once again, the pace was rapid and casualties on both sides piled up by the dozens. At the moment, team 26 only had 15 members, while team number 45 had twice as many survivors.


    Kayden was wondering how these idiots ended up in charge of their teams. Sol Academy only prioritized the strong. The strong are not always the best strategists. That became clear at that moment.


    The fight fell into a stalemate with both sides barely hanging on. Slowly, it began to sink in that they had forgotten about an opponent. If they had managed to finish the fight quickly, they would have won without a shadow of a doubt. But now, team number 90 was too big a threat.


    At that moment, Kayden released a simple signaling spell upwards. The man quickly rose in a green hue. His action made the two teams that were already afraid even more apprehensive.


    Locke saw the signal and quickly advanced with everyone on the team. They were already nearby, just waiting for the right moment. Its base did not exist and was just a hastily erected structure. The trick was a student capable of using illusion magic, who brought the fort to life with people walking on it and talking as if they were alive.


    The sound of nearly a hundred people walking resounded across the plain and interrupted all the small fights that were going on. The commander of Team 26 was cursing even the fifth generation of Team 45 for joining this fight in an idiotic manner.


    There was no conversation, there was no signage, and the dozens of students walked slowly and in the same way, their entrance showed order and discipline, just this small presentation caused fear in the opponents.


    As soon as they reached 30 meters from the other team Locke raised his hand and looked at the crowd gathered in front of him, dozens of options passed through his mind in just a few seconds.


    "Battalion 3 free fire" with his command dozens of stone element spells were thrown at the opponents, most managed to perfectly dodge or defend themselves without taking much damage, but those who were tired or injured were eliminated directly.


    "Battalion 4 water" Then a large amount of water needles were thrown, and once again some were eliminated, morale had already dropped to very low levels, and their useless fight at the beginning ruined the entire match.


    Locke¡¯s goal was to take the surrounding flags before attacking the center one, similar to the first round, but when he saw Kayden¡¯s signal he reorganized his troops and gave up on the last flag.


    The two teams didn¡¯t stay quiet while they were beaten and they responded with some different spells, but there wasn¡¯t any organization in them, the only difference was that each of them had a great level of strength.

 Chapter 182: More fights

    Unfortunately for them, Locke only ordered a mana barrier to be erected by nearly 50 students. Not even a spider appeared in the bubble. As soon as the bubble fell, another volley of water needles was thrown. S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Back off!" The commander of team 26 quickly noticed what they were up to. His orders caught his soldiers by surprise. Most were unable to follow his command. The chain of command and morale were in shambles.


    Those who left on time got rid of disqualification. Along with the commander¡¯s order, Locke also shouted his own.


    "All battalions, final attack!" Dozens of lightning bolts shot out of team 90 and headed toward the huge pool of water that had formed. The water was also modified with different electrophiles to increase electrical conductivity.


    Within seconds, the battle was down to just 3 survivors from team 45 and just 10 from team 26. The battle was already over. The difference in numbers was almost 10 to 1. Kayden slowly walked towards the bubble.


    "How are you going to gain points if you fight in this cowardly way?" The commander of team 26 shouted with a voice full of sarcasm. Kayden didn¡¯t even look at him; the one who answered was Locke.


    "In a war, only the victor writes the history. Merit points are given for victory. Individual performance is less than victory." After that, everyone was quiet as Kayden hit the bubble to get the flag.


    No one dared to stop the boy. Morale was already destroyed. Kayden¡¯s slow walk exuded absolute confidence. Anyone who tried to get in his way would be killed instantly.


    When Kayden finally caught the flag, his class began to cheer loudly. Most there were talents that Locke carefully selected from other teams. But none of them were from high-level teams. Most came from the top 50 and above.


    At that moment, they were in the top 10. It didn¡¯t matter the result of the next matches. Your merit points would go up. They would get discounts on classes and services. It was practically VIP treatment.


    As they were taken back to the stadium, Kayden knew that this year was the easiest for them to get into the top 10. In the next few years, they would have no luck catching idiot leaders again who only knew how to use brute force.


    Similar to his case with Locke, the strong would cede command to more capable people. Without a doubt, there were hundreds of decent strategists in college. team 26, for example, had a good commander. But there was a lack of organization and, due to a mistake by team 45, they were forced to fight desperately for the flag.


    Once Kayden arrived, he was greeted by Sarah, who was watching the battle. For everyone watching, the boy received a warm and loving hug from his girlfriend. But Kayden heard it in his ear clearly:


    "Stand out more, Kayden. You¡¯re staying in Locke¡¯s shadow." The boy just accepted the words and promised to improve. His pride wouldn¡¯t show itself at this moment. He didn¡¯t care at all about the girl¡¯s speech.


    *********


    Team 90 was seated in one of the large reserved spaces in the stand the next day. Locke was at the front passing on the information and plans for the next fight, which by an unfortunate twist of fate, they would have to face in team number 2.


    "Our opponents have two mages in their composition. I¡¯ll be direct. We have no chance against them. The most we can do is try to win the side flags and ignore the one in the center. But even so, we would end up drawing with team number two and, In a playoff, we would be destroyed."


    Morale began to drop instantly. Everyone there knew that the difference between realms was like heaven and earth. There was no way they could overcome that difference and win the match.


    The other team was number 7, and even though it only had peak apprentices, it still didn¡¯t have any mages. This could give them a chance against her. But with team 2 in the game, it was completely impossible.


    "We plan to join forces with team 2 and compete directly for the center flag. If we happen to win, we will draw lots to decide which team gets it." What Locke practically said was that they were going to fight a losing battle, their chances were minuscule, and their plan was just a direct attack.


    Against absolute force, there were no means or tricks. A few casual attacks from the mages could break everything. At this moment, the team looked like a cemetery. Practically half didn¡¯t even want to participate anymore.


    "Attention". Kayden¡¯s voice came out supported by mana and glided smoothly in all directions of the team . "We have no chance, this is a lost fight. I will not endorse my words, anyone who wants to leave can do so without reprisals."


    Even if there was death, most were afraid of feeling pain and being ashamed. In short, they were just normal people.


    "But I have just one question for you. What level do you want to reach? This is a learning moment. Fight without fear of losing, because you have already lost. Learn what you can, gain glory, or lose trying. I don¡¯t want words or conversations until we enter the arena. I leave just one last sentence for you to reflect on." Kayden purposely paused and looked into his colleagues¡¯ eyes. "Give me someone who has never made a mistake and I will show you someone who has never achieved anything."


    Kayden¡¯s speech fell on open ears. In a moment of disappointment and pessimism, a light opened for everyone, especially the last part that made a gear turn in the students¡¯ heads. Fear and other negative emotions slowly disappeared. Everyone understood that they had already lost and any additional performance was a bonus.


    A few minutes later, everyone was in the arena. The second they landed on the ground, they ran towards the center. The hundred students running caused a tremor in the surrounding area. Quickly, another tremor joined them and they found themselves in the central clearing.


    Locke had already made a deal previously with the leader of team 7 and no further words were exchanged between the two teams . The two blocks of students were organized and disciplined. It could be seen that the commander of team 7 was someone with the ability to command and still had the strength to maintain the position of leader.


    They were the first to arrive, and before they could go directly to the orb, the other team arrived. A hundred undisciplined students with varying distances from each other, demonstrating their lack of organization, appeared.


    Author¡¯s note: bug reports are appreciated

 Chapter 183: A fight between realm

    Above them, two teenagers floated like gods. One of them wore a red robe that matched his black hair and red eyes. His height was medium and he did not have much muscle mass. His hands were still behind his body. His neutral gaze made it seem like he was looking at children.


    The other wizard was a girl with white hair and eyes of the same color. His skin was white to a strange point. She was wearing a cute dress that mothers normally put on little children. Completing its design was a parasol covering its entire body. What no one knew was that this mere parasol was a staff that filtered mana. Not only that, he was at the peak of the mage realm.


    An eerie silence began in the arena. Just two people, alone, could scare the two teams together. The two made eye contact with Kayden, Locke, and the other commander, all people they considered potential dangers.


    "Attack", they just ordered their team forward. If something went wrong, they would step in immediately. If they only won through brute strength, they might not have the best gains in merit points.


    Kayden activated his path and, as previously agreed, neither of the two teams moved forward. The boy was accumulating an absurd amount of mana around him. His path, with the addition of two concepts, elevated him above any apprentice.


    When team 2 got to about 100 meters away, they started to notice static energy around it. Most didn¡¯t pay much attention, only apprentices sensitive to the lightning element noticed.


    When they reached 50 meters, everyone started to get anxious. The wind was strong, pushing the tall grass across the plain. The imposing sun and spaced white clouds symbolized a great day for a battle.


    "The sea of lightning," Kayden muttered the name of the technique he developed using Zeus¡¯ lightning as a base. It consisted of manipulating much more than just a small area. At the moment, Kayden was practically covering the entire other team with the spell.


    The amount of mana used was simply absurd. It would take at least 30 apprentices perfectly performing the task and synchronized to achieve the strength of this attack. Within seconds, chaos began.


    BOOOM!


    BOOOM!


    BOOOM! S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    It felt like a divine punishment with dozens of lightning bolts falling on all sides. Each of them was capable of knocking an apprentice out of the arena and hurting those nearby. Cries of pain and despair were heard by the dozens.


    The first to react were the mages who instantly took action. The boy went towards Kayden carrying a spear, while the girl began to heal the wounded troops.


    With a joint effort, hundreds of spells from the two allied teams flew at the wizard, preventing him from approaching quickly. This only took a few more seconds but managed to drop the number of participants on the other side to just 25 members.


    The spell that Kayden used now could be considered a genuine first-realm spell. Its destruction potential was ridiculously high. The only problem was that there was no way to select the targets correctly.


    With that, the battle began. Locke and Kayden were responsible for trying to take care of the wizard while the rest of the team faced the other wizard with the survivors. While the battle was going on, the three were just staring at each other. The rest didn¡¯t matter. This fight alone would decide 50% of the outcome.


    "You are mere apprentices. The difference between us is too great. I have one path and four concepts. Just give up," said the wizard. One path and four concepts. Just those words carried unimaginable weight.


    Kayden didn¡¯t respond and, utilizing his path to the fullest, approached the wizard at high speed. What was extremely fast for him was average for the wizard. But it still surprised him, as it was average for those in the first realm.


    Kayden¡¯s attack landed deadly on the opponent¡¯s neck, who only defended it with a blow of his own. The force pushed the katana back and, before he could land another blow on Kayden, Locke came from the side and attacked horizontally.


    This small exchange showed Kayden that the difference in strength was very large. It was different from facing a weak mage like he did in the entrance test. Still, he didn¡¯t give up and tried to make the best of it.


    The opponent¡¯s spear began to fill with water around it, and small drops kept dripping from it. Locke used a fireball spell to test the ground and the water from the spear spread out into a blanket and defended as if it were nothing.


    Kayden wasted no time and went towards his opponent again, using his technique to the fullest and everything within his power. He arrived in front of his opponent and attacked from the side. The blow was defended by the blanket of water and the spear came tearing at him. Kayden didn¡¯t even have the opportunity to defend himself as a huge gash opened up on his shoulder.


    Locke followed closely behind, his body was on fire from a secret royal family technique. His strength approached that of a weak mage, but the two concepts he learned were stacked, increasing his strength. Even so, his attack was parried by the blanket and then he received an attack that cut his chest slightly. The attack only wasn¡¯t deep because the flames started to spread towards the wizard.


    The water couldn¡¯t even put out the flames. It seemed like she was alive and would consume everything she could. Within seconds, a part of the spearman¡¯s shirt was turned to ash. This was the royal family¡¯s signature ability, divine flames.


    As the spearman retreated, Kayden took the opportunity to strike from the blind spot. Again, the water blanket parried the attack and pushed him back. His retreat was accompanied by the spearman who stuck to him with his weapon and attacked the same shoulder.


    Ghastly, Kayden¡¯s arm was hanging by just a few strands of flesh and bone. He could see practically everything, and yet he didn¡¯t even blink. His next attack was a Zeus bolt. He had planned to take the blow and put the spearman exactly where he wanted.


    BOOOM!


    This ray used the sum of four concepts and all the mana in the region that Kayden could control. Two concepts pushed his path to a new level and the other two concepts increased his proficiency in his element.


    For a moment, a gigantic flash stopped all the fighting that was going on. The earth shook as if a bomb had been exploded in the region. The shock wave swept across the entire plain.


    "What the fuck?" Once again, the dean found himself surprised by Kayden and had to rethink his conception of the apprentice level. This spell was genuinely at the page rank, not only that, it was not of the early first realm.


    The spearman staggered away, holding one of his arms. Half of his body had serious burns, his hair was standing on end, and his clothes were destroyed, leaving him with only a pair of pants hanging by threads.


    Kayden didn¡¯t give him time to recover and rushed at his opponent. The man in the environment was still scarce for him to use the lightning again, so he could only rely on his reserve and physical strength.


    "The path of the river is eternal," said the spearman. With the sentence, the blanket of water expanded into a small river in his domain that floated around him. He took several different forms, but the main one was a dozen spears made of pure water.


    As soon as Kayden arrived, he was met with several blows in a row. Without any fear, he defended himself with a strike of his own, and... Kayden staggered forward as he passed through the spear made of water easily.


    Without hesitation, he retreated, but his slip came at a cost when another spear stabbed into his left leg, leaving a large gash in his thigh. His mobility should have dropped to dangerous levels at this moment, but unnaturally, the boy¡¯s mana kept his leg intact through perfectly woven mana threads.


    "This is a losing fight," Kayden said. All of the spearman¡¯s wounds were being healed by the water at an accelerated rate. In just a few seconds, he was already back to his peak. Locke even tried to stop the healing, but was caught by the formless spears and received a deep wound in his arm.


    Half of the spears were against Kayden and the other half against Locke, in just a few movements the two were in tatters, the spear was soft and hard at the same time, it had no shape, no texture.


    Locke was the first to be eliminated, he could have put up a good fight if he had used all his techniques, but he still hadn¡¯t managed to balance his concepts correctly with his old skills and this severely hampered his performance.

 Chapter 184: Sovereignty

    Kayden came in a few minutes later. In the meantime, he even managed to use another lightning bolt from Zeus, but only saw the new blanket of water defend his attack as if it were nothing more than a fly.


    His body was completely chopped up and was being supported by dozens of strands of mana, the blood did not leak out because of his absolute control, but even so, his injuries reached an unsustainable point.


    "I quit". Kayden left the arena and found himself in front of the same doctor who asked him to try not to kill himself earlier. The boy just gave an apologetic smile at the healer¡¯s withering gaze.


    After that, the battle followed the obvious course, with the entire team 2 being eliminated and only the two wizards were left, who simply wiped out all the opponents, the difference in strength was too great, it wasn¡¯t just a kingdom, it was a kingdom, one path and four concepts of difference.


    Kayden should have been sad or disappointed, angry at his failure, but only cold determination was in his eyes. He didn¡¯t answer any of his friends as he was stuck in thought.


    ¡¯5 folds and 5 concepts¡¯. Kayden decided in his mind and wouldn¡¯t give up on it, even if it meant years at the apprentice level. S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    *********


    "Congratulations to all the teams that played great matches. Everyone must have already received the number of their new teams and the benefits related to it." Kayden¡¯s team rose to position 9 and now they had huge discounts that reached 40% and received almost triple monthly merit points. "Team Number 1 became champion and remained undefeated."


    Kayden has spent the last few days just sitting alone in his team pondering what to do. His plans changed completely, as there were no longer just two concepts he had to learn, but three. He didn¡¯t even waste time going to see the final fight.


    "Each of you will receive the amount corresponding to your performance. For governmental and security reasons, you must utilize the nectar of knowledge under our supervision in this stadium."


    Each student was in an area of a few square meters with air conditioning and all possible luxuries for maximum comfort. Nectar was a closely guarded secret and was precious enough to make even a king from another country attack to get some.


    "I expect great things from this generation. Good luck in your advancement." With this sentence from the dean, several golden containers began to float and go towards the students, some received only one milliliter, while those with the highest performance got five milliliters.


    Those who were already in the mage realm were given a mana fruit to aid them in cultivation, as the nectar would have little effect in the first realm.


    Kayden looked at his bowl and saw the counter with an incredible 6 milliliters, for a second he thought something was wrong, but then he remembered his performance against a wizard and blamed it on that. Taking his time, Kayden set the bowl aside and began to observe the other people around him. Most just swallowed it as if they had spent days in a desert without water.


    ¡¯The mana...¡¯ With his high sensitivity, Kayden could feel how the mana started to behave strangely. Its density began to increase considerably and this was not being done by the gym staff.


    Kayden recognized this as the ascension process, the world itself provided mana to those who were worthy of advancing. It was a different mana, it seemed heavier and more moldable. A golden beam fell on a teenage girl just a few meters from where Kayden was, he didn¡¯t hear any noise or even the tremor in the earth, a transparent barrier around each area was responsible for it.


    The ascension challenge was called that because of the rays that fell on the person, first, it was an overwhelming physical pain that only increased with the number of rays, in addition, doubts about your concepts were planted in your mind and you had to prove it to yourself who understood the concept and was able to take it with you to the next level.


    The more rays you managed to defend or survive, the stronger you would become and the more mastery you would have over the concept itself. Only one was needed for a breakthrough, but two were ideal, at least for ordinary people.


    Similar to concepts, jinn had to endure between 3 and 4, with the 5 rays having never been openly recorded. Probably some of the large organizations had produced someone capable of resisting, but this information was never made public.


    The girl Kayden was watching defended the first bolt with a stone barrier, but the second fell directly on her, piercing every defense she had put up. The girl vomited blood, but in just a few seconds she managed to clear her mind again.


    The third ray became more powerful than all the others and caused her to fall completely to the ground without reacting. This time it took several minutes before she managed to get up. Kayden observed the mana heading towards the girl¡¯s body symbolizing a successful advancement and her giving up on facing the next stage.


    The next process took a few more minutes as the mana remodeled the girl¡¯s entire body and elevated her cells to another stage of evolution. If she added up all the advancements from the first to the last level of the mage realm, it wouldn¡¯t come to a tenth of the monstrosity of evolution she was facing.


    She was the first because she was very close to being able to connect three concepts. After her, several students began to advance at the same time. Kayden tried to understand the essence of the golden lightning, but he couldn¡¯t even feel it. His eyes showed the magnificent golden lightning, otherwise he would doubt its existence. When he closed his eyes, it was as if they didn¡¯t even exist. There was no energy, there was no mana, there was absolutely nothing.


    ¡¯Let¡¯s go¡¯. Kayden took the nectar and... Instantly saw how to interconnect his two concepts of spark and energy. It was an extraordinary feeling, he seemed like he could solve any problem there was. This feeling reminded him of when he experienced an epiphany years ago, everything came naturally to him.


    Another concept he thought about learning was the concept of oppression, which would fit perfectly into his path. At that moment, he knew he could learn he could learn practically anything.


    ¡¯Impulse¡¯. Kayden understood exactly what that word meant now. This state of super Flow was caused by the boost received from discoveries. His epiphany was an impulse and he just used it to get to the next level.


    When he learned the concept of freedom, he was able to use some of the momentum to understand another concept that he was very close to learning. Kayden couldn¡¯t say exactly what the impulse was, but he was sure it was something that shouldn¡¯t be wasted. ¡¯Show me the answer¡¯. The boy just sat down and began to reflect on everything he needed. He ignored connecting the two concepts or learning a third, that wasn¡¯t what he was looking for, he just wanted the answer and then he would work for it.


    Meanwhile, people continued to advance by the dozens. Locke was one of the only students who passed with four interconnected concepts, placing him on a high pedestal above most wizards.


    If he fought the wizard in team 2 again, he could have a chance of winning at least 20%, and if he used his full capacity, perhaps it would reach 30%. Unfortunately for him, the power of a path was too great to be taken lightly.


    Little by little, all the geniuses who made a name for themselves during the year managed to advance and survive varying amounts of lightning. This year there was not even one student with less than three rays.


    "We are progressing more and more, in a few centuries we will not have advances with less than 4 radii", Leonardo commented to the other teachers. Everyone knew how much the new generations were above the previous ones, increasingly stronger.


    Two hours later, all the students advanced, well... practically all of them. Kayden was still sitting on the floor without the slightest sign of advancement. Thousands of eyes were following the boy¡¯s slightest movement.


    He was considered the genius of the century by the masses of people who didn¡¯t know other geniuses at his level. Many thought that perhaps he would finally obtain the five legendary rays and begin a new era, but nothing was happening.


    ¡¯The way of the monarch is total sovereignty¡¯. Two hours of reflection was the answer Kayden needed. In the end, it was much simpler than anything he imagined. Why did he have to spend months thinking about how to interconnect different concepts when he could just subdue them to his path?


    Kayden took a big step that would set him apart from everyone, he understood his path on an even deeper level. The boy mentally slapped himself for being ignorant, he didn¡¯t know everything about his path, and he still had a lot to learn. His natural arrogance was killing his chances of success.

 Chapter 185: Consequences of holding back the rise

    His answer was simple; he would learn the concept of sovereignty and his path would probably absorb it naturally. After that, he would have to find a way to subdue the other two concepts and advance as a five-concept mage.


    He had never heard of anything like this before, so he was lost on how he should subdue his two concepts. Unfortunately, the impulse ended before he found that answer.


    When Kayden opened his eyes, he saw thousands of people looking intently at him. Emotions ranged from disdain to contempt. From the side conversations, he heard that he was the only one who didn¡¯t advance. Quickly, a rumor that he was crippled was spread without any reason.


    The look on the faces of the teachers who taught Kayden was just one of pity. They saw how hardworking Kayden was and tried to get the most out of every class. Only the unarmed fighting teacher had a genuine smile on his face.


    Coldly, he stood up and waited for the dean¡¯s words. Without trembling or expressing any emotion, Kayden stood imposingly with the gaze of more than 10,000 people on him.


    "Students, or rather, wizards from the Sol academy," the dean¡¯s voice resounded throughout the grounds. "Congratulations on the successful advancement of all of you. You will have a month of rest before returning to classes. Now, they must pay for the classes and equipment they want to use. Merit points can be obtained through missions." His speech was short and ended abruptly, signaling the end of the school year.


    As soon as Kayden stepped out of the training area, he was flooded with questions from his friends. Linus had managed to advance with 4 concepts and Isaac with three concepts. Heimer and Sarah were together and asked Kayden dozens of questions. The only answer the boy could give was:


    "I wasn¡¯t ready yet."


    ********


    After a week of vacation, Kayden called a meeting with his subjects. No one but him knew the purpose of this meeting. Since the delivery of the nectar, no one has seen Kayden. This reinforced the rumor that he was unable to advance.


    This rumor reached Sarah, but the matter was easily resolved when he said he was just looking for concepts that would take him further.


    "You must be wondering why I called you here. I¡¯ll be blunt, I can¡¯t advance to the first realm. I will forever be a wizard." At the dining table with space for almost 50 people, there were only a few seats.


    "I don¡¯t want to follow this trash from home anymore!" A blonde girl got up from the table immediately after Kayden spoke. His only response was a neutral look from the boy.


    "Anyone who wants to leave without consequences, speak up now. Logically, you will never be able to share the special techniques or pass them on to your descendants." In the next few minutes, practically everyone abandoned Kayden, leaving only 6 people including Luan and Locke. One of them was Sirius.


    One of them was Yan Heart. The boy had blue eyes and black hair, a strange combination, but one that looked beautiful on the boy. He had no great talents physically or as a wizard. He was among the worst of the worst in the academy, but if there was one thing he was capable of, it was manipulating money. In recent months, he had been multiplying the amount Kayden gave him, buying houses and setting up stores. The boy was practically a born entrepreneur. His three concepts were as simple as possible and were found through money.


    Kayden was no idiot and when he realized this, he placed Yan as administrator of the Heart family¡¯s wealth. The properties were all placed in the family name and, using his count status, Yan was able to get much better deals.


    The other was a girl named Rafaela Heart. His hair was blue and so were his eyes. Her white skin contrasted with these two features, forming a beautiful combination. Unlike Yan, she had great magical talent but preferred to work with alchemy. His work needed a huge amount of money to progress, and Kayden provided it. The similarity between Yan and Rafa was that they both worked hard to reach the level they were at, and Kayden helped a lot with that. Their gratitude and honor prevented them from jumping out of the boat, even if it was on fire. S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Very well, now that we¡¯ve cleaned up, we can continue. I¡¯m not incapable of moving forward, I didn¡¯t think it was the right time. The money that others received will now be passed on to Yan to take care of. You should ask Yan. I¡¯m going to spend some time in seclusion. Anything, consult Locke." Kayden trusted the prince enough to be his second in command.


    He was hardworking but mostly honest. Kayden saw how he was always willing to help and without asking for anything in return. When Kayden said he was unable to advance a few days ago, the prince took it perfectly well and decided to continue his ties with the Heart house.


    After tidying things up inside her house and allowing Rafaela to use some rooms to make a larger laboratory, Kayden decided to return to her meditation. He didn¡¯t know how long it would take, but that didn¡¯t matter at this point.


    *******


    Kayden missed the registration period for classes. He didn¡¯t even notice the time passing. The boy stored enough food for 1 year in his room and warned everyone that he was entering a secluded cultivation and should not be disturbed.


    Little by little, he felt closer to understanding the concept of sovereignty. Unlike the other concepts, this one resonated with his path easily. The material he was using was books and information provided by the academy.


    Most of the people who understood this concept were kings or belonged to the highest level of society, so it was difficult to access information, but nothing that Kayden couldn¡¯t get.


    Staying awake 24 hours a day, Kayden no longer felt the need to keep track of time. His cell phone was thrown in a drawer somewhere, the days or hours were the same length for him.


    Two months after going into seclusion, Kayden left when he received an urgent call from Heimer. As soon as he went up to the kitchen, he saw his friends waiting for him.


    "Kayden....your master has died" was a simple sentence, but one that carried great weight. Kayden was first taken aback in disbelief and then asked for more details.


    "It is not known how he died, they found his dead body in his room, the kingdom is still investigating, but this caused a wave of fear throughout society, as this event means that there is someone loose capable of killing people in the fourth kingdom easily ."


    The funeral was scheduled to take place at 2 pm. Kayden was a little sad, but nothing too deep. He respected his master as a man and teacher. He would pay due respects as a disciple.


    A few hours later, he left the house in the smartest outfit money could buy. The event would take place in the Alchemy Tower itself, so Kayden took the opportunity to walk around and get some sun.


    "Look who we have here?" Kayden saw three boys standing in front of him. Their leader had red hair very similar to the person he cruelly beat up early last year.


    Kayden wasn¡¯t going to respond, but he saw the leader charge toward him like a bull. Without thinking, he utilized his path to the fullest and put distance between them. Kayden wasn¡¯t crazy about facing three wizards.


    Before he could take two steps back, he tripped over a tree vine that appeared out of nowhere. Within seconds, she wrapped herself tightly around his body. Even breaking the tree, it managed to grow a little more.


    BOOOM!


    A thunderbolt from Zeus fell heavily on the first wizard who came close. They were not someone with four concepts and one path, so they received very heavy injuries and fell unconscious to the ground. Kayden¡¯s bad luck was that he wasn¡¯t controlling the vines.


    There was no time and the redhead punched Kayden in the face and began to punch the boy¡¯s entire body mercilessly. The beating took a few seconds as Kayden gathered mana for another beam.


    Even under the pain of being beaten, he was still thinking about what to do. To try to buy time, the boy tried to threaten both of them.


    "If you keep this up I¡¯ll kill you one day or another, I promise." His response was just a laugh. Within a few minutes, he mustered the strength to unleash another Zeus bolt that fell directly onto the vine wizard. Once again he caught his opponent completely off guard.


    With a thud, another body fell to the ground, leaving only the red-haired leader hitting Kayden. The problem was that now Kayden was no longer able to throw another Zeus bolt. His strength was quite weakened. It would take twice as long to gather strength again. His body was tied with a piece of iron this time, making it impossible for him to move again.


    "If you don¡¯t help them soon, they will end up dying." His speech fell on deaf ears. The humiliation that the redhead suffered was recorded in his mind. The resentment was too great for him to stop now.

 Chapter 186: Another concept

    Slowly, the minutes began to pass and Kayden pretended to faint. Even so, he was still beaten for a few minutes, but finally, the redhead stopped hitting him and spat on his body. Kayden stayed on the floor while waiting for him to leave with his two friends.


    Other people might be wondering why the king¡¯s forces didn¡¯t help Kayden in this situation, but it was very simple. At the academy, it was survival of the fittest, and since they had no intention of killing Kayden, nothing was done.


    "A few dozen broken bones and others cracked", Kayden was bleeding from several points on his body, in addition to having numerous broken bones. Even so, he gathered the mana in his body and made it support every point on his body.


    Kayden looked like a patched-up zombie walking to whatever spiritual sense passed over him. A few more minutes later, he arrived at the funeral and... unfortunately for him, it was already over. The coffin was already buried.


    "Shit," a deep hatred came out of Kayden. Bolt helped him and would help him countless times. Before his seclusion, his master had already made it clear to Kayden that he would continue to support him even if it took him a long time to advance to the first realm.


    For a few minutes, Kayden just stood there looking at the grave. He wasn¡¯t deeply sad, but the boy was still a little discouraged. Over the past few months, he has grown to like Bolt.


    Kayden made two promises before the heavens: he would avenge his master before he died, and the three who prevented him from seeing Bolt¡¯s face for the last time would be killed as soon as he advanced, even if they were the king¡¯s sons, their heads would go. to roll.


    "You¡¯re Kayden, aren¡¯t you?" A woman appeared in Kayden¡¯s line of vision. She was tall, with brown hair cut close to her shoulders. His question only got a nod from Kayden. S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I am Master Bolt¡¯s other apprentice. He left me his riches and properties because he said you wouldn¡¯t care about it." The woman took a book out of her pocket. "Here is the master¡¯s legacy. He asked me to pass it on to you, somehow he knew he would die."


    After Kayden received the book, he thanked her, and no more words were exchanged. The atmosphere was not conducive to idle conversations. Kayden spent just an hour in that place, as the basic principles of good manners demand.


    Once he returned home, he received healing from the head butler, who wondered how Kayden was still walking after all these injuries. Then the boy hid himself in the room.


    Before going back to farming, he skimmed through Bolt¡¯s book to see and there was no hidden secret, but there were only a few words in the whole book: "Use what you learned."


    Kayden began to see the world using the concept of energy, and several other words appeared in the book for him. On the first page, it was written:


    "A message for Kayden."


    "Boy, I have finally managed to reach the fifth realm. As unbelievable as it sounds, a magnificent technique has fallen into my lap, allowing me to sacrifice my potential to overcome the barrier of realms. The power I feel is unimaginable. The leap from the third to the fourth is impressive, but you drop several degrees that qualify you as mortal from the fourth to the fifth. I won¡¯t go into details, as someday you will catch up to me. I have faith in that. If you are reading this, I probably I¡¯m dead. I tried to face Eden again. It may have been centuries, but I still remember my parents¡¯ faces perfectly and I can¡¯t live with myself if I don¡¯t try to avenge them. Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t, but I don¡¯t regret it. I will see my ancestors with pride. Thank you for being my apprentice, Kayden. I enjoyed teaching such a diligent student. This book has my complete main technique. I¡¯ll be watching you from heaven. Remember, boy, the cemetery is full of brave heroes but loses in quantity to the sky. We have battles that we must not run away from, regardless of the consequences."


    "Holy shit," a lot of information was thrown at Kayden at once. Where did the technique your master received come from? This and several questions entered Kayden¡¯s mind for a few seconds and then were set aside.


    The last sentence enchanted him in a way. Kayden understood that the heaven his master was referring to was the realm of high-level warriors. In a way, to reach the top it was necessary to fight losing battles and triumph against all odds.


    Kayden put the book away on his desk dresser. This was not the right time for him to study his master¡¯s technique.


    *************


    "Sovereignty is governing absolutely?"


    "What is governing?"


    "What is something absolute?"


    "What do I want to govern?"


    Four months of seclusion flew by, and Kayden was still close to learning something fundamental, but at the same time, he was far away.


    **********


    Kayden opened his eyes. A blue glow crazily rotated in his eyeball, and the mana around him knelt automatically, without him needing to perform any control. He had been in seclusion for nine months.


    "Sovereignty is absolute control without outside interference," Kayden took a while to come to this conclusion. Every moment he was seeing how to interconnect his concepts and then master them, but this was wrong.


    Each of them should be governed independently, each concept was unique but should submit to the greater concept of sovereignty, after a long time Kayden was finally ready to try to make a breakthrough.


    There was still a little bit left, thanks to the nectar he understood how to submit concepts to a greater concept using his path, but he still needed to learn the concept of sovereignty completely, kayden learned that he would not be able to accomplish this feat sitting in his room.


    Fortunately, he had devised a concrete plan that would allow him to master this new concept or die trying fully.


    "I need you to take me flying to Storm Canyon," Kayden asked Heimer over the phone, and in just a few minutes his friend came to help him. The very act of speaking after so long felt strange.


    "You look a little washed out" Kayden¡¯s hair was reaching shoulder length and was tied up in a bun, her skin was extremely pale from the lack of constant sunlight.


    "Nothing I can¡¯t handle" the boy smiled at Heimer, a few minutes later they finally arrived at the Canyon.

 Chapter 187: Kneel to the monarch [BONUS]

    The Canyon was outside the academy area, a few kilometers into the forest on the outskirts of the capital, as soon as they arrived they came across a large expanse of orange stone with burn marks on all sides.


    Even at the entrance it was possible to feel the latent energy in the air and observe the high level storms a few kilometers ahead, according to the information Kayden consulted, the Canyon had 4 level storms.


    Each of them was controlled by an electric spirit, something difficult to birth and rarely documented. They had no bodies, just basic instincts to keep the storm constant. This was an ideal place as it had an underground mana vein that increased the density of the region. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Why did you come here?" Heimer asked while paying the entrance fee that cost merit points for both of them.


    "I need to see the first level storm." Kayden would not reveal the real reason and would wait for Heimer to leave before acting. The two walked a few kilometers until they reached a giant cliff. In this place, they could not fly, as the storm saw this as a challenge to its authority. When looking down, there were only compact clouds and lightning passing through them.


    The storm extended for nearly two miles, becoming a freak of nature. Anyone looking would be scared to get close to something that big. The abyss looked ominous, with dark clouds and lightning.


    Kayden sat and just waited, running the plan through his head. Heimer accompanied him to try to learn something about lightning but slowly became discouraged when he saw that it was much more complex than he imagined.


    "Kayden, call me outside when you need a ride." The moment Kayden had been waiting for had finally arrived. It took about an hour for Heimer to get tired and leave. Kayden spent a few more minutes looking at the cliff, wondering if what he was about to do was worth it. Some people around him recognized him and were looking at the boy who was so close to the cliff.


    "Today I take another step towards history or my last living step", the boy whispered and... threw himself into the storm. Those around it took a while to realize what had happened, but as soon as they realized, some ran out to see Kayden falling. Others went looking for help, but as cell phones didn¡¯t work in that area, they had to walk. The walk, even running, would take about 30 minutes, and finding help and bringing her here would take at least another 15 minutes.


    Falling, Kayden felt the wind howl in his ear and pass through his entire body. His mind was calm as he waited to enter the storm. He had learned a technique based on creating mana bricks to float. The lightning became more threatening the closer he got. In just a few seconds, he pierced the cloud. His body was doused with cold water, and yet he continued a few more meters.


    The boy stopped in what he considered to be the center of the storm. Lightning from all sides started attacking him. Kayden had to use his path to the fullest, combined with all the knowledge of energy and electricity he had, to reduce the damage from the lightning. Even so, his body began to suffer the consequences. Hundreds were falling on him at any given moment. Most were deflected or completely nullified with his mana, but some he could just take out their full strength.


    His path extended outside his body, taking the form of dominance. This was what he had used in the admissions test. Everything was within your reach and control. Kayden began to deactivate beam by beam. Some even grabbed his body. His left hand was raw, and you could see some bones. Each ray burned a little more and weakened his movements even more.


    A few minutes later, Kayden encountered a different variation of energy. It was similar to a human torso but did not have any defined shape other than a breastplate. It didn¡¯t even have a head. His body was already injured with several cuts and burns. His shirt was already gone, and his pants were in tatters, but he hadn¡¯t lost 90% of his combat ability.


    His body was already injured with several cuts and burns. His clothes, and shirt, were already gone and his pants were in tatters, but he hadn¡¯t lost 90% of his combat ability.


    Using all the mana around him, he approached the energy form and tried to subdue it, putting pressure on mana that no apprentice or even a mage should be able to exert. The response was an intensification of the lightning that was coming at him.


    If before there were hundreds, now there were thousands, and even so, when they reached a certain distance from Kayden¡¯s body, they became weak. Every second he got better at neutralizing the lightning. Before, he needed to counterattack one by one, but now he had a dome around him filtering the mana for him.


    The scene was unbelievable. If anyone on the outside looked inside, they would see a tiny human-like being facing a multitude of lightning bolts coming from a colossal storm. Only the white flashes of lightning were visible, which with each second intensified in quantity and strength.


    "Holy shit," Kayden began to think, "I might not have made the best decision." But soon his mind hardened and he got rid of these weak thoughts. His left arm... was completely gone, consumed by the momentum of the lightning.


    The boy broke the barrier and used his path one level deeper. At this moment, if he couldn¡¯t break through, he would die from the exhaustion of using his strength to its full capacity.


    The rays could no longer find Kayden. Whenever they passed through the dome, they were simply shattered into tiny particles of energy. The strength and quantity grew to an absurd level, reaching the point where even people watching from above could see the flashes.


    Practically all of the storm¡¯s rays were concentrated in just one point, causing a huge ball of white light to fly in the middle of the storm. Only 10 minutes had passed since Kayden jumped.


    "Bend or die," Kayden put even greater pressure on the spirit. The being had never experienced this before, mainly because few could feel it and he was always able to throw a few thousand lightning bolts and make his opponent give up.


    The mana pressure got closer and closer, squeezing the spirit and slowly suffocating it. For the first time in his life, he felt like he could die. He could not speak, this was only given to spirits of the second realm.


    His arrogance in thinking he was at the top of the food chain prevented him from bowing down. Kayden¡¯s eyes were cold and blinking with excess mana pouring out of his entire body.

 Chapter 188: The challenge of the heavens

    With one last effort, the spirit extended the storm to a size much larger than before. The students who were at the edge of the cliff had to move a few hundred meters away to avoid being caught in the crossfire.


    That didn¡¯t do anything. Kayden continued to defend the rays perfectly. No matter how much time passed, he was sovereign. His hair was floating because of the surrounding energy, his body was bleeding in several spots and yet he was above an entire storm.


    "Bend or die, this is the last chance." The mana pressure intensified and acquired a certain degree of killing intent. This time, the spirit was frightened. He had never faced anything like this before.


    Something that few humans were able to do at the same level and had never achieved while being a kingdom below was done at that moment. The spirit appeared in its physical form to Kayden. It had the same shape but was made of small visible clouds this time. Then he tilted his torso signaling his submission.


    At this point, Kayden completed everything he needed for the concept of sovereignty. His completely bruised body demonstrated how he fought for it. Almost magically, the concept came naturally to Kayden.


    The moment he learned the new concept, he used it to subdue the other two and tie them to his path. Kayden could feel inside his mind the five concepts he learned, two being interconnected and three loose, but one of them was special. Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden forced one of them to suppress the others. In just a few seconds, he had all his concepts interconnected. The rope that tied them was strong and did not seem natural.


    Kayden used the impulse to learn the concept of sovereignty to tie all the concepts together. More and more he understood what the impulse was. It felt like a glimpse of something higher, but at the same time, it felt like nothing.


    The boy just gathered some mana and watched the sky darken for his ascension test. Within seconds, a golden beam fell upon him. The lighting was magnificent and imposing, it seemed like a divine punishment to mortals.


    BOOOM!


    The entire region shook from the lightning. The sound was deafening and it traveled several hundred meters. The gym would normally seal with runes so the sound wouldn¡¯t spread, but now Kayden felt the power firsthand.


    Kayden countered him just using a lightning bolt of his own. This cost half the mana he had at his disposal, but fortunately, the area was flooded with mana across the world for Kayden to perform the ascension.


    The boy was floating in the air as he faced the heavens. Today he would overcome five lightning bolts or die along the way. There were no alternatives and no middle ground. It had to be done now for him to take advantage of the momentum of the five concepts being tied together.


    The next beam came with twice the force and Kayden once again easily countered it using mana from the environment. As long as there was mana, he would be a living god, and the amount under his control now was far beyond ridiculous.


    BOOOOM!


    The sound of lightning hitting the ground reached the people who were coming to Kayden¡¯s rescue. Instantly, they recognized that it was an ascension challenge. The person in charge immediately sent word to the dean and broke the electrical resistance in the area on his own so he could make the connection.


    Before the third ray arrived, several renowned entities were already floating in the air. One of them was the dean and at his side was the king himself. No one believed it when they heard that Kayden had entered an ascension process within the storm. It was unbelievable to think about.


    "Kayden¡¯s condition..." Leonardo commented as soon as he arrived. He was in shambles, one of his arms didn¡¯t even exist and yet he was floating in all his glory as he faced the heavens.


    The third beam came again with twice the strength of the others. This time, Kayden was unable to fully defend him, as it wasn¡¯t just the strength he needed. There seemed to be something missing in the process.


    The lightning passed through his body, burning everything in its path. His hair simply disappeared, and his clothes were completely charred, leaving the boy naked in the air. During this pain, Kayden tried to understand what exactly this lightning was, as it did not have any electrical characteristics.


    Kayden realized he couldn¡¯t get out of the challenge. He felt that the next lightning bolt would come regardless of his will. Within seconds, he understood that this was because of his path. For some reason, the heavens would not accept mediocrity from him.


    BOOOM!


    The third beam fell to the ground after passing through Kayden¡¯s entire body. The shaking and noise were even louder, taking those who had seen dozens of ascension processes by surprise.


    "This is at least 40% stronger than normal," the king himself commented on this anomaly with surprise.


    Meanwhile, Kayden was thinking hard about what to do to overcome the fifth lightning bolt. The third one did a lot of damage to him and the fourth one would severely damage him to the point where he wouldn¡¯t be able to continue the test.


    A faint pulse of mana began to come out of the boy. This pulsar was traveling dozens of kilometers, attracting powerful mages even from far away. Few knew what that was, but everyone went after it with all their strength.


    As incredible as it may seem, the world was giving Kayden time to rest. The boy didn¡¯t notice time passing, but there were a few minutes between each lightning bolt. Since the third, 10 minutes had already passed.


    Slowly, Kayden began to use his way past the limit, similar to what he did in the gym test. His control spanned dozens of meters, an absolute control that once again shocked all the fourth realm powerhouses who were watching.


    Practically all the fourth realm wizards in the region came to see what the pulsar was, and no one could fully understand what it was. Furthermore... two figures were standing in the air everyone, with no one able to detect their presence.


    "Why are you in human territory?"


    The response one of the men received was a frightening mana pressure that prevented him from being able to speak.


    "Don¡¯t touch that boy, I want him. If you try anything funny, I will decimate your organization without caring about the deal with the god."


    That was the other answer. This time, the two remained quiet, as the fourth ray was coming.

 Chapter 189: Among the geniuses, a monstrous

    Author¡¯s note: I think I¡¯ve improved in terms of writing impressive scenes, this chapter is much better than the climax when he takes the academy test, but I leave that for you to decide


    The world seemed to stop for a second when a huge lightning strike Golden came out of the skies and fell at high speed towards Kayden. This time, mana from dozens of meters converged above the boy, acting as a shield.


    The impact was lessened considerably, but the lightning still passed through Kayden¡¯s leg and completely charred it. Similar to a sword cut, Kayden lost one of his legs. The pain was irrelevant to him, his eyes were fixed on the heavens.


    BOOOM!


    The lightning hit the ground and the pulsation increased considerably. There were four rays and Kayden established himself as a genius. But the boy didn¡¯t look like he was going to give up now. His body was already almost dead. If it weren¡¯t for his extreme willpower, he would have already forcibly lost consciousness.


    "not even our father had the courage to face five lightning bolts when he had a high-level path. This boy is crazy", the king commented to himself and Leonardo agreed. The ascension process had a direct relationship with your path.


    The stronger the path, the stronger the ascension process. Normal people who reached the fourth ray would not be able to face the third ray of a strong path. It was simply an unparalleled difference.


    Meanwhile, Kayden, who looked like an undead, was floating in the air staring at the skies. The greatest powers of humanity had a shudder when they looked at the boy. He looked like an ant facing a colossus and still triumphing.


    Unshakable.


    Invincible.


    A king among kings.


    Kayden forced his way in further. He used every concept he had. At the end of it all, he made an unimaginable discovery: his path was already to sovereignty. The concept he learned was not necessary.


    He was the monarch. His path was absolute domination. The rope tying the five concepts was undone and Kayden¡¯s path regressed several meters. Then the boy forced his way as the main concept of his existence to tie down all others.


    Sovereignty was nothing more than something in his way. She was not a separate concept, she was just part of it. The once strong rope now did not exist. His path didn¡¯t need to tie others to him, he just... subjected them to kneel.


    An even greater pulse began when Kayden made this discovery in the life-or-death situation. He knew that the fifth ray would come down with or without his permission. Probably no one could save him at that moment. The ascension challenge did not allow for external intervention. Even someone in higher realms would be cruelly killed as a consequence.


    "Come!", Kayden threw the challenge to the skies, surprising everyone.


    "Is that five rays?"


    "Is he crazy?"


    "Look at his condition, he doesn¡¯t even have an arm and a leg!"


    The skies began to thunder as if carrying the strongest attack to ever fall on this planet. Meanwhile, Kayden¡¯s control over mana intensified several folds.


    Practically for a hundred meters around him, all mana ceased to exist as it converged towards him and formed a spiral tower around him. Not even a peak mage could match that control.


    The boy began to levitate upwards unshakably.


    "Come!", with his cry and challenge, the heavens finally released the fifth golden ray. The force even frightened the elderly people around. This attack power was easily in the first realm.


    All the mana Kayden gathered was put into his body and his katana. Practically the mana of a hundred meters was gathered in just one spot. The lightning began to fall and seemed slow in everyone¡¯s view.


    One man against the heavens.


    An ant against the gods.


    BOOOM!


    Kayden broke the sound barrier by swinging his katana in a feat impossible for most first-realm mages. The lightning, falling furiously and imposingly, was cut in two. Some of it even hit Kayden.


    It passed through the left side of his body. The katana had completely disintegrated and his right arm was completely gone. A part of his lung was also destroyed in the process.


    BOOOOOOOOM! sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The lightning hit the ground and opened a crater several meters wide. The strength was something that no mage had ever witnessed in first-realm strength tests, something completely unimaginable.


    "Monster!" At that moment, some finally understood Kayden¡¯s nickname. He was above geniuses. Among the greatest, he was a monster. Among geniuses, he was a monster.


    Kayden was left floating in the air as he stared up at the heavens. He could feel that there was a sixth ray, but at this moment he was sure that he was not able to face it. That should be left for the next kingdom.


    The second Kayden gave up, the mana of the world embraced him and began to change his body. First, your bone structure received a huge boost. Afterwards, his muscles were completely remodeled.


    His blood was improved and became thicker. His vital organs were improved by several folds. Even his eyes burned as they were entirely remade. Kayden watched each change.


    His limbs weren¡¯t regenerated, but Kayden could feel that his body had evolved to a point that he wouldn¡¯t die even with these injuries, at least as long as he controlled the blood loss and other things.


    Finally, the mana arrived in his brain. At that moment, Kayden lost consciousness for the first time in a year. The mana removed useless parts and connected others. It received practically twice as many neurons and its size was greatly reduced to accommodate the new quantity.


    Your brain capacity has increased considerably, whether to relive memories or perform quick thoughts. His IQ practically reached the same level as an ordinary human genius.


    Kayden woke up afterward and was left alone in the air. The fifth ray elevated him to a level far superior to any other human being in the first realm. His stats were practically double that of any newly advanced.


    Another thing went his way. Now he was able to feel the latent strength in his body. Even without any arms, his body seemed much stronger than before. The boy should have been unconscious, but he forced his lucidity.


    Using his path in its entirety, without needing to restrain himself, Kayden pulled the mana from 200 meters around him towards him. Within seconds, the mana converged entirely at his will.


    The sight made the human powers tremble with fear. Kayden¡¯s strength at this moment was a joke, but in a few years, he would rise to the top.


    BOOOOM!


    A beam of ridiculous strength fell to the ground. Even a level 6 mage would be severely injured by this attack. That was practically a jump of six ranks. When everyone thought it was over, several lightning bolts started to fall, almost like a storm.


    The King of Lightning.


    The Reincarnation of Indra.


    When Kayden looked up, he saw the transition mages standing in the air. He who met his gaze only saw absolute emptiness. It felt like staring into the abyss. Even with the difference in power, it seemed like Kayden was the predator and they were the prey.

 Chapter 190: A heavy investment

    An insane pressure fell on everyone in the fourth realm, causing them to not even be able to move a finger. In the air, another figure appeared: the former king floated with all the glory of a monarch, with his hair tied in a long braid down to his waist.


    "Those who want to leave here alive must sign a contract promising never to tell anyone about what happened here," his voice was imposing and left no shadow of doubt.


    "I refuse this tyranny", there was always someone who thought they were bigger than they were. This time, it was a duke in the fourth kingdom. He admitted that the old man¡¯s pressure was strong, but with the two of them in the fourth realm, he shouldn¡¯t be killed easily. The information on Kayden would easily be worth a few trillion.


    "I am the sun." The heat in the room visibly increased. The former king seemed to be on fire, similar to a star that had descended to the land of mortals. Meanwhile, the Duke... was no more. In an instant, he was reduced to ashes, convincing everyone that the old man¡¯s words were not to be taken lightly. In the next few minutes, everyone started to sign the contract given by the former king.


    Meanwhile, Kayden was being healed by one of the most influential figures on the entire planet Earth, an unnamed doctor, who was giving treatment to Kayden. Within seconds it was as good as new. Kayden was impressed by the healer¡¯s strength. He didn¡¯t remember seeing healing this strong before. His surprise would be even greater if he discovered that this man was Apollo¡¯s master. He had no name; he responded only to the nickname God of Medicine.


    Even if a mage was decapitated in front of him, he could heal the person before they died completely, assuming they didn¡¯t die from shock or anything related.


    ¡¯What the fuck, boy?¡¯ The God of Healing thought as he saw Kayden being healed and not even showing the slightest sign of pain over his situation. In the next few minutes, the ancient king descended from the sky.


    "Hello, Kayden. My name is Azir, the first king of the sun kingdom." Kayden noticed a certain similarity between the man and royalty, but his figure was unique because of his hair and aura.


    "Hello, your majesty." Kayden stood and bowed noblely. In the middle of nowhere, the king made a metal table and chair on the floor and invited the boy to sit down. All this treatment showed that the king had good intentions, at least that was what Kayden thought. Your idea would change if you saw what happened a few minutes ago.


    A few minutes ago:


    The current king, Leonardo, and Azir were standing in the air after everyone had signed the contracts. Their expressions were serious. The only other person they knew who experienced five lightning bolts was Apollo. S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    What they didn¡¯t know was that Kayden passed with five concepts, while Apolo passed with just four. It was only the difference of one unit, but it was like the difference between heaven and earth.


    "Shall we try to recruit him by force?" Leonardo was decisive in capturing this talent for them.


    "The contract will just be a bad measure and will cause hatred when he manages to break it," Azir replied while thinking. This demonstrated the confidence he had in Kayden¡¯s ability. Not even his children could break contracts.


    "Should we kill him?" This time the king asked. It was better to cut off a problem directly before it grew.


    At this moment, a force crushed the three of them in the air. They couldn¡¯t even breathe. Azir was the only one who could still speak and he instantly understood that he shouldn¡¯t do that.


    "Don¡¯t touch him."


    As soon as the speech ended, the pressure was off. Leonardo coughed heavily before managing to fully recover.


    "What the fuck was that?" His heart was incredibly racing. It had been a long time since he felt intimidated like this.


    "I have already taught your children that we are never the biggest fish in the sea. I don¡¯t know who it was and I don¡¯t want to find out either. From now on, we must try our best to make Kayden look favorably on us. This is the best we can do." Azir quickly understood the situation and resigned himself to fate.


    His two sons still had questions and wanted to retort, but when they remembered how easily they were suppressed and crushed in the air, they became quiet. This small situation rekindled the flame in the hearts of the three to become stronger.


    Back to the present.


    "We will provide unconditional support and support for you, we will not have any contract as a gesture of good faith. We can even eliminate the Ashford family if you want. We only ask for a relationship of friendship and total trust between the two parties." Kayden was shocked for a moment.


    Where were the threats and forced contracts? There was only one alternative for that. At some point on the power scale, contracts became ineffective and useless. In the fourth kingdom, it was not like this, as he remembered his master bound by a contract with Eden.


    This could only mean that it was in kingdoms above the fourth, that is, the former king saw potential in him to reach that level. For a few seconds, Kayden just remained silent, without reacting. Then he gave an answer that Azir did not expect.


    "I don¡¯t need help with the Ashford family, their time will come. I would just like support with precious items like the nectar of knowledge. My goodwill is already present with the royal family and with this step, we can become friends." Kayden was no fool, and believing in friendship at the level the old man in front of him was at was more of an exchange of benefits and investment.


    Why did he refuse help with the Ashford family? He had to take this into his own hands, it was something he owed to Ryan. Even though it took longer and was irrational, it was something he promised himself to do. Furthermore, he was untouchable. Not even Kevin had the courage to do anything to him. He hadn¡¯t even seen the boy¡¯s face in recent years. Maybe it was fear? Kayden didn¡¯t know and didn¡¯t care.


    "For obvious reasons, we¡¯re going to keep this a secret. We¡¯ll also support you even if you take down one of the greats. We¡¯ll cover it up in the media and anything like that. We¡¯re practically giving you carte blanche in the country if you want the title of grand -Duke, just ask." Kayden refused the title and was grateful for the carte blanche he received. After that, he talked a little more with the king about resources, both monetary and natural treasures.


    Azir took a seed out of his pocket and handed it to Kayden. The boy felt the absurd density of mana in it as soon as his hand touched it. Other than the mana, it was just a normal seed.


    "World tree seeds, a tree that grows naturally to the fourth realm. You will receive one or two per year. When you return to your home, test it out. A new katana will arrive in your quarters today." With that, Azir said goodbye and left Kayden to his thoughts.


    The environment was a mess, with several burned parts and broken stones. Furthermore, the level one storm that was there was a few hundred meters away. There wasn¡¯t even a living soul around Kayden.


    The boy took this opportunity to test his new physique and was impressed. His strength increased by at least 5 times in each attribute, and his heart gathered almost 10 times more mana than before, but the real difference was the way he was seeing the world.


    Everything seemed more colorful and vivid, his hearing reached much further, and even his sense of smell was significantly improved. Kayden was in no position to control the advance and just had to accept whatever the world gave him.


    Another thing was his mana sense, it was broader and stronger, and it seemed much easier to carry mana and manipulate it. For the first time, Kayden utilized true spiritual sense and it came naturally to him. It was incredibly more detailed, the sensations were magnified at least a hundred times. Kayden could feel about 200 meters around him. He didn¡¯t know what the normal number was, but it certainly wasn¡¯t that big. His path now came naturally to him, he no longer had a secondary way of manipulating mana, the only problem was the intensity with which he could use his path without having consequences.


    Kayden estimated that he could use his path at about 10% naturally and if he pushed himself to the limit he could reach 20%. This was pretty good considering their limit was previously 5%. Kayden was confident in achieving highs of various levels naturally now, even more so with Zeus¡¯s lightning being useful in the mage realm. He just had to spend more mana, and even then he fell faster. Before, there was a delay of a few seconds, but now it was barely a full second.


    ¡¯Time to pay certain debts.¡¯

 Chapter 191: reckoning

    Outside the academy, there is a cluster of luxury houses intended for the nobility. It wasn¡¯t exactly the nobility, but rather people with a lot of money and influence. There had to be a balance of both to be able to live there.


    A red-haired teenager named Thomas was sitting with his two friends eating an afternoon coffee fit for a king, with various fruits and high-end foods. Ever since they became mages, they have been living in the clouds.


    Thomas managed to pass with four rays and three concepts, becoming a hope for his noble family. His friends passed with three concepts and three rays, becoming geniuses too. The future was practically made for them. They knew they wouldn¡¯t live at the top of the top, but they would still enjoy the best treatment possible within the kingdom.


    "Thomas Silva, get out and face the consequences of your actions!" A booming voice resounded throughout the entire neighborhood. Practically all the neighbors came out to see the chaos happening.


    As soon as the nobleman walked outside, he saw Kayden floating in the air with an unwavering expression and a suffocating aura. Kayden¡¯s mere presence caused pressure on those around him. Some students were already at the grand mage level and still had to recognize Kayden¡¯s strength.


    "Are you here to be beaten again?" Thomas couldn¡¯t feel Kayden¡¯s presence with his spiritual sense. Normally, when a mage or any level beyond was caught in the spiritual sense, he looked like a massive point curving space.


    Similar to a bowling ball on a sheet held in the air, when someone didn¡¯t display these characteristics, it could only mean one thing: they were much stronger than you and could control their mana to a higher level. Normally, it took a difference of realm for this to happen, and the second case was that the person was still an apprentice.


    The three began to float towards Kayden in a carefree manner. Only a few people could recognize the monster that Kayden was, and these three weren¡¯t in that league.


    "A few months ago, you stopped me from bowing in respect to my master for the last time." Kayden couldn¡¯t continue when Thomas¡¯ voice mocked him.


    "Too bad the baby can¡¯t see his fucking dead master." His two friends laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world.


    "Today I come to fulfill the promise I made that day." Kayden didn¡¯t say anything else as he released his aura in its entirety and opened his path to the fullest. He would make a worthy spectacle for his first fight in the first kingdom.


    Instantly, everyone felt as if the world stopped for a second. All the mana in the room became strange and unwilling. Meanwhile, Kayden looked like a god-standing midair as everything converged on him.


    A better way to describe him would be a demon. His bloodlust was latent in the air, turning the mana around him into something dark. It was possible to see certain faces in despair in the mana around him. Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    This was something that happened to those in the first realm. They could put their killing intent into their mana, transforming something ethereal into something visible. The faces were of the people you killed.


    "What the fuck?" A great wizard fell to the ground in fear of someone an entire kingdom below him. He didn¡¯t remember seeing so many faces like this before, not even the most psychopathic people of his generation.


    Making the atmosphere even more terrifying, the clouds in the sky began to close and thunder, as if they were awaiting orders to start hell on earth¡ªa macabre smile formed on Kayden¡¯s face.


    "Any last words?" A primal fear settled over the three of them. They couldn¡¯t even move. The strength Kayden was demonstrating just pushing his way through was ridiculous.


    "The government will arrest you... my family will avenge me!" Thomas stuttered each word under Kayden¡¯s cold gaze. Killing someone there would have many negative effects, but Kayden had carte blanche from the king himself, and even if he hadn¡¯t, he would have done it.


    His promises were not lip service, Kayden had a mentality that we must stick to our words no matter what the cost, if you betray yourself you will never have the ability to go beyond mere mortality, because how do you hope to become a god when he betrays himself?


    In "The Fall of the Heavens", Kayden renamed Zeus¡¯ thunderbolt as it was no longer suitable.


    As soon as the words left his mouth, all the mana converged to the heavens and the clouds released frightening lightning at extreme speed, no one even had time to think as a blue barrier opened and covered the three.


    An amulet on Thomas¡¯ chest was floating and keeping this barrier in the air, this caused a smile on the boy¡¯s face, Kayden wasted his mana and managed to defend the attack, at that moment it was his chance to attack.


    "Let¡¯s go...."


    BOOOM!


    BOOOM!


    Dozens of lightning began to fall on the barrier, and there seemed to be no end, within seconds the barrier that was supposed to withstand attacks up to the peak of the first realm began to crack into dozens of pieces, and the sound of the lightning made it seem like dozens of bombs were being dropped on the barrier. air.


    This caught the attention of the nearby police, and within seconds they had an entire team of mages at the peak of the first realm and a captain at the second realm, unfortunately, they only found Kayden floating in the air.


    The three nobles were evaporated by the immense amount of lightning that fell on them, there was no pause between one bolt of lightning and another, it was simply a frightening sequence that sent shivers down the spines of the professionals who were coming to interrupt the fight.


    Silence took over the place while the police thought about what to do, there had never been a murder in this area of the city before, besides... Kayden was floating in the air as if nothing could shake him.


    "Boy! By the authority of the kingdom I am arresting you until..." the leader of the second kingdom was unable to continue his speech when Kayden looked at him, the man felt like an ant facing a god, this moment lasted only a second and Kayden retracted his path and his suffocating aura.


    "Okay sir", Kayden was polite and just went down to the team of professionals without any fear.


    "You could get some serious penalties for this kid," the officer who was handcuffing Kayden commented. Kayden didn¡¯t respond, it only took a few minutes for him to get to the station and just a few more for him to walk out the front door free.


    The king¡¯s carte blanche was useful, he had to admit, without it, he would have to pay a heavy fine relating to the amount of assets he had, and he would also have to spend a lot on lawyers.


    As soon as he stepped into his house, all his friends were there waiting for him, the video of Kayden decimating three wizards as if they were ants appeared on all social networks in the kingdom and went viral instantly.


    "Kayden!? What the fuck do you have in your head? And since when do you have this strength, I left you in the canyon just a few hours ago", Heimer shouted as soon as he saw Kayden, the boy gave an apologetic smile and began to explain the situation concisely, hiding some important details.


    "I managed to move forward and decided to pay old accounts", his response made his friends angry at the boy¡¯s nerves, killing three people was just giving accounts.


    "How strong have you become?" Sarah was the first to ask this question, she had seen the video and even she was impressed, she was in the eighth mage rank and Heimer was in the seventh and yet she couldn¡¯t feel Kayden¡¯s energy anymore, this meant that her control about her mana release surpassed her.


    Considering that the average was for students to finish as great wizards in the last or penultimate year, the two were ahead of schedule, even though they were in the sixth year of college they were slightly afraid of Kayden¡¯s power who had just passed to the first level.


    "I shouldn¡¯t have opponents at my age," Kayden said confidently, and even if those with one path and four concepts faced him, he was convinced he could crush them like ants.


    Five folds, five concepts, and five rays. Kayden has elevated himself to a pedestal far above anyone his age. It could probably face mages who were at four concepts and four rays as long as they were below the fifth level of the first realm.


    "This is the brother I chose," Heimer patted Kayden on the back and was instantly happy, damn the day he doubted that Kayden wasn¡¯t a genius, at that moment he understood that his brother was far above his feats.


    This... caused a small feeling of envy to arise subconsciously in his heart. Over the next few minutes, Kayden caught up on the events of the last nine months he was in prison.

 Chapter 192: Coliseum

    Author¡¯s note: I can¡¯t change the value of the privileged chapters this month, but next month I¡¯ll put them all at the lowest price possible, I went with the recommended one and realized it¡¯s a lot of money. Another warning is that I¡¯m always keeping an eye on the top 3 fans and constantly updating the warning chapter with new names


    The family¡¯s savings continued to flourish, even more so now that Yan had entered the supermarket business and was dominating the market, injecting money so that all of his products were his own.


    They were still in the red, but Kayden could see a solid strategy in Yan¡¯s plans. Over time, the cost of producing food and products would be ridiculously low and they could sell in much larger quantities at lower prices.


    Rafaela had transformed space into her special laboratory and only left to go to some specific classes or socialize with some friends. It represented a large expense, but considering Kayden¡¯s savings, it was illusory. Furthermore, she had talent and over time she would pay for all of this double.


    Locke and Luan had managed to advance to the second level of the wizard realm and masterfully consolidated their leadership in room nine. Other than that, not much happened.


    Kayden talked to them for a few more minutes and said goodbye. He still had a lot to train and test. The first thing he did when he arrived in his room was to take the seed he received from his pocket and place it in front of him.


    "This..." The amount of mana inside was ridiculously high and was increasing with each passing minute. Kayden was warned that the seed must be consumed within a few days or it could quickly grow into a sentient life form.


    Without wasting any time, he placed it in his mouth and a burst of mana hit every point on his body instantly. The boy felt extremely powerful, there was so much mana that he was unable to move, he was swollen.


    The boy began to redirect it to his heart and veins. In just a few minutes, he had leapfrogged months of cultivation. His body needed a lot more mana than before, almost 100 times more per level, from what he was noticing.


    The mana seemed to have no end, it was trying to leave his body every moment and blend in with the environment, but Kayden kept his path as much as possible and forced the mana to remain inside him.


    Be it your heart or your veins, everything was improved to the maximum in just a few minutes. Kayden felt the usual force pushing him to the next level and smiled.


    "So that¡¯s what it¡¯s like to be born with a silver spoon in your mouth." His body began to burn and release impurities from all his pores. No matter how much he improved, there always seemed to be some impurity remaining.


    Kayden redirected the will of the world to improve his heart and veins the way he wanted. What he was looking for was resistance to better support his path. This process was extremely painful again, but in just a few minutes he was ready.


    Then the world improved his body in general. His muscles, bones, and everything received a small but significant improvement. Kayden continued to observe to try to learn from this and control this improvement in the future.


    "Incredible". Kayden didn¡¯t even need to stabilize his base on his advances anymore. The rays removed small defects, making its base, which was already almost perfect, even more perfect.


    After thinking for a while, Kayden continued cultivating normally. During the advancement process, the mana loosened up, but it still left his environment quite charged. At the moment, Kayden had nothing to do. The next day, he would start worrying about classes and merit points.


    ***********


    "For free?" Kayden asked again after hearing the answer from the college administration building¡¯s receptionist. She was also in disbelief when she saw it, but she knew that any change in the students¡¯ information came from a higher-level figure.


    "That¡¯s right, student Kayden," the receptionist replied. "All classes are free of charge for you. Furthermore, any equipment can be used free of charge." Kayden hadn¡¯t understood the level of hierarchy that Azir represented, but at that moment it became very clear to him.


    Kayden discovered that he could join in the middle of classes, but this was not recommended as he would have limited knowledge. It was better to start the same class again the following year.


    This meant he had three months free without any classes. Kayden decided to divide his time into three main pillars: cultivation, training in the coliseum, and understanding concepts. The first was the simplest and he could use the special mana rooms with absurd numbers of mana doublings.


    Training at the coliseum would only be possible if he could face students from other years. Kayden did not doubt that the top five of his year would represent good training, but they wouldn¡¯t always be available.


    Regarding concepts, he should follow a dual path, both about his mana monarch path and about his lightning element. In Bolt¡¯s book, there were several tips for Kayden to follow.


    A few minutes later, Kayden was at the coliseum. As he spent a year without facing anyone, he was in the lower levels of the table. The boy didn¡¯t want to waste time-fighting dozens of fights just to be able to face someone decent.


    "Send an optional challenge to the top ten," Kayden said. "Offer one trillion gold coins as a victory prize." Kayden knew that without good bait none of them would waste time facing someone at the bottom of the leaderboard.


    The person in charge of Kayden quickly made the challenges. He had seen the video of the boy on the internet and knew that he was not someone to be crossed. This became even more evident when a statement from the royal palace came out in favor of Kayden and justified his actions.


    After a few seconds, a person appeared and to Kayden¡¯s surprise, it was someone he had already met before Ashley was radiant with her scales and a happy smile.


    "Hi Kayden," she said. "Are you ready to give me some money?"


    Kayden smiled at the girl and responded friendly. "If you beat me, I¡¯ll give you up to twice as much." This caused the teenager to pout, thinking that Kayden was belittling her. In a way he was, but in reality, it was just pure confidence.


    "You can start!" the judge gave the signal and the fight began. Kayden didn¡¯t give a spoonful and activated his path right from the start. Ashley did the same thing and her scales became much more robust and shiny.


    Kayden was using a blood-red katana that he received from the king. It only had a black thread in its center and the rest was entirely red. Its handle was made of dark red wood and matched the blade of the weapon.


    Kayden used his speed spell but put much more mana into it than normal. In a way, he was able to increase the speed of the spell just by adding mana, but as it was an apprentice-level spell, it was not used to its full capacity.


    This was similar to trying to pass water through a small hole. You could pass a large amount of water just by forcing the hole to its limit, but in the end, you wouldn¡¯t be able to put everything you needed.


    Kayden arrived very quickly in front of Ashley and made a side slash with his katana. The girl tried to defend the attack with her arm and was successful, but this time a small cut opened. It wasn¡¯t anything really big, but it showed a very different situation than before, where Kayden couldn¡¯t even open his defense without spending a lot of mana.


    Instantly, Ashley used a dragon breath against Kayden. It was done subconsciously because of the damage she received. Kayden had already noticed this with his spiritual sense and just dodged it to the side.


    He then delivered a straight blow to Ashley¡¯s ribs which once again caused a small cut. His response was a punch from the girl that made him quickly move away.


    Kayden didn¡¯t allow the distance to become too far and quickly approached. Ashley feinted to the left and kicked Kayden on the other side. Using his superior speed, Kayden received the attack with his katana and... was pushed back slightly.


    Ashley was surprised. His strength should be ridiculously high because of his path, but Kayden wasn¡¯t swinging. As the girl regained her balance, Kayden approached her with a kick to her other leg that made her fall to the ground.


    His next attack was a high-speed slash towards Ashley¡¯s neck. This attack was much stronger than all the others and used 100% of Kayden¡¯s strength. If it hit Ashley, she would probably lose her mind.


    Fortunately, the referee took her off the field before any fatalities could happen. In a few seconds, the two were back in the stands with Ashley pouting in dissatisfaction. By just one move, she lost.


    "I want a rematch," Ashley begged.


    "No," Kayden refused.


    "Please," she made a wet dog face in the rain.


    "No," Kayden repeated. S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    After that, Kayden decided to return home. He needed to change his techniques urgently. This had just been a test of his body and he did perfectly fine. His body alone was at a ridiculous level.


    "Just one more," Ashley insisted.


    "I told you no," Kayden replied, appearing to have infinite patience as he denied Ashley¡¯s requests.

 Chapter 193: First place

    With Paulo¡¯s help and unrestricted access to all floors of the royal library, Kayden found some spells to build his repertoire as a wizard. The first was a spell specific to the lightning element that increased his speed considerably but had a large expenditure of mana.


    Fortunately, with his path, he could maintain this spell for hours without having the slightest bit of mana exhaustion. The spell¡¯s name was "Acceleration", it was an improved version of his old spell, and its performance was almost twice as good as using an apprentice spell.


    Ashley wouldn¡¯t be able to last three moves if Kayden gave it his all this time, really five lightning strikes and five concepts took him to a higher level. Another spell he chose was a lightning aura for his sword.


    His attacks were now covered by electricity, and the wounds caused by his katana would remain open longer and prevent the blood from clotting, in addition, they caused a constant burning in the region.


    Kayden also chose a wind element spell so he could fly at greater speeds, at the moment he just solidified a chunk of mana and walked, but that wasn¡¯t very economical or fast.


    Kayden did not look for any offensive spell, as his spell "The Fall of the Heavens" was already powerful and if he sought to improve it he could use this spell up to the peak of the first realm, even more so with its path giving a large area of effect, for him.


    Kayden returned to the coliseum, he wanted to face second place, and to his surprise, he discovered that it was the water mage he faced a few months ago in the interroom championship.


    "Hello, my name is Anthony Rousselet", as soon as his opponent arrived at the coliseum he politely introduced himself.


    "Hello, I¡¯m Kayden Heart," his response demonstrated the same degree of politeness. His opponent had black hair and red eyes matching his light skin tone, and he also carried a black katana without any details.


    "You can begin the fight", as soon as the judge gave the order Anthony activated his mantle, he saw the video of Kayden massacring three other mages and knew that this was not an opponent he could play with.


    Instantly a blanket of water covered his body and began to float around him, meanwhile, Kayden activated his path to maximum, and using the mana from the environment he cast acceleration on himself.


    The first contact between the two was a clash of katanas that resulted in Anthony being slightly pushed back, furthermore, he noticed that his hand started to tingle, but he didn¡¯t pay much attention to it.


    Kayden could see the difference between the tops in the coliseum, Anthony should have been on the third level of the first realm and yet he was being pushed back against Kayden.


    "You¡¯ve gotten a lot better just moving forward," Anthony commented as he caught his breath, then his blanket covered his entire body and stopped floating at his side. "I¡¯ll go all out, give me a worthy fight."


    The next clash of katanas pushed Kayden back slightly, this time the blanket was not being used for defense and increased Anthony¡¯s overall strength and speed statistics to another level.


    Kayden continued exchanging blows with him and realized that he was falling behind, so far it was just small cuts on each side, seeing this he decided to put an end to the tests and go for the real fight.


    BOOOM!


    Lightning instantly fell on Anthony, who barely managed to dodge it when he felt the variation in mana in the place he was in. Kayden didn¡¯t give his opponent room to breathe and used a side attack with the katana.


    Anthony tried to gain space by going backward, but another lightning bolt fell where he was going, forcing him to face Kayden¡¯s attack head-on. Because of the position he was in, he was unable to make a good defense and lost his balance.


    His blanket came off his body instantly and absorbed Kayden¡¯s next attack aimed at his neck. The problem was that he lost his speed for a few milliseconds, Kayden used another beam against him and this time he fell accurately.


    Impressively, the blanket received most of the damage and made a hissing noise as it was transformed into steam, some of the damage even fell on Anthony and activated all the filaments of electricity that were in his wounds.


    His movement was stopped and Kayden delivered a strong blow to his side that opened a deep wound in Anthony¡¯s arm, almost instantly the blanket came back and covered Kayden¡¯s next attack.


    BOOOM!


    As soon as he walked away another beam struck and removed the blanket again, Kayden was slowly suffocating Anthony, this time he was not paralyzed, but he still suffered some burns on his body.


    In the next few minutes they were in this game of cat and mouse, while Kayden attacked ferociously using lightning and controlling the pace of the fight, Anthony was trying to get closer and beat Kayden through technique and strength, but unfortunately for him, Kayden was not fighting with honor.


    His thunderbolts fell whenever there was a gap, the blanket was undone several times and remodeled in the same amount, it didn¡¯t seem like Anthony was lacking in mana while accomplishing this.


    BOOM!


    BOOM!


    BOOOM! Three rays in sequence fell against Anthony, the first he managed to dodge, the second was absorbed by the blanket, and the third... the judge removed him from the arena before he was seriously injured.


    "Kayden is the winner", the judge declared and the two were taken back to the stands, in just a few minutes he became second place of his year and with extreme ease.


    "That was a good fight, we¡¯ll fight again when we have the opportunity", Anthony said with a smile, Kayden agreed with the boy and then they exchanged cell phone contacts.


    As Kayden returned to the mansion he realized that his physical side was becoming deficient in his strength as a mage, his path focused only on manipulating mana, so he needed to find a way to increase his physical strength.


    For example, in this fight, he could have just launched dozens of lightning bolts covering Anthony¡¯s entire chance of escape, which would have ended the fight in just a few seconds, but he couldn¡¯t do that with his body alone. It was time to get back to good old physical training.


    **********


    There was only a month left until the final championship of the second year, Kayden was training in isolation, his training at the moment consisted of using increased gravity rooms to strengthen his body.


    Kayden realized that in recent years he had focused a lot on just developing his cultivation and spells and left one of his most basic training aside, the boy returned with daily high-intensity exercises.


    His connection with his body improved tremendously, moreover, his strength increased with each day he spent in training, it seemed that all this time only mana was strengthening his muscles, it was not a strength that belonged to him.


    Furthermore, he was also using his "Falling Heavens" spell a few thousand times a day just to elevate his execution to perfection, using the mana from the environment he was able to make them rain uninterruptedly for several minutes at a time. S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Today, Kayden was coming to the coliseum to face the first place of his year, it didn¡¯t take long before a teenager appeared to Kayden, she was wearing a tight black outfit that left nothing showing, and her skin was dark and seemed to glow its own. .


    Her eyes were light brown, the striking thing was that they were very light to the point of appearing shiny, her hair was curled and fell majestically to her waist, she did not carry any weapon.


    She carried a gold bracelet that helped her gather mana and improve her spellcasting, but Kayden was unaware of this. Her name was Anabela Canastra.


    "Let¡¯s get on with it." There was no friendly greeting or anything like that, the girl seemed to be snobbish and saw this challenge as nothing but a waste of time.


    "You can start", as soon as the judge¡¯s order came out, she gathered dozens of fireballs around her and started throwing them at Kayden, blocking the boy¡¯s entire vision. Kayden activated his acceleration spell and...


    SWISH!


    Kayden dodged each fireball at high speed, his body combined with his new movement spells left him with a bizarre speed, in just a few seconds he surpassed all the fireballs and closed the distance between him and the girl by several meters.


    "What!?" the girl was scared and her combat experience soon made her see that she should take this seriously, a fiery Phoenix appeared on her shoulder raising her control over the element to a level that no wizard should have.


    Again she launched several fireballs, but this time the quantity doubled and the speed increased considerably, Kayden was unable to dodge them all this time, but he just had to suppress the ones that came close to him with his mana.

 Chapter 194: above everyone

    !


    ¡¯Shit¡¯, Kayden received a fireball when he tried to suppress it with his mana, it seemed like the spell was being controlled too strongly, without wasting a second Kayden activated his path completely.


    All the mana in the region seemed discouraged and without any will, this time the fireballs barely managed to reach a few meters from Kayden before they were destroyed in the air.


    This was only possible, as they were generic spells being thrown at him, if it were anything more complex it would be beyond his jurisdiction. When the girl realized this, she began to launch several fire Phoenixes at Kayden.


    This time the boy was unable to suppress them and had to dodge their attacks, fortunately, his speed was beyond the normal level and he could do this easily, probably not even a magician specialized in speed a few levels above Kayden could match him.


    SWISH!


    SWISH!


    SWISH!


    Kayden made three cuts in the air with his katana and three waves of lightning went against the girl at high speed, cutting all the Phoenixes in their path, within seconds they arrived inches from their target.


    At the last second, she erected a wall of earth to protect herself, the first cut just hit the wall and was unable to advance, the second went in deeply and the third broke the barrier completely and reached the girl¡¯s thigh causing a deep cut.


    This was the technique that Kayden developed on his own over the past few months, his inspiration being the IQ cuts from martial arts novels in his past life. It was a mana strip with the lightning element charged.


    ¡¯Arrogant¡¯, Kayden lost all respect upon seeing the girl in front of him receiving the attack head-on, anyone could see that the amount of mana he put into those three attacks was absurd and would destroy everything in its path.


    "You dare!" Kayden felt like he was in an anime where the villain was a protected, spoiled nobleman who had never been challenged. Without him knowing, the situation was exactly that. "Shooting star!!" Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    With the girl¡¯s scream, Kayden saw dozens of pieces of earth coming out of the ground and saw them gather into a ball in the air, then the ball caught fire like a meteor and came towards Kayden.


    The meteor was at least a dozen meters long and if it reached Kayden it would be transformed into a ball of flesh, because of the height at which it was conjured it couldn¡¯t gain much speed, but it was still destructive enough, Kayden could feel it would explode at the slightest contact with the surface.


    A mischievous smile appeared on Kayden¡¯s face, it had been a while since he did what he was about to do he didn¡¯t like showing off, but Sarah specifically asked for it in this match.


    He didn¡¯t care much, as these requests were routine for his fame and attention-crazy girlfriend. Kayden began to rise into the sky against the massive ball of fire, his height making it seem like an ant was facing the sun.


    All the mana in several tens of meters converged on Kayden immediately, his hand began to rise and when it reached the height of his chest he snapped his fingers, the sound was amplified by the mana and reached all the thousands of people watching this fight between second place and first.


    Snap!


    For a second nothing happened and then ¡­..


    BOOOOM!


    A huge ray fell from the sky and left everyone blind for a second because of the brightness, the ray was the biggest spell Kayden had ever cast in his life and was supported by the mana of almost 200 meters around him.


    CRACK!


    The huge fireball disintegrated in the air as if it was nothing more than a ball and paper, the lightning continued falling as if the ball was just a mishap along the way, it fell uninterruptedly for several seconds before stopping.


    The tiles on the floor were entirely burned making the strength behind the spell clear, the floor was made to resist most magician realm spells easily, and yet it was damaged.


    For a few seconds everyone was deafened by the noise of the lightning which was thunderously loud, it seemed like a prelude to the end. Meanwhile, Kayden floated in the air as if he were a god among mortals.


    Anabela was in complete shock as she looked at what was left of her spell, which was nothing more than a few blocks of the earth burning on the ground insignificantly, she had used more than half of her mana in that attack, it was enough to kill even a wizard at 6th level and was reduced to nothing.


    "Give up or the next one will be on you", Kayden¡¯s voice made her look into the boy¡¯s eyes, there were no emotions in him, it was just an endless void, the eyes of someone ready to fulfill his words in the next few seconds, a primitive fear took care of the girl, even more so when she saw Kayden start to gather mana again as if this demonstration of strength was something commonplace.


    "I quit!" a strange silence appeared in the stands, Kayden spent eight months without appearing anywhere or leaving the house, but as soon as he left he killed three strong wizards as if it were nothing more than killing flies.


    After that, he rose in the rankings in just two fights and was gone for a few more months, and as soon as he returned he came towards the first place, the most impressive thing is that this wasn¡¯t even a fight, kayden suppressed it in every way and especially the harder, through fear he made the greatest genius of the year bend his knees.


    Kayden consecrated himself above everyone, at that moment he was placed on a completely different pedestal from the rest of the people, among the geniuses he was out of the curve.


    *********


    Kayden was meeting with Locke and other leaders in his room, all of his former subjects were expelled a few months ago, they even tried to come back when they saw the strength that Kayden gained, but they were ignored like trash.


    "The second year¡¯s championship comes down to defending the rise of creatures from the abyss, the abyss is a ridiculously large rift about 50 kilometers long, and each room will have a few hundred meters to defend, for some reason several magical beasts They come out of the abyss at this time of year, the first wave is just a few from the first level, but over time they turn into hundreds and thousands, the room that lasts the longest wins", Locke explained everything briefly and then they began to debate strategies.


    Kayden stayed out of this matter and just read the materials about the test, the abyss would start releasing second-level beasts after a week, but normally no room lasted that long, the record was only 5 days, and at this point, there were hundreds of mage-level beasts per day, moreover, some were above the first three levels.


    This time, there were two forms of evaluation: the performance of the class as a whole and the individual student. Locke quickly organized a strategy of teams of 10 people to kill and finish the beasts in the first few days and later teams of twenty people.


    Other than that, they would build barricades and several other traps, in addition to training some joint spells to maximize area damage. Kayden didn¡¯t meddle much in this matter, knowing he had no training for that.


    He wasn¡¯t living in a fantasy world where he had skill in every area, it was much better to let Locke lead than have to deal with the consequences of a bad plan.


    The next day all the rooms were gathered in an open space a few kilometers away from the abyss, in the air were some teachers responsible for protecting the students, and in the center was the dean.


    "Hello students, it looks like you managed to do well for another year and arrived prepared for this test, I hope that a few months in the lower rooms have ignited something inside you", the dean¡¯s eyes passed through the rooms at the top and fell to the lower base.


    "Everyone should already know how this test works, the prize this time is a special seed that carries a high density of mana, it comes from a tree capable of growing naturally up to the third rank, everyone will receive one, but the first five rooms must receive 5 seeds per person. Furthermore, we have some special prizes for those who prove themselves worthy during the test, good luck", the speech was quick and effective like most of Leonardo¡¯s speeches.


    In the next few minutes, everyone was assigned to their corresponding area, Kayden¡¯s room was in an open space similar to a plain, this made his job of watching the abyss a lot easier.


    The abyss was completely black without being able to see anything in it, Kayden felt a feeling of helplessness next to this grandeur of nature, it seemed like something endless and eternal, capable of swallowing all of existence in its darkness. His spiritual sense could not penetrate two meters into this darkness.

 Chapter 195: The abyss

    The boy just sat there staring into the abyss while the rest of his class erected some walls and some signal towers, several mages were positioned in the towers to cast offensive spells and at the same time send signals to the other teams.


    Kayden was not participating in this, as his agreement with Locke allowed him to act freely, only being used when necessary, he did not like commanding other people, it was boring and Kayden considered it a waste of time.


    A trumpet sounded in the air, starting the test. In just a few minutes, Kayden saw a kind of wolf coming out of the abyss, it had black features and its paws released a kind of smoke with each step it took. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Instantly, Kayden recognized it as a shadow wolf, a beast capable of manipulating darkness to increase its speed and attack. The nearest tower released a signal warning the other teams, and in just a few seconds another five people arrived at the scene.


    The wolf was slaughtered by several different types of low mana cost spells, as soon as the beast died, the five members returned to the other towers. Locke organized a kind of quick distribution of soldiers that aimed to quickly eliminate the threat safely and at a low mana cost.


    A few minutes later, another wolf appeared, it was practically identical to the first. Kayden asked the tower to wait so he would take care of the beast, as soon as the boy approached, he realized that the animal was not afraid and ran against him.


    Using acceleration, Kayden took a deep breath and passed by the wolf while chopping its head off in one clean strike, not even a drop of blood spattered on its body. Kayden used a basic wind spell to throw the body into the abyss and watched as it was quickly swallowed by darkness.


    Kayden decided to retreat and cultivate that first day, beasts at that level weren¡¯t even capable of making him sweat, and it would probably only start to get fun when there were animals at the 3rd level onwards.


    The first day passed quickly with no classroom being disqualified, some suffered losses at the end of the day and night, mainly because of not having a good shift routine and having their students tired on the first day.


    Kayden¡¯s room managed to sleep peacefully, as Kayden, with the help of just a few people to signal him, managed to practically take care of the entire plain, the beasts barely lasted two moves against him.


    The next day some second-level animals started to appear, but most of the students were at that level, making it nothing too difficult, just the number of animals increased considerably, there were just a few per hour, and now it easily reached one or two dozen per hour.


    On that day, the first room was eliminated, they had the bad luck that some third-level beasts went up together and broke the entire chain of command. In Kayden¡¯s room, some also went up, but they were quickly dealt with by Kayden or Locke.


    They also changed the location scheme by placing more students near the center of the plain, their strategy now was to take care of the places with the highest number of animal appearances, in addition, they preferred to let them rise completely, some wizards floated in the air to pass on information.


    At the end of the second day, a fourth-level beast rose on one end of the plain; it was a huge red bear nearly 3 meters tall. Kayden was watching him in the air and was impressed by the size of the animal, he had never seen anything so big before.


    "Let me face him alone", Kayden asked Locke, this was a great opportunity to measure his physical strength. As he began to descend, the bear¡¯s eyes focused on Kayden.


    ROAAR!


    A huge roar came from the animal¡¯s mouth, causing the earth to shake. Practically everyone who heard this roar would be weakened by its full force; it was a psychological attack imbued with mana. Kayden didn¡¯t even feel any difference, his psychology was extremely robust. When the bear saw that it had no effect, he started running with all four paws on the ground towards Kayden.


    The bear¡¯s every step shook the earth, and Kayden seemed tiny compared to the animal¡¯s size. As soon as they approached, the predator tried to grab Kayden.


    The boy easily dodged it with a quick jump and stood above the bear, using a mana block. Its speed was fast enough that the bear wouldn¡¯t even be able to react if Kayden wanted to bring the katana down vertically on its skull.


    The bear instantly rolled over when it realized where Kayden was and tried to claw at him as soon as it recovered. The claw was almost Kayden¡¯s size and...


    Clang!


    Kayden defended with his katana and managed not to be pushed back even an inch. The bear was confused for a moment, this had never happened before. Normally his physical strength was capable of giving him an advantage even against beasts of higher levels than him.


    Kayden ran into the bear at high speed. As soon as he got close, he made a vertical cut against the bear¡¯s shoulder, opening an immense and deep cut that was capable of exposing the animal¡¯s bone.


    ROAAR!


    Another even louder roar came from the bear. This was his final attack, which consumed his vitality to be used. The moment he felt his life at risk, he abandoned any reservations instantly.


    And even so, Kayden didn¡¯t feel any weakness, unlike the people who watched the fight and felt tired just watching the confrontation. The bear used its claw again against Kayden and was defended once again.


    Finally, it became clear to Kayden why humans should be superior on the same level as beasts. It was simply a question of rationality. The bear never needed to learn anything difficult, his brute strength combined with his weakening ability was more than enough for him to dominate the environment in which he lived.


    "Questions like that popped into a lot of people¡¯s minds when they saw Kayden go toe-to-toe with a bear of that level of strength." Within seconds, Kayden got tired and decided to end this fight quickly.


    BOOOM!


    The bear dodged with a speed that didn¡¯t match its size.


    BOOOM!


    Kayden¡¯s second ray hit him squarely, leaving his fur burned and causing failure in some of his vital organs. As soon as he suffered that damage, he tried to run and...

 Chapter 196: The abyss[2]

    BOOOM!


    Another bolt of lightning struck, severely weakening his movements. His fear made him an easy target to attack. Kayden sighed and ran at the bear. If he was caught by Last Scream, he would be debilitated by at least 50% of his overall stats. This would result in an easy fight for the bear.


    Once he got close, Kayden realized he had underestimated the bear¡¯s will to live. The animal¡¯s claw came with much more force and speed than before. This time, he was pushed back slightly. Without giving the beast a breath of air, Kayden was against him again.


    This was a fight of enormous tension, as any mistake could result in the death of one of them. Kayden was sure that that claw would be able to split him into two halves easily, and once the bear broke through again, he would end the battle decisively.


    BOOOM!


    At the exact moment, the claw hit the katana, lightning struck the bear without him having room to run, this time he was stunned, unable to react while Kayden quickly approached him.


    Demonstrating a certain degree of intelligence, the beast did not try to grab Kayden and make the same mistake as last time what he did was pull both claws to close Kayden in a death grip and then rip off his head with his mouth.


    BOOOM!


    Kayden was not an honest fighter and yet another lightning struck the bear, this time he thought he was safe from the lightning considering that Kayden was too close to him to risk something like that, what he didn¡¯t know was the level of control that Kayden had to your spells.


    His lightning was slowly heading towards a spell of his own making, slowly becoming an absurdly strong trump card worthy of a genius, his control allowed him to blast lightning a foot in front of him and only receive minimal consequences.


    For every step that Kayden took, an infinity of mana was drawn towards him, it seemed like a whirlpool accumulating everything it could around him, in an instant the 150 meters around Kayden ran out of mana.


    The amount of mana was ridiculous, no wizard should be able to pull so much mana so quickly, Locke could feel the poverty of mana in the environment and how the world was throwing mana from other regions in that direction.


    All this man was put into an aura attack, the electricity was making frightening noises on his katana, and it felt like dozens of electric snakes were crawling around him.


    SWISH! sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The aura cut came out cutting the air at high speed, approaching the bear in the blink of an eye, the animal even tried to put its two claws in front of it in an attempt to defend itself, both arms were cut as if they were butter, not even managed to put up any resistance.


    The aura lost half of its strength but continued in a straight line, the bear¡¯s reflexes increased by the sensation of imminent death that it was feeling put its head down.


    Unfortunately, this only caused the top part of his head to be split, taking only part of his brain, but it was more than enough for him to no longer be able to function properly.


    Kayden looked at the animal for a few more seconds and was impressed by the strength he gained, his eyes looked up at the people around him and...


    Fear.


    Rejection.


    Admiration.


    These were the emotions he saw in the eyes of most, his strength put him at the top, but every top is lonely, without caring about that he got up and went to Locke calmly.


    "I¡¯ll take care of the plane at night, call me in a few hours"


    ********


    Another day passed and Kayden only had to face some animals on the third level. Not even a beast at the fourth level rose again. Every room faced a fourth-level beast at the end of the previous day or during the night.


    The lower rooms were destroyed and more than 10 rooms fell in just a few hours, while others suffered heavy casualties. Only a few rooms had mages capable of facing fourth-level beasts, but others managed to win with just strategy and a game of cat and mouse.


    On the third day, practically all of the beasts that were rising were at the second level, and around 20% were at the third level. Furthermore, the number of animals was much higher than the first two days, easily reaching five dozen per hour.


    This time, Kayden had to stay alert to help any wizard in his class. His accurate intervention saved at least a dozen of them from being disqualified and at least two dozen from being seriously injured.


    The third-level beasts were being cared for by groups specially trained in not fighting them head-on, just using spells to win in a game of cat and mouse. Kayden and Locke were just supporting the teams when needed.


    The day passed quickly with dozens of rooms being eliminated at this point. It was practically one every few minutes. At the end of the day, only 40 surviving rooms remained, most of which suffered severe casualties.


    In the end, teenagers were not capable of fighting for several days without any rest against beasts that could kill them with the slightest mistake. Apart from some extremely strong rooms, most were experiencing anxiety attacks and enormous mental pressure.


    In the evening, Kayden once again took the lead. This was probably the last day he could do this. This time it was divided into shifts, a group of fifty students were helping Kayden and then they would go to sleep for the other half to take over.


    Not even a fourth-level beast went up, in any of the rooms. This was in a way very good, but it also meant that something was wrong with the order of the beasts and they should be prepared to face higher-tier beasts the next day.


    Only 15 rooms survived the brutal night of third-tier beasts rising by the dozens, and as soon as the first ray of sunlight fell in the morning, an eerie silence permeated every room.

 Chapter 197: The scorpion

    Not even a level one beast rose. This stillness lasted for about a full hour until some sounds of falling rocks were heard in the abyss. Then a claw appeared on the plain, and then the body of an entirely black scorpion appeared on the plain, hissing into nothingness.


    The scorpion emerged from the abyss with a colossal wingspan, its dimensions expanding the sense of grandeur. Its completely black body extended approximately four meters in length, from the sharp tips of its front claws to the end of its tail. The claws, in turn, were about one meter wide each, standing out as formidable attack instruments.


    The scorpion¡¯s muscular, jointed legs contributed to its commanding stature, each of them stretching more than two meters, giving it the appearance of a colossal creature. The tail, ending in a poisonous sting, added another meter to the scorpion¡¯s total length, giving it a truly imposing presence on the plain.


    That wasn¡¯t even the most impressive thing. With his ridiculously great spiritual sense, Kayden could feel the worst part. At least it was the worst part for most people. Kayden smiled expectantly.


    "He is in the sixth rank." Locke looked at him in surprise. His spiritual sense reached 150 meters, which was ridiculously large, but Kayden was sensing the scorpion at a much greater distance than him.


    The boy¡¯s speech took away several emotions from the students. Some were scared, others just accepted defeat without blinking. It didn¡¯t seem like anything could be done at this point. It was too big a leap for them to cover.


    "Battalion 1, you must do earth spells to close that scorpion within an area. Battalion two, rain spells to delay the scorpion." Locke gave orders before morale fell too low.


    In the next few minutes, the scorpion just stood still as he received dozens of spells such as fireballs, iron needles, and ice spikes. Nothing could even pierce his armor, he just stood still.


    Meanwhile, a large earthen wall was erected, isolating the scorpion¡¯s escape routes. Furthermore, almost a hundred students were on top of this wall looking at the animal.


    Meanwhile, Kayden was observing the beast and was shocked by the quality of the animal¡¯s defense. The spells barely managed to scratch his armor, they couldn¡¯t even make him move. Kayden had never seen such a robust defense.


    "Something is wrong." Locke was the first to notice this. "That¡¯s not a scorpion from the abyss." The spells kept raining down on the beast, even Kayden let out lightning and the scorpion didn¡¯t even move.


    "Magicians, try to disconnect the scorpion from that piece of land." Several people began to dig around the scorpion using spells and finally, it showed some movement.


    "He¡¯s connected to the earth in some way, I can feel a small flow of mana leaving him and the ground every time a spell touches his armor." After Locke said this, Kayden paid attention and was able to notice.


    The scorpion was patching up the land around him and stopping the spells from turning the area around him into a small floating island. The scorpion seemed to master the earth element perfectly, walls and walls were erected almost instantly.


    The wall the students were on began to shake like crazy, forcing everyone to float before they were knocked down. Second, the wall they erected fell as if it were nothing next to the scorpion¡¯s control.


    "Linus, use that special attack. All battalions continue attacking him without stopping. Luan, it will take you away from the connection with the earth." Luan managed to reach the third wizard level like Locke, but Kayden remembered him being a wizard specializing in physical strength.


    Luan went close to the scorpion with his huge sword. Kayden still didn¡¯t understand how he was going to get the scorpion off the ground. A gale seemed to start near Luan, the wind was extremely chaotic around him.


    He was waiting for Linus to launch his attack, and within a few minutes, Linus was ready with an orange ball in his hand. The mana density in this ball was ridiculously high, it was at least 10 times stronger than when he was at the apprentice level.


    When she received Locke¡¯s signal, Luan concentrated all the winds on her sword and a whirlwind appeared above her. The prince warned Linus that he would only have an opening of a few milliseconds. sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    A tornado came out of Luan¡¯s sword at high speed. Even Kayden, who was several dozen meters away, could feel the absurd suction of the spell. As soon as it got close to the scorpion, it took effect and the beast began to levitate along with the block of earth it was on.


    BOOOM!


    Linus cast his spell and it opened up a mushroom-like cloud of smoke, at the base it looked like a sun was on the earth, there wasn¡¯t even a living strand of grass left, plus the earth had sunk at least a few feet.


    ¡¯shit¡¯ Kayden felt with his spiritual sense that the scorpion received some damage from this attack, but the problem was that he threw himself against Luan at a bizarre speed while using a piece of stone as support.


    BOOOM!


    In the middle of the smoke, lightning fell on the scorpion, but unfortunately, Kayden didn¡¯t have time to gather mana and he was just normal, causing almost no damage against the scorpion.


    Instantly upon arriving close to Luan, he used a tail attack that would have split the boy in two, but fortunately, the fourth kingdom teacher took Luan out before it was too late.


    Kayden ran towards the beast without any fear and began to pull all the mana in the environment towards him, right behind him was Locke using the momentum of the royal family¡¯s secret techniques.


    The first attack to reach the scorpion was an aura cut from Kayden carrying all the mana he could suck, it was the biggest aura attack he had ever launched, the attack came at a frightening speed and there was no time for the scorpion to react. connect to earth.

 Chapter 198: The Wolves

    The beast used its tail to meet Kayden¡¯s attack and... for a few seconds, a horrible noise of metal being cut was heard by everyone. This took about 5 seconds to finally stop and... the tail was only held on by a tiny strand of flesh.


    "The sun shines," said Locke, looking like he had a sun on his back. Kayden didn¡¯t feel anything, but the scorpion felt like he was slowly burning inside. He returned to the ground and stood there. The burning went away and Locke felt like his spell was no longer taking effect.


    Again, they started bombarding the scorpion with spells. Its defense was ridiculously high. This time, those responsible for getting him off the ground were a dozen students who were going to use all the mana they had to make a tornado of the same magnitude as Luan¡¯s.


    Locke also ordered water mages to start filling the room with water to make it harder for the scorpion to stick to the ground. The animal did not wait still and threw several stones the size of a house at the students. Several were eliminated within seconds without even being able to react.


    A few minutes later, a tornado was thrown towards the scorpion. This time, he was prepared and was not easily lifted. However, because of the enormous amount of water on the ground, it was unable to connect directly to the earth after being lifted a few millimeters.


    BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOM! Dozens of spells were thrown at him without giving the animal time to defend itself. First Kayden¡¯s beam fell with its maximum force, causing a ton of damage and burning the creature¡¯s internal organs. Then it was Linus¡¯ explosion that opened the scorpion¡¯s armor to the other dozens of different attacks that came at the beast.


    It was only a second that she couldn¡¯t step on the ground, but that was enough for the amount of spells to greatly overwhelm her defenses. When the scorpion finally touched the ground, it was already completely dead.


    This fight resulted in 30 casualties on Kayden¡¯s side and that was only because of the ease with which the beast was able to throw several huge rocks at high speeds at the mages.


    They had a few hours to recover, but then dozens of level 3 beasts began to climb the abyss. Not even one of them was on the second level. This was brutal for most rooms.


    Kayden had been using lightning without stopping for a second this entire time. As his path did not utilize the mana within his body, he did not suffer any extreme wear and tear and was able to support the entire room. S§×arch* The n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    At the end of the day, there were only 5 living rooms left. Of the 15 that started the day, half were eliminated by the sixth-rank beast that rose in practically all points. Kayden¡¯s room was the one that suffered the least amount of casualties, as the animal that came up was specialized in defense.


    This time, they could only sleep for a few minutes and were awakened for battle. There was no more room for sleep. Locke was working hard to maintain high morale in this grim situation.


    During the night, there was a relief in the number of beasts. This time a few started to rise, but everyone who rose was in the fourth rank. Luckily, Kayden could handle one within minutes and so could Locke.


    Because they still had around fifty members at the end of the day, they were able to face the fourth-level beasts smoothly, but they still suffered a casualty of 20 members.


    The next day they had a few hours rest. Most rooms only had a few members, with room number two having the most people, mainly because they had a strong mage who specialized in large-scale healing.


    Around noon, a howl woke up everyone who was resting, it seemed like a call, which proved correct when hundreds of howls resounded along with the first.


    The earth began to shake from afar as hundreds of wolves began to rise from the abyss. The weakest wolf was at the third level, while the average was at the fourth level, but 20% of them were at the fifth rank, with the leader of them being at the sixth rank.


    "This is going to be brutal", Kayden commented to Locke as his gaze met that of the alpha wolf, even from hundreds of meters away, the two recognized each other as the strongest on each side.


    "I will sacrifice myself and eliminate all the wolves on the third level and some on the fourth that come in the first encounter," said Locke. "Linus, try to use as many spells on a large scale and eliminate a few more. At this time, you should try to take as many beasts along with you before you fall. Kayden, try to deal with the sixth-level beast."


    It wasn¡¯t exactly a solid plan but more like a plan for people with no choice. Fear was visible in the air among the teenagers. Kayden sighed at the weakness he was seeing, even though they knew no one was going to die here, they were nervous and anxious, this was pathetic for the elite of the elite.


    AUUUUU! Several hundred wolves were running around, all had the same pure white fur and deep blue eyes. The color white dominated the entire plain as they ran forward.


    Locke went ahead and rose into the air. A large amount of mana began to rush towards him, his back seemed to glow as he impressively manipulated the mana.


    "The sun shines forever," said the boy. With Locke¡¯s sentence, the mana around him began to react strangely, it seemed as if a parasite had infected the region and was spreading from centimeter to centimeter.


    Within seconds the wolves began to fall and the smell of burning flesh rose to the skies, wolves were dying by the dozens, and those on the third level were not even able to react before their entire insides were burned.


    Kayden was amazed by the spell, the mana was being heated to a strange point and acquiring characteristics of the fire element, as soon as any of the beasts tried to use mana they were burned from the inside.

 Chapter 199: A hopeless fight

    At least 30% of the enemy forces were knocked out in this attack. Locke single-handedly dealt a huge blow to the wolf army. Unfortunately, this came at a price and before he could begin to fall unconscious in the air, he was caught by the fourth realm teacher in charge of the room.


    BOOOM!


    BOOOM!


    BOOOM!


    Linus managed to cast three large explosive spells before collapsing from exhaustion. His spells caused another 20% to be taken out of the arena in just a few seconds. Half of the animals were killed by two people. This display of strength left everyone impressed, even the fourth realm teachers who had already seen dozens of bizarre things.


    Clap!


    Kayden clapped his hands, drawing the attention of the rest of the room.


    "Do your best." There were no big speeches or motivating phrases, Kayden didn¡¯t care about any of that. In the next second, his room started a fierce fight against the other wolves.


    There were still a few dozen wolves left at the fifth rank and at least two hundred at the fourth rank. This was practically an impossible fight. All of the students were geniuses, but most were only at the second rank. They could face a beast one rank ahead of them with some ease, but two ranks were already starting to be a difficult fight. Fortunately, most had been indoctrinated by Locke and were just trying to take as many animals with them as possible.


    Meanwhile, Kayden was just looking at the huge wolf in the distance. His every move was being watched. If he tried to help anyone, the wolf made a move to intervene. Therefore, Kayden just decided to wait for everyone to be disqualified and accumulate mana inside his body.


    Dozens of spells were cast in a suicidal manner. No student fell without taking at least three animals with them. Almost everyone was being taken out of the arena due to mana exhaustion. Isaac was one of the mages who was getting the most casualties. His fighting form was extremely fast and allowed him to use every space around him as a wall or floor to move around.


    Little by little, students were disqualified. Resistance and morale were falling with each passing minute. No matter how hard they fought, a lost battle was a lost battle. S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    In the end, only Kayden was left, facing a destroyed battlefield with hundreds of fallen corpses. In front of him, there were still at least 30 wolves at the fifth level and around 100 wolves at the fourth level.


    "This is already over."


    "Kayden should have just fought sooner and lost with honor."


    "Shut up and watch."


    All the rooms were facing something at this level, but only Kayden¡¯s was so quick in its suicide attacks, in the end, there was only one man left against hundreds. The wolves began to howl, the wolf on the sixth level seemed to have some awareness as it looked into Kayden¡¯s eyes and howled in celebration. Anyone driven by their emotions would be furious right now at being disregarded, but Kayden? His emotions died a long time ago.


    "Pathetic," Kayden said. The clouds began to close horribly across the entire plain, in a way that was not at all natural. Kayden¡¯s strength had not yet been revealed to the general public and when they saw a mere teenager controlling the weather without even blinking, they were shocked. But what happened next left everyone not even knowing what to say.


    "The falling of the heavens." The clouds began to thunder as if the end of the world was just a few minutes away, the sound was loud enough to even launch the other rooms.


    BOOOM!


    BOOOM!


    BOOOM!


    Dozens of lightning began to fall without a second¡¯s pause, mana was swirling throughout the environment at an absurd speed, and each bolt of lightning was capable of killing a wolf at the fourth level and injuring one at the fifth level.


    AAUUU!


    The sixth-level wolf howled in hatred as he saw his pack being slaughtered by just one opponent. The wind began to rush around him and bizarrely increased its speed, in just a few seconds he was in front of Kayden.


    SWISH!


    An aura cut automatically arrived before he managed to get close to Kayden. He had great pride, but he was no idiot. The strength of the attack was completely ridiculous and forced him to dodge. Unfortunately for the wolf, this resulted in three wolves on the fifth level being killed in the crossfire.


    Meanwhile, the lightning continued to fall as if there was no end to Kayden¡¯s mana, which was partially true considering he was only utilizing mana from the environment.


    SWISH!


    Another slash of aura came out as the alpha wolf tried to attack him. Once again, he dodged and a few more fifth-level wolves fell. Kayden¡¯s every attack was perfectly timed to deal as much damage as possible.


    In just a few minutes, the number of wolves on the fourth level fell by half. Those on the fifth level had a loss of ten limbs. Kayden was just running from the wolf in the sixth realm and keeping it at bay with aura attacks.


    Its rays were accurate and made the plain seem like it was facing the fury of a god, but a few seconds passed before another ray fell perfectly on its target, weakening or killing it, meanwhile, the sixth-level wolf chased Kayden.


    SWISH!


    His aura attack was impressively deflected by the wolf and he managed to quickly approach Kayden. Without any fear, Kayden forced all the mana in his body into the acceleration spell and defended the wolf¡¯s claw attack directly.


    Clang!


    The sound of metal hitting metal resounded and neither of them was pushed back. Kayden defended another claw attack, this time on the edge of the limit. The wolf was ridiculously fast, Kayden could barely track its movements with his eyes.


    Fortunately, his spiritual sense combined with all his experience meant he was able to predict his opponent¡¯s movements and stay at a distance. A smile appeared on his face. It had been a long time since he had faced this feeling of depending only on himself, of fighting with his utmost in every second, of just one mistake being able to cost him his life. Even if the professor took it away before he died, it didn¡¯t matter. Kayden was treating the fight like it was just him and the wolf.


    BOOOM!


    Lightning struck the wolf, catching the animal off guard, but in the blink of an eye, it increased its speed several folds and managed to leave the spell¡¯s area of effect. This time, it was Kayden who was shocked. If the wolf moved against him like that, the fight would already be over.


    Meanwhile, lightning continued to fall by the dozens, eliminating the fourth-level wolves as if they were mere ducklings. Even those in the fifth had already suffered heavy casualties, leaving only 15 left, and the worst part was that they could do nothing. The alpha wolf was already facing the last threat and ordered no one to flee.


    SWISH!


    Kayden¡¯s aura cut took off a large chunk of the alpha wolf¡¯s flesh, leaving the side of its body completely exposed. It was possible to see some bones and pieces of certain organs. That wasn¡¯t an attack that should have hit. This only happened because the wolf exchanged one attack for another.


    Its claw descended like an executioner on Kayden, he just had time to try to retreat, but his movement was slow compared to the animal¡¯s suicidal action. His katana countered the claw, deflecting the attack to the lower part of his body.


    One of Kayden¡¯s legs fell from his body. The claw passed through his body as if it were cutting a mere sheet of paper. The professor was going to intervene at this point, but he didn¡¯t feel the slightest change in Kayden¡¯s aura or his expression.


    "He doesn¡¯t feel pain?"


    "What the fuck?"


    The public went crazy when they saw the size of the injury that Kayden received and yet he continued fighting normally as if it were nothing more than an inconvenience. The lightning didn¡¯t stop for a second, the alpha wolf¡¯s despair began to increase as he heard the sad howls of his companions.


    There were only 30 wolves left in the fourth level and only 12 wolves in the fifth level, meanwhile, Kayden remained in the sky like an executioner. He didn¡¯t stop, he didn¡¯t get tired, and his movements didn¡¯t lose precision even after suffering a serious injury.


    Finally, the wolf abandoned any reservations and decided to end this fight, even if it cost his life. Kayden noticed this and stopped shooting lightning at the other animals. This time, he would only focus on him.


    "Come, I will show you the extent of your insignificance." All the mana within 200 meters of Kayden began to converge on him. The boy was using his path to the fullest. Even in his previous fights, he never needed to go this far.

 Chapter 200: Consecrated

    SWISH!


    This time, the sound of the wind cutting came from the alpha wolf¡¯s own body. His speed practically doubled from one moment to the next. Kayden was exuding mana from every pore on his body. Furthermore, it was using the environment itself to perform its spells and even so, its maximum speed was equal to that of the animal.


    BOOOM!


    A mighty bolt of lightning fell upon the alpha wolf. As he dodged, an aura attack immediately came towards him, leaving him no room to breathe.


    BOOM!


    The aura attack arrived before another bolt of lightning struck. This time, the animal was caught by the lightning while trying to escape the aura attack. His movement was frozen for just a few milliseconds.


    SWISH!


    One of the wolf¡¯s legs fell into the air as Kayden slashed at it with the katana. The wolf was being cornered ridiculously. This was practically a one-sided beating.


    BOOM!


    Lightning fell on the animal, which barely managed to dodge and instantly counterattack Kayden with a claw. The attack was very fast, Kayden only managed to retreat a little, but a deep cut still went through his entire chest.


    SWISH!


    Kayden took advantage of this moment to launch an aura attack with all the mana he could muster around him. The attack was much stronger than the others and was accurate against the wolf.


    Because of the proximity, he was in no position to use his maximum acceleration spell and run. He was forced to try to defend the attack. With a furious howl, several air barriers appeared in front of him.


    Crack!


    Crack!


    They were broken in sequence as if they were nothing. There were at least a dozen barriers, but they gave the wolf enough time to divert its body and...


    BOOM!


    Lightning struck, freezing his movements in the blink of an eye. Unfortunately for him, this was enough for him to be unable to dodge the aura slash, causing his body to be split in two by Kayden¡¯s attack.


    His body fell from the sky and made an extremely loud noise as it hit the ground. An eerie silence permeated the plain and was broken when Kayden began to rain lightning again.


    The wolves who were stunned by the death of their leader were taken by surprise and eliminated instantly without being able to react. There were only a few left on the fifth level. It was just a few aura cuts and some lightning and the plain was clear.


    Kayden was left floating in the air alone amidst all the carnage below him. Alone, he faced hundreds. Alone, he bridged several levels of difference. After a lot of effort, Kayden surpassed all geniuses his age.


    The audience was in complete shock. Never before had they witnessed such an insane fight from someone in the first realm. One man against hundreds. In addition to facing a beast several levels above him.


    "Monster" - the word resounded in everyone¡¯s heads for the second time.


    "I give up" - Kayden was instantly transported to the doctor responsible for healing him. There were at least three people around him, all in the fourth realm. This was blatant support from the royal family.


    Kayden¡¯s leg was relocated without much effort by the transition mages. It didn¡¯t take long and Kayden was as good as new. As soon as he was released by doctors, he was welcomed by his friends.


    "That was amazing, Kayden."


    "Congratulations, Kayden."


    The boy just accepted the congratulations humbly and talked some more with his friends. Linus said that the record for days belonged to Apollo, as the prince simply healed all his allies without pausing during all the fights. Kayden¡¯s room just equaled the record with Kayden taking down the sixth rank wolf.


    "I¡¯m tired, I¡¯m going to say goodbye here guys" - Kayden made some excuses and returned home. The award ceremony would only take place the following day. Meanwhile, he... needed to train.


    **********


    "This seed comes from a tree that can naturally grow to the third realm without needing to cultivate. It is loaded with mana but must be used quickly so that it does not develop. This should be able to bring them one step closer," said the dean, floating in the air, while several seeds could be seen around him. Anyone who had a mana sense pointed in that direction would see several massive balls of mana, but no one dared to commit such disrespect.


    Each student was seated in a square that had runes specialized in increasing concentration and mental clarity. After the director¡¯s speech, some seeds began to fly to each person. Some received only one seed, while other people received up to five seeds. Kayden only received one seed, but it came with a warning attached that explained the situation.


    "This is a fourth realm world tree seed, a gift from the king for your performance," was the warning given to Kayden. He was surprised but thanked her just the same. The kingdom had already helped him on several occasions. As long as he wasn¡¯t forced, Kayden wouldn¡¯t raise arms against the Sun Kingdom. Without wasting any time, he threw the seed into his mouth.


    Mana flooded every inch of his body, but not even a drop was allowed to go outside. His control was absolute. Slowly, he began to fix all the errors in his base. The usual pain was always there, but that never stopped Kayden from accomplishing anything.


    Kayden only found a few tiny errors. His base was already very polished, but he still fixed the mistakes, because, like it or not, mistakes are mistakes. This process took 6 hours. Kayden was willing to find every little mistake, even if he spent weeks sitting on that floor. Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Meanwhile, several students advanced to the second or third level of the mage realm, but not even one of them managed to advance to the fourth. From third to fourth there was a big leap in quality between advances. Unlike kingdoms and lightning, levels were counted in threes.


    Finally, Kayden began to improve his heart for advancement. Slowly, the mana began to shape his veins and heart to a new level, cycle by cycle, minute by minute. Kayden didn¡¯t count the passage of time.


    If he woke up, he would be surprised that there wasn¡¯t even a single student around him anymore, as it had already been 16 hours since they ate the seed. Kayden was still the only one enjoying every bit of surplus mana.


    After countless cycles, Kayden felt the world forcing him forward. It was like a call and at the same time a warning, a warning that he was too strong for the level he was at and a call to ascend to greater levels.


    His body began to advance, and Kayden once controlled the improvements in his heart and veins. This time, he was focused on multiplying the tiny little veins on his body by several dozen, while in his heart he only increased his resistance to large amounts of mana.


    The pain was simply ridiculous as once again Kayden was going against the natural order of things and making the breakthrough of his own free will. This time, it took a few hours for him to be able to carry out all the procedures he wanted. When it was over, the world gained control.


    Your entire body has been improved, from the strands of your hair to the tactile sensation on your skin. Kayden could feel his strength growing in his body, feeling his body ascending into something beyond that of a mere human. This sensation was just a blink of an eye, but it left Kayden thoughtful. He had never felt this before.


    ********


    The next month was considered a vacation for all students to do whatever they wanted. Kayden¡¯s class had managed to advance to second place, only missing out on first place because of the mid-year competition. The top 10 ranking was the sum of the two events.


    Kayden decided to take this month just to learn content that he wasn¡¯t able to do last year. For this, he used the real library. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, Kayden was reading books on the most varied subjects.


    Some people might consider this a waste of time in a world dominated by brute force, but you can never have too much knowledge. In many moments, a few small pieces of information could save Kayden¡¯s life.


    His focus was on magical beasts, mana manipulation, rare veins and ores, medicinal plants, and everything he learned, in theory, he would look for a professor at college to show him in practice. Most were willing to help and answer any student¡¯s questions at any time, but some only accepted exemplary students, something that wasn¡¯t a problem for Kayden.


    In just one month, Kayden managed to read almost 100 books on the most varied subjects. His knowledge repertoire took a ridiculously huge leap, and even his mana manipulation improved considerably.

 Chapter 201: The hunters guild

    Furthermore, he found some concepts to learn as a mage. First, he would learn the concept of electrostatic energy and then the concept of solitude. One of them was for his use as a lightning mage and the other was to be attached to his path.


    As soon as the holidays were over, the students were called to the main college building. Once again, the dean was in the center of the facility waiting for the students to arrive.


    "Good morning students, I hope you had a good vacation. This year will be a little different, you will do a practical immersion in a field of your choice. On the college app, you can see which institution sent you an invitation", announced the dean.


    When the dean finished speaking, everyone started looking at their cell phones. Kayden was no different, he was surprised by the third-year schedule but thought it would be something very useful to increase his knowledge.


    - Army invitation:


    Serve as a lieutenant to carry out strategies for the benefit of the nation in the war we face. If you have a good military campaign, you will receive an invitation to remain in the organization with the possibility of higher positions.


    - Hunter guild invitation:


    Due to your recent achievements in the Abyss Trial, you can join as a C+ class member immediately. You will have assistance from class b hunters to carry out missions throughout the year, in addition to a 30% discount on all core sales for our organization.


    - Assassin guild invitation:


    Work undercover in other nations to eliminate important political members. This invitation will only be valid when the student reaches the second realm.


    - Invitation from the civil police:


    Work with the police to maintain order in imperial cities. It requires determination for life-and-death confrontations with wanted criminals, as well as knowledge and patience in dealing with the population. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    - Invitation from the kingdom of the enlightened:


    We invite the illustrious student to enter the kingdom with the greatest magical knowledge on our planet Earth. We have the best theoretical teachers and the best libraries. The guest must share at least one high-grade technique to gain access.


    Kayden received a few more invites, but only these five caught his attention. Within seconds, he was among the first two invitations, as they would be the only ones capable of giving him some really practical knowledge.


    It didn¡¯t take long to choose the hunter-guild. In the end, his learning style was more direct and violent, through life and death struggles he could become a stronger mage.


    As soon as he accepted, nothing happened. Most of the other people were still deciding which invitation to accept. The average student received only 3 or four invitations, while geniuses received more than a dozen.


    The hunters¡¯ guild was located at the end of the Sun Kingdom, bordering the great forest. Kayden discovered this in the information packet that came with the invitation. He would be placed in a team of mages in the second realm so he could train freely.


    "Once you all finish and choose, you can go to one of the representatives of the organization you chose," said the dean. On one side of the huge hall, a few people were standing holding a sign. "The academy will give a certain amount of gold to everyone unable to support themselves. Take this year very seriously, as it is a very good learning experience for your future. Good luck, students."


    As soon as the dean started speaking, several people started to get up and go to the other side. Linus chose an organization specializing in ancient chemistry, Locke also chose the hunters¡¯ guild, Issac went to another kingdom to learn certain sword techniques, and his subjects each followed their path.


    The man who was welcoming people from the hunters¡¯ guild was a little man with wrinkles and completely white hair. Even his eyebrow was white without a strand of any other color. His height was only 1 meter and 50 centimeters, and he was wearing some leather clothes characteristic of hunters.


    "Hello, Kayden, welcome," said the man with a friendly smile as he greeted each student who came to the hunting guild. In the end, the number of students reached almost 100 people.


    "we will leave tomorrow at 7 am in front of the main building of the college, you will have free accommodation and food, and we will also help with clothes and other needs, but those who do not perform well will be expelled without excuses, on the way I will tell you more about the organization" these were the words of the little man who didn¡¯t even introduce himself and disappeared leaving the students lost, Kayden just went back to cultivate and wait for the next day.


    *******


    Author¡¯s note: here begins a somewhat strange but necessary mini-arc


    The next day, Kayden arrived at the scene with only the clothes on his back and his katana, as well as some books that he was allowed to take from the library. The rest he could simply buy in the hunter city. His situation differed from the rest of the students carrying heavy suitcases.


    "Hello everyone, my name is Magnus Gale, I am the current leader of the hunter guild in the kingdom and a fourth kingdom mage," Magnus announced. With his sentence, everyone began to levitate and within seconds they were flying at a frightening speed. Amazingly, it didn¡¯t even look like they were moving. "You can ask your questions."


    "Are there many mage-level beasts for us to hunt?" asked one of the students.


    "Yes, they are within the first few kilometers and are protected from higher-level beasts," replied Magnus.


    "How will the teams be distributed?" asked another student.


    "You can form your own or, if you have received a special invitation, join one directly."


    "Can we refuse to join these teams?" Kayden questioned, taking Magnus by surprise.


    "Yes, you can", replied Magnus after a few seconds, his surprise soon disappearing as he was overwhelmed by more questions.


    "Are there still many natural treasures in the forest?" asked another student.


    "The forest stretches further than all five kingdoms combined and multiplied by a few folds. Additionally, rare herbs and some ingredients don¡¯t emit mana until harvested, so we still have plenty in the forest. Besides, our number of hunters is relatively small for the size of the forest."


    "How big is the mage-level area?" asked another student.


    "It is an artificial area that we created so that we can train the new generations. It is only 200 kilometers wide and the same amount long."


    "What are the other regions?" asked someone else.


    "Regions are marked by the average level of the strongest beast. Normally, in a mage-level region, we won¡¯t have any beasts in the second realm, but they might still appear."


    The questions continued, but Kayden had already asked his only question. He didn¡¯t want to grow like a flower in a greenhouse and, as soon as he received the answer that there could be another team, he took a book out of his bag and started reading.


    A few hours later, a city began to rise on the horizon. Kayden had to admit it was a unique city. Each house matched another, they all had the same shape and roof, making it clear that they were planned. The streets were perfectly symmetrical in every way. Furthermore, some trees were covering the city streets with identical spacing.


    Be it poles or manholes, everything was perfectly placed to suit the environment. This will undoubtedly be a city that was planned from its first brick. The city was divided into two halves: the half they arrived in were houses and residential buildings, while the other half was the guild building and the commercial area.


    Kayden thought it would be a dead city because of the distance from civilization and the danger of living near magical beasts, but there were people everywhere he looked, most of them smiling.


    "This is a private city with no relationship with the government. Here I make my laws and provide education and healthcare for the inhabitants", explained Magnus upon seeing some people¡¯s surprise at the city¡¯s quality of life.


    Beast spoils were something that brought in a lot of money. A core of any beast in the third rank could cost a few million gold coins, a world tree seed could easily fetch a few billion if it had a market and was not monopolized by the government.


    "You can check your room number at reception. You have a week off to get to know the city and must register with the guild." After explaining a few more things, Magnus left, leaving the teenagers alone. Most people there decided to celebrate these first days and go out and see the tourist attractions of the place.


    Kayden went out to buy clothes and some necessary supplies and returned to his room in less than half an hour. Because of his marquis title, he could fly in civilian areas smoothly and save time.


    The room was a fully furnished apartment with two large bedrooms with king-size beds, a complete state-of-the-art kitchen, a bathroom measuring a few meters with a bathtub, and a living room with a pool table. Kayden just put his new clothes in the closet and headed towards the hunters¡¯ guild. It was still around 2 pm.

 Chapter 202: Hunter team

    The guild building was inspired by medieval fantasies. Its structure was a rectangular building with a triangular dark wooden roof, the windows were large and showed the guild¡¯s three-story presence. Furthermore, its color was gray, and occupied at least an entire block of the commercial area.


    As soon as Kayden walked in, he was greeted by screams and people drinking beer at a bar staffed by a busty blonde dressed in old-fashioned fashion. This caught the boy by surprise for a few seconds, but he soon let it go. At the bottom of the building, there was a simply gigantic mural with several missions placed on it. The mural was at least 20 meters wide. Next to it was a large bench with several attendants dressed in the old-fashioned way, talking to different hunters. Kayden was lost for a few seconds before going to one of the benches.


    "Hello, my name is Eudora, how can I help you?" the girl in front of him greeted him with a friendly smile.


    "I would like to join the guild," said Kayden. After that, he had to read countless papers and sign dozens more. As a student and noble, he was entitled to the best discounts when selling his spoils to the guild, in addition to being able to choose missions above his current C+ rank level.


    The guild monopolized the sale of carcasses and forest spoils in the city, any merchandise had to pass through their hands first and would then be sold to the common people for their different uses.


    "I also want to get out of the second-rank team I was offered and look at the options for teams looking for members," Kayden said. Once it was all over, this was Kayden¡¯s first request. The receptionist was stunned trying to imagine why someone would choose to abandon the security of second realm mages as a bodyguard, but her job was not to ask questions.


    A list of several dozen teams appeared in front of Kayden on the holographic screen. He could classify them by specialty sought and strength level of limbs. Within seconds, he placed himself as a frontline fighter and mage, he also specified that he only wanted teams with first-realm mages from level 6 and up.


    Again some options were opened to him, and several different teams with a short biography were presented to him. In the biography, the team members, their roles, and levels were presented.


    Most were over 20 years old, Kayden noticed that becoming a wizard at his age was something very rare. After choosing a little, he went to a team with 4 people who were looking for a fighter to be the front line. Their leader was an offensive wind-element mage, while he had two support mages, one specialized in healing, and the other specialized in applying buffs to allies and debuffs to beasts. The last member was a tank specialized in receiving the beast¡¯s attention, he carried the earth element.


    Everyone in the group was at the seventh level of the first realm, except for the leader who was at the eighth. Kayden thought it was a good group considering they would probably face beasts at that level or above.


    Kayden applied for a ticket and entered his information, as well as making it clear that he was skilled even with his low rank and was willing to prove his words at any time. Luckily for him, the team had just returned from a hunt and summoned Kayden to one of the bar tables immediately.


    As soon as Kayden arrived, he was faced with a young man in his early twenties who looked like a horse, he was so muscular. He carried a large sledgehammer at his side and had no hair at all. One of the girls was very chubby, with black hair, and was wearing a dress that made her look even bigger than she was.


    The other girl looked anything but a healer, with black hair and a tall stature, in addition to having a small scar on her mouth, which, added to the insane number of knives hanging on her body, gave off an aggressive impression. The leader had green hair, and a short stature, and his body was thin like most mages. Of the group, he was the only one who maintained a friendly smile for Kayden.


    "Hi, my name is Kayden," he said, his youthful appearance surprised them at first, but...


    "Kid, you¡¯re not even a wizard, why are you here?" Instantly, Kayden realized that he was hiding his aura and preventing mana from leaving his body. Without saying anything, he just released his mana and saw the shock on the group¡¯s faces when he related his age to his rank.


    "That¡­ is impressive, but can you prove everything you wrote in the participation request?" Kayden made it clear that he could face sixth-level beasts alone and hold his own against those at higher levels.


    "Of course, I can perform any test you want," Kayden said, not too worried. He was able to jump levels against geniuses; with normal people, he could go much further.


    "Just face Paulo in a fight, that should be enough," said the leader. Paulo stood up at the leader¡¯s request. In just a few seconds, they went to a courtyard outside, it was practically a street fight without even a protective bubble.


    "Try to stop before you cause any serious injury", the leader¡¯s gaze went directly to Paulo, who just shook his shoulders in agreement.


    "Come, I¡¯ll give you the first strike," Paulo said, and Kayden could hear the pride in his voice. He didn¡¯t even need to use his path fully in this fight, putting his foot on the ground and using acceleration he gave a sprint that didn¡¯t match his level.


    ** Clang! **


    Paulo¡¯s sledgehammer received the attack full on and was unable to push Kayden more than a few centimeters back. For a moment, everyone doubted that Paul was taking this seriously. Kayden¡¯s next attack came quickly and Paulo was forced to open up space to defend.


    With a feint, Kayden approached again and put pressure on Paulo with some attacks. Within seconds, an opening was created and he just had to take advantage of it. Paulo¡¯s sledgehammer hit the ground and Kayden¡¯s katana rose like a rocket to the knight¡¯s neck and stopped inches from cutting his throat.


    Paulo looked into Kayden¡¯s eyes and started to break out in a cold sweat when he realized they had no emotions. On a whim, he could be killed like a pig. S§×ar?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I believe this proves my skill," Kayden said, gently withdrawing the katana and putting it away.


    "Yes, no doubt!" said the leader, surprised by the ease with which Paul was defeated. The confrontation barely lasted a few moves. "My name is Lucas, they are Taina," he pointed to the chubby one, "and she is Asiva. Could you show us the lightning abilities you mentioned?"


    With Kayden demonstrating his strength, the group¡¯s reception was a little better. The only person who was still a little resentful was Paulo, but that was mainly because he lost so quickly.


    ** BOOOM!* *


    Kayden casually released lightning onto the ground and scared everyone around with the force and noise that a simple spell caused. Once again, the group remained silent, unable to reason clearly.


    "Can you just drop a few dozen of these?" Lucas asked, as that was what was written in Kayden¡¯s presentation, it didn¡¯t seem to fit this concept considering the strength of the lightning.


    "Yes" Kayden¡¯s confirmation shocked the group, but Lucas left it aside, as he was on his side it wasn¡¯t bad at all.


    " I understand, we will go to the forest tomorrow and spend a week on an expedition, if you want you are free to join the group" After Lucas¡¯ speech they exchanged contact information and some other obligations that Kayden should have with the group.


    ********


    "Kayden!" Lucas shouted in warning as a huge ox in the seventh rank rushed at the group. Kayden immediately used his path and released a large beam at the beast, paralyzing it long enough for the group to get into position. Paulo was the first to get close and collided head-on with the beast. His brute strength was ridiculously high when supported by strength spells, but even so, he was pushed back and only managed to hold off the beast¡¯s advance.


    Then, dozens of wind slashes were thrown at the animal, cutting its skin superficially, but in thousands of cuts. This was one of Lucas¡¯s special moves, sold by the hunter guild. Soon after, some metal knives came at high speed, stabbing themselves into the animal¡¯s body. These knives came from the group¡¯s healer, who, oddly enough, balanced both roles.


    Then, another bolt of lightning fell on the animal, and Kayden appeared close to it, releasing an aura attack that slit the ox¡¯s throat as if it were nothing more than a simple lamb. As soon as the body fell, Paulo came close to it to remove the parts worth it.

 Chapter 203: The bubble

    "Good job, guys," Lucas said as soon as they returned to the camp where they had spent the last few days. Kayden was responsible for keeping watch at night, but as a benefit, he did not need to prepare food or perform any household tasks. Sitting while waiting for dinner, he began to cultivate. In the last week, this was the routine: fighting all day and, in the evening, cultivating and reflecting on concepts. Their opponents were high-level beasts, and their team hunted at least some beasts at the sixth rank and above.


    "What¡¯s it like at the gym, sunshine Kayden?" Asiva asked. She was the only one still trying to have any kind of conversation with Kayden. Most of the time, the boy responded in a monosyllabic manner and went back to training. This stopped people from trying to learn more about him¡ªat least the majority. Asiva was very curious and wanted to know everything after seeing Kayden¡¯s strength, even more so after knowing where he studied.


    The girl¡¯s question made Kayden stop his cultivation for a moment. He didn¡¯t know what life was like inside the academy, which places to go with his friends, or which attraction to go to in his free time. He spent two years practically in his room, cultivating and training in the coliseum.


    "I don¡¯t know, I don¡¯t interact with other students, I just attend classes," Kayden replied. His answer suited his personality, which is why Asiva didn¡¯t question him for the rest of the period, at least not until another doubt arose in his mind.


    "Do you have a girlfriend?" His question caught Kayden by surprise for a few seconds. Then he responded normally.


    "Yes," and with that he went back to cultivating without bothering about anything.


    "Hey, guys, come up to the sky for a second," Lucas shouted, not bothering to attract the attention of nearby animals. As soon as Kayden climbed up, he came across a huge blue blob a few miles away. It rose high above the clouds and was lost in the sky. Other than its size, no characteristics could be defined. The group was quiet for a few seconds before Kayden spoke up.


    "I¡¯ll explore that."


    "What if it¡¯s dangerous? We¡¯ve never seen anything like this before," Kayden¡¯s only response was a shrug and then he flew into the dome, his team reluctantly following him.


    As soon as they arrived, they noticed the presence of several mages of different levels of power flying in the air. Within seconds, Kayden found Locke with his spiritual sense, resting in one of the trees below.


    "Hello, Locke. Do you know anything about this?" Kayden was direct with his question and received a straight answer from his friend.


    "The kingdom has no information about this. Mages above the first realm can¡¯t enter, mages in the fourth realm haven¡¯t even been able to open a hole in the barrier. For now, it¡¯s free for anyone to enter. We believe it¡¯s some alien treasure." "


    The fact that not even the kingdom knew what was happening caught Kayden by surprise for a few seconds. After reflecting a bit, he decided to ask Locke one more question.


    "Are you going in?" S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Yes, my grandfather said that there is nothing above the first kingdom in there, he guaranteed this information about his life. The only problem is that there doesn¡¯t seem to be a way to get out." With that, Kayden also decided to join. Locke would still wait a few hours for Luan and some teammates to arrive. Kayden didn¡¯t want to wait all this time.


    He was confident that he could at least evade any opponent in the same realm as him. Furthermore, the longer it took, the fewer treasures he would be able to find in the shallow part of the forest. The bubble appeared to stretch nearly 1000 kilometers according to authorities, and no one was able to see what was happening inside.


    Kayden talked to Locke for a few more minutes and decided to enter the bubble. Incredible as it may seem, his team was willing to join in too. Kayden didn¡¯t completely trust them, but he had a degree of respect for their abilities, so he didn¡¯t mind having them inside.


    As soon as he got close to the bubble, he heard a strange sound, a loud noise that came from the man holding the barrier. Kayden was amazed to make another discovery, the mana wasn¡¯t divided into parts, it was just a large chunk of mana across the entire barrier.


    Without fear, he put one arm forward and¡­lost any feeling of it, almost as if it had been cut from his body without him realizing it. The worst part was that he wasn¡¯t able to pull his arm back again. Accepting this fact, he entered with his entire body.


    As soon as he arrived, his body shivered at the enormous amount of mana present in the environment, it was at least 20 times the mana outside. Not only that, but everything felt more alive. The trees were bigger and more vibrant, even the animals seemed to have silkier, more well-groomed fur.


    " Holy shit," Kayden cursed in his mind at the sight of a tree of flaming apples. It wasn¡¯t really rare, but each apple cost around 100 gold coins and the tree was loaded with at least a few dozen.


    "We¡¯re rich!" Paulo was the first to scream when he saw this scene. He was the main guide in the knowledge of the forest and had to explain what the tree was to his group. Within seconds, the group had collected a few dozen into an expandable bag. The hunter guild did not have space rings, something Kayden was sure the higher-ups should possess, at least those in the fourth realm. He¡¯s seen Han and Bolt pull things out of thin air multiple times.


    The expandable bag was made with runes that took its weight and shaped its size to fit even a bus without increasing its overall weight by a single gram. Each one cost a few thousand gold coins, but every hunter needed to have one.


    Kayden didn¡¯t bother wasting time collecting a few hundred coins. His focus remained on his surroundings, trying to detect anything useful around him. He saw several plants that he recognized and his studies that had some commercial value.


    "I¡¯m going to get these sheets here guys," Kayden said calmly. No one in the group recognized the leaves and just ignored them as they organized the money that would be given to each apple tree.


    Meanwhile, Kayden began chewing the leaf and soon felt his blood being boiled like a cauldron. The pain was ridiculously high, but Kayden didn¡¯t even express a reaction. Each sheet of this was worth a few hundred thousand gold coins. Its function was very simple, it increased the concentration of nutrients and mana in the blood, changing it to become denser and thicker.


    Kayden continued chewing every time the burning went away. In just a few minutes, he managed to make the leaf no longer have any effect on his body and become useless. But his gain was ridiculously high, as it was almost impossible to merge blood with mana naturally.


    In addition, it is very difficult because the person would have to have great control over their mana so that it does not turn into poison within the blood. After the second realm, this became useless, but at this point, Kayden would make an insane recovery. A cut of medium depth should close in just a few minutes as long as he circulates the mana in his blood and a severed limb could grow back in a few weeks naturally. His gain was beyond ridiculous, and that was just the tip of the forest.


    Kayden just watched as the group went through a near breakthrough for just a few thousand gold coins. He was unfazed and advised that he did not need to be included in the profit sharing. Within a few minutes, they decided to move on.


    The situation became strange when Kayden realized that the entrance had some treasures perfectly positioned to attract adventurers. In the next few miles of forest, they only found a few things of low value, at least in Kayden¡¯s eyes.


    "A world tree," whispered Kayden in surprise at the sight of a huge tree on a plain growing alone. He recognized the shape of the tree with its gigantic leaves the size of a house and the completely black wood looking like it had been burned.


    "It is in the third realm, as it only has three major branches," said Lucas, bringing information that made Kayden surprised. Fortunately, this tree wasn¡¯t aggressive as long as you didn¡¯t attack it. Even if you stole her seeds, she wouldn¡¯t care. The only thing prohibited was attacking his body.


    The guild¡¯s hunters were given great knowledge about all the treasures they could find in the forest, even if it was something national level like the world tree. Logically, this involved heavy loyalty and silence contracts.


    Author¡¯s note: I was sent to the emergency room due to an emergency in my right eye, I may lose vision in my eyes if everything goes wrong, in that case, I will put a summary of the work and how it should end, sorry about that, at the moment I can¡¯t respond to any comments, my eyes are dilated

 Chapter 204: Progress

    Even from afar, they saw a few dozen animals surrounding the tree without facing each other. It was obvious that they were just waiting for the moment when she would release her seeds. According to the report that Kayden read in the kingdom¡¯s library, the tree released its seeds in various directions around it. At least a dozen came out of its branches and settled on the ground a few kilometers away. Its growth was extremely aggressive and killed all other trees around it. When it became old enough, it should move out of the region through its roots and let the body it previously cultivated die. This was done so she wouldn¡¯t be killed by her father.


    "We should just wait and try to get some seeds, no animal will start a fight before it has the treasure in its hands", Lucas spoke again and everyone agreed. The tree had red leaf tips, symbolizing that it was very close to releasing its seeds.


    As soon as they got close, they saw dozens of different beasts, from giant birds to tiny rodents that released a density of mana that didn¡¯t match their small body. Practically everyone here was at least at the fifth level of the first realm.


    "I¡¯ll take a seed myself," said Kayden after seeing the general level and marking which beasts he shouldn¡¯t contest. "You guys should be able to do that as long as you don¡¯t fight the high-level beasts."


    Then they organized themselves into who would go in which direction and what were the best beasts for each of them to face. When you reach the mage level, even support is a considerable attacking force and is capable of holding your own in some way against beasts and opponents of your level.


    A few hours passed and it finally reached the point where the world tree would release its seeds. The leaves turned entirely red and a large concentration of mana was drawn into the tree. Kayden had never seen so much mana before.


    BOOM! BOOOM! BOOM!


    The seeds were thrown at a ridiculously high speed. Kayden couldn¡¯t even feel a trace of them before they left his spiritual sense. Then several animals went in different directions.


    Choosing a direction without peak beasts, Kayden flew at full speed. In just 1 minute, he reached the place where the seed had fallen. It was impressive that she had already started to put down small roots.


    Kayden chose the direction correctly and only saw a few level 5 and two level 6 beasts. Within a few minutes, the two-level 6 beasts decimated the rest and began to face each other. All this time, Kayden just stayed hidden controlling the leakage of his mana.


    This was one of the benefits of rationality. Kayden didn¡¯t need to face the beasts with brute force. He just had to wait and a few minutes later the lion that was facing a kind of camel with water blows towered over the corpse of the other beast.


    BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!


    Three lightning bolts instantly fell on him, freezing his movements and causing some damage to his body. Then, Kayden performed an aura strike strong enough to decapitate the lion, but the beast managed to defend the attack using one of its metal claws.


    This caught Kayden by surprise. He didn¡¯t expect the animal¡¯s claws to be this strong. Unfortunately for the beast, Kayden only let out another dozen bolts of lightning while mixing in a few aura attacks. In just a few seconds, the beast was reduced to a sliced piece of meat.


    The seed was on the ground swallowing mana without stopping. Kayden cut its roots with the katana and stored the seed in its expandable bag. Furthermore, it cut off the mana input to the bag. He realized that this was just a second-realm seed. Probably the peak beasts went after the strongest seeds.


    Kayden returned to the meeting point and saw that he was the first to arrive. Meanwhile, he began to think about the concept of loneliness. His teammates returned about an hour later. Only Lucas and Asiva managed to get a seed.


    "I want to use my seed, let¡¯s look for a place to take shelter," Lucas was the first to speak after everyone met. His proposal was accepted by the majority of the group and within a few minutes they found a small cave to take shelter.


    Lucas placed some protection and alarm runes at the entrance after they made sure that the inside was not inhabited by any beasts. Instantly after, he ate his seed and began cultivating. Asiva and Kayden followed suit. Kayden experienced for the third time the great density of mana that the seed brought to his body. Unfortunately, it was ten times less than that of the fourth realm.


    Even so, he made the most of every minute and managed to make his cultivation advance tremendously, saving him a few months of hard work, considering the density of the environment they were in, it would only take him another week or two to advance again.


    As soon as Kayden opened his eyes he saw Asiva and Lucas moving forward, this was a good sign for the group which suddenly got a huge increase in strength, but Kayden had to be careful about having a very strong leader.


    "Let¡¯s rest for a few hours and then move on" Kayden took advantage of this situation to continue cultivating, he knew he had several treasures that needed to be harvested quickly, but it was important for his group to be in the best possible condition.


    A few hours later they went back to looking for treasures, Kayden tried to collect everything that had a high mana density, in addition, he also obtained several useful treasures that could be used directly.


    If he waited and refined them into medicines they could have almost doubled their value, but the strength he gained now could save his life, especially in a situation where he had no external support at all. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Some treasures helped the boy improve his vision, others his physical strength and the density of his muscles, Kayden began to doubt why there were so many treasures scattered around this place, it was a little strange for all this to appear out of nowhere.


    ¡¯what the fuck?¡¯ Kayden was taken by surprise when he felt a point with ridiculously high density in his spiritual sense, the worst part was that it wasn¡¯t just a point but a kind of lake with.....

 Chapter 205: The mana lake[bonus]

    Liquid mana.


    Kayden felt exactly this sensation with his spiritual sense. The man was so concentrated that it formed a lake in place. He warned his companions and went ahead at high speed. As he got closer, his spiritual sense began to sense some more detailed things. First, there were a few other humans in the pool, but not even a single animal was present. They were just two humans, but Kayden could feel that they were both at the eighth level of the first realm. In other words, they were strong. Kayden couldn¡¯t be careless here, but if he needed to, he was confident in giving both of them a hard time.


    "Hello," Kayden¡¯s voice caught them both by surprise and caused them to assume aggressive fighting stances. Kayden did not exude even an iota of mana from his body when he concentrated, which made him almost as if he were an inanimate object to the other spiritual senses.


    "Who are you?"


    "I am Kayden Heart," the two only didn¡¯t attack Kayden because they couldn¡¯t sense him with their spiritual sense. This small factor was causing them a bad feeling. "I just want to use the mana pool without any conflict."


    "I am Rhuan Ynir , son of a baron. I recognize your lordship from the Sol Academy tests. Without a doubt, you can use it. We don¡¯t want any conflicts either," as soon as he heard Kayden¡¯s name, he recognized who he was talking to. Kayden was a monster and had the support of the king. There was no point in conflict with him. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    A few seconds later, Kayden¡¯s group arrived and again there was a hostile atmosphere between the newcomers and the two mages, even more so when seeing that they were of lower levels.


    "Who are you?" the same question was asked.


    "We are a group of hunters, we want to use the pool too," Lucas saw Kayden inside it and considered that his place was practically guaranteed.


    "Sorry, but she is not available to new visitors," Rhuan¡¯s refusal took the group by surprise.


    "I¡¯m not going to fight you, they are strong opponents and they already let me in," Kayden said upon seeing the tiny flow of mana coming from Lucas.


    "Traitor trash!" Paulo was the first to shout at Kayden and his only response was silence.


    "We have several treasures with us that can increase mana absorption and accelerate your cultivation, how about we exchange benefits without violence?" Lucas was communicative and showed a few dozen plants in his bag.


    The mana density of some was ridiculously high and showed that they were real treasures. In just a few minutes and a few words of negotiations, the entire group was seated inside the pool.


    Kayden continued cultivating like crazy taking advantage of the mana around him. His speed was frightening when compared to anyone his age. He wasn¡¯t afraid of being poisoned by mana, nor did he need to waste time cleansing her world¡¯s will.


    Over the next few hours, some animals came close to the pool but were scared away with everyone¡¯s help. Practically any beast other than one at the peak ninth level could pose some danger to the group. Beasts at the ninth rank alone were easily cleaned up.


    "Idiot," Kayden saw Rhuan begin to enter the leveling process. He should have been using this pool continuously for the past few days and managed to consolidate himself for a breakthrough.


    A small flow of mana imperceptible to most people because of the large density of mana in the lake began to form near Lucas. Other than Kayden, no one noticed this situation.


    SWISH!


    A large wind slash advanced extremely quickly towards Rhuan. The flow of mana became evident only at the last moment. The nobleman made an effort to get up and raise a barrier of water in front of him.


    " Ugh !" he vomited blood as his advancement process was interrupted out of nowhere. His friend raised a wall of earth and managed to grab an iron dagger that was coming quickly towards him.


    "What are you..." he couldn¡¯t finish his speech, because...


    BOOOM!


    Lightning instantly fell on both of them, but mainly on Rhuan¡¯s friend, and fell directly on him. The boy was not a beast with ridiculous resistance and his organs were burned from the inside out. Furthermore, his movement was frozen enough for another dagger to stab into his neck.


    SWISH!


    CRACK! CRACK!


    Kayden unleashed a huge aura attack that broke the water barrier that was already weak because of Rhuan¡¯s unstable core and made the earthen wall look like it was made of Styrofoam. The aura slash severed both heads in a ghastly manner.


    For a few seconds, no one said anything as the two bodies fell to the ground and began to bleed. Kayden was extremely efficient and killed them both with just one slip on their part.


    "Why did you help?" Lucas was surprised, as he felt that Kayden was ready to act at the exact moment he attacked.


    "I didn¡¯t know them, and you can¡¯t attack me because of the guild contract, so I¡¯d rather stay on the safer side," the group accepted his answer but were left with a feeling of warning about Kayden. He killed them both as if they were lambs.


    The group used the pools for a few more hours, Kayden decided to leave, as he was ready to advance again, his speed was ridiculous, he had barely reached the third level and was already advancing again, Kayden didn¡¯t trust the group even on a contract, then promised to get back to them in a few hours.


    The boy looked for a hiding place and a few dozen kilometers to the north he came across a cave hidden by a waterfall, the best part was that there were several high-level beasts in the lake, making the area avoided by other land animals.


    The space inside was not many meters, kayden made a metal shovel with a little effort, as he was not his element this took a few minutes and several parts of wasted mana, and then he began to dig into the wall, his superhuman strength It made the work easier and he dug a hole a few meters in front.


    Author¡¯s note: yesterday I arrived at my father¡¯s and said that I urgently needed to go to a city almost 450km away because there was no doctor specializing in retinas in my city, at 2 p.m., he dropped everything he was doing, didn¡¯t ask about costs, he didn¡¯t ask for time, he just got in the car and took me, I couldn¡¯t get treatment under the health plan, my father went to the most expensive hospital and just paid without worrying about the costs, thanks to that I¡¯m fine and my eyes are intact, I just leave my eternal gratitude to my father in this chapte

 Chapter 206: Isolation

    Anyone with claustrophobia would hate what Kayden did at that moment, but he used the earth element to close the passage and only left space for his breathing. Then, Kayden began to chew some foods with high mana density and prepare to advance, all he had to do was circulate his mana for a few hours. The process was very similar to all the others, his body began to hurt tremendously as he forcibly arranged the things he wanted. Once again, he increased his ability to absorb mana and manipulate it by increasing the strength of his heart and the number of well-crafted veins in his body.


    "The Momentum" Once again Kayden was utilizing the natural momentum of forward motion to arrange things as he wanted. Without that drive, he wouldn¡¯t be able to move things at the basic level like he was doing. The pain in his body and the feeling of being burned alive were ignored by Kayden. His body began to release various impurities as his muscles and bones were improved. Secondly, the space Kayden was in started to smell extremely unpleasant.


    Finally, Kayden no longer had anywhere to freely improve and just let the process run its course.


    " Ugh !" Kayden groaned in pain, mostly because of the surprise of the sudden pain as his entire body felt like it was being boiled. His blood seemed to be bubbling, this wasn¡¯t supposed to be happening, at least Kayden didn¡¯t know what it was about. He just waited to watch in surprise as some veins in his body mixed with his mana veins, Kayden had to devote all his attention to mixing the new blood with the mana correctly.


    This process had to be done thoroughly and fortunately, he had already studied this before when looking for a method to have self-regeneration, this was only possible because of the leaves he chewed when entering the bubble. Every millimeter he managed to blend lessened the feeling of imminent death and being boiled alive. This process was only possible because of the degree of control he had, no first-realm mage should be able to distinguish between blood and mana when they are mixed, but Kayden could.


    Slowly the hours began to pass and turned into days. Meanwhile, Kayden didn¡¯t even notice the passage of time and continued fixing his veins incessantly without stopping for a second to rest. After a week, Kayden had only completed a quarter of the entire process and yet he continued without hesitation. Every minute he seemed closer to achieving something greater.


    Three weeks later, Kayden was finally able to complete the entire process and get rid of the pain and feeling of being boiled. His blood flowed strongly along with the mana over his body. His blood flow increased several times and circulation was accelerated by at least a dozen times. Fortunately his body had strong enough muscles and bones to handle the additional blood pressure. Furthermore, mana counterbalanced the body¡¯s heating caused by the accelerated flow of blood.


    At that moment, Kayden had a huge increase in his speed and strength, as nutrients and oxygen reached his muscles at a ridiculous speed. Unfortunately, Kayden had to force his blood to circulate normally as it was not able to supply the amount of oxygen that was being used.


    " Holy shit!" Kayden cut his wrist and saw it close over his eyes in just a few seconds. The flow of mana was intense enough to make it seem like he was using a spell on the region. It had barely been 6 months since he entered the mage realm and he was progressing at a speed beyond ridiculous. Fortunately, this was possible through the use of various treasures.


    As soon as Kayden came out of where he was buried...


    Ten beasts of peak rank nine were swimming peacefully in the lake and a few more were flying over the region. Kayden didn¡¯t notice any of them when he entered, which meant they came as he walked along. With nothing else to do, Kayden began testing the improvements to his advancement carefully so as not to alert the animals. Other than the regeneration and the ridiculous mana flow that could be passed through his body, he didn¡¯t gain anything relevant. His attributes increased to some degree, but it didn¡¯t compare to these two additional characteristics.


    Kayden looked into his bag and saw that he had only a few weeks¡¯ worth of food, mostly military rations that tasted like cardboard. He couldn¡¯t even cultivate or train his spells for fear of alerting the beasts around him. They were probably waiting for some treasure and would come out eventually. Kayden could only look at things with his spiritual sense.


    In this moment, Kayden embodied the phrase "watch the grass grow." That was just what he could do with his spiritual sense. He was feeling life around him, he saw how flies fed on scraps, and he saw animals fight over territory. When it got dark, he had a beautiful view of the waterfall and all the stars shining brightly in the sky, unchanging, isolated by an incalculable distance, yet they continued to shine independently.


    The days once again began to pass by and while a normal person would have gone crazy, Kayden was just thinking about different concepts and making plans for the future. Furthermore, he began to watch life unfold around him and...


    "There¡¯s something very wrong inside this bubble," Kayden noticed how the high-level beasts didn¡¯t hunt the lower-level ones. Furthermore, the mating was very constant, almost as if there was an aphrodisiac in the air 24 hours a day.


    But that wasn¡¯t even the strangest thing. The strangest thing was that the corpses of dead beasts simply disappeared when no one was looking. If Kayden focused his spiritual sense on a corpse, it would continue to stand there, but when it left for just a few seconds, it would disappear.


    Unfortunately, there was nothing Kayden could do other than look at the stars alone in the sky. Slowly, the concept of loneliness was learned by Kayden. He had already spent a lifetime alone, actually two, considering the long periods of isolation he had faced up until then.


    sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 207: An unexpected encounter[Bonus]

    Author¡¯s note: next bonus chapter tomorrow, now there are 55 stones per bonus


    "The stars..." Kayden learned the concept after another month isolated in the cave. "They are not isolated or alone, they do not face loneliness. Just as I have never faced loneliness before, they have their brilliance."


    When we are alone, what is our only company if not ourselves? If you, being alone, are in bad company, then you are facing true loneliness. But if you can govern yourself, you need not fear even a thousand years of solitude. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    As soon as this revelation dawned on Kayden, he understood the concept more deeply and its meaning in mana. The same impulse as the other times appeared over him. Kayden could learn the concept and have his first independent concept in the first realm. Loneliness was the second stage of the concept of slavery in the path he set for himself.


    "Bow," Kayden forced his new concept to kneel in front of his path, and within seconds a new concept was strapped to his path. Kayden¡¯s spiritual sense grew by about 25 meters, and his control over his path expanded once again.


    When Kayden opened his eyes and began to detect things around him, he noticed that carnage was taking place outside, with the beasts killing each other freely. In the center of the lake was a kind of golden algae.


    Kayden didn¡¯t know what that was and didn¡¯t want to find out. He wasn¡¯t a protagonist in some clich¨¦ novel where he could win things through protagonism and pure luck. He took advantage of this confusion to run from where he was.


    After getting a few miles away, Kayden stood still in the air as he gathered himself. The first thing he did was get new supplies. He picked some fruits and caught some small animals to make dried meat. Fortunately, the process was simple when he could draw the water out of the food through mana.


    In two months, the forest changed drastically. Firstly, the number of beasts increased considerably. Furthermore, his overall level also increased. The amount of treasures was still considerable, but nowhere near what it was at the beginning. Kayden didn¡¯t care. He had already won a lot.


    For the next few days, he just looted everything he could and killed some animals to train with his new strength. He came across some humans, but they seemed to be affected by something strange. His eyes looked cloudy. Furthermore, he has seen humans having sex outdoors several times.


    Kayden kept his distance until he could find someone he knew or who wasn¡¯t under the strange influence of the environment. This took another week until he found...


    "Heimer?" Kayden¡¯s voice caught the group in front of him by surprise, and several spells flew towards him. Kayden just casually swerved in another direction.


    "Don¡¯t attack, he¡¯s my friend." The group was made up of three other people, two skinny teenagers who cast lightning spells at Kayden and another girl who seemed to be the group¡¯s hand-to-hand combatant.


    "We haven¡¯t heard from you in two months, Kayden. We thought you died. Your hunter guild group left a month ago and hasn¡¯t returned. They lost Asiva to a spike beast."


    Heimer was happy to see his friend alive and breathing. He was surprised to see that Kayden had advanced again. Now, the difference in strength between them was only a few levels. That old jealousy that had started to appear in his heart came back again, but he just suppressed it unconsciously.


    "I was trapped in a cave guarded by a few dozen beasts and couldn¡¯t get out. Can you tell me the latest news?" Kayden was curious about the situation inside and outside the bubble.


    "The bubble is being closely watched by the kingdom, and only selected people can enter now. Furthermore, you must present your earnings. If the government wants something, it will monetarily compensate you. You must also not stay here for long, otherwise you end up going crazy trying to reproduce as quickly as possible. We don¡¯t know what causes this, but the maximum deadline is a week. Haven¡¯t you felt that?"


    Kayden long ago killed any desire in his body. He wasn¡¯t even affected by spells that invoked anger or any other feeling.


    "Since I was isolated, I don¡¯t think I was affected. Where are you guys going?" Kayden decided to quickly change the subject.


    "We are going to attack a group of elephants to get their modified tusks. Each one is worth around 100 thousand gold coins. Furthermore, their meat is great for increasing physical strength naturally. If you want, you can join us."


    Heimer¡¯s group made no objections. Kayden¡¯s actions last year made him a legend among the students. First, he killed three people inside the school and had no consequences, and then he fought dozens of beasts above his level and triumphed victoriously.


    "Of course, I have nothing to do." Kayden would never turn down a good fight. Within a few minutes, he met the rest of Heimer¡¯s group and noticed how synchronized and top-notch they were. Each had well-crafted weapons and gave Kayden a vibe of experience, very different from the students in his year who seemed like overprotected children. They flew a few more hours before finding the herd.


    As soon as they arrived, they saw a few dozen earth-element elephants on the ground. Heimer started to make an array to accumulate mana and distribute it among the people in his group. Furthermore, he made a matrix that would instinctively cause fear in animals.


    After that, the battle became just carnage. The strength of the group was much superior. Even though the beasts were all level 7 and above, they didn¡¯t kill any of the beasts and just cut their prey with different spells. Kayden managed to do well. His control of the aura attack allowed him to throw the attack from a distance and prevent it from cutting an inch beyond the fangs, sparing the animal¡¯s life. The fight lasted a few minutes before the matrix of fear and disorientation stopped taking effect.


    "Let¡¯s leave now if you want to come with us." Kayden thought about the proposal and readily accepted it. He had to find a technique to increase his oxygen absorption so he could use his accelerated circulation all the time.

 Chapter 208: Breathing technique

    "The barrier opens once a week at the southern point, we have to hurry, we only have a few more hours before it opens." The group began heading south with a compass that Heimer had in his hands.


    At full speed, it didn¡¯t take long for them to find other people on the way who joined them. It was safer to walk in relatively large groups in the forest, which kept away animals that roamed in packs.


    Kayden found himself facing the same strange barrier as a few months ago. Even though some time had passed, it felt like barely a week had passed since he entered. They had to wait another half hour before hearing a deafening sound of metal being cut.


    Slowly, the bubble began to show its outside, a small circle was expanding while its edge seemed to be on fire. Within a few seconds, the outside became visible and everyone began to quickly pass by. Just 60 seconds later, the portal closed, leaving Kayden with a sight that surprised him.


    A small city was built where before it was just woods and trees. You could see several houses and some paved streets, in addition, there was a large market where various items were sold. Kayden wasn¡¯t too interested in finding a place to rest like Heimer¡¯s group and just headed towards the huge market. Unfortunately, he discovered that only medicines and items found in the forest were sold, there was little stock of techniques.


    Fortunately, they put the internet in the area, and with just a few calls, Kayden received a few different techniques for him to purchase.


    **Giant¡¯s Breath**: allows you to store 3 times more air in your lungs at once, requires physical training and body alignment using mana, costing 10 thousand gold coins.


    **Total Breathing**: Receives air through any hole in your body, it requires knowledge in creating veins, and physical and painful training to mold your body to the new shape, only try if you are a wizard, apprentices cannot stand the body change.


    **Skin Breathing**: absorbs oxygen through the skin, in small quantities so as not to damage the muscles, but if done on the entire body, the absorption of oxygen increases by several folds, and it works slower underwater, consequences: skin will wi rough due to the number of small holes that will develop, it does not have a visible appearance, cost: 100 thousand gold coins.


    Kayden quickly decided on the latter. It was practically a perfect technique. It didn¡¯t even take two hours for him to have a book in his hands. Wasting no time, he booked a room in one of the hotels and began studying the technique.


    It wasn¡¯t anything too difficult, it just had to be done carefully. He had to hold his breath and cover his skin with mana, and he also had to leave some holes open on his body for air to enter. According to the book, it should take a week before the mana forcibly changes her skin with small corrosions.


    Kayden cultivated the method 24 hours a day, letting his breath hold as long as possible. In just 4 days, he felt that even if he held his breath nothing would change. His body began to absorb the oxygen around him naturally.


    Running his hand over any corner of his skin, he could feel that it was rough as if he was touching some kind of asphalt. It wasn¡¯t particularly pleasant, but that didn¡¯t matter to Kayden. He released his circulation at maximum speed and saw that he had no collateral. His entire body was being supported with oxygen from every possible point his skin came into contact with the air and even through his clothing.


    Kayden felt ridiculously powerful, it seemed like any action his body could make could be done without delay. Furthermore, his regeneration was ridiculously high. This was something that bothered him, as in the future he would not always have healing mages within easy reach. Without even resting, Kayden decided to return to the forest and continue fighting. This time he didn¡¯t join any team, he could manage alone and didn¡¯t want to trust strangers easily.


    The next few days were just Kayden hunting and collecting some natural treasures, as he could go out once a week he left them with a company specialized in treating treasures that turned them into medicinal pills.


    There wasn¡¯t any other lucky encounter like at the beginning of the adventure, it seemed that all the major points of interest had already been caught by other people, Kayden at that moment was flying over the region. "This..." Kayden felt a group of 4 humans around a world tree seed, but it felt strange, the mana she was exuding was not normal and caused a strong awakening of carnal desires.


    This was visible in the eyes of the four people, in the group there was only one man and three women. This should be almost any man¡¯s dream, but Kayden saw it becoming a nightmare as they had sex for hours.


    In a moment, the man just fell to the ground and could no longer move, a little lucidity opened in the eyes of the three, but it was too late...


    ** BOOM!* *


    ** BOOOM!* *


    ** BOOOM!* *


    Three rays in sequence fell on the three, paralyzing their movements and seriously injuring their bodies. The pain made reason return to them completely, but it was too late anyway.


    ** SWISH! **


    ** SWISH! ** S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Two aura slashes using all the mana Kayden could muster were thrown at the three. The first two women were just decapitated without even being able to react, while the third turned towards where the cuts came from.


    " Why? Who are you?" Kayden didn¡¯t respond, he wasn¡¯t going to waste time on a dead person. His next aura attack decapitated the woman instantly. His rays had already damaged her body so much, she was unable to do anything but accept her death.


    Kayden burned the four bodies after looting some treasures and some gold coins. They didn¡¯t have anything very relevant. For a second, Kayden felt bad for his actions, but that passed instantly. His goals came before his morals.

 Chapter 209: The maze[Bonus]

    As soon as he got closer to the seed, Kayden felt the weight of his member become a little heavier, his breathing became faster and his mind began to become cloudy. His only thought was to find a woman to procreate.


    "Interesting," Kayden said, shaking off all the negative effects from his body. The first thing he noticed was that his main desire about the illusion was to procreate; he had no desire for sex itself and the pleasure of the act, it was just to multiply his species.


    Kayden again looked for a good place to hide. There were still a few days left before the bubble opened again and he didn¡¯t want to wait all that time. By an incredible coincidence, Kayden found the same cave he used to level up previously.


    After applying the same strategy, he began to study the seed. The mana density in it was much higher than that of the second realm, but lower than that of the fourth. This meant that it must be a third-realm seed.


    As soon as Kayden swallowed it, he... got an uncontrollable erection and almost lost his mind for a second. Quickly, he controlled his body and thoughts and began to absorb the huge amount of mana from the seed.


    The process was excruciatingly slow as he had to constantly get rid of the effects of the seed on his body and at the same time stop the mana from leaking. What should only take a few hours was approaching a few days.


    Kayden finally managed to cultivate all the mana in the seed after three days straight. His rank advanced a lot and reached around 70% of the fourth level. Kayden had a pretty high gain, but it was decreasing over time.


    As soon as he finished, he went back to plundering the forest. Kayden no longer took any treasure that didn¡¯t give him an immediate gain, it was simply a waste of time. Their focus was facing strong beasts and sometimes other humans.


    Kayden lost track of time while cultivating and fighting like crazy. His days were summed up in endlessly fighting various beasts to the limit of his body and then cultivating and thinking about concepts. Since he didn¡¯t need to sleep, his days were 100% spent.


    Whether aquatic, land, or aerial beasts, they were all killed by Kayden at some point and had their meat removed for him to feed on. Kayden didn¡¯t even look for the animal¡¯s core, it was completely useless to him at this point.


    Kayden was floating in the center of the forest and a few dozen people were around him. No one dared to approach him. His physique was damaged, with long hair and signs of a thin beard appearing, his torn and dirty clothes gave him a crazy look. But the main thing was his aggressive aura, which exuded violence at anyone who looked.


    This aura was being exuded subconsciously after facing so many different beasts. Everyone was floating as they looked at a giant labyrinth that rose overnight and released a huge pulse of mana, drawing the attention of everyone in the bubble.


    The walls of the labyrinth were made entirely of leaves and were a few tens of meters tall and several kilometers long. At the moment, only a few people entered, but none of them managed to return. Kayden was trying to study the maze and the possibilities. The animals came at high speed and just entered irrationally.


    He would be in within an hour at most. He decided this because of the treasures that must have been inside. If it took too long, they would be completely looted and Kayden would only be left with useless remains.


    "Kayden?" a familiar voice woke Kayden from his thoughts.


    "He¡¯s just a beggar, isn¡¯t he, Kayden?" Kayden recognized the other voice too and when he turned around he found Anthony, Ashley, and Anabela. His surprise was that they had all reached the fourth level as well. Without a doubt, they had many benefits within the bubble.


    "It¡¯s me, I¡¯ve just been in the forest for a long time," Kayden even felt awkward saying it. He hadn¡¯t said anything in a long time.


    "You¡¯re kind of finished, but you¡¯re still as strong as ever. Let¡¯s fight," Ashley said as soon as Kayden identified himself.


    "Another day."


    "Why?"


    "Just because."


    "That doesn¡¯t justify it."


    "I¡¯m busy now."


    "You are stopped."


    Ashley was as annoying as ever. Anthony greeted Kayden friendly and they exchanged some of their experiences over the past few months. According to Anthony, the college had sent several of its top-ranked students into the forest. At first, entry was free, but several students died inside, so it was only barred to those at the top of the rankings.


    Anabela didn¡¯t greet Kayden and just turned her nose away. It seemed that her latest defeat had hurt the pride of the girl who had always been at the top. In recent months, she has been working tirelessly to overcome Kayden, he was the first to destroy her while in the same realm.


    "Do you know what this is?" Kayden asked and saw the three people shake their heads. "I¡¯ll go in, we can form a group." Kayden knew the strength of the three and without a doubt, they would not be dead weight.


    "Of course, an extra person is always welcome." Before they could say anything else, a group of ten people shouted at the maze¡¯s entrance.


    "My group is claiming ownership of this ruin, anyone who wants to enter needs to pay 1000 gold coins." His speech made most of the people around him angry, but in the group, the majority were in the eighth realm and two were in the ninth realm, it was a very strong force.


    "I¡¯m not going to pay this!" Anabela was the first to rebel in Kayden¡¯s group. The boy was going to pay and avoid a senseless confrontation, but the arrogant girl went ahead and started shouting at them. S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I am the heiress of a grand duke, who are you to stop my passage?" His response was just some laughter and a middle finger from the group leader. They were dressed entirely in black and had no visible features, it was clear that they were outlaws.


    This enraged Anabela, who unleashed dozens of generic fire spells against her opponents. Its strength was ridiculous for its level and it burned one of the party members to near death, while the rest managed to retreat and defend themselves.

 Chapter 210: Entering the labyrinth

    "Attack," the leader said calmly, and within seconds dozens of different spells flew towards Anabela. She just backed away easily, but...


    Clang!


    "Your arrogance will still kill you, Ana," Anthony defended the attack of a woman who appeared invisibly right behind Anabela. If not for him, the girl would have suffered a serious injury easily.


    Ashley also joined the battle and soon a confusion of spells erupted everywhere. Ashley and Anthony were hand-to-hand combatants and even with several levels of difference, they were managing to balance the fight. Unfortunately, that wasn¡¯t enough for them to win.


    Anabela could easily burn her opponents with her phoenixes, but she always left them very close to dying and did not finish her opponents, giving the leader time to quickly heal them to the point where they were able to fight again.


    "Insolent, shooting star!" A huge mass of mana converged from Anabela to form her final spell and within seconds a huge meteor formed above her head. It was simply colossal and much stronger than what she used against Kayden.


    Anthony and Ashley quickly retreated from the crossfire as the meteor quickly descended. It ripped through the air and made a frightening sound, anyone caught in it would be dead instantly.


    "Protection bubble!" the leader took a watch out of his pocket and broke it. Then a golden bubble appeared around him and his group. Kayden could see the ten people throwing mana into the clock with everything they had.


    BOOM!


    The meteor collided with the barrier and for a second it was balanced above it and then, in a few seconds of suspense, it just veered to the side and created a gigantic crater. The golden bubble had sunk at least 3 meters below the ground but left everyone inside unharmed.


    Anabela was stunned to see her strongest spell being easily defended. She didn¡¯t know that the defense artifact was something from the second realm and was not available in the sun realm, so she was unaware of it.


    Kayden finally saw that the fight was going to turn bad for his friends. Anabela was recovering mana at an accelerated rate and would not be able to cast large spells again. The boy had already finished seeing how much his acquaintances had improved.


    Using his path to the fullest he hit the group like a rocket. His entrance took the ten by surprise, as Kayden had been the only one who hadn¡¯t made a move previously. Its speed was ridiculous and it caught up to the men quickly.


    BOOM! S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    BOOOM!


    BOOOM!


    Three rays in a row fell on the group, each ray hit at least one person, while the others managed to dodge it and began to throw different offensive spells at Kayden. The woman who had tried to murder Anabela appeared next to Kayden...


    SWISH!


    Her head rolled like it was made of paper as Kayden¡¯s aura slash decapitated her. Kayden had felt her mana micro evasions all this time and when she launched her attack she was too close to react.


    Kayden wasted no time and used more lightning to unbalance the group in front of him and get close to the leader. His sword attack was defended by an extremely tough iron staff. Kayden was surprised that the leader, who was a healer, was able to defend himself physically.


    He had to retreat because of the spells and physical attacks approaching him. Unfortunately, the group underestimated Kayden¡¯s madness and after taking two steps back he charged again against nine people and dozens of spells.


    Kayden used the mana from all of his 200-odd meters to form a ridiculous aura attack, it was the strongest attack he had ever launched in his life. The leader looked at that and fear showed on his face instantly, he no longer had any barrier available and had to force a bubble with his own hands.


    The group was very well trained and quickly everyone started throwing mana at the bubble. As soon as the aura attack touched the bubble, a ghastly sound of scraping metal was heard. Furthermore, several sparks were coming out from the entire region and the aura attack made contact with the bubble.


    Crack!


    Crack!


    After one part broke, it was just a chain break until the attack passed through the bubble and hit the group. It was simply too fast for them to dodge, and this time one of the groups was split in two. Unfortunately, the bubble cost half the strength of the attack and only managed to kill one of them, but Kayden had gotten what he wanted.


    His killing intent was released wildly and everyone could see thousands of faces of humans and beasts appearing around him. The scary thing was that there seemed to be a river of mud around Kayden and these faces were rising screaming. The amount was simply too ridiculous for one person to achieve in just one lifetime.


    "Let¡¯s continue?" Kayden asked as he looked into the leader¡¯s eyes and saw only instinctive fear. Kayden killed two members in less than 30 seconds of fighting without even blinking. Killing was as natural as breathing for him.


    "Back off!" a smoke bomb that covered dozens of meters was released by the leader as the group retreated in fear of just one person. Kayden, once again, proved himself above all.


    "Anabela," Kayden called, breaking the girl out of her thoughts, and she responded automatically.


    "Hey!!" Surprise made her voice strange and she felt ashamed of acting inelegantly and comparing herself to a commoner.


    "When you¡¯re facing people who won¡¯t be afraid to kill you, you should kill them at the first opportunity, don¡¯t be an idiot." Kayden¡¯s attention-grabbing call made her blush. The truth is that she had never been killed before and grew up protected by her parents.


    "I¡¯m going in, if you want to join me feel free." Kayden began to descend towards the maze and a few moments later the three of them descended with him. His performance wasn¡¯t what surprised them, it was the ease with which he took lives.


    As soon as they stepped a foot into the maze, they saw that the entrance behind them no longer existed and was just a wall of leaves. Kayden tried to attack the wall and couldn¡¯t even scratch the leaves. Furthermore, his spiritual sense was impaired, only reached the region that was between the walls.


    He could still feel the mana in his path, but that was it. I couldn¡¯t say anything more than that there was mana behind that wall. His group was testing the wall as well when they were attacked by several daggers.


    Kayden was the first to react and easily dodged the dagger. The other three in his group didn¡¯t have much difficulty either. Within moments, Kayden identified the attacker as a person who was pinned to the wall of leaves. You couldn¡¯t tell him apart from the mana on the wall, but his daggers had a tiny thread of mana that most people wouldn¡¯t be able to feel.


    He probably attacked and plundered those he could, and if he failed he would just put the matter aside and hide, waiting for the next target.


    BOOOM!


    Kayden smiled as he saw his lightning strike the attacker and seriously injure him. His attack caught him squarely, as he hadn¡¯t expected an attack. His body fell with a thud to the ground. He was still breathing, and able to stand, but the damage was severe and he was only tied down by Kayden¡¯s mana pressure.


    "Anabela, kill him." Kayden didn¡¯t want to be responsible for educating other people, but since she was in her group, it was better to mature, because if Kayden needed it, he could trust her.


    "I¡¯m not going to kill a tied-up person." The girl felt superior to that.


    "You are an idiot? He just tried to take your life, do you think you¡¯re living in a fairy tale? This is the real world, there is no honor when your life is at risk. If he was stronger you would be dead and he would loot your body or do worse things. Kill him."


    Kayden was harsh with his words and his tone left the girl no other option. Subconsciously, she raised her hand, her body trembled and Kayden felt every second that she was pathetic.


    "I am unable."


    "Pathetic" Kayden decapitated the person without any mercy and I continued forward, Anabela had Kayden¡¯s words in her head, she had never been treated like that before, either because they didn¡¯t dare to offend her family or because she wanted to flatter her.


    The quartet walked just a few more meters until the maze opened into a round room, in the center it had a kind of natural spirit, it was a bipedal species made entirely of wood, in addition it had some leaves around it, was a closed trunk, this scene reminded Kayden a lot of those classic role-playing games from his past life.

 Chapter 211: A strange situation

    As soon as they stepped on the spot, they saw the beast approaching them without any reaction, almost as if it were something dead. They couldn¡¯t even sense the level of the thing, but its speed made it clear that it was not one to be trifled with.


    BOOM!


    Kayden fired a bolt of lightning before it could get too close, but to the group¡¯s surprise, the beast was unharmed, with just a few black dots on its wood. Everyone knew the strength of Kayden¡¯s lightning, which made the situation even more disconcerting.


    The spirit quickly came towards them and, within seconds, collided with Anthony¡¯s blanket. His attack was made with one of his arms, which resembled a sharp blade, and even though it was made of wood, it was incredibly resistant.


    SWISH!


    A fireball cut through the air towards the spirit, and as soon as it touched its body, it started to catch fire, but the creature didn¡¯t seem to feel any pain and continued attacking the group.


    Kayden used all the mana at his disposal to create a quick and deadly aura attack. The attack covered the distance between him and the spirit in the blink of an eye but only managed to penetrate its body a little.


    Meanwhile, Anthony was being pressed hard by the spirit. His blanket was able to hold one of his arms easily, but the other was free to attack Anthony, as the blanket did not have the strength to hold back two attacks.


    "He¡¯s stupid, let¡¯s fight with scaled attacks and beat him by attrition!" shouted Ashley, taking Anthony¡¯s place in the confrontation. The girl wasted no time and released a breath of fire that made the wood turn completely black, but the spirit continued to advance.


    Anabela continued to land fire attacks, while Kayden used sporadic aura and lightning attacks. Meanwhile, Ashley and Anthony took turns holding the spirit. Within a few minutes, he no longer had any leaves on his body, and only two red balls floated where his eyes should have been.


    SWISH! S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    SWISH!


    SWISH!


    Kayden unleashed three point-blank aura attacks at the beast. The first two were free, but in the third, Kayden had to take damage to find space. The three attacks hit the same place, knocking off one of the animal¡¯s arms, but Kayden received a large cut on the side of his body, fortunately superficial.


    "Kayden!" Ashley shouted and took the boy¡¯s place. As Kayden retreated, he began to circulate his blood to the area, and an infinitely greater flow of nutrients and cells needed for repair arrived at the site instantly. The cut began to heal to the naked eye, and in a few minutes, he would be whole again.


    "Anthony, bind him with your blanket, Shooting Star!" Anabela used her strongest spell while Anthony sacrificed his blanket to hold the spirit. The huge meteor began to fall ominously, hitting the ground and crushing the spirit.


    Even under this ridiculously strong attack, the spirit broke the earth that buried it and came out. The half of his arm that had fallen off in Kayden¡¯s attack was even more damaged, and half of his torso was no longer visible.


    The group continued to make interspersed attacks, and in a few more minutes, the spirit had only one leg, its torso, and its head. Even under these conditions, he continued to pursue the group. Anabela began to bury him with fire spells until there was nothing left of the spirit.


    Any other group would not have been able to make such strong attacks to damage the beast, or they would have been killed by the spirit¡¯s ridiculously strong attacks. Even though he had no intelligence, he was very dangerous.


    "Are you okay, Kayden?" Ashley turned to Kayden and saw the boy calm, with the cut almost closed. She was surprised, as she didn¡¯t remember him being able to heal himself, but she left it aside.


    "I¡¯m going to use my blanket to open this chest," said Kayden, and the group readily agreed. It was better to guard against any traps. As the blanket began to lift the trunk¡¯s flap, Kayden felt the violent mana it exuded and easily recognized what was inside.


    "Don¡¯t open it," he stopped Anthony seconds before the disaster. "There are some seeds of desire there. They make anyone around them go crazy for sex and do it until they die."


    The group wouldn¡¯t have believed it if they hadn¡¯t had enough reports in the forest about people copulating uncontrollably until they died. For a few seconds, no one said anything as they looked at the chest.


    "What do we do then?" Anabela asked, breaking the silence. The one who responded was Kayden.


    "I can deal with the seed illusion. If none of you can do this, I will take it for myself." His speech made Anabela instantly angry.


    "We all fought for this, you won¡¯t get the prize alone." Kayden smiled.


    "Okay, you can take the seed." The three just fell silent at his response. In the end, he was the only one who could use the seed, even if his attitude wasn¡¯t the right one, he didn¡¯t care.


    As soon as he approached the chest, he began to lift the lid and didn¡¯t forget to prevent the mana from leaving a certain perimeter around it. His absolute control allowed him to do this smoothly.


    When the lid of the chest was opened, he found four seeds. This caused some doubt in his mind. First, it looked very much like something made by a sadistic mind, from the boss and the reward at the end to the fact that there were exactly four seeds. But the main thing was that he perfectly remembered feeling only three seeds in the chest.


    Kayden took out the biggest one and quickly placed it in his expandable bag, sealing off any inflow and outflow of his mana. Then he took the other three seeds and studied them for a few seconds, then threw one to each person in the group.


    "These are clean," he said, causing the three, who instinctively moved away, to pick up the seed and feel the high density of mana present in it. After everyone stored their rewards somewhere, they continued forward.


    The next room made everyone doubt their vision. It was a space with just a tree in the center and stupidly beautiful green branches around it. But that wasn¡¯t even the strangest thing, but a sign at the entrance saying "rest area".


    Kayden¡¯s intuition that something was wrong increased considerably. Before it was just a doubt, but now he was sure that something wrong was happening here. His first thought was that it was a test done by Eden, that was his best explanation for all this madness. After confirming that there was nothing evil around, he sat down on the grass and took his seed out of the bag.


    "I will use my seed, if you want you can continue without me." After that, Kayden just swallowed the seed and started cultivating while this time, the process was much easier. He didn¡¯t even get an erection against his will.


    His previous experience had prepared him enough for him to be able to clear the seed¡¯s will several times faster, and since he didn¡¯t need to hide his mana to avoid being attacked, his focus was entirely on cultivating.


    He didn¡¯t wait to see his group¡¯s reaction and he didn¡¯t care. Kayden was sure that he could advance one more level with this seed, meaning he would be at the fifth level of the first realm. His strength would grow once more.


    Slowly, time began to pass. Kayden managed to absorb all the mana he needed to advance in just 12 hours. Its perfect foundation made the cultivation process ridiculously easy. The five rays cut it ridiculously. Kayden wondered what would happen if he managed to get through with six lightning bolts. What level would your base be at?


    Furthermore, as his master had taught him, it was increasingly easier to reach the top of each realm. The higher one climbed, the faster he reached the top of each realm as his mana control became better and better. But the problem was moving from kingdom to kingdom. Most spent the rest of their lives trapped in the ninth rank of some kingdom.


    Using the spare mana, Kayden began the process of advancement naturally, just continuing to circulate the mana thousands of times at high speed. Euphoria took over her body with each turn, but her cold mind prevented her from expressing herself, and continued working tirelessly.


    Within a few minutes, his body began to heat up and hurt ridiculously. This time, it wasn¡¯t his blood or any other problem. It was a familiar pain for Kayden, the pain of his genetic shackle. He remembered how painful it was to rank up when he was younger, and again he was feeling the same feeling.


    Kayden smiled. This meant that his progress was ridiculously fast.


    For a second, Kayden felt like he could do whatever he wanted and learn anything within his reach just by trying.


    ¡¯The urge.¡¯

 Chapter 212: A strange situation[2]

    Kayden began to use the momentum to shape his heart and veins. His focus this time was to mix his blood veins with mana even more, making the amount of mana greater, and, as ridiculous as it seemed, he felt his body responding positively. This opened a new world in Kayden¡¯s mind.


    Maybe in the future, he could just be mana coursing through his body. That would be ridiculously powerful, but that was a thought for another time. Kayden continued to build on the momentum to make as much progress as he could in a short amount of time.


    After a few minutes of ridiculous pain, Kayden didn¡¯t feel like he was making any more progress and just let nature finish its advance. His body began to expel some black substances from all of his pores.


    The pain lessened considerably as he saw his muscles being improved, his bones becoming more resilient and his mana control receiving a small, almost insignificant increase.


    This process took another 30 minutes before Kayden was finally able to move forward solidly. As soon as he opened his eyes...


    ¡¯What the fuck?¡¯ As absurd as the situation was, it was happening in front of him while his three friends were having sex without the slightest shame. Kayden looked into their eyes and automatically noticed that they were under the effect of the seed.


    It was a strong effect, it was probably hidden in the seeds. As soon as Kayden opened his eyes, the three of them turned to him instantly. For a few seconds, nothing happened other than them staring at each other. Then, Anabela said in her thinnest and firmest voice possible.


    "Why don¡¯t you join us?" Along with her, Ashley started rubbing her private parts in a flashy way. Kayden didn¡¯t even react as he evaluated the possibilities and how he could free his companions from this effect.


    The two began to approach with Anthony following like a puppy. Kayden thought about trying to wake up his friends, but to do that he would have to find the best opportunity, so he put his stupidest smile on his face and approached the two.


    Fighting directly was out of the question. Kayden was capable of killing the three if he gave his all, but incapacitating them was another story, even more so considering that he could feel the amount of mana in their bodies and that this contaminated mana could be used by them.


    Within seconds, he noticed all these factors and came up with a smart plan. Anyone would classify him as dishonest, but he didn¡¯t care. He needed his allies to be in the best condition to continue.


    "Of course, girls, I¡¯m all yours, but I only have relationships with those who have spells that luxuriously overflow mana. Furthermore, it must be done during the act." The boy waited for the three¡¯s reactions and realized that they maintained a certain degree of rationality, as they first stopped to think about what he said.


    Luckily it wasn¡¯t much, and Ashley released a huge dragon¡¯s breath into the sky. Kayden felt the mana in the girl¡¯s body falling. Then, Anabela released a huge meteor on the wall with a lot more earth and flames. He dismantled it in the air, but it was very eye-catching. Even Anthony used his blanket to fly.


    "Now you must fulfill your promise. I won¡¯t even do a spell before you ********" The sentence that came out of Anabela¡¯s mouth would be perfectly placed on the lips of a prostitute of the lowest echelon.


    Without any weight on his conscience, Kayden began the act with the three of them. Anyone else would have left a mark on their conscience, but Kayden just treated it as a peculiar experience.


    "Spells!"


    Meteor, rain with the blanket, and a purple dragon¡¯s breath.


    After a few more minutes of sex, Kayden remained fully aware without caring about the pleasure. The man was descending rapidly, and they seemed more and more aware of their actions.


    "Spells! I want a really big one now, the best you can make." After a few more spell sessions, Kayden felt Anabela the closest to breaking free, and when she launched a ridiculously large meteor that fell apart as soon as it was cast, his eyes regained all consciousness.


    "A!" His first action was to fall to the ground while screaming. Kayden thought nothing of it as she went into shock at the scene of Ashley dealing with two at once and dealing with all of her memories.


    "Ashley, release the biggest fire I¡¯ve ever seen in my life, come on!" The next one to regain consciousness was the dragon girl, and she reacted very similarly to Anabela. The difference is that she just fell to the ground and stayed still. Anthony looked at the two with crazy eyes, but before he could take a step forward, Kayden attacked him.


    While the two girls dealt with the enormous emotional burden they were suffering, Kayden forced Anthony to regain consciousness, and it only took a few more minutes for him to get the boy conscious again.


    The three remained silent while Kayden put on his clothes and only at that moment did they start to get dressed too. The group was quiet for a few minutes, with everyone reflecting on the experience. The only calm one was Kayden, who didn¡¯t even waste his time and started thinking about his next bondage concept.


    "I¡¯m at least halfway through the fourth rank," Anthony commented to break the silence of long minutes. The ones who led the fastest with this were he and the dragon girl, mainly because they weren¡¯t virgins before this and because they needed power as soon as possible for personal reasons.


    "You are an idiot? I lost my virginity to practically two strangers!" Anabela screamed. S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Already happened. There¡¯s no point dwelling on this situation. The seed takes away only a part of consciousness. You were not completely obligated to do what you did. But as they were feeling pleasure, their mind just accepted it. If you want someone to blame, blame yourself," Kayden¡¯s voice cut off any conversation and they just remained silent, each with their thoughts.


    Anthony was feeling bad because he had a girlfriend outside of this dungeon, and this was an act of betrayal, even if it wasn¡¯t entirely his fault.


    Ashley was just thinking about the power gain she had gained and would do it again. It wasn¡¯t painful and she needed the power to face situations in her home.


    Anabela was simply a storm of emotions, shame, hatred, and regret, all mixed. How was she going to tell her parents this? She has always been overprotective and didn¡¯t even think about hiding this situation.


    "Hey! You two, apply high-density mana to your genitals to avoid pregnancy," Kayden¡¯s speech made them both blush. He just talked about this matter as if it was nothing.


    "Let¡¯s sign a contract that this won¡¯t go away," then took out a contract that tied the four of them to this secret.


    "I need to tell my girlfriend," Anthony¡¯s voice was low.


    "And me to my parents!!" Anabela screamed her words as she looked close to freaking out. Kayden sighed seeing how pathetic they were.


    "Would you rather risk losing your relationship over something that wasn¡¯t even your fault? Besides hurting your partner for the rest of your life, just sign the contract and forget about it," Kayden turned to Anabela. "And you¡¯re going to embarrass your parents with something so futile? Just sign it and bury this secret forever. They don¡¯t need to know every single issue in your life."


    Anthony was the first to be influenced by Kayden¡¯s words and signed the contract shortly after Ashley. His nature forced him to be honest with his spouse, but the situation shook his mind and made Kayden¡¯s statement influence him.


    "But..."


    "But what? Is it your life or theirs? Are you a puppet or a living being? Haven¡¯t you at least gained strength? Just accept it and bury this matter once and for all," the girl was completely shaken, and Kayden¡¯s words created the first seeds of rebellion in her perfectly controlled life, and soon after she signed the contract.


    Kayden breathed a sigh of relief. If they didn¡¯t sign this contract, he would be forced to kill the three of them so that the secret wouldn¡¯t leak out and reach Sarah¡¯s ears. The support of the Brriten family was important to him, even though he had that of the royal family. Kayden still preferred to play on the safe side.


    "Let¡¯s continue?" The group just accepted Kayden¡¯s speech and decided to deal with their emotions later. As soon as they left the resting point, they entered a room with another wooden spirit in the center and another chest. It was the same environment, but this time the character in the center was a little smaller and thinner, in addition, his leaves were arranged on his body forming a kind of cloak.


    "Careful!" Kayden screamed a second before a hail of wooden spikes flew at them. Fortunately, Anthony managed to gather his blanket and protect the group, but...

 Chapter 213: Another reward

    CRACK!


    Some darts still managed to get through and were only stopped because of the bubble that Anabela conjured. As the three of them were looking at the creature, Kayden was amazed at the style of mana manipulation he had seen at that moment. Only part of the spell was made by the creature, more specifically it conjured 90% of the wood and the rest was completed by a force that Kayden could not understand. It was the same wood, there was no difference, and he only noticed it because of the difference in mana. It was the absence of mana, as while the part created by the creature was made by mana, the other part didn¡¯t seem to be made of anything. Kayden just watched the next attacks and couldn¡¯t see how it was being done.


    BOOOM!


    A lightning attack landed directly on the creature, but it defended itself by closing itself into a wooden ball. Then, a huge meteor fell directly on her and the most it did was break her barrier into pieces. His wooden ball followed the same casting process as his attacks. Anthony tried to approach the figure but was cruelly shot by dozens of wooden darts. Furthermore, some vines were on his legs to impede his movements.


    SWISH!


    An aura attack from Kayden cut through the vines, allowing Anthony to retreat. Meanwhile, Ashley had used dragon breath towards the spirit, and again the same bubble rose to protect the spirit.


    SWISH!


    Kayden used another aura attack along with another lightning bolt and managed to break the wooden ball, exposing the creature inside to Anabela¡¯s meteor, this time smaller and weaker, but still efficient.


    BOOOM!


    Another wooden ball absorbed the impact easily and deteriorated in the air. For the next few minutes, the group just played attack and defense. It didn¡¯t seem like either side had any advantage, as the wooden balls were practically unbreakable from what they noticed, and Anthony¡¯s blanket, added to the bubble supported by the four, was enough to hold thousands of darts.


    This was a test that only mages could pass. Any melee combatant would have been overwhelmed by the enormous amount of attacks coming towards them at all times.


    "Anthony, can your blanket give me speed and strength?" Kayden¡¯s question came as the group held off another wave of attacks. At this rate, they would be overcome by attrition.


    "Yes, but how are you going to get near that thing?" The ball made the creature a being of perfect defense. It was only visible for a few milliseconds.


    "Anabela, use the meteor. I will attack at the perfect time. It will just be a chance. If I fail, we will die here, as I will no longer have mana to support the bubble," Kayden¡¯s tone left no doubt.


    ¡¯Come to me wherever you are.¡¯


    All the mana in the region, and even beyond the door, began to come towards Kayden. There seemed to be no end to it as he became a massive ball of mana. This was very different from when he just used it for an aura or lightning attack because after that attack he would not have the ability to pull any mana from the region, as it simply would not have mana.


    "Now."


    As Ana¡¯s meteor began to fall, Kayden used mana to accelerate his body to a ridiculous speed. Every muscle in his body was trembling from the effort, and if it weren¡¯t for the treasures he had utilized over the past few months, he would have exploded from the inside out. His skin began to burn from proximity to the meteor¡¯s flames, yet he didn¡¯t care. Some bubbles began to appear over the redness of his skin, his hair had already caught fire, and as ridiculous as it seemed, Kayden was bald and had no eyebrows.


    BOOOM!


    The ball defended the meteor and opened for just an instant, but it was enough for Kayden to use the biggest aura attack of his life. There wasn¡¯t even the sound of the wind being cut off. It was so fast that the only sound was...


    BOOOM!


    The aura slash cut the spirit into two halves as it descended towards him vertically and continued towards the ground, where it exploded without managing even to cause a scratch.


    Kayden fell to the ground without even being able to lift his arm. Every muscle in his body stopped working. It would take him a few minutes to be able to circulate the mana in his blood to heal himself minimally, but his injuries were more superficial and would not cause any additional problems for him.


    Anthony was the first to use the blanket to remove Kayden from the spirit, meanwhile, Anabela burned his remains to make sure he died. Neither of them looked at the chest for fear of having the same prize again.


    "I just need a few minutes. I recommend not opening the trunk without me," Kayden said before closing his eyes and focusing on his recovery. At that moment, he was sure that he had gained a lot by entering the bubble. Every second, the pain in his skin seemed to lessen, and within just 20 minutes, there was no longer any sign of the mild burns. S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The serious ones took another hour to heal. His muscles were healed in the meantime easily, just with nutrients circulating at high speed through his body. He just had to keep eating while he healed.


    body, he just had to keep eating while he healed.


    "Finally, let¡¯s see what we got!" Ashley said excitedly. She looked like she was having fun with the whole situation. After Kayden checked and saw that there was nothing much coming out of the chest, it was opened and revealed four golden apples inside, only Anabela recognized these apples.


    "These are golden apples of Hermes, they improve your muscles to increase your speed, they are extremely rare, I have never seen any for sale," as soon as she explained, the whole group looked at the apples with better eyes.


    "Before we go to the break room, I have to remind you that you will probably have the same illusion again," Kayden¡¯s speech stopped the movements of the three and each fell silent as they thought about their actions.


    "Kayden, can you do the same thing again?" The first to speak was Ashley. She needed strength and would do anything for it. Kayden wasn¡¯t exactly an angel of a person and...


    "A favor you can¡¯t refuse as long as it doesn¡¯t directly affect your life," Kayden directly threw something harsh and his response was immediate.


    "I accept."


    "How can you exchange your body for strength? Have you no honor?" Anabela screamed upon hearing the interaction.


    "What am I doing wrong? I¡¯m gaining strength and it¡¯s not even something that causes pain," Ashley replied dryly to the girl. Anthony remained silent as his morale swung this way and that.


    "When you¡¯re at the top, only strength matters, even if it costs your dignity or honor," Kayden said to no one and waited for the other two¡¯s decision. Anthony was the first to deny it and then Anabela.


    Ashley didn¡¯t know if they could take the rewards to the next room. Her desire for power was so great that she preferred not to take that risk and asking Kayden to tire her by facing her was out of the question, as the boy would certainly refuse to waste so much strength and run the risk of getting hurt.


    "Wait here for a while then, we¡¯ll come back when we¡¯re done," Kayden asked as he made Ashley sign a contract promising a favor. The next room was identical to the previous one and had a large green lawn.


    Kayden sat on the floor and immediately ate his apple in a few bites. Unexpectedly, the altered mana with aphrodisiac effects was only dormant, Kayden got rid of it before it suffered any effects.


    Over the next few minutes, he felt his body begin to catch fire. It felt like it was heating up to the point of turning into liquid. His movements became ridiculously difficult, it felt like his body didn¡¯t respond to his actions. The pain was quite loud and would have made anyone scream Ashley was rolling on the floor as she screamed in pain. Kayden just sat there and focused on his progress so much so that he couldn¡¯t even hear the sound.


    With each minute that passed, Kayden felt his body becoming more and more limp and difficult to control. His skin seemed to be sagging, it looked similar to when we use a bag filled with something and then take out its contents.


    Slowly the pain began to pass as Kayden began to lose his senses, it was a very strange feeling when he just fell to the ground face down, he didn¡¯t have the strength to hold himself up sitting down and couldn¡¯t even feel his body.

 Chapter 214: Strength or dignity

    The fall that would probably have caused minimal pain due to the strength of Kayden¡¯s body wasn¡¯t even felt, he was unable to feel anything. This was not entirely true. His spiritual sense was still active and his mana manipulation did not seem to have been affected in any way.


    It was a strange sensation where Kayden could feel his body, but at the same time, it didn¡¯t feel like him. His spiritual sense was not combining with his other senses, making it seem like he was looking at himself outside his body, like a spectator.


    A few minutes later, slowly his sensations began to return and this time the pain was even greater than before. He felt every inch of his body being shaped. Easily, he understood that it was his nerves being reset. He paid close attention to see if nothing bad was going to happen.


    After another long period of pain, it was the turn of his muscles, which seemed to be in the form of liquid in his body, to be restored. It was a strange sensation of having your body torn and reshaped dozens of times in just a few seconds.


    A few more minutes later, the pain finally went away and control of his body returned fully to Kayden. His body wasn¡¯t even tired, it felt like he had slept a long night¡¯s sleep.


    "Not bad," Kayden tested his gains and saw that it was only something close to 5%. The apple probably worked by destroying the imperfections it found, but Kayden had already polished his body dozens of times and hadn¡¯t gained any major enhancements.


    When he looked at Ashley, he saw that she was still in the phase of having her body turned into liquid, it would probably take a while longer in this infernal pain before she entered the nerve phase.


    Kayden decided to just cultivate in silence while he waited, lost in his cultivation he didn¡¯t even notice when the girl went through all the phases and finally woke up with her eyes unfocused by the effect of the altered mana.


    Only when she came within a few feet of Kayden did the boy open his eyes. There was no fear in them as they looked at Ashley. He stood up and smiled his most clumsy smile possible.


    "Good spells and I¡¯ll do whatever you want."


    It took 4 hours after Kayden and Ashley entered the room for one of them to finally call Anthony and Anabela. An awkward silence remained in the group for a few seconds as their gaze went from Kayden to Ashley.


    "Worth it?" Anabela asked Ashley without hiding her disapproval.


    "15% or so," Ashley replied with a satisfied smile. The group didn¡¯t talk much more and went to the next room. As soon as they stepped into the corridor that connected the different levels, Kayden spoke to the two.


    "Check your apples." Without asking much, the two grabbed their bags and...


    "Where is it?"


    "I¡¯m not finding it!"


    As Kayden had thought, the maze gave a reward but asked people to stay in that state for a while. Whether they would die there from exhaustion or not was something that seemed to matter to the labyrinth.


    "It can probably only be used in its corresponding rooms." For the next few minutes, the two freaked out like normal teenagers after losing a huge treasure. Kayden didn¡¯t mind too much and Ashley sighed in relief that she had made the right decision.


    "Let¡¯s move on to the next room, there¡¯s no point crying over spilled milk." His speech woke them both up and made them compose themselves. After just a few steps, they saw two spirits in front of them, the problem was that it was a wizard and a physicist.


    "This is going to be boring," Kayden muttered before unleashing an aura attack against the spirits that was defended by the physique using his body. His group didn¡¯t wait and began to release several different spells. Ashley took the lead along with Anthony and Kayden, meanwhile, Anabela released several phoenixes against her opponents.


    The mage spirit could not make full attacks like before, as he would not end up hitting his ally. This greatly reduced his danger, even more so when they realized that he was stupid and often hit his companion.


    His only attack was a volley of wooden darts. He did several cycles to continue playing, without worrying about anything else. Did it work out? It doesn¡¯t matter, throw more darts. Went wrong? It doesn¡¯t matter either, just throw more darts.


    Whenever he was ready for another round, Kayden and his group would retreat and retreat into a bubble. Most of the damage was absorbed by the physical spirit, but it wasn¡¯t much.


    "Shooting star!" Anabela unleashed her most destructive spell while they were inside the bubble. He fell quickly and accurately against the physical spirit, which was relatively weaker than the first one they faced, and suffered several deep burns on his body.


    The fight continued like this for a few more seconds, until the wizard did something different and...


    " Ugh !" Anthony felt a dart lodge deep in his leg. Fortunately, he was far from the physical spirit and did not suffer because of this slip. The change in attack pattern alerted everyone.


    "Let¡¯s get rid of the physical, give everything you can," Kayden¡¯s sentence was readily accepted and, within seconds, dozens of phoenixes flew against the spirit. A dragon breath raged throughout his body and several aura attacks rained down on him.


    Even with this wide variety of spells, the spirit would have managed to survive, if the blanket hadn¡¯t lodged itself around its feet and trapped it firmly on the ground, making it impossible to move.


    Within seconds, his body was reduced to a shapeless, scorched piece of wood. This cost Kayden¡¯s group practically nothing other than a lot of mana.


    "Bubble!" As soon as Kayden shouted, Anabela raised a bubble with the remainder of her mana and was supported by the other three. "I¡¯m going to get mana from the environment for you, try to recover while we hold the bubble, we¡¯ll do the same as in the other fight."


    For the next few minutes, they just held on as best they could. Kayden was gathering mana for them to recover. Unfortunately, the pace was slow as a lot of mana was spent on the bubble.


    BOOM!


    Kayden occasionally fired lightning at the spirit to buy time. It took his group an hour to recover and be able to fight the spirit again. After that, it was only a matter of time before they landed a large sequence of strong attacks and broke the wooden ball along with him.


    "Prizes! Prizes! Prizes!" Ashley again was first followed by Anthony and Anabela, who were in a somber mood. As soon as Kayden confirmed, the chest was opened and revealed four leaves with a golden drop on them.


    Her appearance reminded Kayden of the nectar of knowledge, but he couldn¡¯t draw that conclusion based on that alone. His group fell silent as they each thought about what it was. At the end...


    "I have no idea."


    "I don¡¯t know."


    "I¡¯ve never seen anything like it."


    "Me too."


    After a few minutes, Kayden was again the first to take the initiative and took one of the sheets.


    "I¡¯ll take a chance. Ashley, remember the favor you owed me? I want you to experience this before I do."


    "No! And if I die?" The girl promptly refused, but Kayden took the contract out of her pocket.


    "Based on everything we¡¯ve been through, you¡¯re not going to die, either you pay back your favor or you die for the contract." Kayden showed her claws to Ashley¡¯s fury. The girl looked into his eyes and remained silent when she saw that he was willing to do what he was saying.


    Kayden¡¯s attitude surprised everyone and made them look at him with new eyes. Within seconds, he revealed his claws and demonstrated that he was a wolf in sheep¡¯s clothing.


    "Don¡¯t worry too much, I¡¯m pretty sure I know what it is, I just have to be sure I know what to use its benefits for." Kayden¡¯s speech improved Ashley¡¯s mood a little, but her face was still dark. S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "All good." In the end, she just accepted it. Meanwhile, Kayden turned to the other two who were in a moral and ethical dilemma. The doubt of what to do could be seen in his eyes. Strength or dignity?


    "This will never come out of the four of us, you have five minutes to decide." With that, he walked with Ashley into the other room and just waited. This was an interesting situation for Kayden. How far did human greed go? How prepared was a person to give up their moral ethics for power?


    Ashley was different as her decision was not against her ethics and morals, kayden saw that she did not fight the situation and tried to make the best of it, but when he found himself alone in the break room with Ashley he spoke up.


    "Don¡¯t worry, they will test it before you do"


    "How are you sure they ¡¯re going to come?"

 Chapter 215: Another concept

    "Intuition," was the answer Kayden gave, but his thought was ¡¯they¡¯re mediocre¡¯. The doubt he saw in her eyes sickened him. Kayden would do many things for power, but he would always adhere to his code of ethics and morals. Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    They weren¡¯t particularly very pretty and he would do many horrible things for 1% strength, but in the end, he would give up dozens of levels if it went against his ideals. A few minutes later, the door opened revealing...


    "Where is Anthony?" Anabela entered alone, surprising Kayden. If he thought any of the two would remain firm in their decision, it was the girl in front of him. But he didn¡¯t take into account the psychological toll that the defeat he caused had on Anabela¡¯s head.


    "He decided to stay," the girl said just that and avoided Kayden¡¯s gaze. His face was red with embarrassment.


    "Use the plant first and try to tell us what its benefit is, or go back to the room with Anthony." Anabela wasn¡¯t an idiot and already expected something like this. Then he just put the liquid in his mouth and swallowed.


    Instantly, she felt lighter, and an absurd mental clarity opened up to her. Everything seemed to be easy to understand and learn. This feeling was identical to the nectar of knowledge.


    Without wasting time, she released just one sentence and began to use clarity to think about her wizard concepts.


    "Knowledge." With that, Kayden and Ashley just put the liquid in their mouths and had the same sensations.


    Kayden felt two concepts calling him: one of them was bondage, one of the concepts he chose to accompany his path in the first realm, and the second concept was static energy, an important concept for him to improve his control over lightning and learn the technique. of bolt.


    In an instant, he weighed the value of each concept. In one, he would gain instant strength and his path would undergo a good improvement. In the other, it would be a smaller improvement and with more focus on the future. Fortunately, Kayden was not an idiot and would trade momentary strength for greater strength in the future. Therefore, he chose static energy.


    The concept of static energy was nothing more than energy imbalance. Normally, the energy in certain objects is neutral and has the same number of protons and electrons. But when we rub our hair against a balloon, energy is passed from one to the other.


    The problem was how to place this in a mana world, where mana could alter the balance while maintaining it. For example, Kayden could make his hair positively charged even without the help of a bladder.


    Maybe the solution was balanced? But that wasn¡¯t right, because when static energy arises, the balance is broken, which is why our hair stands on end and the bladder sticks to the wall.


    In a system, energy must remain constant and unchanging, at least in a closed system. Kayden found himself in a room with carpet and a metal doorknob. Whenever he walked on the carpet, his body accumulated negative energy.


    When he touched the doorknob, the negative charge in his body was dissipated into the metal, which had a positive charge. The speed with which the two charges meet each other generates an electric current and we feel a shock.


    Something he would never have noticed if he hadn¡¯t learned the concept of energy appeared in front of him. The spare energy slowly dissipated into the air. The doorknob returned to its previous charge and so did the carpet.


    The mana flow was tiny, ridiculously small, but it was there. The energy dissipated into the air and the system returned to square one.


    ¡¯Square zero?¡¯ Kayden got lost in that word, and after a few minutes, the answer dawned on him. There was no square one, and the balance was imbalanced, when the doorknob was left with the same load for a long time, its interactions began to happen with the air.


    When the air was dry, it became an electrical insulator that made the system remain in its normal state of equilibrium, but when its humidity increased, the exchange of electricity occurred at greater values, and a new equilibrium was formed with more energy within the system.


    ¡¯Static energy is always present, it just remains on a smaller scale, balance is always maintained, and there is no imbalance at this point, at least when we are talking about mana flow.¡¯


    The final reveal was everything Kayden needed. His eyes opened with small rays swirling about them. Instantly, when he woke up, he could feel the difference in charge in the air and how things behaved.


    His mind began to blur and he faintly felt a rush of blood to his genitals. Instantly, Kayden cut off the effects and removed any mana that didn¡¯t belong to him from his body.


    Not only that, but he was able to naturally tell which points in the room would receive lightning most easily, just because of the different energy flow at each point. He tested it and noticed that at some points the messy charges prevented the beam from descending with all its force. It wasn¡¯t very exhausting, but 5% of the force was lost to breaking the wrong loads.


    Kayden tried to organize them and...


    BOOOM!


    The lightning struck with much more force than normal. It seemed like he had no difficulty getting down to the ground. It was as if this was his natural place in the grand scheme of things.


    The boy continued his tests for a few more seconds when he saw Anabela wake up with her eyes unfocused, Ashley was still sitting on the floor, and without pausing the girl came to Kayden and threw her clothes away.


    "Kayden....fuck me?"


    ********


    An hour later Kayden called Anthony who entered the break room and saw the two girls dressed and with expressionless faces, the environment was destroyed by their spells.


    "What did it do?" Anthony asked and the answer left him depressed, but he preferred to remain firm in his ideas, he may not have known, but he gained Kayden¡¯s respect.

 Chapter 216: The reason for the bubble[BONUS]

    "It was similar to the nectar of knowledge, something quite useful," Kayden replied neutrally. "Let¡¯s move on?" None of them knew the number of rooms in the place. They had already passed through three rooms and there seemed to be a few more.


    As soon as Kayden took three steps into the tunnel leading to the next room, his vision blurred for a full second, and then...


    "What the fuck?" Kayden was floating in the sky above the huge forest, in front of him was Azir, floating in the air in an imposing manner. There was no sign of anyone else in their group.


    "Majesty?" Kayden got no response. The silence only lasted a few more seconds, when Locke appeared at his side, disoriented as well. After that, Azir finally turned to the two.


    "I will answer your questions later. In the meantime, just watch that pink tree over there." A kind of ip¨º was where Azir pointed. The tree was beautiful, but that was its only feature. It just looked like a normal tree.


    In just a few minutes, a ridiculous amount of mana began to be moved. There was so much mana that Kayden felt like he was in a river. He lost his sense of space; everything was mana. The floor ceased to exist; heaven ceased to exist.


    No matter how great his spiritual sense was, he was not able to move out of this mana area, nor could he even control this mana. She had a ridiculously strong will even for him.


    Kayden had his mind opened again. He couldn¡¯t even think of a spell that needed that much mana. He had never seen this much mana before.


    The river of mana lasted for another few minutes before Kayden could finally begin to feel things again with his spiritual sense. The first thing he noticed was that he was no longer able to feel the ground. They were flying even higher. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Within seconds, all the mana was gone and Kayden was finally able to look down, and... there was nothing. The ground was completely barren, looking like a desert. The huge forest from before was reduced to just sand. There was no life anywhere that Kayden looked; trees, bushes, animals, nothing was visible.


    Perhaps just a few atomic bombs from his past life could bring such great destruction. Kayden¡¯s vision could reach several miles further than a normal person¡¯s and even then he could not see any sign of grass.


    Only one thing was alive and whole; the ip¨º was intact in all its glory. Not even a hint of mana could be felt around it, but its leaves seemed to have turned a blue hue.


    "Don¡¯t talk," Kayden heard Azir¡¯s voice in his mind milliseconds before he tried to ask a question. At this moment, the clouds in the sky closed in; the scariest thing was that they had a golden hue.


    Kayden recognized them instantly but had never seen anything this big and majestic. Each cloud appeared to be handcrafted by a divine craftsman. They shone with grandeur and strength. Kayden felt tiny, like a grain of sand in the enormous universe.


    He had only had this feeling once in his life, and that was when he fought the golden eyes in his coma. The clouds stretched as far as his eyes could see; he would be even more impressed if he knew that they extended for more than 10 thousand kilometers. Its extent was larger than a continent on ancient Earth.


    A few seconds later, it seemed like the world had stopped; a completely monstrous flash fell on the ip¨º tree. It was so strong and immense that Kayden¡¯s vision went white for a full second.


    BOOOOM!


    The shock wave traveled dozens of kilometers; an immense mushroom of dust was raised. The entire earth shook and a ridiculously large crater was opened in the ground, revealing large roots hundreds of meters long.


    The shock wave went to the bubble in which Azir was protecting Kayden and Locke and... the three were thrown back as if they were made of cloth facing a storm. This was bizarre considering Azir was at least in the fourth or fifth realm, Kayden still wasn¡¯t sure about that.


    The lightning came without spending mana; Kayden couldn¡¯t feel the attack. This was ridiculous; An attack of this magnitude should have cost a lot of mana, but even so, there was not the slightest sign that any mana was used.


    The next flash came as magnificent as the first; the strength and speed were unmatched by anything Kayden had ever seen. Even Azir had barely seen such strong blows in his entire life.


    This time, the ground opened up even more; practically 1 kilometer around the ip¨º was sunk, and its roots, which did not match the size of its trunk, were exposed, revealing a ridiculous amount of accumulated mana.


    The next flash came even stronger; this time, practically dozens of kilometers were sunk. The tree was forced to float in the air with its roots so as not to lose its balance.


    Another flash fell to the ground; with this, there were four rays marking the tree as a genius, at least by normal human standards. At this moment, it had not lost any roots, nor had it even suffered any damage.


    BOOOM!


    This time, she had a bit of difficulty facing the legendary fifth ray. Kayden couldn¡¯t take his eyes off the tree because he felt like this wasn¡¯t over yet. A huge crater where the tree was had appeared; only a huge dark hole could be seen. Its roots were burned in several places, some of them were destroyed, but even so, the tree was still intact and waiting for the next lightning bolt. Until this moment, she had only used her body to defend herself, but now the mana around her began to be used in her wood.


    The wood turned a darker tone, resembling metal, and the roots began to move. It was ridiculously strange to see such large roots moving; the tree was easily over 10 kilometers long and yet it seemed more agile than many small things.

 Chapter 217: Only perfection is acceptable

    The next flash came, even more frightening than all the others. It was practically dozens of times stronger than the fifth ray; his strength could not be put into words. He fell without stopping for several seconds straight. The large crater widened even more; for several kilometers, there was absolutely nothing. A strangely loud sound was heard by everyone in the region.


    " Whoosh ."


    It was the sound of air coming in at high speed to balance the pressure; this meant the lightning decimated anything in the area it struck. Even the air was affected. When the flash passed, there was no sign of the tree. There was just a small round ball floating in mid-air... within seconds, it began to grow ridiculously large. In an accelerated manner, trunks and roots were expelled from his body at high speed.


    It didn¡¯t even take 10 seconds for the tree to be back with all its roots and trunks; even its leaves were back to normal. This degree of regeneration was completely surreal. The size of a fingernail, it grew to several kilometers.


    And even more was to come; The next flash was even more ridiculous and Kayden saw something he only read about in novels. Reality itself began to show cracks as if it were made of glass.


    He fell for several seconds; a ridiculous amount of mana was pouring out from every point of the cracks. The mana was enough to kill a mage in the fourth realm just by its quantity, without entering the rift.


    It took a while for him to stop falling, but once he did, there was no sign of the tree. At least no one could see it, not even Azir was seeing her. Maybe she would have died after facing seven lightning bolts. Kayden blinked his eyes and the tree was growing in front of him again. In the blink of an eye, she returned to the shape she was in previously. He couldn¡¯t even see where she grew up from; progress was much faster.


    Nobody said anything; the two were waiting for Azir¡¯s orders. This situation was far above his scope. The old man began to float with them toward the tree; they saw several hundred people in the air heading in the opposite direction of the tree; only a few people approached the ip¨º.


    "It will increase the mana density to something close to 1000 times for a few hours. Don¡¯t ask me why, just enjoy cultivating. I will erect a bubble around us so that you can cultivate without being overwhelmed by mana," said Azir. Just as he said, just a few seconds later, the air began to shake as the mana turned liquid.


    Once again, Kayden felt like he was in a river, but this time the man wasn¡¯t tied to a ridiculously strong will; they could use it with ease. Before he started cultivating, Kayden became reflective.


    What is the level of the tree to be able to do something like this? The amount of mana was so great that it seemed like a river crossing the entire sky; its density was so high that it became liquid.


    And what was that ridiculous regeneration? This was beyond common sense. The tree could easily grow in seconds, regardless of the level of the injury. Kayden was sure this was beyond what any human could do; perhaps only Eden had wizards at this level.


    Kayden still had his doubts about that, especially after seeing how Adam became a docile dog next to that dragon in the college test staircase illusion. Leaving that aside, he began to cultivate.


    The amount of mana was ridiculous; Kayden had never felt anything like this before. If he didn¡¯t count his body¡¯s stress, he could recover all of his body¡¯s mana in just one breath.


    Wasting no time, Kayden began improving his base even further; he could take the opportunity to improve his rank, but he knew that would be a waste of this opportunity. It was better to increase his growth ceiling than his current power.


    Kayden began using all the mana he could to improve just one small, insignificant detail in his base. Every inch of his veins was being studied and improved, whether in endurance or anything else.


    His heart went through dozens of full mana cycles; this meant he absorbed mana until it burst and then released it. All this is to observe your body¡¯s response and find the points that should be improved.


    He did this by using his path to move mana, thus ensuring that the stress was not on his body and only on his mind. And that was insignificant to Kayden; It had been a long time since he had the surgery so he couldn¡¯t sleep and since then his mind had been heavy and throbbing ridiculously.


    It felt like he had a nail driven deep into his skull and yet he continued to do everything he needed to do without worrying about the pain. This time would be no different; even if the pain is magnified dozens of times because of the incessant use of your path.


    "I found it," Kayden muttered after cycling the mana ten times and managing to fix a small spot in his heart that made the mana tend to come out more unstable. He would never have achieved this alone, as the amount of mana needed for him to find this small error would have cost him months of hard work.


    A few more rotations of mana and he found a defect in his veins where some cavities were larger on one side of his body than the other. This caused the force on each side to be slightly different; it was so insignificant that in ten thousand cases the force would only be different in 1 of them.


    "Only perfection is acceptable," Kayden continued looking for the problems. His heart was feeling ridiculously strong at this point, but Kayden noticed a small problem with his body¡¯s balance. The mana that reached the tip of his hand or foot was about 1% weaker than that in the central area of his body.


    This was because the mana received friction from the walls of the veins and lost strength. It was a ridiculously small thing, but it still existed. Kayden didn¡¯t waste even 1 minute to think of a solution and...


    Kayden began breaking four stitches on his body. The point of breaking it was to destroy everything he had there, be it veins or anything related to mana. The pain, once again, was ridiculous, but Kayden continued to smile. This was something he had thought about previously but was putting off until the ideal opportunity.


    On each shoulder, a mana hole was opened. On his waist, two other holes were made, one on each side of his body. His body previously felt like there was mana in every point of it, but now four empty points could be felt.


    Kayden began to gather mana around him, a ridiculous amount. First, he started with the right shoulder. His first action was to build a small base similar to a magic core.


    His body automatically tried to reject the new core, and Kayden just laughed to himself as he controlled his most basic instincts in the same way he chose to open or close the fingers on his hand.


    After a few minutes, four false cores were modeled at each of the points. Then Kayden began working on a structure he had rehearsed thousands of times in the past, enough so that dozens of years had passed and he could still remember it.


    First, the smaller cavities were constructed, and then the ventricles. The other time, Kayden took over half an hour, but now it was barely 2 minutes for each of the holes.


    The valves were made to perfection, with the highest quality that a craftsman could put into his work. The only difference between this moment and the previous one was storage. None of the four structures had any form of storage. S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The integration of the mind with the new organ was done in just a few seconds. Kayden had complete control over her body; he just had to order it and it would be done no matter what.


    "Perfect," Kayden smiled, seeing the four new hearts he built in just a few minutes. Logically, they weren¡¯t as strong as the first one and didn¡¯t even function as a mana core for him to advance through the ranks of mages.


    Their only use was to redirect the mana impulse to the extremities of the body as well as the main heart. They worked as a kind of high-speed system. Kayden only needed to think, and the mana would be at his fingertips at a much greater speed.


    The pain of the process was negligible for Kayden, and he just kept looking for improvements. His veins were tidied up, and the flow of mana was fixed at some points that made the mana travel a greater distance than it needed to.


    Ten hours later, Kayden was awakened by a tap on his shoulders from Azir. The mana flow had ended, but he was fixing a specific spot that didn¡¯t need mana and he didn¡¯t pay attention to it.

 Chapter 218: Not so explanatory explanation

    At the end of the entire process, he only gained a 10% increase in strength. It wasn¡¯t huge, but it increased his potential by several folds. His cultivation would now be at least twice as fast because of the new hearts and perfectly assembled mana paths.


    All the spare mana was sitting around the tree, actually in its trunks and roots. A faint blue hue could be seen around his body. Azir took them away so they wouldn¡¯t get caught for whatever she was going to do.


    What happened was that large amounts of earth began to fall into the hole, and dozens of giant blocks fell without stopping, similar to rain. Within a few minutes, the huge hole around him was completely closed.


    "POFT!"


    The tree fell to the ground and its roots began to pierce the earth. Then grass began to grow around him at high speed; every second, it advanced a few kilometers and in just a few more minutes it covered the entire devastated area again.


    After that, small bushes began to grow, which in a few minutes turned into living, healthy trees. It wasn¡¯t even half an hour before this large area was completely desolate. Fruits began to grow on the trees and bushes.


    Dozens of treasures could be seen beginning to bloom; Only with Kayden¡¯s spiritual sense did he see flaming apples, golden apples, and some world tree seeds. It was a much greater amount of wealth than before.


    Lakes were built, large mana channels and an airflow was placed back into the bubble; within seconds an ecosystem was easily raised. The only problem was that there were no animals, at least not yet; the tree was already exuding pheromones attractive to different species.


    "Humans, come out, your kind is banned for the next 200 years," a hoarse voice resounded in the minds of everyone within a thousand-kilometer area. Some didn¡¯t take it seriously; they were at the peak of humanity... they died as soon as they showed hesitation in leaving. Fortunately, Azir left instantly.


    At that moment, Kayden¡¯s vision became a blur and in the blink of an eye, he found himself above the temporary city that was built outside the bubble. He didn¡¯t know how many kilometers it was, but he was sure it was more than several dozen and it was all done almost instantly, what a ridiculous speed.


    "I need some good wine," Azir said nothing as he took the two to the building built by the royal family. As soon as it arrived it was served with the best that could be found; the three were in a room with some sofas and armchairs. S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Azir just plopped down on a random armchair and took off his exquisite clothes. Kayden didn¡¯t know what to do with the level of comfort that the kingdom¡¯s highest authority was showing; For a few seconds, no one said anything, until Azir finally broke the silence.


    "We don¡¯t know what rank that tree went to, luckily it¡¯s not from our planet", this last part was said in a low manner, almost as if he was talking to himself. "Her species is the same as the world tree, she needed to learn concepts about reproduction to advance her cultivation; that must have been clear with the aphrodisiac attacks inside the bubble, plus you saw her ridiculous recovery."


    "If I may be so bold as to ask, is Your Majesty in the fifth kingdom?" Kayden estimated that the fourth was the open peak of humanity, while the general leaders must be in the fifth and Eden must have at least Adam in the sixth realm.


    Azir was taken by surprise by Kayden¡¯s question and adjusted himself in the armchair to look at the boy; his rank was easily guessed, not that it was difficult for anyone with a bit of inside information.


    "Yes, the realm of demigods and also known as archmage", in the end, he just replied calmly, Kayden would find out about this one time or another.


    "And you say you never saw anything as strong as that world tree?" Kayden¡¯s voice came out indignantly and after Azir¡¯s nod, he realized why the old man was drinking wine.


    In just a few minutes, a new world of strength was opened to Kayden, not only that but one of superior quality. Kayden counted seven lightning bolts, how many lightning bolts were there? Five already made him ridiculously strong among his peers, six would probably make him able to perform a 9-level jump within the same realm, but seven?


    This was ridiculous, how strong did you need to be to withstand seven lightning strikes? Kayden even saw space itself cracking, even slightly this was still completely ridiculous, several questions arose in Kayden¡¯s mind and he began to reflect.


    First, he discovered that there was a way for forces from other planets to enter there. This meant that the dragon he saw was currently the most powerful life form on the planet and must be superior to the tree to allow it entry.


    This also meant that his time was running out; he needed to gain enough strength to be able to leave the planet in the event of an invasion. According to their knowledge, humanity still had 600 years for the barrier to fall, but this number only considered that no ridiculous force would appear on the planet.


    His first goal should be to reach the peak of the first realm and learn enough concepts to withstand more than five lightning bolts. His foundation was strong, his path was ridiculously powerful, his concepts were perfectly intertwined, and yet he only got five rays.


    "What happened to the other people in the bubble?" Kayden asked Azir after thinking for a few minutes.


    anti-life spell, they are probably alive since it was a weak spell and just for releasing mana. Otherwise, they were killed like rats," Azir replied.


    Kayden quickly excused himself and made some calls. It was easily discovered that the king warned everyone with sufficient force of what would happen; those who did not have the strength were only sacrificed.


    Han had gotten Heimer out before any problems happened. As for the three people who were with him... Only Anabela and Anthony had survived. Ashley was simply discarded by her family¡¯s patriarch, as she represented his family¡¯s rival faction. The dragon faction only had one patriarch in the fourth kingdom; the rest had not managed to stand out above average.


    Kayden was surprised for a moment and then put it aside. In the end, it didn¡¯t matter; life was extremely fragile, regardless of your power or talent. In the end, this meant absolutely nothing in the face of a greater power. The only problem is that he had lost a favor from the girl.


    Even if someone wanted revenge for Ashley, they would have to become strong enough to face the monster that killed her, and Kayden doubted anyone who had that ability would be trapped in the third realm.


    As soon as he went back inside, he saw Azir lying on the couch drinking wine without even picking up a glass, and Locke standing next to him cultivating normally as if this were common. In just a few seconds, the stoic image of the former king disappeared for Kayden.


    "Only the weak should maintain their appearance at all times," the old man said as if reading Kayden¡¯s thoughts. "I¡¯ll give you a ride to the capital if you want. The first-level beasts from the guild¡¯s training area have all been allocated to the bubble; there¡¯s nothing else to do here."


    With that, Kayden accepted the former king¡¯s proposal and began to debate what to do next. He didn¡¯t even stop for a second to think about how surreal the situation he had just been through was.


    *********


    As Kayden¡¯s extension activity was interrupted in the middle, he was left with two possibilities: continue training alone or go to one of the institutions that had previously invited him. Most of these institutions didn¡¯t present any benefit to him, and the few that seemed to be good were still not enough for him to dedicate his time to. In the end, he decided to invite the kingdom of the Enlightened.


    This kingdom was the furthest from the human faction and was in the extreme south of the planet. Therefore, its temperatures were very low and the scenery was mainly composed of snow and ice. In this environment, the greatest culture of knowledge that humanity had flourished. There were dozens of libraries and spaces dedicated to knowledge. They practically had 10 mages for every swordsman and knight. Some would consider this something weak, but in reality, each of their mages was worth several common fighters.


    Their knowledge of different techniques and skills made them special. From a young age, they were taught not to be arrogant and to seek the best knowledge they could. This and other reasons made them the country with the largest number of wizards in the second kingdom, especially among the older population.

 Chapter 219: kingdom of the enlightened

    Virtually all of their food was raised in artificial greenhouses that accelerated food growth, while meat was imported from other countries at high cost. Before, Kayden didn¡¯t know what technique or knowledge he could offer them that was of a high level, but after his experiences in the bubble, he developed the blood along with the mana. This should be enough for him to enjoy the large libraries.


    After a few minutes, Kayden was called by the dean. This was a special invitation made to a few people. It was rare for a kingdom to invite a student, but it was reasonable considering Kayden¡¯s performance over the past few years. The director¡¯s office was something unique. It was a room that was floating in the sky. It wasn¡¯t even a room, just a platform that was floating in the air. Anyone could go to him at any time. Logically, the dean slapped anyone who went into superficial matters out of heaven.


    Kayden rose alone and found the dean sitting at a table at least 5 meters long and filled with papers. There was a fireplace burning in the center of the room and two armchairs surrounding the fire. In addition, there were some shelves with books and another full of sweet foods, practically a mountain of treats of different types, but always sweet, not even salty food.


    "Hello, Kayden," the dean was the first to greet Kayden. Along with him, there was a relatively young woman sitting in one of the armchairs. Kayden remembered her from somewhere, but the feeling was just familiarity.


    "This is General Ravena, she will be responsible for accompanying you during your visit", the woman looked no more than twenty years old. His hair was completely red and his skin was extremely white. It felt like the sun could burn your skin with just a little contact. Her stature was short and her body didn¡¯t have much padding other than some impressive curves. Kayden didn¡¯t care about the woman¡¯s beauty; he was already used to the exaggerated beauty of superior magicians.


    "Hello, General," Kayden greeted with a slight bow and one hand above his heart clenched into fists. This attitude made the woman raise an eyebrow; it was the standard military greeting, but that was it, she didn¡¯t even respond to Kayden.


    The boy didn¡¯t care and just turned to the dean, who just shrugged. The woman was upset about having to take care of a mere child. Even though Kayden was an adult practically the same age, she saw him as a child, it made her seem like a child to her. This order came directly from Azir, she had no way of refusing. S§×ar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "You will stay for 7 months and must return for the first day of school of the fourth year. We don¡¯t have any championships in the third year, so don¡¯t worry about that. Your expenses will be paid by the kingdom of the Enlightened, but I don¡¯t think you need to worry about money", Kayden was easily among the 100 richest people in the kingdom. "Ravena will remain by your side 24 hours a day throughout this period. You should have no security concerns. You will leave as soon as you are ready."


    Kayden thanked the dean and turned to the sullen woman beside him.


    "Can we go now?" Kayden¡¯s sentence caught them both by surprise. The boy was only carrying a katana and the clothes on his back. The woman didn¡¯t care and, after a nod from the dean, just floated with Kayden into the sky and left at high speed.


    Kayden couldn¡¯t even discern the shapes on the ground, the speed was ridiculously high. Ravena also placed a bubble spell around the two of them so the wind wouldn¡¯t hurt Kayden. The boy didn¡¯t care about this silent game and just started cultivating while standing.


    After his improvements, his cultivation speed once again increased, and within seconds he entered a sort of trance and stopped caring about the afterworld. Ravena just frowned.


    "Let¡¯s see how long you can last without communicating", thought the woman. She knew that humans with lower realms were not used to long periods without human interaction, and at one time or another, they would have to stop to sleep.


    Unfortunately, that thought was proven wrong when Kayden spent over 24 hours cultivating without a care in the world. The trip should take around two weeks, the longest part was passing through other territories and confirming your identity, there was a speed limit at which foreigners could fly within different kingdoms.


    Time passed quickly, with Ravena having a flea behind her ear with each hour that passed. She knew Kayden was special, but going days without sleeping or eating? This was ridiculous in his view.


    Fortunately, Kayden could force his body into a state of hibernation and work on a ridiculously low amount of nutrients. He could easily go three weeks without eating or drinking. Your limit should be 1 month without drinking anything and 2 months without eating.


    " Hey, kid, did you have the forbidden sleep surgery?" Her voice was unable to reach Kayden, and only after she threw ice water on him did the boy wake up, and only after a few minutes of cold shower.


    "Sorry, I was focused." Focused? He was practically in a trance.


    "Did you do the forbidden surgery?" Ravena¡¯s voice was harsh as she looked into Kayden¡¯s eyes. His reprimanding tone didn¡¯t escape Kayden, who quickly decided to set limits. He was not a subordinate in this relationship.


    "It¡¯s forbidden to common people. I¡¯m not common. I¡¯m cultivating. Please don¡¯t call me for trivial things." With that, he closed his eyes and didn¡¯t see the tone of fury rising in the woman.


    Kayden reached a point where he only needed to respect the state¡¯s top leaders. Mere transitional mages couldn¡¯t even make him tremble. Azir had her back and had heavy soul contracts on everyone in the kingdom, so there was no chance of her freaking out and attacking him.


    Every day that Kayden spent in this state, he felt a slight change in his mana. In some places, it seemed hotter, in others colder. Furthermore, his attitude seemed to be different depending on the environment. At times, it seemed chaotic and alive, while at other times, dead and neutral. He didn¡¯t know why, he hadn¡¯t even seen it before in his entire life.


    A few days later, Kayden was woken up by the same cold water treatment. This time, it was even worse, as the environment was ridiculously cold. Plus, the air felt a little thinner. Kayden has become very sensitive to the amount of oxygen because of his technique. After warming his body by circulating his blood, he turned around and saw a huge mountain with a city at its base and several structures rising the slope. The higher up the mountain, the fewer buildings there were.


    The city stretched out at the foot of the imposing mountain, its structures rising amid the icy and snowy landscape. Tall towers, made of stone and enchanted ice, dotted the mountainside, each telling its own story of ancient times. The streets were narrow and winding, paved with hard-packed ice and fresh snow, while the buildings displayed robust, resilient architecture designed to withstand the harsh elements of the climate.


    The predominant color was light blue and dark blue. The structures were mostly made of ice blocks with magical runes. The weak sun that illuminated the city caused the runes to glow a shade of white. Some houses had chimneys that released colorless smoke that disappeared as soon as it touched the outside air.


    What protected the city was an immense, ridiculously high wall made of blocks of some completely black material, the light did not reflect on the structure, giving a threatening and fearful air to the wall. The city was not that big, much smaller than the capital of the Sun Kingdom. This was because only people above the first kingdom could live there and they had to be people with decent achievements in at least one area, be it trade or in the studies.


    Other than that, the other impressive feature was a huge river that ran through the city in half. It came directly from the mountain and extended throughout the city. It had its exit at one of the points on the wall, where it was possible to see some magical boats floating in the water, lightly moored in a large wooden space.


    The two spent a few minutes floating in the air while waiting to be received. They were not ordinary visitors who would pass by the wall; His arrival deserved correct recognition from the government of the Illuminated. Within a few minutes, an elderly man appeared in the air.


    He was extremely old, he seemed to be someone who had lived much longer than nature allowed. His skin was full of wrinkles, and his hair was completely white, but it didn¡¯t have a single flaw and it filled his scalp. Furthermore, he was wearing a tunic with a print of a wizard reading a book. His body seemed to be supported by a staff of transparent ice.

 Chapter 220: Knowledge for knowledge

    "Hello, Your Majesty, my regards to King Alexander." Ravena instantly knelt in mid-air, surprised. She didn¡¯t expect the strongest man in the other kingdom to come and welcome them.


    Kayden shouldn¡¯t be that important. Was he a once-a-decade genius? Yes, he was. But nothing that would cause this level of recognition. She in her time was able to jump several levels. What she didn¡¯t know was that the news that Kayden faced five lightning bolts was already known to world-class figures. And in the entire world, the number of five-ray magicians barely exceeded 30 people, considering only the new generation.


    "You don¡¯t need all this formality, pride is the first enemy of knowledge." After Kayden bowed and greeted the man, the king lifted them both with a gentle wind magic that didn¡¯t even seem to have touched Kayden¡¯s body. This level of control was surreal.


    "I will take you to one of our ice palaces to get some rest. The next day, Kayden can go visit our libraries to record his technique and receive corresponding access to the shared level. We will also have a guide to help you during your stay. " The king began to float, and Kayden and Ravena went after him. But before he could move forward, Kayden spoke.


    "Your majesty, I would prefer to go and pass my technique right now and have access to the libraries immediately. I¡¯m not tired from the trip, but I appreciate the hospitality." Kayden¡¯s sentence caught the king by surprise for a moment, but soon he just accepted it and took the boy to the kingdom¡¯s main library.


    The structure was ridiculously large and stretched almost 4 kilometers wide and a few more kilometers long. The ice this time was well worked into different turns and shapes. Not only that, but its color was gold and black. Kayden could barely tell it was ice.


    The entrance was formed by an immense staircase of a few hundred meters that led to a platform with several gigantic pillars. Above everyone, there was a sign that said the following phrases:


    "Leave arrogance at the door. The true master is an eternal learner. Bow down to show your willingness to learn, bow down to show your insignificance in the face of knowledge, and bow down to show respect to those who brought you here what will you learn."


    The king read the sentence and bowed three times. Kayden was surprised that even the strongest man in this kingdom followed the words of a mere sign. Then the boy bowed too. He agreed with every word on that sign.


    "Your guide has arrived, I¡¯ll leave you with him for now, I have a lot to work on." He hadn¡¯t. He only came to test Kayden¡¯s temper and left satisfied.


    The boy showed no fear in his presence, not even subconsciously. That was impressive. He also had the humility to bow three times and it was clear to the king that this was not due to pressure from his presence.


    A teenager with white hair and a low amount of clothes appeared in the two¡¯s vision among dozens of people leaving and entering the library. He looked to be around 20 years old, about Kayden¡¯s age. The teenager was handsome and had a high nose that made him seem disdainful of everyone around him.


    "Hello, Count Kayden Heart and General Ravena. I am the third prince of the kingdom of the Enlightened, my name is Thomas Sagebrush. My grandfather put me as your guide for these six months." His tone was neutral and no expression appeared on his face.


    And in fact, these were his real feelings. He was too weak to fight for the throne, so he was always someone without blatant pride like other nobles. He was the only one who lived what his grandfather preached, humility to learn. His grandfather had just given him an incredible chance, the chance to befriend a wizard who faced five lightning bolts and would probably surpass the fourth realm and reach the top of this world.


    "My compliments to your Highness, I would like to pay my tribute immediately if it is not inconvenient," Kayden asked politely and didn¡¯t say anything else as the prince led them inside.


    The structure inside was even more impressive. The library was divided into several squares guarded by some beautifully dressed and impressive-looking women. They sat at small tables while approving who could pass.


    Each square represented a different level of knowledge and type of knowledge. Kayden was sure there must be more than 1 million books on this floor alone and, according to the prince, there were even more floors below.


    They were taken to a square with several tables and armchairs, with a fire in the center that made the environment warm and cozy. Several people were writing without stopping, not even to breathe.


    "Here the knowledge test is done. You must give something of value to the library to gain access to more knowledge. They are all writing their theses. You can sit at any table and start writing. I will wait here outside", said the prince, taking a book and sitting down in one of the squares next to it.


    Ravena just stood next to Kayden. The boy first drank and ate dried meat from his bag and then sat down at the table. As soon as he sat down, the woman who took care of this square appeared in front of him.


    "Hello, candidate. You have as much time as you want and you just need to raise your hand when you¡¯re done. The level of your technique and its rarity will be evaluated by me. If I¡¯m not capable, it will be passed on to one of the supervisors. Good luck", said the woman, returning to her table and leaving Kayden alone.


    Without wasting any time, Kayden began explaining each phase of mixing mana with blood. The first and most important was to have specific veins for this and only a few connections between normal and mana veins. Afterward, he talked about the treasures that could help in the process and how to acquire them. Although this information was easy to find, he decided to make a perfect step-by-step guide.


    Then he explained the way to mix blood and mana without poisoning. Right now, Kayden had all of his veins with a proportion of blood and mana, but in the beginning, it was easier to mix the two through specific veins. He recommended using some treasure to stop hunger and thirst. The person would probably need at least two months and have good mana control. Kayden got it in 1, but his path made him special.


    Afterward, the boy began to explain all the advantages and how the person would need a breathing technique. As a bonus, he included some that he found and wrote down which one he was using at the moment and how to obtain it to be successful in his learning. Kayden also made the recommendation to learn the breathing technique before mixing the blood.


    As a conclusion, he named all the advantages that a person would acquire by obtaining this mixture. All the writing took a few hours. Kayden wasn¡¯t used to writing so much and had to rework several paragraphs to make them easier to understand. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    As soon as he raised his hand, the woman came in front of him and began to read. In just a few seconds, her brow furrowed and her countenance became increasingly gloomy as she read.


    "Is this a theory?" She couldn¡¯t understand the level of focus that a mere wizard would have to have, nor the determination to spend so long doing the same thing. Furthermore, these were advantages that in the third realm would be common.


    "No, it is perfectly applicable." With Kayden¡¯s statement, the woman had to call a superior. Within a few seconds, another woman appeared. The first thing she felt was Ravena standing next to Kayden. All the people at the tables were in the second realm, while the higher ones were in the third.


    Even so, neither of them could feel Ravena¡¯s strength. This meant that they had to be more careful in their speech so as not to offend someone they shouldn¡¯t, but there was no fear. This was a country where everyone was equal and, oddly enough, even a person in the fourth realm would face criminal prosecution for killing someone from lower realms.


    The supervisor read the document and had the same reaction as her subordinate. In theory, this would be perfectly possible, but in reality, no first-realm mage would be cool-headed enough to do this procedure. Were the gains huge? Yes, they were, including high natural regeneration, even of lost limbs, but the process was very difficult.


    "How do you guarantee that this is possible? Theoretically, it¡¯s perfect, but no wizard could have the mental resilience for that", the supervisor found the same problem. Perhaps a wizard in the second or third realm would have the ability to do this.

 Chapter 221: A noisy entrance

    "I did it on myself and I can sign a contract proving the veracity of everything I wrote", said Kayden, surprising not only the two women but also Ravena, who had already read the technique with her spiritual sense and realized its difficulty.


    "His technique is level 7 in our parameters, it¡¯s just not superior because of how difficult it is to perform. You can check the lectures and floors available to you on our app", informed the supervisor. Kayden knew the value of his technique, but he also recognized its difficulty and found it to be fair value. S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Congratulations, Marquis Kayden. I will show you your quarters now," she said. Kayden accepted out of politeness, and they took to the streets within a few minutes. Even the prince could not fly freely in the city, mainly because of the anti-aircraft barrier.


    The city¡¯s streets were of average size; At most, two cars could fit side by side. The main means of transportation was one¡¯s legs, and the sidewalks were twice the size of the streets. According to the kingdom, this was to maintain good air quality, and few people could drive.


    They went up the mountain a little, and this walk took about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, the prince exchanged a few words with Kayden, all in a friendly and unpretentious tone. Their conversations were just small talk to pass the time.


    After climbing a few kilometers, they had to fly in a section that was permitted. Kayden and Ravena¡¯s establishment was a medium-sized mountain lodge. It had three bedrooms, a spacious living room and a kitchen. Furthermore, a few meters around it was a beautiful green garden, and there was not a single drop of snow falling on the structure.


    "I will let you rest for now. If you need me, just send me a message", said the prince, leaving. Kayden just waited for him to leave her vision to descend back into the city.


    His first stop was a conversion point, and he quickly transferred a few million into his new bank account. After that, he went to a clothing store and bought some warm clothes, even though he didn¡¯t need them because of his accelerated circulation. He didn¡¯t want to draw too much attention.


    His next destination was to buy groceries. He had a little difficulty because of the different foods, but fortunately, humanity only had one language, and he just had to read what each thing was on the internet.


    After that, Kayden decided to study a little about the local culture and customs so as not to accidentally commit any act of war. The best way to do this was to go to local restaurants and bars. Even though in this city most mages barely needed to eat, it was still something that humans couldn¡¯t completely abandon.


    When it was close to midnight, he decided to go back to the libraries. Most were open 24 hours a day, with only a few points without service. But these were low-level points. The first thing Kayden did was learn about mana manipulation.


    It might be silly considering his path, but it was always good to improve. Only idiots refused to accept that they could be surpassed in basic things when they were already advanced.


    So for the next few days, that¡¯s just what Kayden did. He didn¡¯t even go back to his house. He didn¡¯t need to sleep and, when he wanted to eat, he just went to a restaurant nearby and helped himself to his heart¡¯s content. Even without needing to eat, he liked a food that he ate many times in his childhood in his past life.


    Even with the cold environment, ice cream was a local delicacy and had hundreds of flavors. Practically every respectable restaurant had an area just for them. Kayden felt old when he ate this food.


    Adding his two lives, plus limbo and his coma, he would probably have more than fifty years to live. He was supposed to be middle-aged in his first life, with children and a loving home, visiting his grandparents during the weekends. That¡¯s assuming Max wasn¡¯t there.


    ¡¯what nonsense¡¯ Kayden would probably be having the type of life he hated most, a monotonous and boring life, with the same days the same until the date of his death.


    "Marquis Kayden?" Thomas¡¯s voice boomed behind Kayden. He had been studying here for about three weeks and had completely forgotten about the Prince. After the two exchanged a few greetings, the prince spoke about the reason for his visit.


    "We will have a lecture on elemental mana at the sage academy. The academy master has extended the request to you." Kayden was surprised for a moment. He knew that the sage academy was the equivalent of the Sol academy in his kingdom.


    Kayden didn¡¯t expect any special treatment like this when coming to this exchange, but after reflecting a little, he saw that it was natural considering his accomplishments and achievements. His strength spoke for him.


    The three went out into the street and climbed the mountains again. This time, they had to fly for several minutes before they began to see a gigantic structure on the edge of the mountain.


    A huge dais with dozens of gardens was floating in the sky. On the mountain itself, there were other gardens, but these were glued to the mountain wall. There were some library shelves in it. Some gardens were immense and could easily accommodate thousands of people.


    The fact that it was snowing heavily made the yellow lights coming out of metal poles in several different places blink over the blizzard. The three of them stood still in the sky for a few seconds.


    "I can¡¯t take you forward, this is a challenge every wizard must pass." Unlike the Sol academy, in this kingdom registrations were only allowed for magicians. Kayden thanked the prince and began to study the blizzard.


    Kayden couldn¡¯t feel it in his spiritual sense, it seemed like it had no physical form, but when it touched his body it was cold and heavy, his breathing caused waves of vapor, and everything seemed real.


    The first thing Kayden did was activate his path and start flying forward. For every meter he advanced, the snowfall increased considerably, covering his entire view, and the streetlights began to become increasingly distant and turned off.


    "This is made of mana," Kayden felt with his path. He could transform this into pure mana to be used, but he would spend a lot of energy on this action. With that, he just stood still and began to feel the flow of mana.


    Easily, he found his way to the academy. He could force his way through just by using his path and breaking the mana flow in the area he wanted, but that would be the common way to pass.


    Kayden was looking for the true goal, one that probably only the geniuses of this realm could complete. Slowly, the minutes began to pass. Kayden started looking for where the mana flow ended and...


    "There is no end." Kayden realized that there was no end, not even a beginning, the blizzard was just there the entire time, it seemed something immutable and caused by nature itself. After a few more minutes, Kayden smiled.


    The blizzard was a magical creature. That¡¯s why it seemed to have no end Kayden was inside the animal, the entire blizzard was his body, and that¡¯s why it was snowing in all directions.


    The large holes without matter that he was feeling didn¡¯t make sense, but his theory was probably correct, he had only seen this cycle in living beings, not even high-level runes were capable of doing a cycle without loss of energy.


    At this moment, he had two possibilities, he could simply open the way while changing the mana flow subtly, this was probably what mages did, or...


    "Bow down." Kayden began to alter the will of mana within the creature, his mere action on a handful of mana caused a cry of a primordial beast that made the blood of everyone in the region freeze.


    The blizzard has been unchanging for hundreds of years...


    It disappeared, there wasn¡¯t even a snowflake floating in the air, the view of the academy opened up completely revealing even more gardens, and this time he could see people walking through the places.


    "Humph!" Raven snorted as she blocked a few thousand ice spikes that headed towards Kayden, then unleashed her aura on the beast that was hidden in the air and pressed it with her mana.


    Instantly, the beast began to shout human words showing that it was in the third realm.


    "No! No! Stop! I made a mistake!" Without the slightest shame, she prioritized her life above her dignity, the commotion had already reached the ears of all the students and within seconds the academy master appeared in the air while facing the visitors.


    "Hello Kayden, Miss Raven, could you let Olaf go? He¡¯s just a peaceful beast." His thorns were anything but peaceful, but the woman released him, the man in front of the two was young.

 Chapter 222: The greatest wise

    He didn¡¯t appreciate being over twenty yet, his hair was blood red and his eyes matched the color, his physique was thin and skinny, and he wore glasses without lenses that made him look like a scholar.


    Olaf appeared behind the dean in the shape of a cute snowman and looked at Kayden with fear in his eyes, for a few seconds the academy master just tried to measure Kayden and...


    Anything. Even when he released his aura lightly or with magical pressure there was nothing, not even a slight twitch in his eyes, Kayden looked like an inanimate statue. S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "My name is Jonas Jupiter, could you tell me what method you used to cause Olaf so much fear? He says he doesn¡¯t know what it was, he just felt like he was going to die", the man¡¯s speech opened a new world for Kayden.


    He had never tried to alter the mana inside other people, his control made it possible, but the problem was that it took some time, and in a battle, it was difficult to apply, at least not yet, Kayden made a mental note to work on it later.


    "I¡¯m sorry Master Jonas, but I can¡¯t, it¡¯s a personal secret", Kayden¡¯s speech threw a bucket of cold water on the curious wizard, but even so he regained his friendly smile.


    "I see, come, join the third prince, he will guide you to the lecture", after guiding the duo to the prince, the academy master went up with Olaf to resume the blizzard. Raven returned to invisibility once the security issue was resolved.


    The prince was sitting at a round table with another teenager who seemed to be a few years older than him, in addition, he had a physical resemblance that made him just look like an older version of Thomas, Kayden recognized him as one of the princes, as his hair it was a light green characteristic of the royal family.


    "marquis Kayden, this is my older brother Yuri Sagebrush", Kayden made a soft bow that he learned from books about local culture, his attitude took them both by surprise, the action did not seem mechanical but fluid and natural.


    "My regards to the second prince," the first prince was already in the third kingdom, so Kayden knew this was the second.


    "What did you do on the academy test?" Yuri¡¯s tone wasn¡¯t very friendly, it seemed like he didn¡¯t put Kayden in his eyes, and his pride was visible.


    "It¡¯s a secret," your refusal made the prince¡¯s brow furrow, he hardly received any action against his requests or words.


    "I heard a lot about your achievements at the Sol Academy, I hope we can exchange some tips after the talk", as soon as Kayden made a scene when clearing the blizzard, everyone who had contacts went looking for information about him and his achievements seemed a bit unreal, making the prince had a suspicious look on him.


    "Of course your Highness, I hope we have a good fight", his speech took them both by surprise, the princes knew they were empty words from Yuri, but from Kayden? They weren¡¯t, when they looked into the boy¡¯s eyes they didn¡¯t see any emotion of pride. This meant that Kayden was confident in jumping several levels to face a prince, which was exactly the situation, Kayden was a mage of five rays, five concepts, and a perfect foundation, he did not fear anyone under the same realm.


    "I hope you don¡¯t regret it," Yuri treated this as a private insult, clearly anyone could say that he was the black sheep of the family of humble sages, luckily his talent allowed him to do that.


    In the next few minutes they just exchanged a few words of small talk, Kayden told a little about what his kingdom was like and the princes did the same, the culture was very different in the two countries, in the kingdom of the enlightened people, adulthood was only reached after the age of 21. , regardless of the magician¡¯s strength level.


    "It¡¯s time", Thomas took out a pocket watch and checked the minutes, Kayden didn¡¯t say anything, but he found it strange that they were still standing there, shouldn¡¯t they go to the lecture?


    ¡¯what!?¡¯ Kayden felt the flow of mana in the environment become chaotic and accelerated, the platform they were on began to shake as it was levitated into the air and flew a few hundred meters.


    Dozens of other platforms could be seen flying around, all with a varying amount of people on them, but only the princes¡¯ platform had so few people, the minimum was 5 members, which must be the benefit of the hierarchy.


    A few seconds later everyone stopped in a circular shape around a circular platform, this platform was only a few meters in radius and had an elderly woman above it.


    The woman used a crutch to support herself, Kayden could not feel any flow of mana over her, her wrinkles and elderly features were apparent throughout her physiognomy.


    "She is Athena, the wisest woman who ever lived, she has a body that prevents her from using mana, it practically becomes poison in her body, she can only manipulate minimal amounts around her and yet she was the person who developed the most techniques for wizards from all four kingdoms, our kingdom personally searches for treasures to increase her life expectancy, currently she is 500 years old and remains at the first level of the apprentice", Thomas¡¯ speech caught Kayden off guard.


    For the first time in a long time, he felt surprised and then he felt his body shiver, in front of him was a true living legend, someone who from the lowest point that exists overcame all barriers, kayden couldn¡¯t even imagine the level of effort she had to put into his actions.


    "Hello everyone, my name is Athena" her voice resounded across all platforms, Kayden almost got up from her seat when she saw the woman use a ridiculously low amount of mana to achieve this feat.


    Kayden realized that his control was a joke next to what the woman had just done, he would need at least 20 times the amount she used to achieve the same result, that degree of control was completely monstrous.


    "Many of you probably just see mana as something static and the same at all times," Kayden also thought so until he saw the changes in characteristics for each location he passed, "but let me tell you that this is just bullshit, the mana has no form and at the same time has all forms."


    The mana around the woman began to slowly change, the process took a few minutes because of how low her ability to interact with mana was, but as soon as she completed it, the mana around her became hot. Kayden didn¡¯t know how to express this feeling using his spiritual sense, because in fact what he was feeling was that part of his mana threads were hot, then wet, and then dry.


    "High-level spells of a certain element can be done with neutral mana and that is not wrong, but think with me, you have a bonfire and two forms of fuel, the common man would be a piece of wood on fire while the mana transformed into the fire it would be like pouring gasoline directly, the result is the same, but the intermediary is not."


    Athena materialized a tiny ball of fire and threw it at a piece of paper that was floating, it was consumed instantly, and then she conjured another ball of fire, this one seemed to be chaotic and angry, its flames danced everywhere, it consumed the paper instantly and remained burning in the air for a few more seconds.


    "That¡¯s the basic difference between normal and elemental mana," the woman ate a small pill to replenish her mana, Kayden was impressed with everything she was doing with a ridiculously low reserve. "The easiest way to change the mana element is to use a spell underneath, for example, I use the flame around the mana that I will transform into a fireball, this increases my spell by one step, in addition to you having You have to have very high control over your element so that the mana does not feed the base spell or is consumed by it."


    The woman demonstrated both examples, in one the air caught fire and disappeared instantly, this was the mana being consumed and in the other, the flame increased in a frightening way showing the spell being elevated by the mana.


    "You have two hours of learning, any questions come floating to me, just come if you have doubts in the final stages, I¡¯m not going to teach anyone how to control their spell", as she spoke, Athena took a book out of her pocket and made to sit down, but a voice stopped her in the middle of her movement.


    "One question, Lady Athena," Kayden¡¯s voice resounded, making everyone look at him, without any fear he continued his question about the woman¡¯s eyes, "Can I use a base spell from a different element?" The woman¡¯s eyes lit up at the question.

 Chapter 223: The fight against a prince

    No self-respecting teacher hates questions they hate stupid questions, in this case, Kayden¡¯s wasn¡¯t one of them.


    "In most cases, the spell will destabilize and break, only some elements can come together easily, for example, water and ice have a certain similarity to each other, but if you try something like water and fire you will just explode."


    Kayden easily understood the issue of balance and thanked the woman with a bow following local customs, after which he began to try to make the mana be shaped using small rays.


    In practically all of Kayden¡¯s attempts he failed, lightning was an unstable element, when it was launched the next spell had to come together quickly, even if a few milliseconds of delay were enough for the spell not to be stable.


    Unlike him, the two princes had already learned this and were just practicing their spells, Thomas was a fire mage and Yuri was a wind mage, Kayden lost track of time as he continued doing his spells one after the other.


    "I hope everyone was able to learn something from this, but unfortunately the class ends here," with the woman speaking, one of the guards came floating over and took her away easily, Kayden finally woke up from her stupor and looked around.


    "I hope you haven¡¯t forgotten our fight, Count Kayden," Yuri said with a smile, he had already shared the small exchange of advice with his friends and spread it to even more people.


    "I haven¡¯t forgotten, Your Highness, whenever you want," with Kayden¡¯s speech the platform began to move, and in just a few minutes they flew to a large platform with a transparent bubble.


    There was nothing more than that on the platform, around several people were talking and interacting, Kayden recognized that this was a kind of ring for the people in this gym.


    "A teacher stays in the air invisible whenever someone is battling in the arena, he stops anyone from getting seriously hurt," Thomas explained before Kayden and Yuri entered the arena.


    The surroundings were full of people, everyone heard about Kayden, the foreign genius, and his deeds were all detailed by Yuri¡¯s friends, in fact, this situation was set up to be a stage for them.


    Kayden wasn¡¯t an idiot and he had already realized that he saw the looks and the fingers pointed at him, besides, he didn¡¯t like Yuri from the beginning, and with all these factors he decided to take this fight seriously.


    After the two positioned themselves in the center of the arena, a silence permeated the entire place, after they bowed the fight officially began, and...


    BOOM!


    Lightning struck exactly where Yuri was, and the boy managed to escape at high speed using advanced wind magic, he felt a rapid flow of mana over him and if he hadn¡¯t reacted instantly he would have been fried. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The prince was surprised by the strength of the lightning, this was far above the fifth level that Kayden was demonstrating with his aura, so the prince decided to take it seriously and show why even though he was a black sheep he was still part of the royal family.


    "Kayden! Come with everything, I will show you my path, feel honored to be able to witness it, my path is the master of the wind," with Yuri¡¯s sentence the wind around the arena began to become chaotic and rushed towards everyone. sides.


    An apprentice would be torn to pieces just by the remnants of the region¡¯s biting wind, Kayden had to use his katana to break some random cuts that could hurt his skin.


    "Typhoon," Yuri uttered the name of his spell, and the chaotic wind began to gather in front of him in just a few seconds a typhoon formed, its high-speed wind was pulling everything around it into its maelstrom.


    Kayden had to use mana to stay on the ground, he had to admit that it was a really strong spell, and for every meter, he got closer to him the strength increased, he couldn¡¯t fly, and his mana expenditure would be stratospheric to stay in balance on the ground. air.


    Activating his path to the maximum Kayden began to run and go around the typhoon, the pulling force was ridiculously strong, his mana expenditure was bizarrely high, and it was not a mana pool that any mage should possess, he would have reached Yuri in seconds if the prince hadn¡¯t started throwing some wind cuts at him.


    It seemed that not all of the prince¡¯s attacks were pure brute force, his cuts were thin and practically invisible, the only thing that helped Kayden notice them was the variation in mana in the environment, a mana barrier was enough to break them. in mid-air.


    BOOOM!


    Another lightning struck and again Yuri managed to dodge, his speed was ridiculously high, and Kayden could not keep up with him directly, in fact only if he used all the mana available around him to support his speed.


    BOOOM!


    That¡¯s why his lightning continued to fall to put the prince where he wanted, Yuri had to maintain the typhoon in a futile attempt to trap Kayden and at the same time throw several different attacks at him, thus causing him to be easily caught by the boy¡¯s trap.


    SWISH!


    Practically at close range, Kayden threw an aura cut using a large amount of mana, at that moment his sixth sense began to scream that something was wrong and his feeling became even worse when a smile appeared on Yuri¡¯s face.


    BOOOM!


    The loud sound was from Kayden putting more than half of the mana he had at his disposal to push him back at high speed, the speed was so fast that he had difficulty stopping and ended up going almost 50 meters out of the arena, Fortunately, this was not grounds for disqualification.


    The smile on Yuri¡¯s face disappeared and a slight frown appeared.


    "How did you detect my wind domain?" ~kayden felt his entire body being cut a little after exploding in flight, in fact, he didn¡¯t detect anything and left before receiving the attack.

 Chapter 224: A surprising negotiation[BONUS]

    His response was just a crooked smile, while he was thinking about how to continue this fight, the hand-to-hand battle was a bit difficult, as he felt that all the mana around 5 meters from Yuri had wind characteristics and were easily manipulated to get rid of him. become blades, even if the air was glued to their body.


    BOOOM!


    BOOM! Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden began to throw dozens of rays at Yuri without pausing between them, his opponent was very fast and managed to get out of the area of effect, but slowly he was guided to points where Kayden already had rays practically falling.


    SWISH!


    Several aura attacks came nonstop from Kayden, he didn¡¯t stop attacking for even a second, after thinking for a while he decided to just suppress Yuri through brute and stupid force, one time or another his attacks would hit his opponent.


    The typhoon wasn¡¯t even active anymore, Yuri had no way to focus on it, his only actions were to dodge and throw wind attacks at Kayden, he was starting to panic, as his attacks known for being discreet were easily found by Kayden.


    " Ugh !" the prince groaned in pain as his shoulder was pierced by an aura attack, it was quick and violent and opened a deep wound that exposed the bone. There was no change on Kayden¡¯s face as he continued attacking relentlessly.


    The minutes dragged on as Yuri¡¯s injuries accumulated, but what hurt was his pride, in just a few minutes he was made into a doll, while Kayden hadn¡¯t even moved from where he was.


    That was the difference between someone with four rays and someone with five rays, levels were easily skipped, apart from Kayden¡¯s path which made him a real monster at skipping levels and doing things beyond the capacity of his rank.


    BOOOM!


    Finally, lightning struck, causing the prince to fall unconscious and receive several serious injuries to his organs. Fortunately, the teacher in charge took him out of the arena and healed him in seconds. At that moment, he just needed to wake up naturally.


    Unlike the coliseum, there was no voice from anyone announcing the victory, the match just ended dully, it wasn¡¯t even an exciting fight it was just a one-sided massacre.


    "I didn¡¯t expect you to be so strong," Thomas said as soon as Kayden returned to his side. Kayden didn¡¯t have time to respond when he felt a person appearing in his spiritual sense.


    "Hello, Count Kayden, can we talk?" Athena¡¯s voice resounded behind Kayden, taking him by surprise, the boy didn¡¯t expect to ever hear that phrase right after this match, especially since he had no reason for her to come to him.


    "Of course, Mrs. Athena," Kayden had no reason to refuse and after asking Thomas for permission he found himself floating next to the woman and climbing higher and higher, their speed was absurd and in a short time they reached above the clouds.


    "Can you please sit down," Kayden found himself in front of two metal chairs with beautiful curves that looked extremely uncomfortable, but as soon as he sat down he changed his mind when it molded to his body and sat perfectly on his body.


    "They are living metal chairs, a kind of metal capable of adapting to any rune and changing its shape, it can only be found in some meteorites bathed in mana," Kayden paid attention to the explanation and was surprised, there were still many things for him learn in this world.


    "How much did each one cost?" Kayden asked, thinking about buying one for his meditations, especially when he could make it tiny and carry it in his pocket.


    "They were gifts, not for sale in the market," Kayden was disappointed but left it aside.


    "What is the reason for this conversation, Lady Athena?" Kayden asked directly, he still had a lot to do.


    "I would like to buy the method you use to manipulate large amounts of mana outside your body and the technique you use to absorb the mana and not poison yourself."


    Kayden was surprised as to why, but he quickly put it aside and began to think a little, his manipulation technique was his way, he could make an inferior version for her similar to what he did for his subjects, but the way he absorbed mana was a sum of his mana heart with his ability to draw well from mana.


    "The mana manipulation technique I can negotiate openly, but the second one I can only pass on to people in my family," Kayden doubted that Athena would abandon everything for a mere small chance.


    "I don¡¯t care, I¡¯m willing to join, I don¡¯t care about your strength or wealth," the woman¡¯s voice quickly responded to Kayden, the boy was surprised for a second, but when he looked into the woman¡¯s eyes he understood everything.


    Obsession.


    She had already overcome simple motivation, discipline no longer meant anything to her, her state of mind was the purest obsession, and the means didn¡¯t matter in the face of the end, Kayden recognized this because that was exactly how he felt.


    "For the first technique, I would like at least 1 dozen treasures for each kingdom up to the fourth, preferably aimed at accelerating cultivation and learning concepts, other than that I want direct access to private classes with you at least twice a week lasting exceeding three hours," Kayden threw out a ridiculous request and just watched as Athena¡¯s face turned grim.


    "Count Kayden, I don¡¯t mean to be rude, but you are greatly overestimating your techniques. The combined value of what you ask of me can easily elevate a mage to the peak of this world. Each kingdom probably has resources for three or four people at this level." Kayden just smiled and...


    He opened his path as much as possible, and instantly the mana from over 200 meters became lethargic and under his control. Under Athena¡¯s surprised gaze, Kayden pulled all this mana around him and compressed it, leaving a light blue hue for a few meters.


    Using his finger as a sword, Kayden made a small cutting motion and an immense and ridiculously powerful aura attack shot out of his finger at high speed. This was not a degree of strength that any mage should display.

 Chapter 225: Infinite resources... practically

    "I believe that you don¡¯t know the strength of the technique you are purchasing," Kayden said and remained silent while Athena saw the first technique in her life that made her doubt reality.


    She saw impossible cures, attacks that could flatten an entire city or cut a mountain in half, even breaking the sound barrier using mere words was not capable of causing this reaction in her, and why? Because she found herself faced with a technique without limits.


    With all her knowledge, she could easily become the strongest combat mage to ever exist on this planet, at least if her body wasn¡¯t chaining her to the early apprentice levels.


    "What do you want for the second technique?" the woman asked this question expecting another ridiculous request.


    "Nothing much, just obedience and absolute loyalty to the Heart house." If Athena didn¡¯t have all her experience, she would have let out a cry of surprise, but in reality, she just looked at Kayden and...


    "Unfortunately I can¡¯t do that." No matter how crazy she was, she wouldn¡¯t join an unknown ship, even if the means didn¡¯t matter, that didn¡¯t mean the ends would justify her death.


    "Do you have a high-grade healing pill?" Athena didn¡¯t understand Kayden¡¯s question but nodded. "Any problems with injuries and blood?" This time she shook her head. Kayden decided to use his final card to sell his fish.


    "Part of what allows me to absorb mana without being poisoned is my mana heart, which you may already be aware of." The woman nodded. It was the biggest revolution in farming methods in recent centuries. "I need you to sign a confidentiality agreement about what I¡¯m going to say. Of course, I¡¯m not going to tell you the technique, but some important details about my appearance." sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    A strange look appeared on the woman for just a second and Kayden became suspicious, but his worries were gone when she signed the contract without asking any more questions.


    "I have some veins responsible only for transporting mana, they do not join my body except at specific points. This is not the main thing but added to my first technique and my cultivation environment, I can have zero contact with mana." Kayden directed the mana into a finger on his hand and caused it to become extremely sharp, the blade formed from pure mana began to cut a part of his arm deeply.


    Athena saw Kayden, without any expression on his face, remove a piece of his flesh and reveal some veins on his arm, and as if the wound wasn¡¯t on him, the boy began to confirm his words.


    "These are normal veins and these are mana veins," Kayden cut the two and showed their differences, meanwhile Athena watched in amazement and at the same time with fear in her eyes when she saw the way Kayden was presenting the situation. "Please give me the pill, Lady Athena. I believe this information pays for it."


    The elderly woman took a pill out of thin air and threw it to Kayden. As soon as he swallowed it, his body was healed in seconds and was as good as new, the blood was drawn out with a simple water spell and fell into the sea of clouds.


    "Do you know what this method means?" Athena knew. "You will be able to cultivate." The woman remained silent with thousands of thoughts in her head, the offer was very good, but she knew she could easily die for any mistake.


    The slightest mistake would cost him his life, but... did it matter? She had no family, her parents died a long time ago, and she had no other half, it was practically the last years of her life for decades, every time her age increased a little, but her quality of life was low, in the end she he was just a person who lived too long.


    "I accept both offers, the first one will take a few years." Before she could continue, Kayden interrupted her.


    "No, at most 1 year for each treasure realm. I know you must have this ability." The woman¡¯s brow furrowed at Kayden¡¯s speech, but she had to nod in acceptance since the boy had the knife and cheese in his hands.


    "The first kingdom can be handed over tomorrow, and the rest every year, the loyalty contract I can sign now." Kayden felt that the woman was signing this contract too easily, but her concerns were low, the contract could not be broken.


    ¡¯He doesn¡¯t know¡¯, Athena thought when she saw Kayden blindly trust the contract. It wasn¡¯t his fault, he just hadn¡¯t lived long enough to know that everything could be broken. The elderly woman took a ring off her finger and threw it to the boy.


    "This is a space ring, it has a small room separated from reality inside it, you can store your things in it by putting mana, the lock is your mana signature, accept this as one of the fourth realm treasures and a gesture of trust ."


    Kayden smiled and did not express any further reactions, he already suspected that something like this could exist, he saw several figures taking things out of nowhere and now his hypothesis had been confirmed.


    Over the next few hours, Kayden explained in detail her cultivation medium and how she could develop it, explained about the mana veins and every little detail, this took about 6 hours about the woman¡¯s big questions.


    Athena took a pill and didn¡¯t need to sleep anymore, she had been doing this for a few centuries, she just took a nap every few weeks, each pill cost a few billion and was a ridiculously high expense.


    Then, Kayden began to explain his path and how to remove the mana¡¯s will, and the woman again asked thousands of questions.


    "This is the safe limit so that the world doesn¡¯t attack you, you won¡¯t survive if that happens", Kayden was referring to the point where he met the golden eyes. "I won¡¯t go into details, just don¡¯t go past that point."


    Kayden didn¡¯t know, but even if the woman tried, she wouldn¡¯t be able to get past that point, it was a matter of many factors, first the mentality, the boy at the time didn¡¯t feel it, but for every second that he took away his sister¡¯s will, his body trembled in intense pain.


    The second point was that to enter this point, you would need to be in an absolute state of enlightenment, you should have accepted all the bad points in your life and good points and simply ignore them, your mind should be in absolute white and Kayden only achieved at the time after going through a traumatic event and his unique life experiences.


    The explanation of how to bend mana to his will took a few more hours and finally, Kayden was released to test his ring and receive the treasures, he saw Ravena appear to pick him up and at that moment he noticed that the woman had not gone up with him into the clouds.


    "How can I contact you?" Kayden asked before heading downstairs.


    "Just go to the central library and ask to speak to the most ignorant of the staff." Kayden was surprised by the way of contacting her and smiled when he understood, that the most ignorant person is the one who knows the limits of their knowledge, because only then can human beings know the extent of their lack of knowledge.


    "**********


    "Holy shit", Kayden blurted out as he looked at the small pile of treasures in front of him, there were some seeds that overflowed with mana, in total, there were five of them, and two other things were chalices containing a golden liquid and another three were fruits, one being apple, a banana, and a whole watermelon.


    Next to each thing was written its use and benefits, Kayden was amazed at how much he achieved just by giving away his secrets, something he didn¡¯t even care about, he was the best and only that mattered.


    Kayden quickly redefined his training goals for these months, he would consume one mana seed per month and use one chalice every two, while for the fruits he would consume one every three.


    As much as he wanted to simply consume everything in a row, he knew that this was not ideal, firstly that he would not be able to get used to his strength gains in an ideal way and secondly, he still had to take advantage of the libraries and classes of this kingdom, in addition to the private class with Athena.


    Without thinking much, he threw all the treasures into his ring, he easily figured out how to use it, but he didn¡¯t understand how it worked at all, it seemed like the mana was transported to a different place, when he put his mana in, the ring returned to him the shapes of the objects inside, but that was it, no other characteristics were possible to be seen until he took it out of the ring.


    Taking just one seed, Kayden began the process of advancement. He had only been at the fifth level for a short time, but with all the treasures he consumed in the bubble and a little more cultivation, he was already very close to advancing.

 Chapter 226: Accelerated improvements

    As soon as he swallowed the seed, Kayden felt the mana in his body multiplying. It wasn¡¯t like the seed of the world tree, where the mana came from the seed. This time, the mana in his body seemed to be increasing on its own. In just a few seconds, the amount of mana reached a point where Kayden began to cultivate with only the mana coming from within.


    The amount increased every second and he continued to absorb and circulate it. He didn¡¯t even have to fix anything. Right now, his foundation was perfect, at least as far as his knowledge could see. Therefore, just by circulating mana, it didn¡¯t take long for him to be close to reaching the ideal point to advance.


    In just a few seconds, Kayden felt himself within momentum, a kind of nirvana where anything could be possible and his movements were error-free. Kayden, once again, sought to improve his veins and his heart as he saw fit. It didn¡¯t even take him 20 minutes and he was done.


    Still under the influence of the impulse, he began to think and, unfortunately, the only thought he could think was that he only had one heart, but that didn¡¯t make sense to him as soon as he came out of the impulse. In a few minutes of pain and burning, Kayden felt his body being improved and all his attributes increasing.


    The pain was familiar to Kayden and in the same way as before he released several impurities. It seemed that even though he improved his body to the extreme, it was still not pure enough. S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Sixth level," Kayden muttered as he tested his new strength. "This¡­", Kayden felt that he had improved a little more than expected, the mana was circulating better through his body, and it was probably because of his investments in his base. The improvement wasn¡¯t much, barely 5%, but it was still only at one level. If it were to accumulate over dozens of levels, it would become a very large snowball.


    Kayden smiled thinking that he made the right decision in improving his mana base from Ip¨º. Kayden now had to prepare well for the next advancement, again he would have to double his mana to increase its density, in the apprentice realm he got five doubles, this time it had to be at least 6 and the ideal was seven, after seeing the seventh ray falling, Kayden raised his standards, there was no point comparing himself to mediocre people.


    ******


    "Lightning is one of the most unstable elements that exist, for mana to acquire its element you need to create a discrepancy in energy, the amount depends on the size of the spell and how much mana you want to convert", Athena was explaining the basic steps to Kayden over the elemental mana of your element. The boy still hadn¡¯t succeeded even once. Before, he used a lightning spell and then used his main spell, but now, under Athena¡¯s tutelage, he was learning the high-level way to manipulate mana.


    The woman made a small lightning spell and threw it at Kayden. It only caused a slight insignificant numbness practically, but when he used the elemental mana, the numbness was amplified a few times and in several locations on his body.


    "Low-level elemental mana is using spells as a base, high-level elemental mana is using the principles of the element in the mana." Fortunately, Kayden had already learned the concepts of energy and electrostatic energy. If not, much more time would have to pass before making any progress in this area.


    "You can try to learn it on your own, but without some concepts, the journey will be much more difficult, I recommend first learning the concepts of balance and imbalance of energy, they are not difficult concepts and should take a short time after that start training to change your mana ."


    Kayden put one more thing to do on his priority list, at the moment it was directly above most, as he only had a few months in this realm and then communication would become difficult.


    The boy¡¯s days consisted of spending hours in the library studying everything he could, from basic neutral mana spells to complex theories that would make it possible to increase the lightning count during an ascension. He also set aside time during the day to cultivate, but other than that he didn¡¯t do anything else, he didn¡¯t visit any tourist attractions or leave the library, he even took a cold shower to save time.


    His physical training was completely left aside, at most, he did an hour a day just to avoid getting rusty, Kayden was making the most of his stay here.


    A month later, Kayden was sitting in a room in the academy of the kingdom of the Enlightened, along with him there were a few dozen other people, the funny thing was that at all times people had to walk from one side of the room to the other, always interspersed with a red line on the floor dividing the room in two.


    "This is frustrating," Kayden looked at some students, each person seemed to glow because of the amount of small colorful dragonflies on their clothes, each of these small animals carried a tiny amount of energy, but when added together by the hundreds they represented a large flow.


    The idea of the room was to learn the concepts of balance and imbalance, those who kept moving wanted to either organize the balance or unbalance it, Kayden just sat there feeling the flow of mana around him.


    He had only been here a week, but he felt closer and closer to understanding this concept, mainly because his other concepts already dealt with certain parts of balance, his gain in strength would be minuscule and barely reach 1%, but this it was not the intention to learn these two concepts.


    Kayden was pondering something else too, how many concepts could he learn? Because some just added up and didn¡¯t show any real gain in strength, what¡¯s the difference between learning 7 concepts and 100 concepts?


    Maybe he was the first to ask these questions because he was the only one who didn¡¯t need to tie his concepts and just subjugated them to his path, so he didn¡¯t have any difficulties other than learning the concepts. Another question that increasingly appeared in his mind was why he learned concepts, what did they represent? His best answer was based on the knowledge he had from his past life and that was that concepts were the basis for understanding laws.


    What exactly Laws were or what they did, Kayden had no idea, it wasn¡¯t something he could reason through logical thought, assuming his hypothesis was correct.


    Kayden took out an apple from his space ring, it looked like any other, it didn¡¯t even have a strong mana leak, but it was a specific treasure for learning concepts, it gave a boost when it was missing, its flaw was that it only worked on simple concepts.


    As soon as Kayden put it in his mouth, he felt nothing, just a few minutes after his mind started to feel lighter, he felt himself in a slight state of euphoria similar to the Impulse, but it was much weaker. Kayden quickly understood why it was for weak concepts, this apple emulated the sensation of momentum, but in a very grotesque and weak way, so it was only used to learn simple concepts.


    Kayden put these thoughts aside and began to analyze the flow of electric mana in the environment, in just a few seconds he recognized a pattern of balance and then it automatically broke. The balance was only maintained for a few seconds, then chaos came and was also maintained for just a few seconds because even in confusion there was a certain order, the eyes would never be able to see, but Kayden could feel the rapid and then constant flow of mana.


    In the next few seconds he began to play with the concepts, one time he would break the balance by pushing someone using mana, and another time he would stop someone from moving, because of the large number of people his actions went unnoticed.


    In just a few minutes, Kayden had a sparkle of mana in his eyes, he understood that balance and imbalance were constant, and depending on the point of view he was balanced and unbalanced at one time, it didn¡¯t take him any time to learn these two concepts. As soon as he opened his eyes, some rays shone momentarily and then disappeared, this also signaled the end of the pill¡¯s effect, Kayden studied his two new concepts a little and realized that he didn¡¯t gain anything, his mana manipulation or anything else remained the same.


    "This", Kayden realized that he gained 5 meters in his spiritual sense, this was a minimal gain, but it represented an improvement in his path, as he could now reach more mana at once.


    I could change the mana in the environment easily without even needing to spend much effort, but that was the easy part, the difficult part was making sure your spell didn¡¯t struggle with the environment loaded with elemental mana. Slowly time began to pass, Kayden just cultivated and went to the library, his classes with Athena were sporadic and mostly to answer questions, he didn¡¯t care, could he ask her for chewing techniques? He could, but that would represent something that went against his ideals.


    Author¡¯s note: hello everyone, if you like this story please think about buying the privileged chapters, even if it¡¯s just the first level, it only costs one coin and you can read two chapters ahead in the story, just by unlocking chapters privileged already helps me a lot, thank you for reading this far!

 Chapter 227: Time passes

    Slowly time began to pass, and Kayden just cultivated and went to the library. His classes with Athena were sporadic and, for the most part, to answer questions. He didn¡¯t care. Could he ask her for chewing techniques? He could, but that would go against his ideals.


    Two months after gaining the treasures, Kayden was at the peak of the sixth level and ready to move up the ranks. He had used one seed to reach the peak and another now to break it. His cultivation was extremely fast. His foundation allowed him to just cultivate and not waste time making mistakes and racking his brain on how to make them. Kayden had already studied, and the bending process was identical to that of the apprentice realm.


    The only difference was the amount of mana he would use. To do this, he prepared a special room with a high mana density and bought several mana stones to spread around if needed.


    His goal was to reach the seven-folds, and he would do it even if it cost his life. Kayden ate one of the seeds and felt the mana in his body multiply on its own. With that, he started cultivating.


    It didn¡¯t take long and he reached the point where cultivation no longer had any effect. Slowly, he began to draw mana into his body and accumulate it to the point where it was saturated. It was done in seconds because of its path.


    Kayden didn¡¯t even celebrate when he saw the mana being compressed for the first time and instantly began to accumulate again. This time, it took a little longer and he was once again able to compress it successfully. It wasn¡¯t really difficult at all. The next saturation took even longer and this time he had to concentrate to get the compression done, but other than that there was nothing really difficult. Now it was the fifth fold. Kayden had to draw even more mana, it took more than twice as long, and he felt his body close to exploding. He would be experiencing a severe headache if it wasn¡¯t already constant for him. S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Unlike the other time, his veins didn¡¯t start to rupture, but the pain was still present in the process and his entire body felt like it was about to crack. Without caring about it, he went ahead and started doubling his mana. Slowly, the pain increased, and so did the pressure on his body. His veins were getting very close to bursting, but...


    ¡¯Success¡¯ easily withstood the pressure of five folds. It was tiring and difficult, but he managed it, and yet he continued to gather mana. He wasn¡¯t close to breaking. After 1 hour, Kayden started to feel strange. It was taking a long time just to accumulate the mana along with the five-fold mana. The pain was at a ridiculous level, and his veins were about to burst from the buildup process itself.


    ¡¯Shit,¡¯ Kayden felt a vein in his leg rupture from the excess mana. The boy utilized his path to the fullest and began to strengthen his veins with a second layer of artificial mana. It was just a temporary solution. Without paying attention to anything, he continued. After 1h30 and several ruptured veins, he reached the point of compression. Kayden tried his best at this moment.


    Fortunately, his path gave him absolute control over mana, and with his iron will, he easily endured the pain of having his entire body blasted from the inside out. More than half of his veins were in tatters being supported by walls of mana. Still, Kayden continued. He was already expecting something difficult, but not to the point that half an hour later he had 70% of his veins detonated.


    His body was a mess of mana and blood, all of his pores were bleeding. And yet, Kayden continued. He didn¡¯t care, he would only end up dead if there was no hope of success. It didn¡¯t take long, and all the veins in his body were being supported by mana coming from outside.


    His control remained absolute, but his veins were no longer able to withstand the enormous pressure. Kayden continued to press on the compaction, he felt himself getting closer and closer. Every second, he felt like he was going to succeed. Without any fear, he continued and... ¡¯Success¡¯.


    Kayden felt the two densities merge and form the sixth fold, the density was so great that his body seemed to have become heavier, and some veins were protruding and pulsing in his skin.


    ¡¯I won¡¯t be able to do it¡¯, Kayden couldn¡¯t perform the seventh fold, he could feel his whole body shaking, it was simply impossible. Accepting this fact, he let the process of advancement happen. This time, he increased the size of his veins and his strength, he needed this to not burst. Slowly, his veins became better and supported the weight of the new mana, this was a time-consuming process, as while one vein was fixed, the other burst.


    When it was finally over, Kayden just let the world guide the rest, large amounts of impurities were being released from his body without stopping. The sixth fold increased his strength even more, Kayden didn¡¯t know it yet, but for every increase above five, the strength was increased ridiculously.


    The usual pain took over his body as his flesh and muscles were slightly improved. Kayden had already lost track of time and just kept waiting, seconds or minutes didn¡¯t make any difference to him.


    "I thought you weren¡¯t going to wake up," Raven said as soon as Kayden opened his eyes. The boy just gave her a nod and asked:


    "How much time?"


    "One week." Kayden was surprised. That was quite a while. He had truly lost track of time. Then he began testing his new strength.


    The amount of mana in his body increased to a ridiculous degree. Even without his path, he could release dozens of low-strength lightning bolts. His strength and other physical attributes improved by 30%, and an additional 5% double. Easily, increased his strength, but it was still a low increase compared to when he was at the apprentice level.


    Back then, each level could double your strength or even more. Kayden learned in his research that over time each increase in level had a smaller increase in strength, which is why many people ended up stagnating at a certain point, even if they increased in level at the expense of forbidden techniques, their gains would be low. That aside, Kayden... went back to his routine.


    ***********


    A sense of familiarity appeared for Kayden as he looked at his mansion in the capital of the Sun Kingdom. It had only been 6 months, but it felt like years had passed.


    Author¡¯s note: I¡¯m speeding up the story so you don¡¯t have to read so much filler.


    Kayden was at the peak of the seventh realm and about to rank up, but his tour time was up. In these 6 months, he learned and gained a lot of strength. He refused all invitations to dances and lectures and focused solely on learning elemental mana and cultivating. Furthermore, he studied the ways of casting spells, mana manipulation, concepts, and concept paths that he could in the library.


    His relationship with Athena improved a little, but it was just a business thing. At this moment, he could modify his mana and cast just one bolt of lightning before he lost all of his elemental mana. As Athena explained to him, the lightning was extremely unstable and he would hardly be able to put more than one lightning in the same portion of elemental mana. He also learned another medium force concept called servitude.


    Other than that, he consumed almost all the treasures he received. The other two fruits gave him a skin mutation that allowed him to breathe water, nothing really useful. The other fruit increased his ability to see in the dark. The night was now practically a cloudy day for him with low sunshine. Kayden felt a little cheated, but any skill was a skill. He still had some seeds and a cup to learn another concept.


    At the moment, his focus was learning the concept of electrical dissipation. Kayden was slowly passing the number of concepts considered beyond ridiculous. He had concepts of balance and imbalance, the concept of static energy, the concept of bondage, and the concept of loneliness. Two concepts were expanding his path and three for his lightning ability. At the moment there were five and Kayden would continue tying more and more, regardless of whether they were weak or strong concepts.


    He decided to have at least 7 strong concepts and still had a few missing. The weak ones added up and could equal a strong one, but it took several, for example, the two concepts of balance were not equal to the concept of static energy. His strength had increased considerably without considering cultivation. He improved the way he fired the beam. He studied his base and his throwing method and made a significant improvement.


    His acceleration spell was augmented by other techniques and was now practically Kayden¡¯s creation. It worked based on using lightning to accelerate your movement. Furthermore, he used mana around him to open a small vacuum path and make it so that his body was not impeded by the air.

 Chapter 228: The beginning of the duels

    His aura slash now had two basic forms, one made of lightning and the other of pure mana. The first was more destructive and had greater area damage, in addition to infecting the opponent with paralyzing rays; The second had pure mana and cost a ridiculous amount of mana, but, on the other hand, it was extremely sharp and fast. Kayden could easily cut the bubble wood spirit in two.


    Your knowledge of all basic attributes has also increased considerably; he could do some spells with other elements in a basic way, but Kayden didn¡¯t want to delve into that, as he had the idea that a master of many things was nothing more than a master of nothing.


    Neutral mana spells were another focus for Kayden; now he could solidify his mana, for example, into chains, or make a bubble of protection or silence. It wasn¡¯t a big deal, but his repertoire became very large with the several dozen useful spells he learned.


    In short, it was very useful. Kayden just went to his house to check that everything was in order and received an update on events. He ended up breaking his cell phone and just put it aside.


    "Heimer managed to advance to the eighth level, Sarah is at the ninth level, Linus and Isaac are at the fifth level, but they only managed to pass it recently. The average level is the third level, while the geniuses managed to reach the fifth level. Our trading points are growing more and more and we are gaining space in the market", informed the head butler.


    Kayden thanked the head butler and began to float towards the coliseum. The dean would make another statement about what the fourth year would be like. The month of vacation had already passed, and Kayden had only remained in the Realm of the Enlightened.


    Once again, the coliseum was packed with people. As soon as Kayden arrived, thousands of spiritual senses threw themselves at him, and not even one could get within a meter of his reach. All mana around him was shattered, thus protecting information about his rank.


    Kayden noticed a few people as he passed by. He gave a nod to Anabela and Anthony, who just looked away with clear signs of embarrassment. He observed some of his former subjects; the main emotion he could see was regret and anger at being ignored when they tried to return.


    "How was your vacation, Locke and Luan?", Kayden asked as soon as he sat down next to his friend. Luan was by his side, while Locke talked about his experiences in the bubble and how he managed to reach the sixth level, while Luan only reached the fifth level.


    "I reached the seventh rank," Kayden said, leaving the two boys to wonder at what point they were surpassed by such a large margin. A few minutes later, Linus and Isaac joined them.


    The conversation lasted until the director appeared, floating in the sky riding a gigantic dragon from the fourth kingdom, with a monstrous roar from the beast that made everyone momentarily paralyzed in fear. The silence stabilized.


    "Dear students, I hope you had a good school year. Now let¡¯s start the next one. This time, your classes will take place normally, but unlike previous years, we won¡¯t have team fights. There will be a one-on-one fighting championship every month. The top 10 will earn world tree seeds; the rest will earn merit points. Only those below the top two thousand and five hundred will earn points," the dean announced.


    The dean¡¯s speech created a gloomy atmosphere among the support class mages and those focused on defense, while happiness could be seen in the eyes of those who specialized in combat. But the main thing was greed; everyone wanted to win the prize.


    "This was done so that you can learn to fight. Even support classes must have this capacity, and nothing better than a necessity to make them learn. I expect great results. Good luck to everyone", concluded the dean, creating chaos and leaving calmly


    . Kayden was wondering where all these seeds came from, and his answer came naturally: the government monopolized the bubble and must have assembled dozens of teams to loot all the treasures possible. It¡¯s no wonder that your friends managed to pass the level even in immersion activities.


    "This is going to be fun," Locke commented. Kayden wanted to nod, but with his current strength, that would be a complete massacre; in fact, he would just be getting a free seed every month.


    As soon as he returned home, he saw Azir waiting for him. The old man was lying on his sofa drinking a golden liquid directly from a barrel. As soon as Kayden entered, Azir turned to the boy.


    "Hi, Kayden. Want to try some? This is a mead made by the remnants of the Vikings, a culture from ancient times," Azir said. Kayden was surprised that there was still anything left from before the mana. He politely declined; Azir¡¯s look looked like a child who didn¡¯t want to share his snack.


    "No need, your majesty," Kayden said.


    "That¡¯s a good boy, I didn¡¯t want to share," the former king replied directly, taking a seed from his pocket. "Take this year¡¯s seed. I must say you¡¯ve made good progress. How many folds did you get?" he asked. Kayden wasn¡¯t surprised that the king could sense his level.


    "Just a few folds my king" Kayden would not keep informing about his strength and the king understood that his question was impolite "Thank you for the seed" Kayden bowed in gratitude.


    "The kingdom would also like to purchase the mana manipulation technique you sold to Athena," Azir said. Kayden was surprised by the degree of information Azir possessed, but quickly put it aside as he thought about his actions.


    He could ask for stratospheric-grade treasures as he did with Athena, but... that was practically useless for him at this point. There was a limit to how much he could boost himself using resources, and selling them for money wouldn¡¯t help at all.


    After asking Azir for a few minutes, Kayden wrote down in a book all the steps necessary to simulate his path and the way to manipulate mana externally. This process took a whole hour, but luckily Azir was patient and didn¡¯t mind.


    "Here, consider it a gift to strengthen our relationship," said Kayden, handing the book to the former king. This was the best option he found; he would gain influence and increase friendship between himself and a figure from the fifth kingdom.


    Furthermore, he didn¡¯t want to anger Azir and have the old man kill him on a whim. Until now, he didn¡¯t know why he wasn¡¯t put under strong contracts and chained to the Sun Kingdom. Azir was surprised and thanked Kayden.


    "Of course, kid, whatever you need, just let me know. I hope to be able to clarify any doubts with you over time", said the king. Kayden agreed to the king¡¯s request, and the two said goodbye. With that, he returned to cultivating.


    *********


    Kayden stood with thousands of other students in an open space, all looking at the dean floating above hundreds of bubbles made for one-on-one combat. A month quickly passed, and Kayden decided to use the seed from that championship to move up the ranks.


    That month, he signed up for some fighting and physical training classes. Furthermore, he did not choose any other classes. His recurring study sessions increased his knowledge of the subjects he was interested into a level where he no longer needed teachers.


    For example, identifying natural treasures. His repertoire was gigantic, and he would even recognize treasures that had only appeared once in the hands of humanity. Even identifying mana veins in the earth was not impossible.


    He only had to utilize a digging technique. In it, a tiny hole would be dug for hundreds of meters, and depending on the intensity of the mana, he would know the degree of quality of the mana vein.


    "Welcome to the first dueling championship. I hope you guys have prepared. At the moment, they will receive random numbers and for each battle, they will be placed in the correct classification. The bubble in which you will fight will have your number above and it will appear on your cell phone", said the dean. Kayden could see that each bubble had an identification number. "I¡¯m not going to go on too long, so good luck everyone."


    As soon as the dean finished speaking, Kayden saw a notification on his cell phone. On it was his bubble number. Kayden headed straight for it and as soon as he entered, he saw a judge floating in the 50-meter space. sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    A few seconds later, another student entered. He was thin and carried a staff. Kayden didn¡¯t remember him nor did he feel anything impressive from his mana signature. This seemed like an easy battle.


    "Kayden, I always wanted to see what was special about you besides luck," the boy said. That was the boy¡¯s first line and it made Kayden raise an eyebrow. Other than that, there was no response.


    "We will start in 1 minute", interrupted the judge, and quickly a minute passed.

 Chapter 229: Fighting an old opponent and the prince

    BOOOM!


    BOOOM!


    BOOOM!


    Three rays fell in sequence, the boy was not a student of the Sun in Luck Academy and managed to raise a bubble that held the three spells, but the bubble was damaged and cracks were visible on its surface.


    BOOOM!


    Another beam fell to the ground, but this time it had been launched against Kayden, the spell landed squarely against Kayden and made his opponent smile, which quickly closed when he saw Kayden unharmed with a layer of mana around him.


    Kayden¡¯s control over his mana was so absurd that he could launch a tiny bubble that only stayed around his skin, this degree of control shocked the judge and some entities who were watching, as the body protection bubble was a magic spell¡ªwizards in the second realm.


    The mana flow started to get weird as everyone¡¯s body hairs started to stand up and stand on end, Kayden¡¯s opponent recognized the electric elemental mana but couldn¡¯t understand how or why Kayden was performing it.


    BOOOOOOOOOM!


    A beam several times stronger than the previous ones fell on the bubble that protected the wizard and surpassed it as if it were made of butter, the judge quickly took the boy out of the arena, that was not an attack he could deal with.


    "Hey! I hadn¡¯t lost yet!" the wizard shouted after breaking out of the confusion and standing next to the judge, his only response was the judge¡¯s emotionless look.


    "You would be dead, that attack was at the peak of the mage realm." Slowly reality hit the boy and all his ego and confidence crumbled into pieces, Kayden didn¡¯t witness this, as he left as soon as the judge intervened.


    He was one of the first to finish his fight and just waited floating in some random place, his focus was on thinking about his next concept which was called hopelessness and he would continue to improve his path.


    A few minutes later Kayden was called again, as soon as he entered the bubble he was asked if he wanted a pill to recover mana, something he promptly refused, but his opponent readily accepted, Kayden took a while to recognize his opponent.


    "It¡¯s been a while, Marques." A small-statured teenager dressed entirely in black greeted Kayden.


    "I hope for a good fight." Kayden returned the greeting in a friendly tone, this was the boy who hid in the fog and held the rank of number 84 a few years ago, Kayden was curious to see what the fight between the two would be like now.


    "You can start the fight." As soon as the judge gave the signal, Kayden¡¯s opponent released a mist from his body at high speed, Kayden¡¯s spiritual sense was glued to his opponent, but for a second he lost all information from his spiritual sense.


    It was as if he had had a small short circuit, as soon as he returned, Kayden was amazed to feel at least a dozen bodies identical to his opponent, in addition, several traps were tied around it.


    The boy certainly improved and managed to overcome the basic deficiencies of his technique, unfortunately for him Kayden¡¯s spiritual sense only sent information and his control over mana meant he was able to feel everything around him at a level beyond the physical.


    Even though there were ten opponents, only one of them released a mana signature similar to that of a living being, in addition, some traps on the ground also looked fake, Kayden didn¡¯t know how that was possible, but he didn¡¯t care, the mana in the bubble The whole thing converged on Kayden quickly and...


    SWISH!


    A slash of mana shot out from his finger at a ridiculously high speed splitting the mist into two halves all the way, in just a second it crossed the entire distance and before the opponent could react the judge had taken him out of the arena.


    Before Kayden could leave, he was called.


    "Marques! Can you tell me how you found out?" The boy was visibly confused but still managed to react before Kayden left. After reflecting momentarily, Kayden realized there was no harm in telling the boy.


    "All of your illusions looked identical to you and still released mana, but their mana signature was not identical to yours, it had a slight difference, and that was what made me attack you directly." After Kayden explained, he left.


    Over the next few hours, the number of participants slowly dropped and Kayden continued to rise, no fight forced him to give his all, he didn¡¯t even have to wield his katana.


    In the last rounds, there were only 300 people, but the dean announced the participation of around 90 students who performed above expectations and gained a new chance, making it exactly 400 students.


    Kayden had no difficulty winning the next two fights and entering the top 100, this time the fights would be a little more exciting, at least that¡¯s what he expected.


    "Students, at this point you will fight more than once, even if you lose, as each student has two lives and you will not fight the same opponent twice, we did this so that those who deserved a better top would not be disqualified quickly by someone superior."


    Kayden didn¡¯t care, he doubted he would have to use his second life, after a few more minutes of rest given to all the surviving students, they were called back, Kayden entered the bubble and...


    "Hello Locke," Kayden was surprised to see who his opponent would be, but he was also excited, Locke was strong and this would be a good match, the two exchanged some greetings and the judge started the fight.


    "Kayden! Come with everything, I respect myself as an opponent," Locke asked and Kayden nodded, he already had that thought in his head and instantly activated his path and acceleration to the extreme.


    "The sun is above all," Locke used his highest attribute spell and his strength and speed increased significantly, at that level he could easily fight someone at the ninth level.


    Within seconds, the two met and the sound of their katanas clashing resounded through the bubble, Locke was pushed a few steps back showing that in brute strength he was inferior to Kayden.


    "The sun shines eternally," Locke said and the mana around the two began to heat up at a frighteningly fast rate visibly, Kayden couldn¡¯t convert mana into elemental mana that fast.


    BOOOM!


    He didn¡¯t let Locke continue with his spells and went aggressively against him, his lightning didn¡¯t hit the prince but made him have to leave the place, and Kayden ran against him for close combat.


    After a few more clashes between their swords, Kayden felt his skin heating up and about to suffer burns, imposing his will and his path to the maximum, Kayden cleared the will of the mana around him and suffocated it with mana from the region, preventing the elemental mana from expressed.


    He then attacked Locke with a slash of electrical aura, the attack was extremely strong and was defended with a similar flame attack of the same intensity, the only problem was that Locke didn¡¯t have as much mana as Kayden, so this attack was costly for him.


    "Sea of flames," Kayden pronounced his spell and the fire began to grow nonstop in all directions, at least in most of the area, unfortunately, Kayden had cleared the elemental mana around him and the fire was unable to pass through him.


    BOOOM!


    BOOOM!


    BOOOM!


    Kayden released three lightning bolts in a row at Locke, causing the boy to have to run and be unable to keep his spell working, then launched a slash of pure mana aura.


    This time, Locke had to spend half of his mana to be able to defend himself from the attack and this was done in two parts, his first defense was broken in seconds, and the other held the attack.


    BOOOM!


    Before he could recover, lightning came towards him, this time he didn¡¯t have time to escape by walking and once again he had to spend mana to defend himself, his mana was already at dangerous levels and it got even worse when he saw the next one. Kayden attack.


    "I give up," Locke said calmly and the judge took him out of the arena, unfortunately, his mana wasn¡¯t enough to compete against Kayden, there were too many spells stacked against him at once. S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Perhaps if he had more mana or some pill to recover the fight could have extended to a more critical point, but unfortunately, Kayden had mana to a ridiculous point, even more so considering his bends in the recent advance.


    "It was a good fight," Kayden was being honest, was it quick? Yes, but it was just a matter of lack of strength and small mistakes that decided the match, any attack from Locke would have put him in trouble, and the title of prince was not something to be taken lightly

 Chapter 230: Winner

    After a few more minutes, the dean appeared flying in the sky again, considering that the event started early and had barely reached noon. The dean¡¯s next words were normal.


    "Now we will only have a few fights at a time, so the other students can watch and take something away from them." This time it took about two hours before Kayden fought again, the delay was because those who lost a life were fighting again.


    Kayden¡¯s next fight wasn¡¯t difficult at all and he only had to release a few dozen beams for his opponent to be destroyed, this was within what he expected.


    Probably in his year, no one else could pose any challenge to him, even the greatest geniuses who were already in the mage realm were only at the fifth or sixth rank, while he had reached the seventh.


    "We finally reached the top 20 remaining students, from now on it will no longer be an individual fight but everyone against everyone in a huge bubble, making teams is allowed and anything related, the classification will be in the order in which you are expelled from the arena ."


    A few minutes later, Kayden was in a huge bubble almost 500 meters wide, along with him nineteen other students were present. Kayden automatically recognized a few, Locke, Anabela, Anthony, the teenager he faced a few years ago.


    He was surprised to see her there, clearly, he remembered that she was a support mage, her only weapon was a parasol that had a unique mana leak that Kayden hadn¡¯t noticed the first time.


    He didn¡¯t see Linus, Isaac, or Luan among the people, they were probably disqualified before. His friends were strong enough to be considered powerful geniuses, but not strong enough to be considered a genius among geniuses.


    "May the best win," with the rector¡¯s speech the final battle began. Locke was the first to join Kayden while a few other groups started to appear next.


    In the end, five groups were formed, Kayden and Locke isolated and the rest divided into unequal numbers.


    "Careful," Kayden warned Locke calmly as he felt a rush of mana towards them. His speech was proven correct when several fire phoenixes appeared against the two. Kayden instantly recognized where they were coming from.


    "Sorry about this, Kayden, but you¡¯re too dangerous to be left alone," Anthony spoke as he approached Anabela¡¯s support. Along with them was the white-haired healer girl and a wizard wearing an eye patch and a scythe.


    "I¡¯ll take the mages at bay," Locke said and sped off at the two. Anthony and the one-eyed man even tried to stop the prince, but Kayden stopped them with his lightning. Without giving them time to breathe, Kayden went all out towards Anthony.


    The blanket held back Kayden¡¯s first attack with the katana and allowed Anthony to exchange a blow with him, which was impressively held back by a layer of mana on Kayden¡¯s body.


    At the same time as all this was happening, a large amount of mana appeared over Kayden¡¯s finger and an aura attack made of pure mana was thrown at the scythe user, preventing him from getting closer.


    Anthony pulled the entire blanket towards him and began exchanging blows with Kayden, but it was clear that he was spending most of his time on the defensive and being pushed back, meanwhile, the one-eyed man couldn¡¯t get any closer, as every time lightning struck. I leave him.


    The same situation repeated itself with Kayden accumulating mana on his finger, Anthony saw that this was his chance to attack while Kayden tried to keep the one-eyed man away and...


    ¡¯What?¡¯ Anthony asked himself this question when he saw himself in heaven. Kayden didn¡¯t attack the one-eyed man and directed the aura cut at Anthony, with the proximity and strength of his attack, the boy was instantly taken out of the match to avoid being divided into two halves.


    Meanwhile, Kayden had suffered a slight cut on his back from the one-eyed man¡¯s scythe. Even though he put up a mana barrier, it was melted as if it was made of butter because of some skill he had.


    The cut began to close to the naked eye and Kayden quickly stepped back to view the situation more calmly. The scythe user didn¡¯t let him get very far and his attack was stopped by Kayden¡¯s katana.


    Again, a series of blows were exchanged and Kayden once again proved superior by causing the spear user to be thrown away each time. He still hadn¡¯t seen why the one-eyed man was strong and deserved to be here; he just looked like someone with a high level.


    "What the fuck?" Kayden received a deep cut from the scythe on his shoulder as his katana simply broke in two in his hand. Fortunately, he reacted quickly and got away from his opponent. His weapon was of a high level and represented the pinnacle of the mage realm, and yet it was cut in two like butter. It was similar to when he tried to defend himself using a bubble and the scythe went through it easily.


    BOOM! Lightning struck right where the one-eyed man was, preventing him from running to Kayden. This would have to be a fight won through attrition and brute force. Fortunately, Kayden had this ability, even more so when seeing how his opponent depended on physical attacks.


    SWISH! An aura cut made only of mana went toward the one-eyed man and prevented him from reaching Kayden. The speed of the attack was too great and he had to stop to dodge it. Unfortunately, this resulted in him not being able to catch up to Kayden.


    BOOOM! Another lightning struck, preventing its movement. The one-eyed man was not stupid and knew that Kayden was guiding him to a planned location, but unfortunately, he could not fight against it. He could back down, only his ego prevented him from doing so.


    SWISH! BOOM! Time started to pass slowly, the other groups were also fighting. The general idea was to ambush Kayden and the strongest first, but they ended up getting tangled up in a fight along the way.


    "Finally," Kayden managed to change enough mana to lightning elemental mana. It took a little longer than he expected. With that, it was just a few more attacks to put the one-eyed one in the right place and...


    BOOOOOOOOOOM! A bolt of lightning several times stronger and faster than the others fell on the one-eyed man. He had no way to dodge as he would be hit by two aura attacks coming from different directions. This whole moment he thought Kayden might just throw one and it cost him the match.


    It was a peculiar situation, Kayden turned around and saw Locke fighting only Anabela. The boy was a complete wreck and yet he hadn¡¯t given up. The other mage had already been eliminated, without any honor. Kayden sneaked up on the girl and, at an opportune moment when she was focused on defending herself from Locke, launched an aura attack that almost took her out of the match.


    Anabela, holding the top 1 of the year, was not there by chance. A bubble appeared around her instantly as she sensed danger, but unfortunately, it was broken and the next attack disqualified her from the arena.


    Turning around, Kayden and Locke realized that there were only a few people left fighting around, including them. With around 10 people left, this meant they had already secured the seed, unlike Anabela and Anthony.


    It was the right decision to attack Kayden to try and secure the top spots, but they didn¡¯t consider that the boy could easily deal with them. Locke, who was never a big standout, showed absurd strength that didn¡¯t match his public profile.


    What followed was just Locke and Kayden removing their opponents from the arena as if they were nothing more than vermin. The strongest had already left and there was nothing they could do to hold the duo back. In just a few minutes, there were only the two of them left in the bubble.


    "Unfortunately, I am out of mana to continue this fight. I give up," said Locke, aware that even if he had mana, he would have been destroyed. Furthermore, he had several injuries of different degrees. Therefore, he opted for a less humiliating end, and Kayden was crowned champion of the month.


    In the following minutes, everyone received the position on their cell phones and was informed that the seed would be delivered to their rooms within 3 days. Those above the top ten received the points immediately.


    With this seed, Kayden could climb the ranks and, using the fourth realm seed he received from Azir, reach the peak of the eighth level within a few months. From this perspective, her only need was to think about concepts; Cultivating became secondary and would be done easily, this was something that Bolt had already explained a while ago. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 231: Monthly tournament again

    After receiving congratulations from his friends, Kayden returned to his mansion, where he stocked up on food and water, deciding to remain there until the next dueling championship. His focus at the moment was learning the concept of hopelessness.


    It was a mid-level concept and, oddly enough, there was a lot of supporting material about it, mainly due to humanity¡¯s great moments of despair. Kayden just had to buy some books online.


    The learning method was different for everyone, but at its core, you had to feel like no hope was left. A level so deep that he didn¡¯t even want to breathe anymore so that he could end his life.


    Kayden had a powerful mindset, and this would be completely impossible. So what he was doing was forcing emotions into his mind. It wasn¡¯t very difficult, especially with him using some drugs to increase the expression of his emotions.


    In this state, anything was capable of messing with his psychology. For example, the mere act of remembering a bad taste caused a ridiculous hatred for that food to rise over him.


    Kayden was using the only memory where he truly felt true despair and that his life was over. This was when he faced the guide in the final assassin guild challenge.


    He smiled thinking about how his life had changed. At that time, he didn¡¯t want to kill the baby, but if it were today he would have no qualms about killing him, logically considering only his life at stake.


    ************


    "Why am I still at this?" S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "What¡¯s the point?"


    "In the end, I won¡¯t die anyway?"


    "Maybe I should just give up."


    "This is a losing fight."


    Kayden was sitting on the floor, actually sprawled was a better word. He didn¡¯t have the willpower to even get up, his breathing was becoming rare and low frequency.


    Even his circulation seemed sluggish and unwilling. Suicidal ideas began to well up in Kayden¡¯s mind. Not even suicide was right, as he just didn¡¯t want to live or do anything. He didn¡¯t want to kill himself, he just didn¡¯t have any desire to.


    Within a few minutes, Kayden¡¯s consciousness fell closer and closer to unconsciousness, his breathing finally stopped after a few seconds and his body looked like that of the dead.


    His heart was giving the last beats of its own accord, his body decided to simply stop working on its own. There was no pain, there was nothing, just the desire to disappear and give up everything.


    Suddenly, Kayden was woken up by an electrical shock. His entire body rose and he took in a huge gulp of air. His entire body was aching from returning to his rushed life.


    His rapid breathing caused him to choke and cough as if he had swallowed a basketball. After almost a minute, Kayden recovered. His entire body was in pain and it felt like his blood had solidified.


    Practically every corner of his body was tingling heavily, tears came out of his eyes unconsciously, and a cold feeling that was present began to go away as he circulated the blood.


    "Success," Kayden thought. He didn¡¯t care about anything as he made his way to subdue the new concept he learned. This must have been the 6th time he almost killed himself and woke up with the help of a sequence of runes.


    Every other time he was unable to take the last step, the one that truly meant hopelessness, one in which his life no longer mattered at all. Kayden achieved this before 4 weeks.


    At this point, he was at six concepts when considering adding hopelessness. His spiritual sense increased again and was now approaching 250 meters. His control over mana became even stronger.


    Without even giving his body time to breathe, Kayden ate a world-tree seed he received from the championship. It was only of the 3rd realm, but it was still a good help and enough for him to be able to pass the rank.


    As soon as Kayden ate it, mana began to well up inside him and spread throughout his body. Calmly, he began to circulate mana in his body. In just a few minutes, he felt the usual breakthrough process.


    As soon as the impulse came, Kayden took control and began to improve his veins to withstand the pressure of his sixfold mana. Once again, the pain of forcibly changing his constitution took over Kayden and he just ignored it.


    Just a few minutes later, all the veins in his body underwent a good improvement and Kayden could now feel the mana circulating easily throughout his body in a fluid manner. After that, it just improved his heart to pump faster. With the increase in density, it became a little slower than before.


    After that, he just let nature take its natural course, mainly because he no longer knew what to do. As his body improved overall, he tried to use the momentum to come up with new ideas.


    Instantly, he began to think about the idea of only having one heart. Kayden had already had a glimpse of this idea before and now it started to make some sense to him.


    With just one heart, he could increase his size considerably and in the future, he would not even have any use for blood in his body. In which realm this would happen, Kayden didn¡¯t know, but some of his organs would be useless in the future.


    The outline of the idea stayed firmly in Kayden¡¯s mind, but unfortunately, he had the momentum cut off before he could continue. His body has officially advanced to the eighth level. Kayden didn¡¯t pay attention and tried to continue with the heart idea.


    A new world was opened to him. His organs wouldn¡¯t last forever. Some functions would be discarded. This was information that only impulse could give him. Their digestive organs would likely be removed over time.


    In the distant future, perhaps he would no longer have any function supported by nutrients and water and would only live on pure mana. The boy took a few hours to elaborate and develop what he learned. New spaces meant he could build other hearts.


    ***********


    "Sorry about that, I just got obsessed with a concept and lost track of time," Kayden was apologizing to his friends in the stands where the monthly duels were held.


    This time Heimer and Sarah were there too. The two were having a day off and considering all the time that had passed, Kayden was having his first contact with Sarah within a year. Fortunately, their relationship was not based on emotions but only on appearances.


    "But was it worth it? What rank are you now? How many concepts have you already interconnected?", they asked. Most of the year Kayden had learned two concepts and was trying to intertwine them. The best were in the process of learning a third concept and not even one had managed to learn three different ones yet.


    Sarah and Heimer were in the process of integrating the fourth concept and they represented the peak of geniuses of their period. It may seem like they made little progress compared to Kayden¡¯s class, but in reality, Kayden¡¯s year students just did the easy part.


    Integrating the third concept should take at least 1 and a half years for geniuses and around 3 years for normal students. After that, learning another concept should take at least another year and a half, and connecting it was an even longer process than all the others combined.


    Regarding cultivation rank, Kayden¡¯s room reached the easy part which was the sixth rank. After that, it would take most a few years to overcome this classification hurdle, perhaps not so long since resources were now much more abundant, at least for the cream of the cream.


    "I¡¯m at the eighth level and my concepts... let¡¯s just say it¡¯s a secret," Kayden said, taking everyone around by surprise. Locke and Luan didn¡¯t expect him to advance to another level, while the rest only discovered that he was at the eighth level, but the shock was still great.


    Even more so for Heimer who was also at the eighth level. The small seed of jealousy that had opened earlier blossomed strongly at this moment. He always saw Kayden as a genius, but a genius inferior to him, and at this moment things were proving otherwise.


    The group continued talking for a few more minutes until the dean appeared in the sky in the same position as before. The scene caused d¨¦j¨¤ vu in everyone, as even the weather conditions were the same.


    "Hello students, I don¡¯t think I need to explain the rules again. I¡¯m just going to make an addition that I didn¡¯t mention before, those in the top ten don¡¯t need to fight the first fights, they will only face each other in the bubble with other students who reached the top 20. "


    Author¡¯s note: we didn¡¯t get this week¡¯s bonus, I¡¯ll just reduce it to 50 stones again

 Chapter 232: Undefeated and on top of everyone

    The dean once again made a quick and precise speech and left everyone¡¯s sight. The competition began and Kayden sat on the ground to cultivate. His focus now was to reach the ninth level and only then begin another concept.


    He set this goal because his treasures were accumulating and it would be faster to advance a level than to learn another concept. He would still be learning another concept, he just hasn¡¯t decided which one. Besides, I would also have to study a little about having just one heart.


    Kayden got lost in his thoughts and was only awakened by a tap on his shoulder. When he looked up, he found Locke looking next to Luan. Kayden understood immediately and stood up. Just a few seconds later, he was in the same bubble as a month ago.


    Kayden saw the same faces as last time and, oddly enough, some new ones too. But they were a minority in the changes. In general, the top 20 remained the same as before. This time, everyone was more afraid of fighting and being disqualified. Kayden didn¡¯t care and just sat and waited.


    The minutes began to pass as the nervousness grew. Everyone¡¯s aggressive aura was causing the atmosphere to become gloomy. In a few seconds, the first movement finally happened.


    Anabela began to release dozens of phoenixes against the weaker participants. Anthony and the one-eyed man were also against them. This time, this team decided to prioritize the top 10 instead of chasing the top 1. And after seeing how Kayden was just sitting around doing nothing, they took the initiative.


    Locke engaged in a battle to eliminate the weakest first. With that, it didn¡¯t even take 10 minutes for there to be only ten people left. At this point, the match again began to calm down as the strong faced each other.


    There were four people in Anthony and Anabela¡¯s group, while Locke and Kayden added two others. There was also another group with four other people, three of whom were melee mages and the rest were ranged mages.


    "Hey! Let¡¯s form a temporary team!" one of the leaders on the other side shouted and explained his plan to take Kayden out of the game in a less-than-honorable way. Anabela thought about the matter for a while.


    On the one hand, they could have a chance to eliminate the strongest competitor. But on the other hand, they would lose any honor they had left, and it wasn¡¯t much considering the last beating they took.


    "Kayden! If I face them, will you two butt in?" Anabela screamed. A red tint could be seen on her cheek, she was probably remembering the events in the bubble. Kayden only took a second to respond.


    "As long as they don¡¯t attack Locke, I won¡¯t meddle." With that, Anabela¡¯s group got into a fight against the other four. The most incredible thing is that as the minutes passed, it became clear that it wasn¡¯t easy.


    It was to the point where the one-eyed man was eliminated from the match. Even so, the difference in strength was very large and the result was as expected. Only three people remained: Anthony, Anabela, and the support mage whom Kayden discovered was called Vit¨®ria.


    Even though he was cultivating, he was aware of his surroundings and stood up as soon as Anthony started to come at them. His speed was higher than before. It was possible to see a yellow glow around him.


    Kayden used acceleration and ran into the boy. Their speed was much superior and within seconds they found each other. On the way, Kayden pulled out the maximum mana his path allowed. He looked like a supernova charged with mana at high speed.


    Anthony already had a general idea of which attack Kayden would use and his blanket was in the defensive position at all times.


    SWISH!


    An extremely fast aura slash came out from Kayden¡¯s katana. Anthony¡¯s blanket was arranged to receive him. The boy didn¡¯t pay much attention and focused his attention on Kayden. He knew his blanket could hold off one attack at least.


    BOOOM!


    The blanket of water burst and the cut continued at high speed, reaching Anthony almost instantly. He wasn¡¯t even able to react before he was disqualified. Anthony didn¡¯t know this attack would be so strong at this point and he ended up paying for it.


    What he didn¡¯t know was that Kayden got another concept and another rank. Using all the mana he could, his attack reached a ridiculously high level. Locke had barely reached both and his fight was already over.


    BOOOM!


    Kayden unleashed lightning on Anabela, who was taken by surprise. She wasn¡¯t paying attention to Anthony¡¯s struggle and hoped her friend could hold Kayden for at least a few minutes.


    The girl had to put a bubble around herself, which prevented her from moving. This allowed Locke to launch a strong flame attack against her. One more bubble was stacked, showing Anabela¡¯s skill as a genius wizard.


    BOOOM!


    Kayden unleashed lightning again and broke what was left of the bubbles. Locke once again approached the girl, who just conjured another bubble. But the bubble was cut by a hidden aura attack.


    The girl would have been disqualified at that moment if Victoria hadn¡¯t placed another bubble around her and pushed Locke away with a wind spell. Then, she used a spell to gather some mana around the two of them.


    BOOOM!


    BOOOM! S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    BOOOM!


    Kayden didn¡¯t give a second of rest as he continued bombarding the two with lightning without stopping. Locke took advantage of these gaps to use flame attacks and aura cuts. Anabela still could throw several different attacks, but the pestering prevented her from using a strong move.


    Slowly, everyone¡¯s mana began to run out, even more so with the mana in the environment being difficult to control. Meanwhile, Kayden was at his peak and couldn¡¯t stop launching aura and lightning attacks.


    "Shit," Vit¨®ria cursed under her breath as she was disqualified by a slash of pure mana thrown by Kayden. Over the next few minutes, it was just a matter of attrition until Anabela was caught by an attack from Locke and was taken out of the arena.


    "I quit". The same situation happened again and Kayden remained undefeated for two months in a row. Without caring about it, he just went to Sarah. Before the match, he promised to go to a formal event with her.


    A few hours later, Kayden finally returned to his house. Even though the social event was a huge waste of time, he still made some profit by talking to the duke and asking for some favors for his companies.


    As soon as he entered his room, he placed a treasure seed he received from Athena in his mouth and felt the mana in his body begin to multiply. In just a few seconds, it was ideal for him to cultivate.


    ************


    Three more months passed and Kayden remained undefeated in the championship. In the meantime, he learned another middle-level concept called electric shock. He had to use one of his treasures for this, but the gains made it worth it.


    There were just a few more concepts left and he could start learning the electrical spiritual sense technique made by Bolt. The technique called for at least one ray path with 4 concepts about lightning in the first realm.


    Counting all his concepts, Kayden reached the number of seven concepts and felt that his path was becoming more powerful. At the same time, his control over concepts was looser. For every concept he added that didn¡¯t have a direct effect on his path, he lessened his control over the other concepts.


    He didn¡¯t know what would happen if he accumulated too many concepts. Maybe he couldn¡¯t keep them interconnected? Kayden didn¡¯t know and wasn¡¯t very willing to find out. Therefore, he chose to always alternate between concepts.


    He was currently at the peak of the eighth level and would advance today with the seed he gained a few days ago. But he was stopped when he received an invitation from Azir. Kayden didn¡¯t know what it was about, that¡¯s why he was on the dean¡¯s floating platform.


    Azir was sitting in an armchair drinking wine from a glass. As soon as Kayden arrived, they both looked at him and sized him up. A look of surprise appeared on both of their faces. They could feel Kayden¡¯s level, and it didn¡¯t surprise them. It was his aura.


    They couldn¡¯t directly say how many concepts Kayden learned, but it was certainly above normal. And the worst thing was that their aura was solid, showing that they were tied together. The two would have to stay with this curiosity, as Kayden wouldn¡¯t respond.


    "Don¡¯t look, I won¡¯t offer. These were made by a wizard who has since died." The old man directly denied a request that Kayden wasn¡¯t even going to make. The boy just waited uncomfortably.


    "Kayden, are you interested in participating in the Battle of the World for our academy?" The dean got straight to the point and caught Kayden by surprise. He didn¡¯t expect such an invitation.

 Chapter 233: Preparation

    The Battle of the World was a tournament held between all kingdoms, where only the best of the best could participate. Normally, there were 100 people per kingdom. The only main rule was that only people over 20 could participate.


    Kayden, at the time, was 18 years old and therefore did not expect the invitation, because if it was just strength, he would have already participated before. The event took place at the end of the year, more specifically there were 3 days for a mysterious test and another three for battles in which they could be singles, pairs, or trios. Every year was revealed only on the day of the battle.


    "What are the rewards?" Kayden wouldn¡¯t fight for anything, he never sought glory or fame and it wouldn¡¯t be any different now.


    "Some varied treasures, but that¡¯s the least of it, the top ten have the right to touch a divine stone, it allows you to immediately advance from the peak of the ninth level and that¡¯s not even the most impressive thing, it allows you to understand your main weak point."


    Kayden was quiet after receiving this information, it was too surreal to be true, as the main weakness was not something small, it meant a lot to any mage. When he thought it was over, the dean continued.


    " And we also have the lightning test, the truth is that the real battle of the world only accepts people in the second realm, those who are from the first and participate are only to gain experience, as long as you are under 25 years old you can participate regardless of your rank." The dean got lost in the explanation and it was the first time Kayden had heard the man talk so much. "Returning to the lightning test, the kingdom that obtains the most receives the right to a legendary technique."


    Kayden didn¡¯t react very well to the last line, he had no idea how strong a legendary technique was, for him, techniques were always just techniques, their strength lay in their use and their advantages.


    "Explain what a legendary technique is," Azir told the dean.


    "A legendary technique is something of a high level that comes from outside..." the dean coughed because of the pressure of Azir¡¯s mana, then resumed speaking as if nothing had happened. "In short, it is a technique capable of making someone jump several levels, you can see Locke fighting wizards with one path and triumphing, this is because of the technique we received when Apollo won."


    "Where do so many high-level techniques come from? Are they new every year?" Kayden asked a few questions.


    "A kingdom can only receive it if it manages to achieve five rays, which is a very rare feat, normally only one person can achieve this for decades, what we want is for you to enter the competition and make five rays when you move on to the second Kingdom." Kayden thought about this a little, he already had a lot of concepts, maybe if he could get one or two more in six months he would be properly ready.


    "I need treasures to learn two concepts, furthermore, I want to have access to the technique I gain." His requests were loud, but they still matched reality, the first request was something he would need and the other was just a whim that he threw into the wind.


    "Okay, you no longer need to participate in the monthly championship, the seed will be delivered to your home every month, I hope you can reach the peak of the ninth level in a few months."


    Azir¡¯s speech ended the situation and Kayden could finally return to his home, this time he left the concepts aside and decided to focus on cultivating like crazy, even his classes were left aside.


    *********


    "Just circle," Kayden repeated to himself for the umpteenth time, he was in the process of advancing to the ninth level, the conversation with Azir and the dean was just a day ago, and only a few hours later did he realize that Apollo was already in the ninth level. second realm and had also achieved five lightning bolts.


    To advance, Kayden used one of the seeds he won in the monthly championships, it was more than enough to give him mana to break the last shackle that held him to the eighth level.


    He continued circling as the feeling of euphoria took over his entire body, he knew what it was, it was the impulse, Kayden had to take the opportunity to think about the only heart.


    As he focused only on cultivating, he ended up leaving it aside, and would probably only return to this subject after the world championship, once again he improved his veins and his heart.


    Additionally, he made some small changes to his secondary hearts so they had a stronger boost, Kayden prepared his veins to have mana circulating at high speed, he needed this to be able to overload his circulation when necessary.


    Other than that, there was practically nothing else for him to do and he just had to let nature take care of the process while he thought about having just one heart, slowly insights that he would never have had on his own began to appear to him.


    To only have one heart, the other would have to disappear and for that, he would have to pump his blood and perform all the functions of his heart with the new one. Kayden would also have to regulate the flow so as not to damage his body.


    For him to imprint the new functions on his mana heart it would be necessary for him to have a ridiculously high knowledge of his current one, ridiculous to the point where he would know the strength of each beat and replicate them. It would have to be identical to his current one in operation, which meant it couldn¡¯t be done in just a few months, it would take years for him to memorize every movement and action of his heart.


    This realization was like a bucket of cold water on Kayden, but he didn¡¯t lose heart and tried to continue thinking, unfortunately, he no longer had access to the impulse, the world had finally finished improving his entire body. His bones, muscles, and every part of his body were improved, and a large amount of impurities were on the ground around Kayden, within seconds he burned all the black substances and using an air spell to gather all the dirt into a ball threw it out the window.


    As soon as he finished doing that, Kayden went back to cultivating, as his foundation was ridiculously well crafted, he didn¡¯t even need to stabilize himself from the advancement and just kept progressing, he estimated that it would only take him a month to reach the peak of the ninth level.


    And Kayden was right, a month later he finally managed to max out the first realm, he reached a wall similar to the apprentice realm, he felt like he could break through at any time, he just had to wish for it. As soon as he reached the peak, Kayden put that aside and started thinking about the concepts he should learn, he still had three months left until the end of the year, and his goal was a little further than previously, he wanted to advance with ten concepts, at the moment I had seven and would need to learn another three.


    The number of concepts only increased his general strength, having dozens of concepts would not make him capable of facing more lightning, but when he subdued them he had a gain for each concept, even if minimal.


    He could learn more concepts before advancing to the second realm, but a legendary technique was something too good for him to pass up, moreover, he felt that he would soon reach a concept limit and he couldn¡¯t explain why. His next two concepts would be to support his path, he was his best chance to advance, his concepts would be omnipotence and humility, the two concepts were very abstract and Kayden didn¡¯t find any books about them, but just some testimonials and how to achieve them.


    His other concept for his electrical concept tree was called electrical impulse, it was very similar to everything he had already learned, an electrical impulse was nothing more than a rapid electrical discharge capable of crossing the medium. For example, our nerve signals are carried out through small electrical impulses through all our nerves, this concept was detailed as important for the bolt technique, as it would help him to better understand the flow of electrical movements in other people¡¯s bodies.


    ******* S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    It only took Kayden three weeks to understand the concept of omnipotence, using a small seaweed that the dean gave to him, the ease of this concept came because he had had some incredible experiences in his two lives. Reincarnation showed him that anything is possible, and then he faced the golden eyes, this was the experience that most helped him understand the concept of omnipotence, the eyes floated in space as if they were gods.


    In fact, gods would not be the correct word but god, because he was above everything and everyone, there were no equals to him, Kayden knew he had never beaten him, he didn¡¯t even come close, he was closer to the power to create life and change the laws of the universe than face that creature, what happened was that he was recognized, that¡¯s all.

 Chapter 234: The beginning of the battle of the world

    The concept of omnipotence for Kayden then came easily, the only thing he needed to understand was that to be omnipotent he could not even have an equal sign, it was a state of absolute power.


    In the sense of mana, it was the ability to stop an opponent¡¯s spell in mid-air just with his control over mana, this was a point that Kayden had already reached against opponents with little will over their mana or those at the apprentice level.


    Unfortunately, this was not true omnipotence as he needed requirements to exert his strength, this understanding made him able to learn the new concept which turned out to be a mid-level concept that integrated perfectly into his path.


    His path once again grew in strength reaching over 250 meters in range, Kayden estimated that with the next concept, he would put his spiritual sense at around 300-something meters.


    On the same day he learned this concept he began to learn humility, another abstract concept that very few people managed to learn and most of them were not combat mages but hermits and normal people.


    This concept took exactly as long as Kayden expected and just a month later he was able to add this concept to his list for a total of nine concepts.


    Learning this wasn¡¯t too difficult, Kayden just had to understand true humility, which wasn¡¯t based on appearance or interaction with other people, it was something that came from himself. Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Humility was the characteristic that every great magician should seek, it was recognizing that you were not perfect and still had a lot to improve, even if you were the best in the world at something you were still just an apprentice.


    This concept took a long time to enter Kayden¡¯s mind, as he first analyzed it as a social concept, only after two weeks did it change, in the end, he still used an elixir and managed to reach the concept.


    His path had yet another increase, but this time it was not as great as he expected, his concept was classified as lower middle level, it only increased by a few meters and closed his spiritual sense by 300 meters.


    Another question that arose for Kayden was how this increase was happening, who defined whether a concept was strong or weak? What exactly was he learning so many concepts for?


    These questions only left him with even more doubts, he had no answers and didn¡¯t know anyone who would, putting that aside he went back to learning his next concept, this one wouldn¡¯t take long.


    It only took Kayden 3 weeks to learn his last concept in the first realm, electrical impulse already had documentation and viable methods to learn it, Kayden just had to take more shocks and see how his body moved with them alone.


    quite unintuitive and he didn¡¯t know how it worked, only with a treasure he was able to see the difference in potential in different parts of his body and when he received an electric shock this caused the charge to change direction. signal causing signaling for your body to move.


    This was something that Kayden only understood practically and using his spiritual sense, if he had taken chemistry and biology in college he would have understood that it is the exchange of signals caused by small molecules that carry out this signaling throughout the body, but this was something that he would hardly know.


    The essence of the electrical impulse was just a weak but extremely fast shock, after Kayden understood it he was able to see some additional movements in people, almost as if another world had opened up to him, but unfortunately, he was too weak to make it. Use this in combat or on a large scale.


    With only one more week left Kayden decided to train with his new strength to get used to it, he preferred to do it alone because finding a training partner at his strength level now would be difficult.


    Logically the college had other people at the peak of the ninth level with a formed path and various concepts, but Kayden wanted to familiarize himself with his strength alone, it was just a personal choice.


    ***********


    "Kayden!?" Heimer almost screamed when he saw the boy appearing in the room reserved for participants in the world battle, he remembered perfectly that his brother was not old enough to participate.


    "Hello Heimer, hello Sarah," Kayden greeted them both, Heimer with a wave and Sarah with a light kiss in the way she liked, not too vulgar and not too formal, oddly enough Kayden had to practice this greeting under orders. her.


    "I received the invitation from the dean and decided to participate," his sentence made the seed of jealousy that had blossomed in Heimer even more apparent, he had fought hard to get this position while being at the eighth level.


    He was just one of the 50 students that the Sol academy would take, his presence was only for training, while Sarah was a true competitor, her talent and wealth placed her far above everyone else.


    No matter how many times they asked what level Kayden was at and how many concepts he had, the boy didn¡¯t answer and said it would be a surprise, the people around him knew Kayden, but they didn¡¯t have him in their eyes.


    In the end, he was only a first-realm wizard, which eliminated him from the ten strongest, and the others were all geniuses who would never accept a fourth-year student being placed on the same level as them.


    The college had many other students in the second realm, but they were not capable of fighting against the top ten and so they were left aside. The college chose to offer training to first-class magicians and invest in a greater chance of winning the championship. worldwide.


    Everyone there had strong auras of ninth-level mages, only eleven figures did not emit anything, the ten from the second realm and Kayden. Heimer and another student were the only ones who did not have the average rank in the class.


    "And Matthew?" Kayden never met Sarah¡¯s brother again after his coma. Oddly enough, he hadn¡¯t even asked about him this whole time. Your question was answered by Sarah.


    "He gave up the warrior path and became an alchemist a few years ago." Kayden was surprised by the sudden change but just brushed it aside when he saw the dean appearing in front of them.


    "Hello dear students, the most awaited day of the year has finally arrived. I¡¯m not going to bother too much, just go up and stay in the room while we move. If you have any questions, just contact me outside," Kayden didn¡¯t understand the dean¡¯s sentence.


    How would they move if they were inside a house? His question was immediately answered when a slight tremor shook the entire room, but as quickly as it came, it disappeared.


    As he looked out the window, he saw himself flying at high speed above the clouds. The house was large enough for fifty people to be comfortably spread out. In addition, there were various foods and drinks everywhere.


    Kayden sat down on the floor and began studying her base and body. He couldn¡¯t cultivate, but fixing small mistakes was still within his reach. However, this was ridiculously difficult after so many improvements and concerts.


    Without realizing it, he became the target of murmurs in the room, especially after everyone saw how antisocial he was. Even in the presence of his friends, he preferred to isolate himself. Kayden paid so little attention that he didn¡¯t even notice three people who were invisible in any spiritual sense.


    Locke, Apollo, and Azir, the three of them were sitting on a sofa isolated from the rest of the people. Nobody practically knew who the old man was with the two princes, but something in his aura prevented anyone from getting closer.


    A few hours later, Kayden was woken up by the shaking of the house coming to a stop. Fortunately, he didn¡¯t go into a state of hyper-focus and ignored the things around him. When he woke up, he found everyone leaving the house at the rector¡¯s call.


    As soon as he went outside, he was faced with one of the most magnificent views he had ever witnessed in his existence. A huge land mass floated above the clouds. Everywhere he looked, there were huge clouds, making it look like the land was floating on a sea.


    Within the land mass were several different trees of varying colors, all positioned perfectly with ideal spacing. It was possible to see dozens of mountains and rivers, all seeming to brim with life and an air of mystery.


    Another amazing thing was the sky above them, the color of a pure blue that Kayden had never seen before. It stretched majestically on all sides. There was not the slightest degree of pollution. Kayden also noticed that the mana in this place was three times denser.


    They advanced a few more kilometers over this huge paradise and were able to see some mansions and other structures in the mountains, but that was not the main part. Only when they walked and flew a few dozen kilometers did the main city reveal itself.

 Chapter 235: The birth of the pinnacle

    There were no simple buildings or houses. There weren¡¯t even any streets in the place. It was just a series of huge mansions, each with a different design. There were no walls or guards. Furthermore, the mana density of the place was five times higher than normal.


    Many structures were floating in the air over some land or simply flying by themselves. The city didn¡¯t have a large movement of people, and only a few were flying in the air.


    "Let¡¯s go to our kingdom¡¯s mansion. Don¡¯t leave it until tomorrow. You are not allowed to visit the city with your current level," the dean began guiding them to a mansion over a kilometer wide, decorated with statues made of gold and other precious materials.


    "This is the city called the heart of humanity. Only mages in the fourth realm are allowed to move freely here. In this place, only the best of the best of humanity gather," the dean explained as soon as they landed.


    Then each of them found a room. Some went to public areas to socialize, and others, like Kayden, just stayed inside their rooms. Most were looking forward to the next day. Many of them would break through to the second realm the next day, and their performance would define their future.


    A bad feeling came over Kayden, which made him use one of his seeds just to look for errors in his base. For many, this was a waste, but for Kayden, it was an investment.


    The seed made him find tiny errors, which together would barely give him half of 1% strength. But that wasn¡¯t Kayden¡¯s purpose. His only goal was to get a perfect breakthrough the next day.


    He still had three seeds and a few more hours left. Without thinking twice, Kayden consumed another one and went back to looking for errors.


    The next day...


    All the mansions had disappeared from the ground and were floating a few kilometers away. In the center of the city was a huge stadium, which easily exceeded 5 kilometers in length, placing it as one of the largest structures ever made by man.


    Most of the seats were extremely luxurious, with armchairs and sofas, each area was a few meters away from the other. However, the amount of accommodation was small compared to the size of the structure, which made it seem a little empty. The center had absolutely nothing but a small, completely white stone.


    The Sun kingdom¡¯s entourage was in one of the highest and most spacious spaces in the stands. The place had at least a hundred top-notch chefs to meet any student request. Any food or drink was on the menu. Another 50 students came from other colleges and organizations.


    Kayden sat with Heimer and Sarah, and to his surprise, Locke and Apollo appeared to join them. After a few greetings, the group continued talking normally while waiting for the event to begin.


    An insane flow of mana caused everyone to become quiet. The flow was ridiculously strong and seemed to be controlled by dozens of people at once. Along with the mana, a voice resounded everywhere and at the same time nowhere.


    "Mana gave humanity the power to dictate the rules of existence. If we want grass, we will have grass," with the man¡¯s voice, a huge plain of grass began to be made with the naked eye, and in a few seconds it covered the entire space. "If we want trees, we will have trees." Trees of all sizes were raised out of nowhere and filled the entire space.


    "If we want water, we will have water." Rivers and lakes appeared. "If we want light, we will have light." Even a small sun was raised. Kayden felt like he had read something like this before. "But¡­" a huge dramatic pause appeared. "This is insignificant to us. What we seek is true strength."


    Just as everything was lifted, everything began to fall. The grass turned black and disappeared, the trees were burned, and the rivers dried up. In the center, the white stone stood towering, and the ground around it began to grow to form an impressive mountain of earth.


    "Once again, the council invites humanity to show its talent and strength. Let those who are worthy come to the stone," the voice trailed off, leaving everyone quiet. Kayden knew he shouldn¡¯t go now. The dean had explained that there was a correct order, with the country that won the last competition coming last. S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Several people started to go to the mountain. They all came from the same country. In total, there were 30 people. The first to go forward was a girl wearing a tight black dress that left all her curves on display, and she was also well made up.


    "Today¡¯s event is treated more like a presentation of geniuses to the world. That¡¯s why most of them are well groomed," Locke explained. He had already come here many times.


    As soon as she touched the stone, the heavens closed in with dark clouds. Unlike the time the mysterious tree advanced, the clouds this time were not golden in color and were smaller, but their essence was the same.


    Over the next few minutes, four lightning bolts struck and left the previously perfectly groomed girl in tattered clothes. That seemed to be her limit. Then came another boy who only reached three rays, an air of mockery appeared on most of the people here.


    Over the next few hours, dozens of people underwent the test, but none of them managed to face more than four lightning strikes. Furthermore, no one summoned golden clouds. Kayden was getting bored until golden clouds appeared.


    "Golden clouds are only for people who got five lightning bolts in the first ascension test. You¡¯ll see few in your life," Locke explained to Kayden.


    "Two in a decade," Apollo muttered to himself. All eyes were focused on the boy. He represented someone with a good chance of winning the real championship. The first lightning was already stronger than normal, and he masterfully defended it with a wall of stone.


    The next two beams fell equally hard, but they couldn¡¯t even break the boy¡¯s stone barrier. And they were very strong rays. The third lightning struck with the same force as the fourth of the other participants.


    Another lightning struck, symbolizing the fourth. At that moment, expectations were at the highest possible point. Most wanted him to be able to face five lightning bolts, as this would greatly increase humanity¡¯s strength. Rivalry in this place only existed with people of low kingdoms; those on high knew what was at stake.


    Everyone¡¯s apprehension and nervousness made it seem like the world had stopped for a moment, until...


    BOOOM!


    A ridiculously strong bolt of lightning crashed down on the boy, destroying his barrier to pieces. Several others rose to protect him and continued to be broken as if they were nothing more than wind.


    Debris began to accumulate around the boy. Tens of meters of ground were altered into clusters of stones. This was the strongest lightning that many people had seen in their lives.


    The lightning lasted a few seconds and, in the end, revealed a teenager with his entire body bleeding and an arm missing, but alive and going through the process of advancement with the support of the world. He was from the kingdom of the Enlightened, and his people screamed with excitement when they saw the achievement they had. This new technique will put them far ahead on the power scale, especially since it was their first technique in centuries.


    "I hope you can entertain me," he said looking at the other kingdoms around him and raising his hand in celebration as his people joined him. Everyone¡¯s expression was gloomy.


    Apollo was the only one capable of facing the boy at that moment. Most kingdoms did not have participants with five rays, and everyone knew that any five rays great mage could easily jump five levels.


    And in fact, no kingdom had someone that high. The highest was Apollo, being level four. The rest were just at the low level. This made everyone¡¯s mood one of acceptance.


    Except for the Sun kingdom. Everyone had complete trust in Apollo. The prince was a monster and he had already proven that before. After this kid finished, there were no more big events.


    The day followed with the Kingdom of the Enlightened and the Kingdom of Water. A kingdom that was at war with the Sun kingdom. For that day, it was only them with just one case of five rays. The next day, two other kingdoms took the stage.


    Again, there was nothing special. The kingdoms were Jarvan¡¯s kingdom and the other was called the Celestial Empire. Even though it wasn¡¯t an empire, that was its name. Jarvan¡¯s kingdom was called that because it was an open and unabashed dictatorship.


    King Jarvan was the leader and commander of everything and everyone inside. The other kingdoms were also in this style, but still maintained the appearance of happy and free kingdoms.

 Chapter 236: The birth of the pinnacle [2]

    Finally, on the third day, the kingdom that won the last battle in the world could participate. Kayden was placed last on the list for advancement. Azir was betting from behind and wanted to increase the chances of winning something good.


    The start was quick and there was nothing major. Kayden saw several students get different scores, with most getting four lightning bolts. Sarah also advanced, getting four lightning bolts. Kayden didn¡¯t expect her to participate in the advance and was surprised, but he didn¡¯t pay much attention to details like his friends¡¯ forces.


    A few hours later, it was time for Kayden to face his fate. He would obtain his seven rays and consecrate himself as the strongest great wizard. Around him, everyone had their heads down. Even though it was a distant dream, many wanted to face five rays and gain the reputation of being at the top.


    " Where are you going, Kayden? Do you still have the announcement about how the battles will be," asked Locke when he saw the boy getting up. What no one expected was the answer he gave.


    "I¡¯m going to go take the test," he didn¡¯t wait for his friends¡¯ response and just floated under the gaze of dozens of people. In his kingdom, everyone knew his age and fame, meaning he must not be ready to advance yet.


    Considering Apollo, he would be the second youngest grand wizard in the Sun kingdom, and no one knew how many lightning bolts Kayden had gotten in his first breakthrough, not even the big organizations had access to it.


    A few moments later, Kayden found himself in front of the stone. His mind went blank for just a second. He would get seven rays even if it cost him his life. He prepared absurdly for this.


    A giant bubble that covered everyone¡¯s vision appeared over Kayden. This had never happened before, and even the organizers were unsure of what to do. Within seconds, they began bombarding the bubble with ridiculously powerful spells.


    Even Azir didn¡¯t even think twice before releasing spells stronger than an atomic bomb, and even so, the bubble didn¡¯t even suffer a scratch. Before everyone started attacking with their greatest spells, a voice came out of nowhere.


    "Stop wasting your time. The boy will not be harmed by whoever is inside," the organizers instantly stopped and the rest of the kingdoms followed suit.


    The attack was only so instantaneous by everyone, as they knew that it was a human bubble and followed the organizers¡¯ example. If they didn¡¯t do the same as them, they would be severely punished, and they knew it wouldn¡¯t be light.


    Meanwhile, Kayden found himself faced with a teenager with short stature and black hair. Instantly, he remembered where he knew him. He was the only person who made time stop, and he didn¡¯t know how.


    "Thoth?"


    "Hello, Kayden. I do not have much time. This body cannot handle magic at this level. Well, that attempt was a failure," the last sentence seemed to be something he said to himself. "I know you want to try the seven rays, but there is a problem in the ascension process of skipping levels. Even if you manage to face seven or eight lightning bolts, when you move forward, your body won¡¯t withstand the advance and explode, and I don¡¯t want to lose a favor from you, so I¡¯ll cast a small curse before I kill myself," the teenager said. and then Kayden saw red smoke around him entering his body.


    He couldn¡¯t do anything and before he could say anything, he saw Thoth have his entire body burned by the mana around him. It was almost like he was paying for a sin. Then the barrier fell, showing Kayden shocked and unresponsive.


    No one went to him, as the voice had already said that it was just a matter of waiting. It didn¡¯t even take a second for Kayden to collect his thoughts and accept what happened. The curse wasn¡¯t something he could fight. He didn¡¯t even feel her on his body.


    Furthermore, he didn¡¯t even need it to avoid facing the seventh lightning. As stupid as it might be to trust someone unknown like that, Kayden knew that this boy was someone of high level, probably higher than anyone in there. He knew this because of when the boy stopped time in front of transitional mages. This already proved its strength and mystery.


    The fact that he couldn¡¯t go all the way to the seventh ray was a shock to him, but it also turned out to be some last-minute good news. Otherwise, he might be dead right now.


    "Come on," Kayden took a deep breath and placed his hand on the stone. Unlike when he drove the process alone, now he couldn¡¯t stop it from happening. Furthermore, he felt his concepts being tied slightly tighter. That¡¯s probably what made the process so easy.


    "What the fuck?" Locke broke out of his calm character as he saw the heavens close in with golden clouds. Not only he, but most of the people around him were in complete shock. No one expected Kayden to have reached this level. The clouds caused a stir among all the people in the Sun kingdom and the rest as well. Counting Apolo and the boy from the first day, there were three people in the same decade.


    This was, without a doubt, the golden generation of humanity. The mana around Kayden began to become abundant, almost like an offer for him to do his best in the ascension test. Most people received somewhere around 10 times the normal mana, while Kayden was almost 30 times, double the boy from day one.


    It wasn¡¯t long before lightning struck Kayden. The boy just used the mana around him to form a mana bubble and easily held off the attack. Kayden wasn¡¯t even paying attention. This attack was stronger than the boy¡¯s from the first day.


    BOOOM!


    The second bolt didn¡¯t even make Kayden¡¯s hair bounce. He just supported his mana bubble with even more mana and easily defended the attack. Kayden still wasn¡¯t paying attention. Finally, the third attack came, and...


    BOOOM!


    This time it was incredibly strong and Kayden had to struggle to hold on. This was a beam far superior to any previous attack. It was even stronger than the fourth-level lightning that people received in the previous days.


    The entire earth shook as a cloud of dust rose from the lightning. Huge pieces of earth were thrown to the sides. Kayden¡¯s body sank to the ground and yet his bubble didn¡¯t break even a scratch.


    This time, there was a time between one lightning bolt and another, and Kayden pulled a frightening amount of mana into him, with a density of 30 times, and his path managed to pull it over 300 meters. He practically had unlimited mana.


    BOOOM!


    The fourth ray fell terrifyingly and its brightness blinded everyone. Kayden was sunk at least a dozen meters, but even so, his bubble resisted and he didn¡¯t even move a foot from where he started the challenge. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The lightning struck for several seconds and opened a gigantic crater in the ground. Kayden stood up and began to float upwards. This time the situation was starting to get serious and he wasn¡¯t going to take it as a joke anymore.


    The surrounding mana began to rush towards him and swirl like a whirlpool around his body. It was an absurd amount of mana that no mage should be able to use.


    Kayden began to draw all the mana into his index finger. The amount was simply too ridiculous for a first kingdom. He would use a pure mana aura slash and just wait for the lightning to come. He could use his sword for this, but it wouldn¡¯t be as impressive, and, like it or not, this was his entry into the high level of the magical world.


    BOOOOOOOOOOOM!


    The fifth ray fell like a divine punishment with incomparable force. Its sound was so great that even several kilometers away it was heard as if it were close by. As soon as Kayden felt the attack coming, he threw the slash and¡­.


    BOOOM!


    The sound barrier was broken like it was nothing. His aura slash was a shade of pure dark blue and he relentlessly attacked the gigantic beam. It was like a kitten attacking a tiger.


    The attack that would kill 99% of all mages in the first kingdom was cut like butter by Kayden¡¯s cut. It was impressive to see the giant being split in two in the sky, but even so, the cut was short-lived and the lightning returned to normal and hit Kayden¡¯s bubble.


    "Shit," Kayden felt his leg being severed from his body. He didn¡¯t even blink when he saw this scene and continued defending the lightning with the bubble. After just a few seconds, which felt like years to Kayden, the attack ended.

 Chapter 237: The birth of the pinnacle [3]

    He was bleeding and had several broken bones. Furthermore, one of his legs was missing, making his appearance completely miserable. Even so, his eyes remained calm and unwavering.


    "What is he still doing there?" Heimer spoke to himself out loud. That was the question that was on everyone¡¯s mind. After a few seconds, mana gathered around Kayden, showing its intentions.


    "Kayden!! Get out of there, you¡¯ve done enough!" Azir broke any etiquette and social rules he had and intervened in Kayden¡¯s test. This had never happened in the history of this organization.


    Kayden didn¡¯t even turn to respond. Those at the top of the world only heard his low voice.


    "In the end, all the dead are buried in the same earth. I¡¯m not going to be just another ordinary wizard," Kayden said the phrase that expressed his thoughts exactly. After that, he closed his ears to anything else.


    His path opened to the limit of the limit. The surroundings began to be sucked in at a completely absurd speed. Minutes began to pass as mana accumulated on Kayden¡¯s finger.


    Three hundred meters around him became completely emptied of mana. There wasn¡¯t even a drop. Only the mana that was coming in to complete this deficiency, but it was a very low amount.


    Kayden began to feel every muscle in his body about to explode. His finger was just bone. The condensed mana coursed through his flesh and skin in seconds and was threatening to do so to his bone. Kayden was just holding on and...


    BOOOOM!


    The lightning came and its attack was against him. It was the most magnificent lightning anyone there had ever seen, not counting the one from the tree. The golden color of the lightning made it shine and blind everyone. His strength was so great that the ground around Kayden began to sink dozens of meters instantly.


    His attack once again broke the sound barrier and cut the lightning in two, making it appear as if there were two lightning strikes at the same time. His cut was completely monstrous and resisted for over thirty seconds against the lightning.


    Unfortunately, nature¡¯s attack was very strong, and even after that time, it continued to fall without seeming to diminish in intensity. This was not a sign, as the lightning was the same strength from beginning to end.


    Kayden was gathering mana around him at the best speed he could. It was little and it was an attempt to reduce the damage he would receive. He could not use one of his seeds, as the ascension test would kill him immediately for using forces that were not his.


    Finally, after an endless amount of time, Kayden¡¯s attack was destroyed by the lightning and he fell onto his body at a ridiculous speed. The boy didn¡¯t even have time to scream before he began to destroy his body. S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    His hands in front of his body in a futile attempt were completely charred. It took three seconds for the bubble on his arms to burst. Kayden turned around without thinking twice and put his foot up.


    The layer of protective mana on his leg managed to hold on for another three seconds. At every moment, Kayden was gathering mana over this tangle of pain. In just a few seconds, he was left without a leg or an arm.


    In this state, he would have already died from lack of blood, but his control froze his entire body and prevented him from moving. Kayden used his remaining mana to form a bubble around his head that would protect his body.


    All of this was being done practically unconsciously. He was still thinking about his actions, but he reached such a bizarre state of concentration that his thoughts were wordless and just formed into nothingness.


    The lightning continued falling and pierced Kayden¡¯s bubble. His last attempt was to place the mana into places above his belly. In a few seconds, the beam ended and Kayden only had part of his entire torso left.


    Alone, he began to laugh like a lunatic as the mana around him flooded to a bizarre level. He managed. His laughter was because he gave up on the seventh ray and his body went into the process of breaking through.


    The sight was completely ghastly, just a lump of flesh floating laughing alone in space. The only thing keeping him alive was mana. His body was already sending him signals to end his life and he still didn¡¯t accept it.


    BOOOOM!


    Black lightning fell on Kayden and those far away thought the boy was dead. Kayden didn¡¯t understand where this lightning was coming from and was about to react when he realized that if it was an attack he would already be dead.


    "That..." Kayden felt his body being destroyed even more. The feeling he was experiencing was something completely insane. All the flesh from his body was removed, and he was left with only bones and the remaining organs.


    He didn¡¯t understand how he was alive and before he could think about anything the flesh began to grow again. The flesh came along with new veins and joints. The process was ridiculously fast.


    In a few seconds, Kayden was fully reformed with an entirely new body. He knew it wasn¡¯t the same. His mana veins were being forcefully reorganized within him. It was hurting like he had worms crawling through his body, feeling his veins moving inside his body.


    After the veins organized themselves, the pain continued as his muscles and tendons were forcibly reorganized within his body. He didn¡¯t understand how this was happening. Meanwhile, he was raw, but a few seconds after his muscles organized themselves, the skin came off.


    A completely new skin appeared on his body in an absurdly pure white tone, almost as if he had never seen the sun before. That color didn¡¯t last even a second as his body had all the skin torn off and thrown away. New skin grew and turned into a darker, tan-like color, perfectly capable of facing the sun without getting hurt.


    Even his hair began to grow differently than normal. Its texture and shape meant that the cold air around it couldn¡¯t penetrate much of its skin. At that moment, Kayden understood. His body was being improved to the extreme for survival. It was completely bizarre.


    Kayden felt his organs begin to burst in his body, it was as if small bombs were planted in him. His liver was remodeled, his lung was remodeled, his stomach was remodeled, and...


    Kayden was knocked unconscious for the first time in years as his brain was destroyed and rebuilt. This experience was ridiculously traumatic and gave Kayden a headache as he regained his senses and physical capabilities.


    He didn¡¯t have time to think about what happened when his nails were destroyed and remade, his sexual organs were destroyed and remade. The only thing that didn¡¯t change about his body were his bones.


    "That..." Kayden felt his concepts swirling around his way within his sea of consciousness. The speed at which they were spinning was completely bizarre and within a few seconds, they disappeared into his path.


    Kayden felt his connection to his path-oriented concepts disappear entirely, only the lightning concepts were still firmly in his sea. This scared Kayden for a second, but he was pulled back to reality when the process ended.


    The entire improvement of his body was accomplished in a few seconds and maximized his survival in every way. Kayden felt a completely ridiculous level of strength in his body, even his additional hearts were enhanced.


    " Holy shit!" Kayden felt his spiritual sense growing and growing, there seemed to be no end to it. In a few seconds, he reached a range of 3 kilometers and surpassed any normal range of a great wizard.


    Kayden knew that any mage would get a spiritual sense of 500 to 1000 meters, with jinn reaching up to 1500. Those with five rays should reach a maximum of 2000, but he had an additional thousand meters.


    Furthermore, his control became even greater. Kayden could practically feel the 3-kilometer mana being ready for use. This meant he could launch an attack 3 kilometers away from where he was without needing to physically be there.


    Logically, its attack would be much weaker, but it was still a completely ridiculous ability. Finally, the black lightning ended, revealing Kayden floating without any clothes in the air. Even naked, the elegance and surreal strength that his aura emanated prevented any mockery.


    "Come to your lord," Kayden commanded and all the mana in the region came to meet him. There were 3 kilometers of mana traveling at a completely ridiculous and meaningless speed toward the boy.


    In just a few seconds all the mana of 3 miles floated around Kayden, and then he began to condense an aura cut with it, the attack took shape instantly over his fingers which this time were not consumed.

 Chapter 238: As important as a king

    BOOOOM!


    The attack did not make the sound of wind being cut, as it simply broke the sound barrier. The cut extended for 100 meters and advanced at a ridiculous speed towards the mountain he was on. The cut simply passed through the earth as if it were water, the sound of something being completely cut was heard by everyone around and...


    BOOOM!


    A completely insane chunk of land fell, and practically a quarter of the mountain fell to the ground as Kayden¡¯s attack passed through tens of meters, this degree of destruction was at a completely ridiculous level. Silence.


    Nobody said anything, there were no words to describe the situation that was happening, it was practically a crazy dream come true. Slowly the seconds began to pass and finally Kayden floated in the air to return.


    He entered as a mere first realm wizard unknown to many and only the last wizard of the Sun realm, a lost hope. Some people had even already paid their bets to the Enlightened Kingdom. Kayden entered like a wizard and...


    "The strongest grand wizard humanity has ever seen." This sentence resounded in everyone¡¯s mind as the teenager approached like a god, even those entire kingdoms above Kayden felt pressured by this monster.


    There was not even a word from the organizers as Kayden returned, this made him uneasy, he was sure the organizers were from Eden and his cut performance was meant to get him an invite, but there was nothing, and no doubt they would try to recruit him. it outdoors and in public to demonstrate strength.


    "Kayden!" The king of the Enlightened Kingdom appeared in the sky. "Or rather, Count Kayden, the strongest great wizard who ever lived. I am willing to offer access to all the knowledge and treasures of my kingdom, every corner will be yours for free and easy access, I only ask that you swear not to pursue the throne. All this in exchange for your loyalty."


    King Sagebrush made one of the most unimaginable scenes in the minds of all the people around, a fifth realm wizard, a true demigod, was offering a completely ridiculous offer.


    "HAHAHA." A sound of laughter thundered for dozens of meters and then an elderly man in military clothing appeared floating. Kayden could openly feel his fifth realm aura being displayed to everyone who wanted to see it, this was a way of introducing himself, but it broke the rule of silence among the strong.


    "What a petty proposition, Pinnacle of the Second Realm. I offer you my kingdom, why work on something that is not yours? Become my heir, everything that is mine will be yours." Kayden didn¡¯t have time to respond when another woman appeared floating in the air. S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    She had hair... made of water with the tip disappearing in the wind, the water seemed to come out of her hair, at the base it was dark blue and then it became more translucent, her skin was completely white and she was wearing a blue dress, Kayden I had never seen such a perfect woman before, every curve of her body was perfectly balanced.


    "Kayden, I offer you the Frozen family¡¯s secret technique. Not only that, I offer you my hand in marriage and only ask that you let my adopted daughters continue to lead my kingdom." Again Kayden was unable to respond when another person appeared.


    This time it was a woman with dark skin, dark would be the wrong word, her skin was completely black and several stars and planets were appearing over her body, she looked like a living hologram, even though she was strange, she had curves and a perfectly crafted face. that made her look magnificent.


    "I can¡¯t offer as much as my friend Frozen, but I offer you the hands of 100 of the most beautiful women in my kingdom, our family¡¯s technique, and enough treasures to elevate you to the fourth kingdom in less than a decade." His offer seemed the simplest, but treasures to get someone into the fourth realm in ten years would cost over a century of any realm¡¯s savings.


    Another person who appeared floating in the air was Azir, he didn¡¯t say anything and just looked at Kayden, the boy needed just a second to decide what to do and gave his answer, surprising everyone.


    "Thank you, your majesties. I appreciate the offer from everyone present here, but I already have a companion and the Sun Kingdom is my home and to this day it has taken care of everything I needed. I will not betray your trust", said Kayden calmly while facing the most powerful people in his world.


    He could have accepted Frozen¡¯s hand, but that wouldn¡¯t have been very helpful. It was just a matter of vanity and lust. Furthermore, with his newfound fame, he could ask for the Britten family to integrate with the Heart family. If they didn¡¯t accept, Kayden would just abandon his relationship with Sarah.


    Regarding riches, he had many and the Sun Kingdom would give him much more now. Without a doubt, he trusted Azir, and that was the main factor in his decision. As soon as his answer was finished, the old man took out a bottle of wine from his pocket and...


    "Smelly old men, make room for the rising kingdom. In a few years, I await your congratulatory gifts to the greatest kingdom on earth," he said, turning to Kayden. "Boy, this wine is exactly 5000 years old and was aged by mana. It took 500 years of work from a great wizard. Let¡¯s drink it in celebration of your advancement."


    To say that the Sun Kingdom would become the largest kingdom in a few years was not lip service. A talent like Kayden would grow to unimaginable heights, and the best part was not even that, but rather what his fame could bring to the kingdom. For example, immigration advertisements to acquire geniuses and talents could easily be made under the slogan of receiving the same training as Kayden or something similar.


    Kayden was taken to a closed concrete room in the stands. The flight was quick and neither of them said anything. As soon as they arrived and walked through the door, Kayden saw several people sitting in different spaces, all staring at him.


    The environment was luxurious at a much higher level, with gold being used to decorate even the floor. The walls outside were painted gold, but inside they were transparent, revealing the entire world to its viewers.


    "Everyone leaves", ordered Azir with mana in his voice and all the mana pressure he could muster. This caused the power room in the fourth realm to empty. "Now that it¡¯s just us, we can talk about changing resources. I will give you enough resources to grow into a fifth-realm power. Logically, I hope you understand that this takes time and I can¡¯t do it in a decade."


    Kayden nodded. This was a beneficial partnership for both of them and there was no point in exhausting their greatest ally. Without a doubt, he would be Azir for many centuries, as Eden did not want to recruit him.


    "I can¡¯t give you my kingdom, and I don¡¯t think you¡¯d want to either," Kayden said, nodding. That would just be an unnecessary headache. It was much better to grow your faction to a point where it was enough to be above the kingdom and at the same time not bound by international and moral obligations.


    "But the carte blanche I gave you previously will be increased by a few dozen times. Any request, even if crazy, will be granted. If you want the eradication of one of the great families, I will do it. If you want a city in your possession, I will give it to you. Any request will be granted."


    Kayden understood that he practically owned the country in a way. Logically, some requests would probably be denied, but otherwise, everything was clear. The boy smiled and responded to Azir.


    "Thank you, your majesty...", Kayden was interrupted by Azir.


    "You can call me Azir, you¡¯ve already earned that right." Azir was sincere. Kayden has done something no other human has done, and his future would certainly be far greater than anyone else had ever reached. What everyone was doing was trying to bring this future powerhouse to their side.


    "Do you have any other requests, or can we toast?" Azir had the wine in his hand again, and his spirit was cut short by Kayden.


    "Actually, yes. I was wondering if you could be present while I talk to Sarah and Duke Britten about uniting our two families," Kayden said. He knew that "presence" meant that he should subtly assist with his strength.


    "Of course, leave it to me," said the old man, focusing on his mana sense for a moment and soon found the two people. Without any respect for their wishes, he closed the mana around them and brought them at high speed into the golden ball.

 Chapter 239: Unification

    Sarah had no time to react, while the Duke felt a fear he hadn¡¯t experienced in years, being subdued like a child by an adult. When they saw Kayden, they were both stunned and silent out of fear of Azir.


    "Duke Britten, I would like to ask for Azir¡¯s blessing to ask for his daughter¡¯s hand in marriage and the unification of the Heart and Britten houses," Kayden said directly. He remembered that the last time he met the handsome and strong duke, it was as an inferior being. But now he was on top, with a crown in his lap.


    "Of course, Pinnacle Kayden. You have my blessing, and the unification of the houses will be a good step forward for both families," the Duke accepted after a few seconds. He was in no position to refuse anything, and he felt it.


    If Kayden wanted to, he could have his head rolling right that second. At least that¡¯s what Azir¡¯s aura communicated to him. Ultimately, he understood that this would be good in a way, elevating his family to a level above the other big ten, practically becoming the only family under the guardianship of a human with six rays.


    "Kayden Pinnacle, I only ask that you keep my family¡¯s name in consideration," the Duke made a request, even under Azir¡¯s aura. This proved he was not a grand duke and a fourth-realm wizard by chance. The term "pinnacle" was an expression for someone who represented the absolute pinnacle of the human race in one regard.


    For example, a blacksmith would receive this title if he managed to make a weapon that surpassed all others on the face of the earth. Until someone surpassed him, he would be the human pinnacle in brass art.


    "I can keep it in all our descendants and the official house name, but only as a second surname. I hope this satisfies your request," the Duke nodded, even under the pressure of Azir¡¯s aura.


    "I also ask that you marry my daughter within two months at the latest...", this time, he couldn¡¯t say anything else, because if he opened his mouth, he would be killed. His request took Kayden by surprise, and he had to think a little.


    "Of course, Duke. I¡¯ll leave it up to you to organize everything as you wish. If you need to, use my name", Kayden agreed, mainly due to the man¡¯s courage in seeking the best for his daughter, even when facing a lion. He played his role as a father.


    "Contact the royal family so we can help with expenses and anything necessary," Azir said for the first time and then remained quiet. The old king was going to invite the two to celebrate and call some more people, but Kayden¡¯s word stopped them.


    "Now, I apologize to my fianc¨¦e and my father-in-law, but I need to discuss some more matters with Azir," was a polite way of sending them both away. In the end, the Duke left with his head down and, at the same time, happy, while Sarah was feeling like she was in a dream. His fame would reach a stratospheric level after that day.


    "What business do we still have, Kayden?", asked Azir as soon as the two left.


    "None. I just want to try the wine and then I will return to my normal duties, my king. I still need to stabilize and know my strength for the following days", Kayden didn¡¯t even express any happiness about the situation.


    Fame, money, women, any of these things couldn¡¯t even get an expression out of the boy. Azir saw in front of him a monster powered only by power, but it was not a power to be used.


    "Kayden, why do you seek power? As a young man, I needed it to face the tumultuous times of humanity. Back then, the third realm was divine beings to us, and I fought for that position. But I was always driven by my greed. But you don¡¯t have that greed. What moves you? What makes you get up every time you fall?"


    After the two grabbed a glass of wine, Azir asked a question that made Kayden stop drinking while he thought of an answer. This took a few seconds while he put several things in his head. In the beginning, it was just because it was interesting. Afterward, he wanted strength for superfluous reasons, like everyone else. He still had discipline and obsession to a different degree, and even those things weren¡¯t something that drove him as a main cause.


    "Power motivates me to continue, but it is not power for an end. Power is the motive, the search, and the objective. Just that", his sentence caught Azir by surprise. He felt the sincerity in Kayden¡¯s speech.


    In front of him was a person who could not be moved by anything other than his own will, and fortunately his principles were extensive and strong. Kayden didn¡¯t even flinch at the other demigods¡¯ ridiculous offers.


    "It will probably just be me, you, and Apollo in the future. So I recommend that you slowly abandon your friends. They won¡¯t make it past the fourth realm and will only live for a thousand years at most," Azir commented as if losing his friends to time was something he passed and it was probably true.


    "Don¡¯t worry about it. When do we get the technique?", Kayden changed the subject.


    "It should take a whole year. Normally, they don¡¯t expect more than one to appear per decade, and they don¡¯t produce anything higher than that." After that, the two talked about some more topics.


    Azir agreed to zero out House Heart¡¯s tax and provide whatever financial and logistical support they needed. Kayden decided to keep Yan in the lead on this project, even with more qualified people available, as Yan was with him from the beginning and never betrayed the trust Kayden had in him.


    When the cup was finally gone, Kayden had to admit that it was the best thing he had ever tasted in his life. The two left in time to hear the final announcement that the battles in the coming days would be in pairs.


    Even though Kayden refused all the world leaders, several ridiculously expensive gifts arrived in his room as soon as he returned to the Sun Kingdom mansion. Calling the gifts expensive was the wrong word, as there was no market value for them.


    "A gift of recognition from your wall-walking companion," Kayden instantly remembered the old man from a few years ago, and dozens of questions arose in his mind upon seeing the ring wrapped in a silk cloth.


    " Holy shit," Kayden cursed out loud, not believing what he was playing. A space ring measuring nearly 30 square meters was in his hands. This was completely ridiculous; his old one was barely two meters. Inside it, there were several hundred books about...


    "Basic knowledge of physics," Kayden read one of the covers and understood that they were all books that would be seen in schools back in the day. Accompanying the books was a small piece of paper written: sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Heavenly treasures that could destroy all existence are finite, knowledge is the only eternal thing," a powerful phrase that conveyed priceless wisdom.


    This made Kayden wonder where that old man came from and whether her encounter with him earlier was an accident or not. Leaving aside these unanswered questions, he began to see the others present.


    "This," Kayden felt the mana density of the World Seed he received, which was at least a hundred times greater than that of the fourth realm. It was something completely bizarre and could easily raise him a few levels into the second realm.


    There were at least three dozen treasures, from unique spells to weapons. He received a katana that was at the peak of the fourth realm and could adjust its weight and shape to the user¡¯s level. This meant that he wouldn¡¯t need to change weapons for quite some time.


    Furthermore, he received armor that fitted his body and had the design of a common ancient Eastern outfit, making him look identical to a classical cultivator from Chinese novels from his past life.


    Other treasures, such as fruits for improving the body or learning concepts, stood on a small pedestal in his new ring. Kayden could be considered at that moment one of the 20 richest people in the world.


    He only had time to read the various congratulatory letters and remember to thank each of these people appropriately. Like it or not, they were valuable gifts and came from tremendously powerful people. He decided to leave them to use at another date.


    He received two insanely ridiculous spells in his possession. One of them was called "Void Step" and was a neutral mana spell capable of making the user jump long distances with just a single step.


    Unfortunately, it was necessary to be in the fourth realm as the body would not withstand the amount of mana condensed around it. Furthermore, he needed to have a deep understanding of the concepts of nullification and distance, two difficult and time-consuming concepts to learn.

 Chapter 240: Disrespect

    The other spell, called Infinite Life, consisted of a delicate process of cellular change gradually induced by mana, allowing cells to live longer and develop a special organelle capable of prolonging a person¡¯s life. This resulted in about a 25% increase in life expectancy in people up to the third kingdom.


    Above that level, it had not yet been tested. Furthermore, the user would be immune to diseases related to cellular health, such as cancer, which even in high-realm mages could still manifest. It wasn¡¯t a spell that required advanced knowledge; the only requirements were tolerance to pain and the discipline to dedicate five hours a week to its development, a minimum amount of time compared to the benefit the person would receive.


    Kayden smiled as he tested his new strength and came to the ridiculous conclusion that he had increased by nine levels. He was sure that he could face someone at the peak of the second realm immediately, with a 50% chance of winning. His stats were multiplied several times over, and the constant headache he had felt for the past few years completely disappeared, giving way to a feeling of lightness in his mind that he didn¡¯t even remember feeling before.


    "Tomorrow will be unforgettable," Kayden smiled and lay down to sleep for the first time in years.


    The previous day¡¯s stadium was completely remodeled, now with dozens of different environments, and its size was expanded to 50 kilometers. At this time, wizards below the fourth realm had to watch the match through cameras and drones.


    When all the kingdoms gathered, the same voice from the first day reappeared. "On this day, we will gather only the best of the best. You entered in five hundred and left in a hundred. You do not need to attack your kingdom, but if you form any kind of team, you will be killed and your kingdoms banished for ten years."


    The sentence was heavy and made it clear that not even slight involvement, such as not attacking at an opportune moment, would be tolerated. Kayden wasn¡¯t too worried about it. His goal was to finish the test as quickly as possible. To do so, he would just hunt down all opponents at high speed, relying on Apollo¡¯s support to make this task easier.


    "Good luck everyone," Kayden¡¯s vision went dark and he found himself floating above a lake along with Apollo. It was so fast that he didn¡¯t even notice the movement.


    "Shall we begin the hunt?" Apollo asked, and Kayden nodded. Through his spiritual sense, he was already sensing at least two dozen people and...


    "Twenty gone," Kayden said calmly to himself as he launched aura slashes at his opponents. The attack was so fast that they were unaware. Some still managed to avoid the first one but were disqualified by the next ones.


    As soon as this happened, the people watching got up from their seats, doubting the reality. In less than three seconds, twenty participants were eliminated in the blink of an eye, without even having time to react.


    For the next few minutes, Kayden continued doing this everywhere he saw someone. Only those in the second realm could hold back their attacks, and only a few had this ability.


    Out of respect for the other kingdoms, Kayden did not eliminate anyone from the second kingdom of the championship, but his cuts were still directed at them as a warning not to get close.


    "I¡¯m feeling kind of useless," Apollo commented as the two flew off. What should have been a challenging and time-consuming test was being completed in minutes.


    "Don¡¯t worry, in the next stage you will have more chances to excel", the two continued talking and, in less than 20 minutes, their visions flashed and they were back in the stands.


    "Congratulations everyone, this was a great battle. We hope the next day is as impressive as today," the speech was brief, and each of the top hundred won a fourth kingdom seed, a considerable prize. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden¡¯s duo simply eliminated... 300 people in just 20 minutes without receiving a single scratch. Furthermore, Kayden eliminated several people and only gave a warning to Heimer and Sarah, as soon as he found them on the edge of his spiritual sense, he quickly retreated.


    Speaking of which, he still hadn¡¯t talked to any of his friends since he advanced. He didn¡¯t give it any opportunity, staying in his closed room, sleeping.


    Kayden allowed himself this little pleasure for a reason: he was frustrated on a massive level by only getting six lightning bolts and had absolutely nothing to do in just a few hours. He didn¡¯t know which concept to follow and was still getting used to the new strength, he didn¡¯t want to cultivate.


    "Kayden!" Heimer shouted at him. His jealousy developed to an unhealthy level, but he masked his emotions perfectly.


    "Congratulations on your advancement, I didn¡¯t expect you to develop so much." Along with him were Locke and Sarah. Locke just shook hands and said a simple congratulations, while Sarah approached and, in front of hundreds of people, gave Kayden a passionate kiss.


    The boy knew exactly why she was doing this and responded with the same intensity. It didn¡¯t hurt to keep his partner happy.


    At the end of the night, Kayden had to put up with dozens of people fawning over him just to gain his sympathy. It was extremely boring, but he made some contacts and met some of the greatest geniuses in the world. Furthermore, many contract and partnership offers with their companies were presented.


    Kayden just asked them to forward the orders to Yan. A few hours later, he returned to his room and Kayden decided to start cultivating. His base was already consolidated in his mind and he would not have any strength gains that would interfere with that at this moment.


    The next day, everyone was once again gathered in the gigantic stands. Of today¡¯s 100 competitors, only 30 were first realm mages and they only came to train. There was no chance of them being able to win. "Hello everyone, today we will finish with only the top ten of the young generation.


    Those in the first realm can only fight against each other and will not get past rank 70. The prize for anyone above the top 10 is a technique from their element." The same voice from the other days resounded everywhere and then explained that the battles would be two against two.


    There would be a few battles at a time so that everyone could observe as best as possible. For some reason, Kayden wasn¡¯t among the people who fought at the beginning and had to watch the battles. He had to admit that there were humanity¡¯s greatest geniuses. Even though in terms of brute strength they weren¡¯t something that surprising, in terms of technique and general strength they were impressive, and probably any of them could jump several levels against ordinary people.


    Kayden only had two techniques he could use correctly in the second realm: the aura slash he developed on his own through trial and error and his mana-driven lightning bolts. A few hours later, it was finally time for Kayden to fight. Sarah and her partner, who was another girl Kayden didn¡¯t know, had been disqualified when facing the five-rayed genius from the enlightened realm.


    He fought in two ways, using stone golems that had high speed and good resistance to spells, and in a melee way using the earth as armor. Kayden saw him defend himself from a point-blank attack from Sarah just using his armor. Kayden and Apolo were alone on the huge floating stage. All other fights were interrupted, almost as a form of respect to see the greatest geniuses of the Sun Kingdom live. Your opponents...


    "Is this serious?" Apollo expressed as he saw a boy in the second kingdom and another in the first kingdom appearing on the stage. They waited so long and got a free game like that.


    "Kayden, I¡¯m lazy, I¡¯ll leave this here with you", the prince simply jumped out of the arena as soon as the match started by the judge¡¯s voice. Everyone in the water kingdom was furious at this disrespect and that was the prince¡¯s intention. Like it or not, they were at war and respect was the last thing he would show.


    Kayden didn¡¯t even wait for them to say anything or perform any mana manipulation, using his path at its maximum he simply used all the mana in the environment to press them both to the ground.


    "Kneel." The force the two were facing was nine levels above them and a ridiculously strong path backed by 3 kilometers of mana. There was no way they could resist and their knees hit the ground just as Kayden threw some aura attacks.


    A few more hours passed and they were able to fight again. This time it was against the kingdom of the enlightened and Apollo paid due respect, even though the match had ended in the same way as the previous one without the prince having to do anything.


    Author¡¯s note: I know that someone signed privilege two and is up to date on the chapters, tomorrow I will release a bonus as a thank you

 Chapter 241: Fight for second place

    The amount of mana that Kayden could manipulate was ridiculously high and meant that no mage at the first levels of the second realm would be able to fight him, in fact, not even those at the peak of the second realm would stand a chance, it was six rays and a solid path.


    After fighting just two battles, they moved on to the remaining ten teams. A recap was made with a few more fights so that the number was correct, thus ending the penultimate day of the battle of the world.


    As Kayden returned to his room, he noticed how distant he had become from the genies. His strength was on a completely different level, perhaps when he reached the peak of the second realm he would be able to face people in the third realm on equal terms.


    Kayden was training and cultivating in his room while most of the people in his kingdom were celebrating entering the top 20 and similarly, this happened with all the kingdoms.


    The stands this time were floating imposingly above the clouds. The expenditure of resources for a presentation like this was completely surreal, there were kilometers of structure being supported.


    The landscape was awe-inspiring with gigantic white clouds being the floor of the environment, in the center there was a huge plate of glass floating, huge to the point of easily exceeding 5 kilometers.


    "Welcome to the last day of our event, at this point we will decide the best of the best and the best, so we cannot have pairs at this stage and we decided to put the twenty participants in the arena fighting each other." The revelation took everyone by surprise. "Teams are not allowed, first place will receive a fifth realm seed and the one with the highest elimination count will receive a legendary technique capable of making you escape from people above your realm."


    The second part fell like a bomb among people, jumping kingdoms was absurdly difficult and was done only a few times in history, a technique that promised to make you escape from someone¡¯s entire kingdoms above you was impressive.


    A few minutes later, everyone was placed inside the arena a few dozen meters away from each participant. Kayden could feel all of them within his spiritual senses, apart from Apollo he did not know any other participants.


    "I ask for a second of everyone¡¯s attention," the boy who got five lightning bolts in the kingdom of the enlightened raised his voice. "My name is Bruno Keilypson and I represent the peak of the enlightened realm, I would like to ask for a duel with Kayden and show the real reason why I got five lightning bolts."


    His request brimmed with arrogance and his thoughts were that Kayden had gotten six rays of luck, something quite ridiculous and impossible. Kayden just looked at that idiot as he continued talking.


    "Most mages utilize an element or two in their entire lives, but I maximized fire, wind, water, and earth, being the most complete mage there could be," Kayden smirked, even if the boy had done that he still only used the earth element in his advance, probably because it was the strongest he had. After he finished speaking, he looked at Kayden.


    "A master of all elements is the same as a master of nothingness," Kayden spoke and began to collect mana from all three kilometers. Within seconds, the entire region was dominated by his mana, anyone who cast a spell would find it difficult to pierce the mana bubble in the environment.


    The amount of mana around Kayden was completely ridiculous and it was directed entirely at Bruno, the boy couldn¡¯t even react when Kayden ordered it.


    "Kneel" and then he received an aura cut that removed him from the arena, this didn¡¯t even last two seconds and he was eliminated as if it were nothing, then Kayden turned to the others and began to eliminate them in the same way.


    In a few seconds, the space became an absolute mess of spells and with Kayden being the focus of most of them, even Apollo was using fire attacks against the boy, but... they could barely get a few meters around him, the mana cloud caused them to be suffocated and Kayden just dodged or used a pure mana shield.


    What followed in the next few minutes was a true massacre in a fight of 20 people against one, Kayden forced them to kneel and then took them out of the match as if they were nothing more than vermin.


    "Ridiculous", the current king of the sun kingdom blurted out to himself when he saw this carnage, that was the thought of everyone in the room and the surrounding stands, a fearful silence as everyone subconsciously hoped that he would not be able to win.


    Why? Out of fear, a senseless and irrational fear of the strength of someone several realms smaller than themselves, it was one thing to recognize someone strong, but what he was doing was far above mere strength, it was wrong, and it felt unnatural. sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    In a few minutes, the match was down to just 10 people, making Kayden the person with the most eliminations in a rapid manner and without competition, the worst thing is that he was continuing as if he hadn¡¯t even started to sweat.


    "Fight for second place, I won¡¯t interfere anymore", his voice was emotionless, but the speech itself carried an arrogance... in fact, the correct thing would be absolute confidence, none of the great magicians exchanged glances with Kayden.


    These few minutes made them develop an absolute fear of the boy, every time someone raised their voice against him they were eliminated with priority, no one wanted to lose their positions further ahead, but.... it seemed that it had lost its meaning.


    All the effort they had already put into their training, all the hours wasted seemed like jokes compared to the strength that Kayden was demonstrating, in a way this was the biggest trauma they had received in their lives, but it would not leave any consequences, because in a few years they They would simply classify Kayden on another level and would no longer compare themselves to him.

 Chapter 242: A visit

    Over the next few minutes, a desperate fight for placement took place between the participants, each doing their best to survive and knock their opponents out of the match. The only one who was fighting as if nothing mattered was Apollo.


    He was a five ray great wizard and his healing spells made him practically immortal. If he hadn¡¯t been eliminated in just one attack, nothing would have happened to him. Dozens of spells fell everywhere.


    The match lasted about another hour, with a fierce and competitive battle between the participants. Apolo got second place with 4 eliminations and it was very close that he didn¡¯t lose in the end. But, like it or not, those with five rays were on another level.


    "I give up", Apollo raised his hand and was removed from the arena, leaving only Kayden on a glass platform that didn¡¯t even suffer a scratch from all the spells. The silence lasted for a few seconds, this was an unusual situation.


    "Congratulations to contestant Kayden Heart for winning the legendary technique and the title of humanity¡¯s greatest child genius," dozens of fireworks went off from the Sun Kingdom as soon as the penny dropped.


    During everyone¡¯s stupor and joy, Kayden was lifted by a crowd of people from the Sun Kingdom. The current king announced a three-day party in which everything would be made available by the kingdom throughout the territory.


    The festive atmosphere made people lose the subconscious fear they had developed against Kayden during these days. While everyone was partying and socializing, Kayden only thought of one sentence.


    ¡¯I failed¡¯


    ***********


    A week later, Kayden¡¯s life changed a few folds. First, he now had two bodyguards at his side every second. Azir was not afraid of any attack against Kayden, because Eden perfectly controlled all those capable of accomplishing this feat and everyone knew that Kayden would be needed by humanity in the future.


    His family began the integration process with the Brriten family and many things appeared for Kayden to decide and arrange. He practically only had a few hours to train and cultivate, he didn¡¯t get bored as he knew this was something necessary.


    Especially now, with dozens of offers and requests for cooperation appearing to him, Kayden only accepted those that could give him some greater influence or anything like that, but he refused to waste his time just for money.


    Furthermore, the spy society that has always provided information to him asked for a favor that would pay off all their debts and put them on equal footing, eliminating the previous contract that Kayden had. He just had to organize a meeting between the Kingdom of Jarvan and the organization, it wasn¡¯t difficult, he just asked Azir to help him.


    The spy society was just looking for a reason to exchange the contract they had without losing too much. They knew they were strong, but they would still be easily wiped off the face of the earth if any power in the fifth realm so desired.


    The technique that Kayden received was also ridiculously strong. It worked based on camouflaging its existence to the person¡¯s mana sense and covering their vision with a bright light that would prevent them from seeing a few kilometers around them and while he was blind the true technique was done, using the mana Kayden would have to force your body to be launched like a cannonball.


    The technique warned that, regardless of the kingdom, it would result in some broken bones, and several fractures, as the force of the launch would cause the sound barrier to be broken and the friction with the environment would consume his protective bubble until he stopped.


    The technique let him jump a few kilometers in just a few seconds and then taught him how to become invisible to any spiritual sense, it also had a specific part on how to enter the ground and move around it.


    It was practically a perfect thief¡¯s manual for getting away after a big robbery, Kayden put it first on her priority list as soon as her life calmed down a bit.


    Something Kayden purchased at the cost of a few hundred billion was a knowledge-devouring book. It worked based on eating other books and absorbing their pages, it was almost like a giant storage the size of an ordinary book.


    His investment in this artifact was the largest amount he had spent in years, but it was necessary, this would prevent him from filling his space ring easily, following the note¡¯s advice he accumulated thousands and thousands of books on various subjects, from banal subjects how to grow food to elemental techniques from other elements.


    Today, he would do something he never imagined, Heimer asked him to introduce David to him.


    David developed several theories and studied animals in depth during these years with the funding he got, he single-handedly developed a completely new area of study and made the relevance of beast summoners and controllers begin to gradually increase. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Even with his income increasing thousands of times, David was still living in the same strange house with a square base and a round roof, Kayden and David were at the entrance to the road that led to the scientist¡¯s house.


    The path was paved and several houses stood around David¡¯s, Kayden knew they were his apprentices and friends. Furthermore, some spaces with animals living could be seen, nothing was organized in an orderly manner and there were gigantic cages next to normal houses.


    Heimer looked nervous next to Kayden, but he just thought it was normal when meeting a new environment and new people, after the feeling of nostalgia passed through Kayden, he started walking up the street.


    "There doesn¡¯t seem to be anyone here," Kayden commented to Heimer.


    "Maybe they left on David¡¯s orders to carry out some task", Heimer replied hurriedly and did not make eye contact with Kayden, in a few minutes they were facing the scientist¡¯s house.

 Chapter 243: The last breaking point

    "Hey big boy, it¡¯s been a while now", Kayden began to pet Cerberus as the giant dog jumped at high speed on him, once again he had a moment of nostalgia when he saw how easily he could hold back the advance of the animal.


    "Cerberus! I already told you that you have to be fierce, you soft ass", David fought with the dog that had its belly up for Kayden to scratch. "Hello, Kayden, and who would that be?" David¡¯s voice was shaky and strange.


    "I¡¯m Heimer, it¡¯s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. David", the boy¡¯s speech seemed mechanized, but Kayden didn¡¯t care, he couldn¡¯t care about small details like that anymore and ignored them. To him, it just seemed like a shame.


    The three entered and, as Kayden had previously communicated about the visit, the scientist had prepared a hearty meal with different foods and drinks. The table was perfectly balanced and Kayden, with his big appetite, wasn¡¯t going to miss this opportunity.


    "It brings back memories of when you came here years ago, the situation was completely different," the scientist commented in a nostalgic tone, and soon the three began talking about memories together.


    In a way, it was just memories between Kayden and David or Kayden and Heimer. David even cried at times, while Heimer looked somber. This time, even Kayden noticed their strange behavior. He didn¡¯t understand and he didn¡¯t care either. Sometimes people need to vent.


    Lunch went on for two hours as they continued telling stories and reminiscing about old times. In a way, Kayden was remembering his entire life practically through this conversation. It made him realize how quickly time passed.


    "Why didn¡¯t you say you got five lightning bolts, Kayden?" Heimer asked normally.


    "I just didn¡¯t think it was something that mattered," that was the truth. Kayden didn¡¯t think it was important. He didn¡¯t even tell David, who was his closest friend, or Han, whom he considered a father. Even though they have grown apart over the years.


    After another hour, the penny slowly started to sink in for Kayden. He kept smiling and talking and snacking on some desserts now and then. His lines became a bit robotic. He hadn¡¯t been able to process what was happening.


    " Why? Just why ?" Kayden finally let go after a long silence between the three of them. Again a silence perpetuated between the three. At that moment, the tears and the sad atmosphere made sense.


    "Eden... is an organization that controls the entire world and causes wars and traumatic moments throughout humanity so that it..." David was interrupted by Heimer.


    "He can¡¯t know about this," David¡¯s response was energetic and showed how unbalanced he was at the moment.


    "SCREW IT! I owe him that, that¡¯s the least." The scientist needed a few seconds of silence to reorganize his thoughts. "Your torture was orchestrated by Eden so that you would have accelerated development, but Kevin exaggerated and ended up resulting in all of this."


    Kayden finally understood why the scientist had so much knowledge and even though he was poor, he always had the best equipment and resources. Furthermore, David, at the time they went to propose to the king, the scientist was calm, almost as if he already knew the result.


    "You¡¯ve been part of this organization for years, haven¡¯t you?" Kayden asked with no emotion in his voice.


    "Yes, for a few reasons..." Another pause. "We cannot recruit you and have been ordered by the master of the organization to eliminate you at any cost without arousing suspicion. I fought this decision, but my voice wasn¡¯t enough."


    This time the three remained silent for long minutes. Kayden was unable to utilize even the smallest amount of mana. Whatever drug he consumed made him look identical to an ordinary person who had never cultivated.


    "You guys know I have two bodyguards in the fourth realm, right?" Kayden commented as if commenting on the weather.


    "They have already been taken care of and should be dead at this point," Heimer responded this time, but without looking Kayden in the eye. The envy and jealousy that had been building for years was being erased when faced with the true decision he had made.


    "Why does Eden cause these wars and events?" Kayden asked. They knew he wasn¡¯t trying to buy time. The drug he took was absurdly strong and no one would come after him to see his safety. It was meaningless when he had two extremely strong bodyguards.


    "Accelerating the development of humanity to deal with the breaking of the bubble that protects our world in a few centuries, causing wars and traumatic events in geniuses causes their development to be accelerated by the sea of emotions, especially when it is deep and lasts for years. Logically, it should only be done to the right extent, so that the person is in a state of alert at all times."


    Kayden could understand that in a way. The sense of urgency and imminent danger made people treat their individual development more seriously. One of the great mysteries of his life was solved in this conversation, why the Ashford family was so weak and still at the top. In the end, they were just a mass of maneuvering by the powerful.


    "Can we just get this over with?" Kayden asked calmly. He had already accepted his death and the betrayal of those he considered brothers. Anyone could kick and scream, but he had already been through enough.


    In the end, his life would end one way or another. It wasn¡¯t what he expected, but there wasn¡¯t much he could do. His bodyguards were two kingdoms above him and were easily decimated without even making a sound.


    "We can¡¯t do that, sorry Kayden. I consider you a true brother and I would exchange my life for yours right now, but unfortunately, it is not possible and the organization comes first", David cried with every word of his sentence. This, without a doubt, was the most difficult decision he had ever made in his life.


    Kayden got up and, as if he was just going to the bathroom, headed towards the exit of the house under their gaze. Before passing through the doorframe, he said without looking back:


    "You two are pathetic. Please don¡¯t come to my funeral. You are not part of my family." Kayden¡¯s speech was like a knife in both of their hearts and reality finally hit when Kayden walked out the door. That phrase would forever be etched in their minds.


    As soon as Kayden walked out the door, he breathed in the fresh country air and took in his surroundings with the eyes of someone who had never paid attention to the little, insignificant things in life. Even the passing of the wind over his body had an inexplicable emotion.


    Kayden began to remember every second of his second life, from when he woke up and discovered magic to the day he got six lightning bolts in the challenge of the heavens. Little by little peace began to appear within him. He did his best. It was a fun and lively life according to his principles.


    "Are you accepting your death yet, boy?" a voice Kayden never expected to hear appeared at his side. As soon as he turned around, he saw Han beside him.


    "Father?" Before Kayden could react, he heard Han say:


    "I order you to stop." AND...


    Time stopped in time for Kayden to see three people appearing in the sky. They simply stood frozen, floating above them. Kayden could no longer feel the wind passing through his skin. Before he could react, a voice appeared, carrying an air of age, it seemed to be older than time itself.


    "Do you know you will have to pay the price for your actions?" Han replied without bothering.


    "Yes, I will pay after I finish here", then he turned to Kayden, who was completely paralyzed by the situation. "I don¡¯t have much time, so just take out this notebook and know that I love you, son. Just come down and trust me." Kayden didn¡¯t understand anything and his vision just went black.


    As soon as the light returned, he found himself above the abyss. ¡¯Abyss?¡¯ Kayden recognized the places around him. That¡¯s where he auditioned his sophomore year. The amount of information and the decision that was in front of him was very sudden, but Kayden trusted Han. He easily understood that the old man sacrificed himself for him. That voice could not be faked.


    Then, Kayden began to descend the chasm. There were many rumors about how the abyss was a pit of death and that nothing could come out of it alive. The fear of the abyss was rooted in different realms. Kayden was going to get out of it alive. He had complete confidence in himself.


    "Everyone fears the abyss, but they will learn to fear the one who came out of it alive", Kayden began to free fall and the last shred of humanity and morality that existed within him was broken forever. S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 244: Dark secrets

    Author¡¯s note: you want a villain, don¡¯t you? So get ready


    As soon as Kayden was removed from Han¡¯s vision, Han turned off his spell which was freezing time. Thanks to his techniques, he could still live a few more minutes without paying the price for his actions.


    "Han? What are you doing here and since when have you been in the fifth realm?" Their leader was a young man who looked exactly like Adam, making his descent clear.


    "Just fulfilling the role of a father," as soon as he said that, a surreal amount of mana began to move around the three, causing the space to warp and close in on them.


    They didn¡¯t even notice before their bodies were turned into a heap of flesh. The manipulation of space was too much for them to handle. Their leader...


    A glow came out over his destroyed body and glowed until the entire mass of flesh on his body disappeared. Han recognized it as a life-saving device and felt the space opening up for him to escape. Unfortunately, having time stopped meant he was unable to continue and just watched the young man flee.


    The two adults with him who were dead were of the fifth realm, but only at the base, while the young man was getting close to the peak of that realm. Their ages probably didn¡¯t match their appearances. Han crushed them like they were cockroaches. He didn¡¯t even break a sweat and could have easily done so before. Unfortunately, it had to be this way.


    If they escaped and attacked without worrying about anything, Kayden would be killed, and Han was tightly tied to the power of spacetime and knew that this was his last day. He didn¡¯t want to fight against fate and chose the option that saved his adopted son¡¯s life.


    His body began to break into small gray parts and fly in the wind. On his face, he had the smile of someone who was satisfied and fulfilled with his life. He had already accepted that he would finally have definitive peace in his life. S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I will claim your life now," the same voice from before resounded. This would not be a simple death. Han was being completely erased from existence, his soul and flesh would be erased from the timeline.


    "I will pay his price," another voice appeared and hooked Han¡¯s soul when his body had already completely disappeared.


    ---


    Kayden had been falling for a few hours at a steady speed. Just a few minutes after he started falling, he noticed that it was a spell that was taking him down, and there was nothing he could do to speed it up or slow it down.


    During this time, he did nothing as he stared at a fixed point below him. Your mind just stopped working for a while. He was still digesting everything that happened previously.


    His life was at its complete peak, everything was within his reach and he had gained ridiculous strength and then, in just a few hours, all of that was undone. He lost his father, he lost his best friend and he lost his brother.


    Many memories flashed through his mind of moments he had with Han and the two traitors. He never expected it to end like this, he had never done anything for Eden and yet he was obliterated by them.


    Kayden put them on his revenge list, this time out of respect for his father. He might never be able to climb out of this abyss, but if he did, that would be his number one priority.


    His second decision was the most extreme, he would only move up the ranks when he reached complete perfection. He only got ten concepts in the first realm this time...


    "Hundreds." Kayden would only move into the ascension process on the last day of his life. He would polish his existence to a completely absurd level. His goal was to be able to reach the third realm with seven rays and be able to jump entire realms in terms of strength.


    This meant that he would spend the next two hundred years or so locked inside this abyss without contact with any human being. Any normal person would be crazy to decide that, but Kayden had already completely broken down. Only the obsession with becoming stronger kept him alive.


    After a few more hours, Kayden finally came to peace with all his thoughts and chose to open the book Han gave him. The cover had a title that demonstrated that he had a treasure.


    "All of Han¡¯s spells and a small bibliography," Kayden stared at the cover for a few seconds and then opened the book.


    "Hello son, I¡¯ve only a few times called you, but now that I¡¯m dead it doesn¡¯t make any difference, I¡¯ll start from the beginning so it makes sense. My name is Han, the son of farmers, someone without a future and marginalized by society. When I turned 14, I was only in the sixth rank of apprentice and I had no prospects for life.


    During this period, I joined the army and started training like crazy. I became addicted to gaining more and more power. My talent was never great, among geniuses I was average, but I worked harder than anyone in that place. By a twist of fate, I broke into a water organization hideout when I was in the second realm and around 50 years old.


    It may seem weak to you, but that was a few centuries ago, at that time it placed me just below the thousand best geniuses in the kingdom. In the water hiding place, I found dozens of second-realm seeds and several innovative techniques. Furthermore, I came across the path and the detailed ray concept.


    All my advances were with four spokes and were no big deal. That day, I decided to bury the cache along with all the evidence and keep all the treasures for myself. This allowed me to break through to the peak of the second realm in just 5 years.


    This time, I joined the list of greatest geniuses, and even more resources were invested in me by an old man named Azir. Unfortunately, I never had contact with him again after the kingdom suffered an attempted coup, and the Sol family took over the government. I don¡¯t know where he is, but I wish him all the best.


    Finally, I managed to break through five rays and was very close to understanding my path. I don¡¯t think I ever told you this, but if I did, I probably made up some nonsense. My path was the noble one of fire, it combined my noble and honest personality with my favorite element.


    What an idiot I was, with less than 100 I reached the fourth realm with five lightning bolts. I took my ascension test hidden in the forest, on the recommendation of a friend named Thoth. Even so, I ended up being caught by Eden. If you don¡¯t know what they are, there is a sheet at the end of the book.


    "Thoth?" Kayden latched onto that name. This meant that that teenager teenager would not be the correct word, that old man was pulling the strings of destiny many years ago. Putting that aside, he went back to reading.


    At least I managed to hide the amount of lightning I had gotten. At this point in my life, my parents had already died and I had managed to build my family with a beautiful wife and adorable children. A few more centuries passed, and I had to defend my hometown.


    That day, I lost my cultivation and everything I had achieved. Still, I didn¡¯t give up. I had ridiculously large amounts of wealth and was a national hero who could not be killed. In 20 years, I regained my level, and... my ascension to the fourth realm killed my family.


    At that moment, I went into a ridiculously high state of denial, and in the same place where I went forward again, I stood still, not thinking, not having any reaction for 10 years. I just broke in every way possible.


    When I woke up from my trance, the first thing I did was break all my cultivation and start over again. I won¡¯t go into details, but I retraced my path entirely. This time, I got a path rare enough for Lucifer to come talk to me.


    Lucifer is Adam¡¯s teacher. He controls the entire forest and most of all land on our planet. Its main form is that of a dragon. You must see it in the future if you can become stronger.


    Continuing my story, I acquired the spacetime path. According to Lucifer, this is the strongest path that any existence can achieve. He is practically considered a future god. You¡¯ll learn about this in the future, I hope.


    I got 6 lightning bolts and reached the fourth realm again, but my strength was ridiculously high. When I manipulate space, even figures in the fifth realm can be killed easily. But when I manipulate time, I suffer ridiculously high repercussions to the point where I can¡¯t use mana for years.


    This power has a price and can make me fight people in the sixth realm easily. This is a new realm for you. knew that only two beings had reached it so far, Lucifer and Adam, Adam being only a sixth sacrificed kingdom.

 Chapter 245: The abyss

    My contact with space-time opened new doors for me. I knew from the beginning about your torture and your path. Since the day I held you in my arms, I¡¯ve had glimpses of your future.


    I saw you being tortured, I saw you being betrayed and cornered by Eden, I saw you getting six lightning bolts, I saw you bending the impossible. But that¡¯s something you¡¯re still far away from.


    And as much as I didn¡¯t want one of my children to go through this, there was nothing I could do. It was his destiny, and fighting destiny is not something mortals can do easily. But don¡¯t be fooled into thinking that your future has already been shaped. You only tend to a certain point in the divine plot.


    Maybe you¡¯re wondering why I exchanged my life for yours. This is something you will probably understand when you are a parent. I knew that my interference at that point was the only thing that would allow you to live. In any future I was alive, you would be dead. So I did what I had to do.


    Make the most of my techniques and live your life as you wish. To the son I loved most, I leave here my goodbyes and my last words.


    When Kayden finished reading, his eyes were watery. Without any fear, he began to cry and shed an absurd amount of tears. That was the most incredible thing anyone had ever done for him, but that wasn¡¯t the reason he was crying.


    He was crying in memory of Han and shedding his last real tears. From that day on, he killed all his feelings definitively. They were the last tears of the old Kayden.


    It was long minutes before he stopped and calmed down. When this happened, a new look was in his eyes. Before, it was an emptiness and a deep abyss for anyone. Right now, it would be a little different. It would be like seeing a dead person¡¯s eyeball.


    "Han was a real monster," Kayden commented to himself. Before, he thought that the old man had reached the top twice. But this time, he understood the depth of the old man¡¯s strength.


    There were three times, and in one of them, with six rays. Furthermore, his second path was something beyond ridiculous, which enabled him to break any known parameter. Han probably slaughtered those three figures as if they were absolutely nothing.


    Kayden promised not to let Han¡¯s memory be forgotten. And when I got out of that hole, I would turn this book into something public. Everyone on the planet would recognize his name. This was his last favor to his father.


    Leaving that aside, Kayden took out from his space ring the technique he would need most if something went wrong: the legendary technique called Coward¡¯s Escape. It had been falling for a long time and it seemed like it was still far from over.


    The technique was difficult and laborious, but Kayden put all his focus into it. It would be essential for their survival. Time had no meaning for Kayden at that moment. Everything was black, there was no way for him to identify anything around him.


    Kayden could not test the technique freely and could only simulate it outside his body. But with just that, he managed to master the art of being launched like a rocket. The part about becoming invisible to others was still in progress.


    It consisted of changing his presence to something in the environment, almost as if he were an inanimate being. It wasn¡¯t particularly easy, as even his mana had to be exhaled differently. Furthermore, he couldn¡¯t draw any mana into his body, even subconsciously.


    He easily managed to master it with a little time. He just didn¡¯t get the part about moving underground and blinding everyone around him. He didn¡¯t have time, as he found himself falling into the real abyss.


    A gigantic forest stretched out on all sides as far as Kayden could see. He exited the side of the ceiling, and as he looked up, he felt a ridiculously strong mana barrier preventing him from going back.


    The ceiling was made of a crystal that illuminated the entire environment below even from a few dozen kilometers high. It was a shade of blue, nothing too strong, but it made the land look strange. The mana density was five times greater than on the surface.


    "Crap?" Kayden used his technique to hide immediately as he sensed some aerial creatures in his range. They weren¡¯t strong and only seemed to be in the first realm, but... Millions of them were flying over the region. Kayden could feel them feeding on the mana the crystals exuded.


    Kayden began to descend quickly and discreetly. Even though they were weak individually, their joint strength was ridiculously high. The further Kayden went down, the more details of the forest he was able to see. And as far as he could see, there was no civilization at all. It was all bush and magical beasts. S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Something he noticed was that there were no beasts above the second realm. This made Kayden relax a little. His first action was to find a cave to cultivate quietly and study the techniques. It didn¡¯t take long, and after managing to clear the place of some animals, he returned to studying the Coward¡¯s Escape technique.


    During this time, he could see how the passage of day and night down there was similar to where he came from. The crystals darkened and there was a slight blue glow, just simulating dusk.


    It took Kayden two full weeks to bring the technique to its best state. Moving underground was a little strange and uncomfortable, but he managed to maintain a good speed. Furthermore, the technique of blinding his opponents was also done successfully. It was similar to the flash he used at the apprentice level, the difference was that this time the element was light.


    Once he achieved this, he mustered the courage to come out of his hiding place and look for treasure and beasts to face. This proved difficult. Kayden traveled several tens of kilometers and within a month did not encounter a single considerably strong beast.


    He had to be content with facing weaker animals, but only to train his and Han¡¯s spells. Unfortunately, this did not stimulate his sense of life and death and represented a minor gain. Slowly, the days began to pass.


    Kayden began to accumulate some things he found, whether natural treasures or spoils from his prey. Fortunately, he always kept some books on different specialties with him. The natural treasures he found were being used by him to improve his alchemy.


    The problem was that relying on books was ridiculously difficult and caused him to have dozens of spoiled and destroyed products. Kayden only dedicated one hour of his day to this project. The rest was divided into fighting, cultivating, and learning the techniques from Han¡¯s book.


    Other than that, his main objective at the moment was to learn the technique that would increase his life expectancy. Kayden didn¡¯t find it too difficult considering his experience moving things that shouldn¡¯t be touched.


    His routine has also changed slightly. As he had a lot of time, Kayden began to eat meals more frequently to keep his body nourished, and the meat he ate was only from animals from the second kingdom. This would increase its strength slightly after a few years or decades.


    A few weeks later, Kayden finally encountered the first beast in the third realm. He had to travel a lot to make it. As soon as his spiritual sense hit the animal, he recognized it as a huge dog. Kayden wasn¡¯t an idiot and just kept his distance and ran away.


    He was not yet ready for a confrontation on this scale. He would need to reach the peak of the second realm to have a real chance of leapfrogging an entire realm. Furthermore, he was far from being able to advance.


    His goal was to advance only when he reached the perfect maximization of the first level. Even with the treasures he had in his possession, it should take at least two years per level. But he wouldn¡¯t spend any treasures and would save them for when he hit a wall in cultivation.


    Meanwhile, he would use the natural treasures he managed to plunder from the abyss, and there were many. Kayden has found world trees several times with seeds in the second realm and even more fruits and things in that realm. He harvested several but kept some so as not to break the balance of the system. Like it or not, he would spend several years here.


    It took two months for him to learn the health increase technique. It was a ridiculously complicated process. Kayden thought it would be simple, but he was completely wrong in his thoughts. The infinite life technique took time, as it needed to be a change to the entire body.


    As soon as he finished learning it, he felt as if he was overflowing with vitality and energy. Besides, your skin has lost any marks of wrinkles, stretch marks, or moles. Any type of tissue damage was undone.

 Chapter 246: Life in the abyss

    Time passed again, and Kayden had been in the abyss for more than 6 months without realizing it. He was already at the peak of the first level but was trying to squeeze out every percentage of strength he could. His methodology for finding caves has also changed. This time, he opened a hole in the ground and after a few dozen meters, he made a metal room with a few meters of space.


    Then, he placed a fire in the center supported by a metal structure. This was to keep the room temperature pleasant. Furthermore, various animal skins were scattered across the floor, making the entire space suitable for lying down and sleeping.


    Something he never did a single day. All this comfort was so that he could cultivate in the best possible conditions. He had no problems with smoke, as the fire heated the metal and heated the room, the smoke coming out through a small hole that led to the surface.


    His food was eaten in a small kitchen that he developed, which had running water and a homemade stove. Most of the time, he cooked his meals while reading a book and ate them immediately.


    When Kayden was in the abyss for a year, he finally succeeded in taking his first medicinal pill. It was mainly made from leaves from a tree in the first realm and some other apprentice-level materials. It was something very weak with low healing capacity, for him it wouldn¡¯t even heal a scratch, but that was to be expected. Kayden first had to learn the basics and then do something better.


    He scattered several metal rooms at different points in the abyss with a few dozen treasures and supplies. He often got lost and ended up passing by one of these points. It was easy to identify them because he always built a small metal mountain and left his mana mark on the spot.


    Loneliness wasn¡¯t managing to scratch even a small piece of Kayden¡¯s mentality. His entire time was solely focused on cultivating and learning more of everything he could.


    He learned several basic spells that were not useful in combat but were otherwise perfect. For example, by utilizing his spiritual sense and employing his mana signature on an inanimate object, Kayden could replicate it. This caused him to leave several copies of books in different hiding places. If someone found it, it could be a treasure for her.


    Another year passed and Kayden was finally ready to move forward. The process was relatively smooth and similar to other times. He did some tests and felt that his strength was 15% higher than it should have been if he had advanced normally a while ago.


    This meant he had gotten 5% of his base perfect and another 15% of his stat max. Furthermore, he felt that there was an increase of less than 0.1% coming from external factors that he could not explain. This could be your new diet of meat and vegetables with excess mana.


    Wasting no time, Kayden continued to strive towards his goals. It didn¡¯t take long for him to develop an alternative spell for acceleration. He was based on some spells he received from Han and others he studied in some books he owned.


    As his body was capable of supporting a greater amount of mana, he only irrigated his muscles with neutral mana and before it became poisonous, the mana was removed from the muscles through his veins in an irrigation and drainage circuit. Unfortunately, this was a theoretical technique and he would have to wait until the level advanced to change his entire body¡¯s veins. At the moment, he was only able to perform isolated tests on some parts of his body, which demonstrated a satisfactory increase in all statistics.


    Its spokes also needed to undergo another polishing. Just putting in more mana didn¡¯t increase its effect much. Hence, he was investing in elemental mana as the solution. But beyond that, he learned from a book of his element about colored rays and how mana could make them acquire certain specialties. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    For example, white lightning was faster and used the support of mana to burn a small film around it as fuel. Another beam was black and it was supposed to be overloaded with a peculiar type of mana that was denser and heavier, resulting in a large area of shock and destruction.


    Kayden was focusing his efforts on just the two rays, leaving other aspects of his magical practice to explore later when he reached the peak of the second realm. Without realizing it, time passed and he advanced again. The rate of increase in his strength remained constant, which indicated that he had been in the abyss for about four years and had yet to encounter any traces of human beings. He didn¡¯t even remember his voice. During this period, he explored an extensive amount of terrain.


    During this time, he began writing a book entitled "The Almanac of the Abyss", in which he detailed various locations of his hiding places and sources of natural treasures. Furthermore, he explained in detail the biomes he found and the beasts present in each one, providing instructions on how to face them. It also mentioned the bosses of each area, which were beasts in the third realm. However, he noticed that they were all only in the first three levels of the third realm, as he had not faced any of them yet.


    Seeing his reflection in the water, Kayden mentally commented on how quickly time passed. His hair now fell below his waist, and he tied it into an oriental-style ponytail. The beard on his face was removed, completely revealing his appearance. Over 20 years old, he had fully developed, retaining his deep black hair and eyes. His chin had thinned, adopting a more elegant appearance.


    After a brief moment of contemplation, Kayden returned to his usual activities. A few months later, he advanced again and reached the third level of the second realm. His consecutive maxes meant that, upon reaching the third level, he had the same strength as he would have on the fourth. Furthermore, the percentage of external factors remained constant, sometimes increasing its strength a little.

 Chapter 247: A God [ BONUS ]

    Furthermore, the percentage of external factors remained constant and sometimes increased its strength a little. Kayden also progressed in his art of alchemy, being able to make first-realm medicines with ease, although they did not affect him. His tests involved random animals he found in the forest, leaving the formulas and ingredients in the almanac he was writing. Another thing he added was what were the best pelts to acquire.


    As ridiculous as it was, Kayden noticed a difference in the mana density of the environment depending on the skin he used as a cushion. At the moment, he was using that of a white bird, which was capable of absorbing a certain amount of mana and releasing it into the environment. He kept a few meters of it in his spatial ring.


    Once Kayden reached the fourth level, he had been in the abyss for about eight years and yet he had not delved more than 100 pages out of the nearly two thousand in Han¡¯s book. Furthermore, there were several hundred books he still had to read.


    Every day, he was grateful for his decision to accumulate knowledge in place of treasures in his spatial ring. His combat strength increased several times more than his realm as the amount of spells he learned in these eight years was ridiculously high.


    He faced a few life-and-death situations. Mostly, it was from being surrounded by a few dozen beasts at the peak of the second realm. Other than that, nothing threatened his life. Third-realm beasts were hardly involved in any confrontations. He still didn¡¯t understand why.


    Another strange thing was that he hadn¡¯t encountered any animals above the third level of the third realm. It felt like a curse, and he didn¡¯t understand why. Not even treasures above this level were found. It seemed like a universal abyss limiter.


    Every year animals also came out of the abyss. Kayden only watched her twice during those years. They only happened at some specific points and were made by the moths that were at the top of the abyss. Once again, he couldn¡¯t understand why and just brushed it aside.


    When he turned nine years and a few months old, he found the first signs of human beings. While digging to open his metal room and begin his cultivation and reading session, he ended up crashing into a buried house made of stone. Inside, he found fossil remains and a destroyed book. Using a mana technique that utilized the principles of carbon-14 and nitrogen-14, Kayden was able to deduce that it had been around 400 years since these people died.


    Apart from this small event, he had no other encounters with human beings. This did not stop him from continuing his routine, and after some time, he advanced once again, reaching the fifth level of the grand wizard realm. According to his estimates, this should be the speed of a normal genie on the surface. If he only focused on advancing and using the treasures in his possession, he would probably already have reached the peak of the second realm several years ago. However, that was not his goal. S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    At times, he would think about what was happening on the surface, but these thoughts only lasted a few minutes. In a way, there were too many nuances for him to predict. He guessed that everything was normal and calm. Kayden couldn¡¯t be more wrong than that.


    **********


    10 years ago


    Two figures passed through the transparent bubble that defended the earth from the invasion of other beings. The two were none other than Adam and Lucifer. While Adam was in his human form, Lucifer was like an imposing black dragon that absorbed all light, only his white eyes could be seen.


    "Hello, little ones," an old human with a pure white beard and hair appeared floating in the sky. He wore a dark cloak and a fictional wizard¡¯s hat that reached almost one meter in height. His eyes were white and seemed to contain the truth of existence. The two only looked for a moment and found themselves trapped, admiring its magnificence, which seemed to hide the secrets of the universe. Every second they looked, they seemed to be closer to understanding something.


    "Wake up, I believe it¡¯s okay now", the old man said calmly and the two came out of their trance, which incredibly lasted an entire month. "My name is Merlin, and I am a god. That should be clear to you by now."


    They both nodded. Humanity has been exchanging information and resources with aliens for centuries. This was the truth behind its rapid development. The two were the bridge of this connection, but they had never come into contact with the true master of things.


    "A few centuries ago, I let you raise the barrier in a theater so that you could develop quickly, and you reached a good level. Next year, you will do the following:"


    At this moment, the two just unconsciously agreed. The aura Merlin exuded made it impossible for them to deny it. His mere voice asking for suicide would be met without any fear.


    Merlin detailed how the bubble would be broken and a select few species would be introduced to the planet. They should cause terror in the human species and the conscious beings of Lucifer¡¯s third kingdom. The two leaders should appear to be suffering a lot and prevented from fighting for beings of their own level. Meanwhile, Eden was to be disbanded and its members killed in a surprise attack. The invading races would be hostile or neutral.


    The human race would be trapped in a few centuries of war where they would constantly suffer great loss of life, but would never be annihilated. The invaders would only bring forces up to the fifth kingdom and mostly on the same human average. New techniques and cultivation models would be introduced through trade by neutral species aiming at the accelerated development of the human race and other beings. Furthermore, Merlin highlighted how important it was for the human race and sentient beasts to be united.


    The old man spent days explaining how each thing should be done and that each detail should be introduced in a certain period. The amount of information would be enough to fill an entire library with books, but it was adequate for beings in the sixth realm to handle.


    "I expect great things from you."

 Chapter 248: Time passes

    1 year after this meeting that occurred exactly on the day that Kayden fell into the abyss, the land was invaded by surprise by a race similar to Orcs from medieval adventure games.


    This race was extremely brutal, with mass massacres without the slightest shame. Several kingdoms were attacked at the same time, and whenever the kings intervened, an orc on the same level appeared. Slowly this became a real war, and the first human alliance was founded. Chaos prevailed on all weak sides.


    Those with a certain power and protection wouldn¡¯t care in the slightest about a few villages being decimated, and that was indeed what happened, at least until one of the survivors reported what was happening.


    "Gang rapes, women are put to be used until they die or one of them gets tired, then they are thrown into cages and left until someone wants to use them again. Furthermore, many orcs are bisexual and have relationships with other men without the slightest modesty." This became even more shocking when videos appeared on the internet.


    For the first time in human history, she truly came together completely and without fear to deal with a common threat. Unfortunately for them, this was something that would last for many years, and the proportion of the war only increased.


    *********


    Meanwhile, Kayden had no idea of the mess that was happening above him and continued cultivating peacefully. About 1 year after he advanced, he saw a third realm beast advancing above the third level and finally understood why this was the limiting level.


    The moths that were flying in the sky descended in ridiculous numbers. Kayden buried himself several hundred meters underground and observed the situation with his spiritual sense. The beast was completely consumed. She might have killed a few hundred thousand or even millions, but an endless number appeared around her.


    At that moment, Kayden understood that it was referring to the amount and density of mana that the living being carried, as not even a strand of grass was consumed by the moths, only the beast was decimated.


    This strongly marked Kayden, who believed in the superiority of kingdoms. In a way, he was right, but even that superiority could be broken with the right numbers, in this case, tens of millions of moths in the first realm.


    He did some tests by throwing living beings in the first and second kingdoms into the air and... they were also consumed by the moths, but this time it was because the mana source was full of crystals and was worth consuming. If he threw them a few hundred meters below, they wouldn¡¯t even move.


    After a few months of studying them for short periods, he saw them consuming beings of their species that had advanced to the second realm. In a way, they were the perfect guardians, as they would never rebel, as they didn¡¯t know they were in a prison, and those who tried to get out were killed by their nature.


    Time continued to pass as Kayden divided his day into different points. When he fell into the abyss, he began to read the books of basic knowledge that he had received from the old man who accompanied him on the wall. Many of their doubts were resolved, and it was a very difficult process.


    He didn¡¯t have any teachers, so he needed to read the same book many times just to get back to basic and simple knowledge, but all this effort was worth it when he started to be able to do something completely new.


    Weaving his elemental spells seemed silly, but on his own, he was able to change the color of the fire just by adding certain elements to his spell. This was something basic, but its significance was very great, as it provided the basis for him to raise his spells to unique levels.


    More time passed and just a few months after Kayden reached the sixth rank, he encountered something utterly bizarre. In front of him was a lake with a thick, light gray liquid. He looked like liquid metal floating.


    "This is incredible," Kayden began to analyze the material in detail, and after some tests, he discovered something completely surreal: the liquid, when it was in the presence of mana, became completely hard.


    If Kayden overloaded the surface with enough mana, the entire lake would become solid, and not even an attack at his maximum strength would be able to change its shape. But as soon as he withdrew the mana, the lake became liquid and easily manipulated.


    It also seemed to have a strange density, as Kayden easily gathered a few thousand liters into just a small round ball in his hands that barely weighed a kilo. But as soon as he added pure mana around the ball, it easily fell to the ground with enough weight to sink several meters into the ground.


    That wasn¡¯t even the most impressive thing, but rather the mana isolation the liquid had. Kayden only found him because he appeared as a black dot in his spiritual sense. Any man that tried to pass through it caused it to harden and impede its passage.


    Kayden instantly thought of a use for it and began testing his theory. He made a metal square with two layers and poured the liquid between the two layers. As soon as he poured mana into the liquid, it closed completely and prevented mana from entering or leaving the cube.


    The amount of mana he had to use was minimal and provided a 100% mana impenetrable barrier. Normally, mana had no physical form and was capable of passing through any structure. Therefore, high mana-density rooms used runes to do what the liquid was doing.


    Over the next few days, Kayden created a metal room a few meters long and wide capable of supporting the liquid in the middle of two layers. This was quick and easy to do. What was impressive was the process of mana entering the layers through a system of internal and external pressure.


    When Kayden closed all mana from entering and leaving, the box was in its balanced state. But as soon as the mana inside was consumed, it was opened, as what kept the liquid in a solid state was the mana inside the box.


    This was a great achievement provided by the basic knowledge books he had. This box could be destroyed and the liquid stored in a small container and stored in his space ring.


    After some testing, Kayden managed to maintain the mana density at almost 30 times the amount outside. He just needed to wait a long time while he stored all the mana he got with his spiritual sense and then he had to wait for the environment to return to its normal state.


    Time passed again and a few months later Kayden made another discovery. His mana manipulation had grown during these years of testing and training. He was able to do something previously impossible: manipulate the mana in other beings¡¯ bodies.


    And this proved to be the most ridiculous torture method he could apply. His tests were done on some beasts, and at first, they didn¡¯t feel anything. But as soon as he started to take the mana from their bodies, they went into absolute despair and screamed and cried in pain.


    The degree of torture was so ridiculous that some mindless apprentice or mage beasts killed themselves by absorbing mana as soon as they were free from the torture. It was too much trauma for them to deal with alone. Even though Kayden wasn¡¯t a good person, he didn¡¯t experiment on animals all the time. It was just a few days of testing and experimenting with everything he was capable of doing. On second-level animals, it only worked if he concentrated and weakened them first. At lower levels, he simply needed to think, and he could still do so on the move.


    It was not limited to just living beings. He could sense the mana of treasures and inanimate materials and easily destroy them by taking away their base mana. The higher your target¡¯s level, the harder it was to do so.


    Time passed and Kayden was already over 30 years old. His knowledge of spells and techniques increased ridiculously during this period. His only annoyance was the lack of opponents to face. But this would soon be resolved by moving to the seventh rank and trying to face beasts from the third realm.


    It was a risky bet, but he was convinced he could accomplish this feat. And if he couldn¡¯t, he would just run for his life and move to the moths in the sky. As his amount of mana was less and he had skills to hide his presence, nothing would happen to him, at least that was what he hoped.


    A few months later, it finally turned 14 years and a few months since Kayden was in the abyss, and he was finally ready to move up to the seventh rank and try to get seven mana folds.


    S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 249: The rhino

    He prepared his mana room with a high density and placed several treasures on the ground so that the mana was constant and would not drop by surprise, in addition, he cleaned up all the second realm beasts in the region so there was no risk of being attacked underground.


    After all the preparations, Kayden circulated his mana until the moment of rupture and... waited for the mana in the environment to normalize, only when he was sure that he would not suffer a lack of mana in the process that began to make the folds in his body.


    The last time he did this process was a long time ago, Kayden was approaching having spent more time in the abyss than on the surface, leaving that aside, he soon reached the sweet spot of mana to do the bending.


    He didn¡¯t even feel pain as the two mana merged into a single density, it was quick and painless, just like the next fold, in just a few minutes Kayden reached three folds and didn¡¯t even need to concentrate fully.


    Without wasting any time, he continued pulling out mana and bending it on himself, the fourth bend finally showed a bit of difficulty and caused him to feel a bit of pain, but it was nothing ridiculous and in a few minutes, he finished this bend.


    The fifth one was done with a lot of pain and he had to concentrate a lot, it took long minutes to accumulate mana and finally, he was able to converge the two types of mana into one, his veins didn¡¯t suffer at all from the process and he continued without paying attention.


    This time he took more than an hour just accumulating mana to be able to perform the bending, his veins began to burst similar to when he was in the first realm, in the same way he made a support using mana and gradually finished the mana merge. .


    It was difficult, but nothing compared to what he would face now, Kayden began to accumulate mana and expected to have to do this for a few hours and he was right, his veins began to burst as the accumulated mana reached an absurd point.


    Unfortunately, he had nothing to do, as he felt that he was still far from the ideal point to converge the two types of mana. Without any fear, Kayden continued the process, and slowly three days passed before he reached the ideal point.


    At this moment, all the veins in his body were completely swollen and cracked at different points, his body was being supported by his will and mana, and every time he converged the two types of mana he felt like something was about to explode.


    BOOM!


    His left arm was completely ripped from his body when a mana vein burst beyond the point of recovery and the others followed suit, Kayden didn¡¯t expect the pressure from seven folds to be so strong, calmly he continued the process, and that was all. or nothing at this point.


    Every second made him closer to the end of the process, luckily his only damage was a lost arm, a few minutes later Kayden took a deep breath as he completed the process fully and achieved seven bends. Letting the world complete its advance normally, Kayden just waited patiently.


    While recovering his body by circulating his blood at high speed, Kayden also began to apply some neutral mana healing magic all over his body, it wasn¡¯t anything too strong, but after treating it for a few hours he was as good as new.


    At least for the most part, his arm was still missing and looked like it would take time to grow back, leaving that aside, Kayden began to test his new strength, the bends combined with the perfect advances made his strength much greater than before. should be. He was at the same level of strength as if he were at the ninth level under the same circumstances.


    The loss of his arm was not something that had a huge impact on his fighting style, he could wield the katana with just one hand and after a few months of training, he would be able to learn to fight with the imbalance of having one less arm.


    Over the next few days, he started thinking about a new idea to be able to double his body¡¯s mana more easily and without the possibility of dying in the process. He could simply take all the mana out of his body and increase its density outside of it. S§×arch* The n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    That... was a completely ridiculous idea and as soon as Kayden started to drain the mana from his body, he felt like he was going to die, the closer he got to having little mana, the greater the pain and the greater the feeling of death.


    It was the most ridiculous pain he had ever felt in his entire life, even facing the eye at that time wasn¡¯t that painful, Kayden didn¡¯t understand why taking the mana from his body caused something so strong.


    As he didn¡¯t want to find out about himself, he started doing tests on magical beasts around him, he took the mana from their bodies up to a certain limit, and when they passed that limit they simply went completely crazy, but... they remained alive and could still survive.


    This limit was to have only 0.5% of mana remaining in their bodies, this mana was not the mana stored in cores or something like that but came from the body itself, after lowering more than that, Kayden discovered that at half that value they died.


    So the sweet spot was between 0.25% and 0.5% mana remaining in the body. That was the level Kayden wanted to reach, but every time he got to 1%, his body would start to feel ridiculous pain and his entire brain would work to stop him from continuing.


    This wasn¡¯t something he could do overnight and that¡¯s why Kayden started dedicating 15 minutes of his day to this and continuing his normal activities, it would still be a long time before he needed to use this mana drain.


    He went back to his normal routine, this time he had another special thing he was also doing, and that was hunting a third realm beast that was easy to fight, this took a few months. His target was a yellow rhino with a red horn, Kayden studied him for a few weeks and his only strong point was his physical strength, he didn¡¯t have any element supporting his strength. One day, the rhino was walking through its habitat, its body was completely immense and easily weighed more than a ton, it was the king of several hundred kilometers and...


    BOOOM!


    Lightning erupted above him, taking him by surprise. His body received the attack full on and the smell of burning flesh began to permeate the air. Instantly, he began to look around for whoever had attacked him. Unfortunately for him, Kayden was camouflaged with some techniques and only when he manipulated the mana to release the second beam, the rhino recognized the boy¡¯s direction.


    "You will pay for your courage!" Kayden heard this in his mind, it wasn¡¯t words, it was a handful of information transmitted by mana, something only third-realm beasts could begin to do.


    Without responding, Kayden braced himself as the huge rhinoceros came at him, the horn that was once dull red began to glow, and even the air around him began to sizzle, this was not in the information Kayden gathered. Without any fear, he went in front of the horn with his katana and...


    he was thrown dozens of meters backward. He only stopped flying when he crashed into a tree, without pausing to breathe, the rhino was on top of him again.


    BOOOM!


    Kayden used an aura slash that crossed the sound barrier and exploded over the rhino¡¯s back, a large but not very deep cut was opened on the beast¡¯s side. Kayden managed to narrowly dodge the animal¡¯s attack and this time stuck the katana into one of the beast¡¯s eyes.


    An animalistic roar of pain resounded for dozens of meters, Kayden immediately moved away after the attack and fired a bolt of lightning at the animal. Even after all these injuries, the beast¡¯s strength did not drop and it threw itself at Kayden again.


    BOOOM!


    Another aura slash opened an even bigger hole in the same spot as before. Kayden managed to perform this attack but had to automatically use the katana against the horn to suppress the attack force he was receiving.


    CRACK!


    CRACK!


    His body passed through two trees before stabilizing. This exchange of attacks was not advantageous for Kayden. Realizing this, he began to try to play for wear and tear, several of his attacks were thrown from a distance and it was difficult for him to get completely close to the beast.


    His lightning continued to fall and his aura slashes continued to cut, after almost 3 hours of fighting, Kayden was starting to feel tired, he had several broken bones and dozens of bruises.

 Chapter 250: Felix

    The environment was destroyed, with Kayden having crashed through several trees, but the rhino wasn¡¯t doing much better; His two eyes were destroyed, meaning he could only move through a spiritual sense, and with Kayden¡¯s speed, he could not keep up with the attacks.


    SWISH!


    This time, an aura slash even greater than all the others came out of Kayden¡¯s katana and reached the beast in less than a second. The attack was delivered in the same location as several others and finally managed to penetrate far enough for the beast¡¯s guts to begin to fall out. At this moment, the horn began to cool slightly. Without missing this opportunity, Kayden unleashed another beam on the beast and went into closer combat, than...


    "Shit" proved to be a mistake when Kayden realized that the rhino¡¯s vitality was ridiculously high and even though he was almost dead, he still had ridiculous strength. Kayden had to defend himself again and was thrown into the wind. This time, his arm broke in an awkward position, with his shoulder completely dislocated from his body. Kayden didn¡¯t even blink as he continued unleashing aura and lightning attacks.


    Whenever the rhinoceros started to get close to him, small streams of mana would shoot out from the ground and impede his movement. Additionally, Kayden began simulating several clones with a mana signature identical to his.


    Its lightning changed color and began to fall without stopping. The environment quickly became congested with electricity and Kayden was already expecting it. His lightning began to be launched using elemental mana as a base. All these skills alone would have ended the fight, but Kayden was taking the opportunity to train with all his new spells.


    Then, a giant pentagram over 50 meters tall appeared on the ground and began to rotate rapidly. In just a few seconds, there was no more sound or smell in the room. Furthermore, the animal¡¯s sense of touch was messed up, as if dozens of different sensations were passing through its body at the same time. Another pentagram appeared above in the sky, this one was black and all the mana in the surroundings started to feel strange and listless. It became difficult for any spell to move around inside, even the rhino¡¯s recovery was weakened, as he no longer had access to mana.


    Kayden still had dozens of other spells, but it was time to end this battle. Wasting no time, he snapped his fingers and the two pentagrams collapsed and the mana around the beast simply...


    BOOOOM!


    The mana exploded in direct contact with the animal and this time it suffered a lot, to the point of no longer being able to get up. Kayden wasted no time and bombarded his body with dozens of aura slashes until his head rolled onto the ground. Kayden was looking at his hand.


    "I¡¯m over the hump," Kayden smiled for the first time in over a decade. This fight would have been much more difficult if he hadn¡¯t learned the dozens of spells from Han and other books. The boy mentally thanked Han.


    Without wasting any time, he took out the rhino¡¯s body and began to fly away. He was too weak to fight any other animals that might have been drawn into the battle. It made him realize how out of shape he was.


    In the past, he wouldn¡¯t get tired of spending hours throwing aura slashes, but this time he felt his body slightly stiffened by the effort. Kayden believed he was out of shape, but the truth is that the force he was wielding was too strong and his level of wear and tear was ridiculous.


    Over the next few months, Kayden continued facing beasts one realm above his rank and eating their flesh. Outside of his expectations, he had several battles won. Something he noticed was that there weren¡¯t many beasts in the third rank that ascended with a lot of lightning.


    For the most part, he would say that they were beasts that got 3 rays when advancing, only a select minority got four and these were the most difficult battles, especially against beasts that had more combat experience and knew how to use their element to an excellent level.


    The latter only posed a danger when they managed to suppress their mana dominance, which most four-rayed beasts were. This spell was something that Kayden developed using everything he learned during this period. It relied on a huge circle being raised on the ground and caused the 300-meter mana around Kayden to become thickened and under his control.


    This meant that he was able to destroy his opponents¡¯ spell before they even crossed a few meters toward him. Unfortunately, only the weakest beasts were capable of being suppressed like this.


    Time passed and when Kayden reached 16 years in the abyss, he broke through to the eighth level of the second realm, but that was not his main gain in these two years, but rather his ability to make pills in the second realm. They were weak and had ridiculously low effects, but it was still a huge quality improvement. For example, now he could use some pills to speed up his recovery from injuries. It wasn¡¯t anything ridiculous, but it managed to shorten the time.


    Another thing was his arm finally growing back. Kayden had a spell being used as a base that caused the body to seek to return to its model state that was previously chosen for Kayden a few years ago. It was practically a restoration point where his body would return as long as he stimulated it with mana in the right way.


    The addition of Kayden¡¯s missing member didn¡¯t make much of a difference to him; his combat style just had to be perfected for the addition of the new member. Slowly, he continued to fight and brave the abyss. He had already stopped walking in circles and knew how to get around well in there. His almanac already had more than 500 pages of useful content.


    Furthermore, he began to move further and further away from areas where he had his resting spots. At this point, he practically had to walk a long way before finding one of them, and only when he went backward. Kayden was determined to explore different parts of the abyss.


    During his stay, he passed through different biomes and noticed how each biome had its uniqueness. Sand biomes were more capable of producing defensive and resilient beasts, while snow biomes produced more birds. It was probably because of natural selection, only the fittest could survive and pass on their offspring. S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    When he turned 17 in the abyss, Kayden was able to make pills that helped with cultivation. The operation was like small mana storage supported by leaves capable of absorbing large amounts of mana and releasing them slowly. All of his advancements as an alchemist were because of his high mana control. The time it took him was practically the same as it would take someone to start making peak first-realm pills.


    The main difficulty for every alchemist was the subtlety in perceiving variations in mana in the product. A year later, he managed to reach the ninth level. It wasn¡¯t difficult for him at all, it was practically natural to advance, and his strength was ridiculously high with the interruptions maximized.


    Practically the first three levels of the third realm no longer posed any challenge to him. The beast could have three or four beams and he would still completely slaughter it. He also had a multitude of spells and became a fighter with a wide range of skills. His focus was still on lightning and katana, but now several support spells supported his combat.


    Kayden estimated that it would take at least another five years for him to fully maximize the second realm and that was assuming he continued cultivating and taking pills daily.


    The concepts were left aside, in fact, there was only one that came naturally to him and that was the concept of distance. The amount he walked in these years was beyond ridiculous and could easily bypass the entire human empire several times over.


    Kayden was sitting in his metal box cultivating normally when he felt a cat appear on the surface. Instantly, he stopped what he was doing and began camouflaging his location with fake mana points.


    Within seconds, everything was stored in his ring and Kayden was leaving almost a hundred meters ahead of where he was previously. As soon as he went up, he saw a small, completely black feline with white paws and intense golden eyes. She was at the third level of the second realm.


    BOOOM!


    Kayden threw lightning without even thinking twice and saw the beast dodge easily. Its mana domain dropped and this time the beast became more cautious. She found Kayden when she searched the center of this domain.


    SWISH!


    Kayden¡¯s aura slash made the sound of cutting through the wind. It still broke the sound barrier, but that noise was masked by a nullification spell. Its noise was now extremely low and amid confusion, it would be unnoticeable.


    Kayden killed many beasts just by masking his attacks using noisy lightning in between. The feline proved to have ridiculously strong hearing as he dodged the attack and turned toward Kayden.

 Chapter 251: Slave

    "Wait¡­ esd ¡­. eqt", the sentences the cat wanted to say came out cut off because of Kayden¡¯s mana dominance. But it was enough for him to see that the cat didn¡¯t want a fight. He stopped his hold and waited for the beast to communicate.


    "Hello! My name is Felix and I¡¯m a shadow and snow cat. I want to join your gang!" Even though the thesis message didn¡¯t have any voice, Kayden felt like it was a cute and childish voice.


    " Why? How did you find me?" Kayden was sure he had stacked several camouflage spells before he started cultivating.


    "I¡¯ve been following you for 1 and a half years and taking advantage of the scraps of meat and food you leave behind. I can hide in the shadows." The cat simply disappeared in Kayden¡¯s eyes and not even his spiritual sense could find it.


    "Can you attack in this form?" Kayden realized he could have died thousands of times in that time.


    "No, if I manipulate mana I have a small delay to come out of the shadows. It¡¯s just enough for my target to be able to defend himself hurriedly." The cat stepped out of the shadows and threw five black cuts from its claws at a nearby tree.


    Kayden understood that he could easily defend himself from that and react in time. This eased his mind a little, but the feeling of being chased and watched was still not completely eradicated.


    "Why do you want to join me and how many lightning bolts did you get? I won¡¯t accept less than five lightning bolts." Kayden had high standards and played something that would have been impossible for the cat to have.


    "Animals walk in packs, only the strong can be alone and even they have their pack. I¡¯ve been alive for about 150 crystal cycles. Each crystal cycle was about a year from the surface and I don¡¯t want to die from old age. I want to see what¡¯s above the crystals and for that, I need strong allies and I got five rays in my three advances."


    The sentence came as a big block of information to Kayden and took him by surprise. In the past, he would have formed a friendship and companion pact with the cat, but the Kayden of today?


    "BOOOM!"


    Kayden fired a bolt of lightning at point-blank range at the feline and the animal, which had no malice and wasn¡¯t even expecting anything like that, received the attack in full. Then came an aura slash that knocked two of its paws into the air. Without letting him rest, Kayden utilized his dominance to the maximum and approached at high speed. Five claw attacks came at Kayden directly, each of them had a dark color and as soon as it touched his katana it began to hiss as if it was corroding it with acid.


    Along with that, several sharp ice boulders began to fall on Kayden. Unfortunately, they were useless and barely got within 1 meter of Kayden before it came apart entirely. Kayden continued bombarding the cat and blocked any attempts by the animal to communicate.


    In the past, he would have felt sorry for the actions he was taking, but he broke down a long time ago and had already abandoned ethics and morals. Every time the feline tried to hide in the shadows, Kayden threw stronger attacks and prevented him from continuing. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Even with severe injuries, Felix managed to defend himself and attack to the point that Kayden had some cuts on his shoulder. At that moment, the boy began to camouflage his presence with dozens of mana points that were identical to him and launched the same attacks.


    The cat didn¡¯t know why it was being attacked and was fighting for its life. With every second that passed, he felt more tired, mainly because he couldn¡¯t recover the mana he was spending.


    "That was almost..." Kayden thought in his mind as he dodged claw slashes that came from his own shadow. Without thinking much, he erected a small artificial sun and all the shadows that were in the region disappeared, leaving only a few artificial ones made by Felix.


    The animal could jump from one shadow to another and simply teleport. This was the first time Kayden had seen something like this, but luckily for him, Felix couldn¡¯t get out of his grasp.


    Slowly, the fight lasted for more than an hour to the point that the cat no longer had any mana for any type of attack. The fight ended with Kayden having dozens of cuts on his body several of them showing his bones. Within seconds, Kayden completely knocked out the cat and, without wasting even a second, began drawing a pentagram on the floor.


    Several minutes later, a tree of complex runes lay on the ground with the cat at the center of them. Kayden activated it and all the surrounding mana turned dark as it entered the beast¡¯s body. Kayden guided the mana to two points: one of them was the animal¡¯s heart that functioned as its core and the other was the feline¡¯s head.


    The animal began to scream in pain even unconsciously as black mana penetrated every part of its brain. In a few minutes, the process was finished and Kayden fell to the floor next to him, exhausted. This type of magic required great control and an even greater amount of mana.


    "Wake up, Felix." With Kayden¡¯s order, the cat¡¯s eyes opened and its first action was to try to run, but heavy chains and mana prevented any movement of its body.


    "I put a slave chain on you. At my command, your body performs any action I want, even if I ask you to kill yourself. Your request to join my pack has been accepted, but I must ensure your loyalty in this way." This was one of the spells that Han placed in the forbidden area of his book.


    There were only a few dozen in those pages, but each one was dark and vile. Torture spells or spells that could cause mass massacres were placed in this part. As soon as reality set in, the cat started screaming and growling at Kayden.


    "Don¡¯t look at me like that, your wish will still be fulfilled. Take this and try to heal yourself." Kayden threw one of the pills he still had into the spatial ring. This was a fourth realm pill, and as soon as the cat ate it mechanically, its body was completely restored.


    "Stop," Kayden ordered just as the cat tried to attack him again. "You cannot attack me or plot against me. Any such action will result in instant death from now on. Furthermore, you cannot go more than 100 meters away from me without my orders and you must appear in front of me once a day." As soon as Kayden said that, he released the animal from any mana pressure and instantly Felix disappeared into the shadows.


    Unfortunately for him, as soon as he reached a distance of 100 meters, he felt a pang in his heart. If he took just a few steps forward, he would be killed. Without having much to do, he just hovered around Kayden for the next few days.


    For the first time in his life, he developed emotions such as hatred and distrust. In the past, he was mostly driven by instincts, but Kayden opened a new world to him. He appeared in front of Kayden for less than a second that day. It was only a week later that he accepted his fate and appeared above Kayden for the longest time.


    "You are already strong, why do you need a slave?" The cat could not understand feelings like avarice and greed. He spent a lot of time just alone and never interacted with humans.


    "You are not my slave, I just did this so as not to be betrayed. I can take you out of this abyss. Since you came to talk to me, I will finally give you two options: step into your shadow and never appear in front of me again, or come with me as a companion." The first option would result in the animal¡¯s death, but Kayden wouldn¡¯t tell him that.


    "Prove to me that you can get out of here," the cat said childishly. Kayden pulled out something he never expected to have to use here, a bag of canned food to last decades appeared in his hands.


    "I came from the surface, look at this and smell it." What was in Kayden¡¯s hands was a plastic wrapper, something that would never appear naturally in the abyss. Immediately the cat recognized that this was not a natural material. "Besides, I can promise with mana." Kayden used a spell that demonstrated that he was telling the truth, making the cat believe it.


    "Why are you here then? This is a big prison," the cat grumbled.


    "We are in a kind of abyss, on the surface our level is somewhat pathetic and we have hundreds of thousands. I will only leave here when I reach satisfactory strength ." The new information was easily assimilated by the cat who was already expecting something like this.


    "As? If dragonflies kill us easily," the cat had been trapped in the third level for many years and saw several beasts more powerful than him succumb, even some with six rays were killed at the cost of a few billion moths.

 Chapter 252: Humans

    "I have some spells capable of hiding our mana and diffusing it to make it seem like we are in smaller realms. Furthermore, I plan to make a large area dragonfly-free, but that is only in a few hundred crystal cycles." The cat was happy to hear the beginning and then depressed to know how long it would take.


    "I have at most two more life cycles." The cat said darkly. He felt he could live another two centuries and reach 350 cycles, a little higher than the human average.


    "Don¡¯t worry about it, I need you to understand some mystical techniques that will make you able to live longer. But first, you have to learn to read and speak human language." Kayden took a small book he wrote this week and threw it to the cat. Furthermore, he gathered a bunch of information and transmitted it directly to the animal.


    This method was not very useful for transmitting techniques, as each person had a different understanding of the same thing. It only took the cat a few minutes to digest the basic information Kayden gave him.


    "Take this here too so you don¡¯t leave the book exposed to damage." Kayden threw his old space ring to the cat and explained to him how it all worked. The feline was completely enchanted, as for the first time in decades he was seeing something new.


    Kayden had no use for his smaller ring for now, and considering that the feline was his slave and had very high strength, it didn¡¯t hurt to invest in it. In the future, it could protect him if his progress became slow. The enslavement technique worked for any living being below the fifth realm.


    Over the next few weeks, the animal learned to read and write perfectly under Kayden¡¯s tutelage. Furthermore, he was able to speak through a spell that vibrated the air in a similar way to the human voice, because every time he tried to speak with his vocal cords, cute meows would come out.


    Kayden continued seeking out beasts and engaging in combat with them over the next few months. The meat was now shared with the cat, and even though it was small, the beast consumed the same amount as Kayden. His strength slowly grew with this new mana-rich diet. In the past, he only had to settle for a few targets sporadically.


    Furthermore, he learned the technique to increase his health and even though he didn¡¯t like going through the pain of cultivating it, he still did it with perfectionism. The feeling of feeling his vitality increase was worth the pain he went through.


    His biggest difficulty was learning human language and developing mana control capable of performing basic spells. Until this point in his life, his attacks and actions were done automatically. His spells never had to be thought of.


    Every time he increased in rank, they would naturally come to him. It was almost like instinct. Kayden was completely impressed when he discovered this. The animal¡¯s abilities were completely strong and unbalanced and yet he didn¡¯t need to spend a second to learn them.


    A year later, the cat managed to learn some basic mana spells and fully develop the technique to increase its health. His relationship with Kayden has improved considerably. This time, he even went into hiding with Kayden and didn¡¯t hide anymore.


    "Why don¡¯t you hang out with others of your kind?" The cat asked Kayden.


    "My kind?" Kayden was in the middle of his cultivation and it took him a while to understand the question. "Have you ever seen one of my kind in the abyss? I¡¯ve been here for years and I haven¡¯t found it." Unlike the response Kayden expected, the cat responded.


    "Yes, I know of three settlements of you humans, the closest is a few months away as the crow flies." Kayden stopped what he was doing and focused his attention on the cat. This information would help him with the one thing he was lacking in the last few years.


    "How strong are they?"


    "I don¡¯t remember very well, I think they had five or more in the third kingdom and the rest were divided between the second and first, with the majority in the second. I didn¡¯t stay close for long, they looked dangerous." Kayden wasn¡¯t surprised that their average level was higher than on the surface.


    In a way, living in the abyss was a constant and ever-present tension at high levels, most had to fight to survive. Kayden highly doubted that those in the third realm had very great talent, so they should mostly stay reclusive and avoid confrontation.


    The talented were supposed to have three rays and those with four were the 1% of the 1% and would be able to reach the third realm as time passed. This level of strength would be ideal for him to carry out his plans.


    "We will move towards them, in a few years we will begin part of my strengthening plan. First I will reach the true peak of the second realm and then we will begin." Kayden would still need a few years to be able to maximize his kingdom.


    Once he achieved this, he was not afraid even if the five humans in the third realm had four and ganged up against him, which would probably happen if his plan was carried out perfectly.


    In the next few years, Kayden focused on doing his daily tasks continuously, cultivated, and studied without any rush. When he finally managed to reach the true peak of the second realm, there was only a month of travel left.


    His relationship with the cat grew exponentially, and Kayden began to enjoy the animal¡¯s company. Felix learned many different things and was focused on learning to hide his presence to a much greater degree than he was capable of. Kayden¡¯s books were devoured by him.


    Kayden reached a completely surreal level of strength. His continued maximizations have proven to be a good investment. Even Felix was now completely suppressed by him in fair single combat, and this was surreal considering the feline had five lightning bolts.


    Another thing Kayden understood was that the concepts came naturally to Felix as well. He didn¡¯t need to think about a path of concepts, he just had to live and become strong naturally. This was not something all beasts were capable of doing.


    This caused certain doubts about Felix¡¯s ancestry to arise in his mind. Who were the progenitors of such an impressive animal? Kayden didn¡¯t know, and Felix didn¡¯t remember his early years.


    The feline also began to develop a parallel concept tree following some books. His main element was darkness, but he was strengthening snow at the moment. The problem is that it was extremely difficult for him to reason humanly for the first time in his life, and in almost 3 or 4 years he only managed one concept.


    "We¡¯re getting close." Once they arrived about three thousand kilometers from the human settlement, Kayden noticed a few small things that were unnatural in their path, one example being bonfires.


    The further they walked, the closer Kayden felt they were getting. The signs began to increase, from dropped and torn clothes to swords and other items that appeared in his vision.


    Only when they reached about a thousand kilometers, Kayden saw, for the first time in more than 20 years, people of his kind. In front of him were two young men fighting for their lives against a giant tiger, another three corpses were completely disfigured on the ground around them.


    Kayden began to analyze the situation. The level of the two was at the third level of the second realm, while the tiger was at the fifth level. The difference in strength was too great for them to overcome. His lines reminded Kayden of English mixed with French, it was something very exotic. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    He watched as one of the young men was completely torn apart, the last one left simply stuck where he was. There was no way he could escape, there was no way he could fight, and his end was practically sealed. His eyes closed completely.


    POOFT!


    The tiger¡¯s head rolled on the ground and broke the young man out of the trance he was in. As soon as he regained awareness of the things around him, he saw a young man with black hair tied into a ponytail.


    The young man¡¯s eyes were cold and dead, his body was athletic, and looked like a scoundrel, his presence was intimidating, and it seemed like the mana around him was distorted, and it was impossible to know anything about the young man.


    On his neck, there was a black cat with completely white paws, and, incredible as it seemed, the cat did not exude even a hint of mana, its aura was completely non-existent.


    "Hi, this is going to hurt a little, but be strong." Kayden transmitted his message using pure mana, within seconds the young man fell to the ground unconscious, and Kayden began to draw a pentagram on the ground and explain what would be done to Felix.


    "Let¡¯s extract the knowledge of language directly from his head, we can¡¯t take too much knowledge without causing a mental injury to ourselves." After explaining, the rune pentagram lit up, and the young man on the ground began to writhe in pain.

 Chapter 253: Milena

    It wasn¡¯t difficult for Kayden to manipulate the mana to take away what he only wanted. The process took a few minutes and once it was over, it burned the young man¡¯s body completely. Knowledge of the new language was divided between the two. Felix had a splitting headache and lay on Kayden¡¯s shoulder like a sweaty t-shirt.


    Kayden didn¡¯t care much about the pain. It was pretty weak compared to everything he¡¯d been through. The boy just waited while his brain digested all the new knowledge. Even though it wasn¡¯t particularly complicated, it still took him a full hour to become fluent in the new language.


    His first objective was complete. Kayden continued his journey towards the human settlement once Felix was better. The feline took a little longer to digest all the new information. The two traveled without any fear, not even someone at the peak of the third realm would be able to detect them.


    It didn¡¯t take long and they arrived at the human settlement. Calling it a human settlement was not the most correct. Kayden came across an entire medieval-style town. Even from afar, he was sure that more than 10 thousand people lived there.


    The two got close enough that Kayden¡¯s spiritual sense could detect human interactions. It took him a few days to understand the culture and functioning of the city.


    First, its length was about four meters and it was divided into a few different areas. The lowest level was where the buildings were the worst and some people were in the first kingdom, but only the oldest ones stayed there.


    Those in the second kingdom who were the majority could enjoy clean streets and various perks a little further away from the city. There were also teenagers and children in the first kingdom at this location. The last area was the center. Kayden detected the presence of only four people in the third realm at that location.


    This area was private and separated by a wall. A few people from other kingdoms had access to the center, mostly servants and family members of the true leaders. Another thing Kayden noticed was that...


    This was a sick society. The strong dominated, but on an inhuman level. One of the leaders of the third kingdom received female visitors every day, of all ages.


    Whether they were children or elderly women, he received them and had sex with them. Women often had families, and Kayden discovered that this had been happening for centuries and they just accepted it as if it were inevitable. Sear?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Another leader had a hobby of using narcotic drugs, of all types and forms, from herbs to stones, it didn¡¯t matter. It seemed like he was always trying to escape some personal problem.


    There were two more leaders. One of them was someone normal to a certain extent. His only problem was that he had a bad habit of imposing himself on the people of the city who were inferior to him, whether by surprisingly increasing his taxes or making them kneel.


    The last leader was a young-looking and narcissistic woman. Out of everyone, she was considered the worst in Kayden¡¯s yardstick. She had purple hair that fell to her waist. Her body was completely proportional and at just 1.50m would make any man fall in love with her.


    His hobby was taking male people, preferably young ones, and torturing them for weeks and months. She practiced a very unique type of torture. As much as the physical pain was present, Kayden identified it as something more psychological.


    She would first have sex with her victim and then torture her. As time went by, he would ask the victim to self-harm or do specific things in exchange for sexual acts with her. The person would slowly break down from the physical torture and seek this little relaxation. Unfortunately, it was this process that she enjoyed.


    Seeing her victim slowly relate her pain to her pleasure and completely lose her sanity was what she sought. Leaders were treated as living gods and unrelated to humans.


    Reputation and hierarchy divisions were based on the amount of lightning people got on their first breakthrough. The average among people was two spokes, those with three spokes held prominent positions in the city and leadership roles. These were less tormented by the gods.


    The city¡¯s currency was a circle made of metal painted gold. He had the face of the four gods of the city. Most of the strong inhabitants openly abused the weaker ones, to the point where daylight murders and rapes were normal.


    The funny thing was that most people were probably mentally normal. Just the fact that they had power and could use it freely made them give freedom to their darkest desires.


    Apart from this small factor, it was a very well-organized and functional society, with each person performing a specific role. There was free public education, even their healthcare system was free. Of course, this was only for people from high society, around 20% of the population, the rest just tried to survive as best they could.


    "We¡¯re going to kidnap the woman in the third realm and turn her into a slave, I have plans for her," Kayden communicated to Felix, who was excited to get some action different from the usual. He didn¡¯t care about Kayden¡¯s motives, the feline was too lazy for that.


    Kayden continued studying society and looking for the best time for his kidnapping. As he was someone rational in the third realm and probably with four lightning bolts, Kayden had to be extremely brutal in his attitude. The first thing he did was place clues that she was being followed.


    At some point, the woman¡¯s ego would get the better of her and make her leave town to lure her pursuer. At that moment, she would easily be able to catch him, her arrogance was not unjustified considering her strength and position in society, even more so that her ego would be hurt by not being able to detect the person.


    It was only after a month and a half that the woman left the city limits. Kayden followed her a few hundred miles to a waterfall. Behind the waterfall, there was a small sanctuary protected by several runes and decorated with luxury items from the abyss.


    A few minutes after the woman entered, Kayden, without any fear, crossed the waterfall. He had to crush the woman¡¯s confidence first for the enslavement spell to have a better effect.


    "Hello, stalker. I hope you knew what you were doing," Kayden said to buy time. He automatically released a gigantic aura slash capable of splitting the woman into two halves. She reacted quickly and moved on adrenaline, raising a barrier of water in front of her that completely absorbed the impact.


    Before she could say anything or breathe, a black cat with white paws appeared at her side with a domineering aura and unleashed five black claw slashes at her at point-blank range. She still managed to raise a barrier of water, but the claws easily broke it, causing five deep cuts that went from her waist to her neck.


    " Aargh !" The woman groaned in pain and tried to perform a mana explosion to push away her attackers and get some distance. Kayden didn¡¯t even flinch as he threw lightning and aura slashes at her.


    Even though she was ridiculously strong in this place, the surprise and lack of combat meant that her decisions were made irrationally. Almost instantly, she healed her own body, making it clear that she was a healing mage.


    Kayden used his domain and prevented her from triggering any signal to her allies using an artifact. The woman frowned as she felt her spiritual sense shrinking to the size of a room and functioning very poorly.


    " Hey ! Wait, let¡¯s agree!" she shouted as she backed away and began pulling all the mana she could into her. At that moment, the ground at his feet turned to snow and began to freeze his body from the inside out.


    BOOOM! She burst the ground at her feet using a torrent of high-pressure water and freed herself from the negative effects of the cat¡¯s spell. At the same time, he erected a wall to defend himself from several mana slashes thrown by Kayden.


    His defense snapped and one of the cuts went deep into his arm, leaving him hanging by a small piece of flesh. She automatically used mana to heal herself and started pulling mana from the environment, but...


    "Where!?" She couldn¡¯t feel even an iota of mana outside her body, and this healing had used up a lot of her mana. She didn¡¯t have time to think as she felt everything around her go black and silent, there was absolutely nothing anywhere.


    Her sense of space was affected as she moved back a few meters, and as she expected to hit a wall, she simply felt nothing against her back. This was Felix¡¯s shadow domain and combined with Kayden¡¯s mana domain it became a deadly trap.


    author¡¯s note: Special thanks to King_of_Death for the golden tickets, I¡¯ve never received so many in one go, thanks to everyone else who is also donating and Kit_0685 for constantly donating

 Chapter 254: No opponents? just create them

    In the next few minutes, she received dozens of small wounds on her body, forcing her to heal herself by spending mana. The wounds were not deep enough to kill her, but they were enough to require considerable effort.


    She tried dozens of spells, from water explosions to condensing steam to hide her presence. Practically everything was used, but the problem was that she only needed to know the trick behind the two domains. If she forced a spiritual sense with her mana, she could leave Felix¡¯s domain, which was no more than 10 meters away.


    Slowly, her life began to flash before her eyes as she accepted the fact that she was going to die. Considering how the two opponents were toying with her, it would be even more painful. She didn¡¯t know what she had specifically done to these two people.


    POOFT! Her body fell unconscious to the ground after Kayden knocked her down with a specific mana attack to the head. It was a simple knockout spell on confused opponents. Immediately, he started writing different runes on the ground.


    Felix helped him with certain parts and then lay down on the floor with the naked woman. Kayden had told him that the woman would also be his subordinate in command and would have to obey his commands. Felix proved to be a trustworthy cat and deserved this small increase in rank.


    With both of them unconscious, a large amount of black mana surged towards the brains of the two living beings and they instantly began to writhe and scream in pain. For every second, mana penetrated a different area and began to perform its functions. A few minutes later, Kayden was finished and was completely exhausted. Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Wake up, Felix," he woke the feline first and spent a few minutes breathing and recovering before waking the woman up.


    "Wake up," as soon as he gave the order, the woman woke up disoriented and found herself face-to-face with her two kidnappers. Immediately the memories came back and she tried to run, but there was no mana around her to support her spells.


    "I, the god Felix, order you to stop all your movements," the feline spoke in a thick and imposing voice that did not match his appearance at all. The woman didn¡¯t pay attention, but as soon as she tried to move, she realized she couldn¡¯t. "Kneel to the cat emperor," Felix¡¯s new order was obeyed immediately and made the woman recognize her situation.


    "What do you want? What did they do to me?" his voice was altered and for the first time in centuries his heart was beating at a ridiculous speed. She looked at the cat who could order her actions and then at the man standing next to him.


    It was clear that the feline was the boss between the two, the black-haired youth in front of him was only at the peak of the second realm, while the beast was at the third realm, this was an obvious conclusion.


    "Hello, I¡¯m Kayden, from now on you are my slave," Kayden didn¡¯t give the same offer he gave Felix. "I want to get some people from your city to set up my settlement, I want mostly women, all with three spokes and some with two spokes," Kayden threw dozens of information to the woman without caring about her emotions. "You are prohibited from telling about my presence, you are prohibited from killing yourself or trying to put yourself in risky situations and trying to betray me or Felix."


    Kayden paused as she took in her new situation. It was something very sudden and she had thousands of doubts in her mind.


    "Who exactly are you?" that was the only thing Kayden said.


    "I¡¯m from the outside world and I¡¯m here for some events, you don¡¯t need to know more than that. What is your name? Age? Several rays and main skills." Kayden began his interrogation and the woman had to answer.


    "My name is Milena Khalil, I have achieved four rays in all my advancements, 110 years of life, and the third level of the third realm, I am a magician specialized in physical and mental healing with the water element," Kayden already expected some things like that.


    "In the next few days I want you to make me a list of all the talented people in the city, preferably women, focus on lightning, at least 500 people," Kayden gave some more details to Milena who was completely disoriented by the situation.


    "I need more than a few days to not arouse suspicion, how long will I be your slave? I refuse to live in prison," Kayden smiled and¡­


    It began to draw the mana out of her body slowly, causing ridiculous pain to begin to appear in her body. Milena was unable to react while going through the worst pain of her life.


    "I think you don¡¯t understand how your situation works. You no longer have free will." Kayden slapped her in the face to get her undivided attention and stopped taking mana from her body. "You will live the rest of your life under my orders. If you are productive, I will let you follow me out of this abyss and into higher ranks in the future."


    As soon as Kayden finished speaking, he released any pressure the woman was receiving and left her alone while he left with Felix. In just a few minutes, Milena went through the most traumatic event of her life and even after a few hours, she was still standing in the cave thinking about what happened.


    Meanwhile, Kayden studied the people of the city and made a small selection of which ones he would take with him. Several inhabitants who didn¡¯t have many rays of talent still possessed a lot of knowledge. This was necessary to create the next generations of your city.


    The location had already been decided. It would be a few thousand kilometers away from where they were, a plain on top of a mountain, surrounded by various biomes and waterfalls that fell from the mountain. This would be ideal for having different types of resources and beasts very close to where they were. Furthermore, the beast that had control of that place was weak and would be easily expelled by Kayden or Felix.


    The other three would probably intrude on his presentation, which would not be discreet at all. At that moment, he would take the opportunity to kill them and make the population recognize his strength. With Felix¡¯s help and the surprise factor, he could kill one or two in a matter of seconds.


    Over the next few days, Milena killed all the people she had imprisoned in her house and began looking for the people Kayden asked. Every time he finished a list of a few dozen, Kayden would find it and then go see each person.


    The selection process took about a full month, with Kayden and Milena working 24 hours a day non-stop. In the end, there were around 350 women and just 150 men, all of varying ages, from children to adults.


    Logically, he would have to let people¡¯s families come along, but that was a small factor. Kayden would eliminate them over the years using discreet means that would be considered natural causes, leaving only the best of the best for his city.


    "Why are you working so hard to set up your city? Why not just conquer this one?" Milena lost her fear of Kayden as the days went by. The young man was very calm and easy to communicate with. Logically, she was still wary and treated him as her superior.


    Kayden was sitting inside the woman¡¯s house while reading some papers in his hand detailing about the strength of the other three wizards of the third realm. Upon hearing the question, he responded without stopping reading.


    "I want the next generations to be able to rival me and help me train. In a way, I look for someone who can stand up to me and I need people with the best genes to do that. I will have dozens of children and as the years go by I will eliminate those weaker ones until I reach someone at my level." Kayden revealed a plan that violated any human rights that existed.


    Milena was shocked for a few minutes without saying anything. She already knew that Kayden had gotten six lightning bolts and was a complete monster. He wanted to create someone on that level, it was completely surreal. Furthermore, the way he was going to do it was completely inhumane.


    Probably, the 150 men could not generate offspring. At most, they could relate to other women. Milena shivered after reasoning all of this and seeing how Kayden said it so naturally.


    "Are you¡­ going to have a baby with me?" she asked embarrassedly. His question was logical considering Kayden wanted those with better genes. For a second, the woman was afraid of being tied up in a basement and forced to have children for the rest of her life.


    "Yes, but I will do it in a way that is not bad for you. Besides, if you prove yourself to be a good servant, you¡¯ll only have to have one every 20 years." Kayden¡¯s words lingered in his head in two ways, the first as a relief and the second as a threat.

 Chapter 255: A show

    Author¡¯s note: I don¡¯t know why I didn¡¯t post the bonus chapters yesterday, it was already ready, it was my mistake, sorry about that.


    The next day, Milena began to spread the news to everyone in the city that there would be a glamorous event the next day, something capable of changing anyone¡¯s life in that city for the better. The other three tried to find Milena and find out what was happening, but she was nowhere in the city. Her strange actions made it clear that she seemed to want to emancipate herself from the city or create her faction, something prohibited by the agreement between them.


    Kayden and Felix were with Milena a few miles outside town, hidden by several methods. Meanwhile, several letters were delivered and spread across the city, causing an uproar among people left out by society, eager for an opportunity to change their lives.


    As the three wizards in the third realm searched the city, their search was a failure. They could only watch as thousands of people gathered in the city square at the appointed time. Ordering everyone to go home would cause waves of uproar, especially since the "gods" were seen as benevolent to the population despite their flaws. Sear?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Thousands of people of different ages waited at the appointed time, along with the three gods floating in the air. Julian, who used to use drugs, was sober for the first time in a long time. Gabriel, muscular and carrying a giant sledgehammer, and Lucas, extremely ugly but a lightning wizard, were also present.


    Amid the silence, two figures began to rise from the crowd and emerge into the sky: Kayden and Milena. As soon as they went up, all eyes were fixed on them.


    "Milena! What do you think you¡¯re doing?" Lucas shouted, breaking the silence. Milena¡¯s response was something he didn¡¯t expect.


    "My master has an invitation for some people. I just arranged what he needed." The situation got worse when Kayden, appearing out of nowhere, revealed himself to be the duo¡¯s superior.


    "Hello, people of this city. My name is Kayden Heart and I am the one true human god..." Kayden was unable to continue, as Lucas interrupted again.


    "Blasphemy! Who do you think you are? You..." He was unable to continue speaking as his vision went black and his mana sense completely disappeared, leaving him blind. The last thing he heard before his head was cut off was Kayden¡¯s authoritative speech.


    "Hush, worm." The attack was not felt by anyone, and Lucas¡¯ head began to fall. At this moment, there was not even a sound of breathing. To ordinary people, Kayden demonstrated his strength as a god by killing a god with just two words.


    For the other two mages in the third realm, the situation was even worse. They couldn¡¯t understand how it all happened and began to feel the same fear as Milena. Meanwhile, Kayden continued his speech.


    "As I was saying, I selected 500 special people to follow me. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for you. Many of you know about the realms and must know that your gods are on the third level, but... me?" Kayden activated his path to the maximum and began to gather all the mana from three kilometers around him.


    Within seconds, the amount of mana in his hand was completely ridiculous, capable of killing a mage in the first realm through mana poisoning.


    "I am in the fifth realm, the true realm of the gods." Kayden used all this mana and threw a completely gigantic mana slash into the skies that split the clouds into two halves by a few hundred meters. At this moment, he had the attention of every person on the floor.


    "What I offer you is the opportunity to reach higher realms, and learn mystical techniques. Furthermore, we have the protection of one of my sons, the cat god Felix." As soon as he said that, Felix appeared floating next to Kayden with his third realm aura.


    Everyone¡¯s first reaction was fear, but when they understood what Kayden had said, their morale became even greater. He was someone capable of taming one of the legendary beasts told in the stories.


    "But¡­" Kayden paused dramatically. "The place where we are going has an epidemic of a type of disease that not even I am capable of curing. It is rare and only chooses people who no longer want to live. In a way, it takes suicidal people to another life. I¡¯m going give you a few minutes to discuss among yourselves what you want to do."


    As soon as Kayden finished his last words, silence prevailed for a few seconds, and then conversation broke out everywhere. While they were arguing, the two third-realm mages appeared in front of Kayden and knelt.


    "God Kayden, I hope you accept our entry as your servants," Julian said, kneeling in the air, followed by Gabriel. Kayden looked at them for a few seconds, sending a shiver down their spines.


    "I don¡¯t want you. Be content with being able to live," Kayden said, in a harsh sentence that caught them both by surprise and made them instinctively move away. Like two weaklings, they simply flew away and watched the situation. Even though they were proud, they still had more attachment to their lives.


    After 30 minutes, the conversations calmed down and Kayden resumed speaking.


    "I will begin calling out the names that have been selected. Keep in mind that there are some additional terms that you will not be able to refuse when hanging out with me. It is nothing that will harm your lives, but failure to follow them will result in immediate death," Kayden said, without giving people much time to organize themselves.


    He explained that they could bring direct family members such as children and parents, but friends and acquaintances were not allowed. Each person Kayden called stood up and brought a few people with them into the sky behind Kayden.


    The process took a few hours and even ended at night. The city was lit by dozens of torches. Many people ended up refusing, but for some, Kayden just left it aside, while for others he considered it essential, and he promised some rewards.


    In the end, around 2300 people gathered in heaven, from children to the elderly. It was close to the number Kayden expected. Many on the list were chosen exactly for this reason, practically everyone there had 3 or 2 rays in their advances.

 Chapter 256: A show[2] BONUS

    "We will go the next day. Rest well, because tomorrow we will do a lot of miles," said Kayden as he said goodbye to his new subjects. He headed towards an unknown place and, as soon as he disappeared from everyone¡¯s sight, he returned with Milena to Gabriel¡¯s house.


    The two sat on a spacious sofa at the entrance of the house, awaiting the arrival of the wizard from the third realm. Within minutes, they saw the muscular man appear and were surprised to see them. Immediately, he knelt and introduced himself to Kayden.


    "Hello, God Kayden. How can I help you?", his tone was extremely respectful. Kayden didn¡¯t care and handed him a list.


    "Here is a list of people I want you to kill. Fake a fit of madness and kill only them. If you do that, I will let you follow me tomorrow and accept you as a disciple, just like I did with Milena," Kayden said. Gabriel was surprised, but accepted.


    "Of course, God. I¡¯ll do whatever you ask," he replied. The list had almost a thousand people, mainly weak relatives of the people chosen by Kayden. Some were children and elderly people, but that didn¡¯t matter to anyone in the room.


    "Don¡¯t kill anyone other than those. I¡¯ll find you tomorrow at noon and tell you that you were possessed," Kayden added, ironing out a few more details before leaving with Milena and Felix. Their next stop was Julian¡¯s house.


    When they arrived, they noticed that Julian was already inside, smoking some type of grass. As soon as they revealed their presence, any sign of drunkenness disappeared and he met them at the door.


    "To what do I owe the honor of God¡¯s visit?", his tone was even more respectful than Gabriel¡¯s. He even knelt with his forehead on the ground.


    "In a few days, I will come back for you, if you want to come with me. You will teach the new generations all your knowledge about plants and related subjects. In return, I will take you out of this abyss you call the world," said Kayden.


    Julian was an herbalist and cultivator of the wood and earth elements. His knowledge of alchemy and plantations of rare ingredients was what made so many people accept his teachings.


    "I accept," Julian said, without questioning details. Anyone who reached the third realm understood that they were trapped in a prison and that Kayden was their first hope in centuries.


    "You must control the people and loot the city during this period. Felix will stay with you to guard everything useful. A few days later, you and him will come to me. Don¡¯t let anyone follow you. I don¡¯t want any trouble," concluded Kayden before going out with Milena.


    His plan was perfectly carried out, winning the opinion of the masses. Those who accompanied him fully believed his words. When Milena and Kayden arrived at her house, the young man turned to her before she left.


    "I need you to keep your end of the bargain now," Kayden said, and Milena felt apprehensive. She had had sex with many people, but she was always the stronger and more dominant side. At this moment, she was completely dominated by Kayden.


    *********


    Crying and burning houses could be seen from all sides. Hundreds of people died overnight at the hands of the mad God Gabriel. He practically didn¡¯t stop for a second, attacking and killing other people. Anyone who crossed his path was easily knocked out.


    Children, elderly people, women, men, young people. No one was spared. This was the greatest massacre anyone had ever witnessed. While the population prayed for a savior, Gabriel continued to kill wantonly.


    Anyone who tried to escape into the forest disappeared as soon as they stepped an inch into the darkness. It was an open-air horror circus. None of the other gods interfered. The massacre only ended in the morning.


    The city was eerily silent as everyone remained inside their homes. Practically no one dared to go out and end up being killed. Amid this silence, a voice echoed throughout the area.


    "My people, last night I had to resolve some matters in a very far away place. I sincerely apologize to all of you," Kayden said from the sky, where people could see him kneeling in the air. "I will avenge your loss as an apology. Gabriel! Appear" As soon as he shouted the muscular man appeared on the horizon as if he were possessed.


    As soon as the third realm wizard appeared, his vision went black and he lost his sense of space. Unafraid, he remained still, as Kayden had already informed him that this would happen. His head fell from his body with the same calm expression he had seconds before.


    Kayden held it in his hand with a mana current and showed it to all the people watching him. Tears of happiness appeared in the eyes of those who believed they had been abandoned.


    "I know this isn¡¯t enough, but I hope it soothes the souls of the dead," Kayden said silently as people cheered him excitedly. In his mind, Kayden just stared at the pathetic beings that danced over his hand. "I know it is a painful moment, but, out of respect for the dead, we must continue in search of their new home," he concluded. "Everyone who was called yesterday appears before me. Those who cannot fly, gather together so that I can take you."


    Kayden took charge of the situation in seconds and the process of bringing everyone together took about an hour, everyone was carrying suitcases with all the things they thought it was worth taking, and most of the children who were orphaned were gathered on a metal platform that Kayden was floating with his mana.


    He had to gather some of these, as their guardians no longer existed and they stayed in their homes crying, Kayden asked some adults who were good at dealing with children to help them on this trip.


    Kayden put mana in his voice and compelled people to get ready, it was a large amount, but disguised in dozens of layers and meters, this made it unnoticeable to any of them.


    "Say goodbye to your hometown and hello to the new world," Kayden said to everyone as they flew out of the city, inside the city thousands were looking and wondering why they weren¡¯t chosen. An atmosphere of farewell and sadness permeated everywhere for a few seconds until Kayden began to fly out of the city. S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 257: City development

    Felix stayed behind to prevent anyone trying to follow them from succeeding in their task. He did this by simply killing everyone who tried. Meanwhile, Julian continued the task of plundering the city.


    Most likely, the city would rally around the support of a new leader after a few weeks, and if they were lucky, no beasts in the third kingdom would appear and they would be able to survive for a while. Otherwise, they would be easily decimated.


    As soon as Kayden flew about 500 kilometers, he stopped in the air to take a short rest for everyone. The journey was relatively uneventful, as those in the second kingdom supported the weaker ones on Kayden¡¯s orders.


    "I ask for everyone¡¯s attention. I know the trip is tiring, but I need to go through the additional rules before we can continue," Kayden said, pausing to check if everyone was paying attention to him. "We will have a book with all the laws of the new city that must be followed to the letter. The punishment can reach death in some cases, but the main law is that you cannot have children in the city. Unfortunately, I detected a rare mana disease in your genes and every person born can never go beyond the second kingdom. In a few decades, I will be able to cure them through in-depth study", he continued, throwing some lies mixed with promises.


    His revelation dropped like a bomb on everyone¡¯s heads, causing those trapped at the peak of the second realm to look among themselves, relieved that it wasn¡¯t their incompetence¡¯s fault, but rather something they didn¡¯t know.


    "Furthermore, in a few centuries, I will revive everyone who died tonight. Unfortunately, I am injured and am not able to do that, but considering that all of you will surpass the second realm and will be able to live for a long time, I believe it is okay." " Kayden gave a few more lies that raised everyone¡¯s spirits to another level.


    Happiness overflowed everywhere, and the pain of loss disappeared with this news, as there was no reason to be sad for people who would return. Would it take long? Yes, but it was just longing they had now.


    No one doubted Kayden¡¯s words, especially when he gave several oxen from the second kingdom so that everyone could feed. Any word he said would be treated as absolute truth by these people.


    After everyone ate, they walked again. Each advance lasted a few hours and they walked a few hundred kilometers. The journey took about 7 days because of the constant stops to rest and sleep that those in the first realm and apprentice realm needed.


    "This is your new home. I know you have nothing, but those with experience creating homes and structures will begin working tirelessly to house everyone. So I hope you will be patient. In the meantime, I will give you two things to learn: a book of rules and a better cultivation method. Those who go to work will receive their books later, with a small reward", announced Kayden, starting to organize the construction of the city together with some experienced people.


    The first thing they did was the houses. They were just normal houses that followed simple patterns. Right now, that would be ideal. In a few days, all the houses would be ready.


    And it only took three days. Kayden put everyone with the slightest skill in the field to work. Julian arrived a few days earlier and began building a huge herbarium with the help of some specialized people.


    Administrative buildings began to be erected in the city center. Kayden elected some people to be leaders. Its rules were very different from the other cities and valued a more egalitarian environment with power being used discreetly.


    It was clear to everyone that talent and strength were the main factors that would decide the future of each person inside. But even the weakest still had the right to a dignified life in a certain way and the opportunity to grow freely.


    A month later, Kayden City began to be managed perfectly. It was divided into several social circles and each gave access to certain resources. Chief among them was access to the library that Kayden had assembled with several unique books with spells they had never seen before.


    Unfortunately, only a few people had access to this specific part. Those with three rays and a promising future were given the opportunity. The rest had to be content with the low end of resources.


    He established a council of five people who obeyed directly to Milena. These people were the leaders of the population and had direct contact with them. Each of them represented a different area, such as education and engineering.


    The disease that Kayden mentioned claimed some victims, but there were only three and they had almost no one to support them inside. The city began to have its currency minted using the mana of someone in the third kingdom.


    Kayden established three things that helped the general population: first the library, second an alchemy institution that accepted three dozen apprentices and was learning under Julian¡¯s tutelage. The other institution was a secondary arts school. In it, he chose someone in the second realm to be the teacher and receive the knowledge he had accumulated from his books.


    Kayden started doing the second part of his plan as well. Through the influence of mana, he began to impregnate dozens of women with good genes. This only took a few days.


    After that, he started thinking about concepts and left them outside for other people to take care of. He maintained his routine of dedicating part of his day to reading books and an hour a day for random activities.


    He discovered that this small amount of rest time was able to allow him to perform his training slightly better. It was a minimal gain, but when all the percentages added up, it would be worth it.


    It might be less than 1% per rank, but when it all accumulated, the result was completely immense. In this free time, he walked around the city and found some things to tidy up. He didn¡¯t like wasting too much time. As soon as he felt his mind stabilize, he went back to training.


    It wasn¡¯t a rest, as most of the time, he was taking care of the city or walking around looking for bugs. The city was constantly developing and, in the coming months, more people would be born.


    Quickly, nine months passed. The city was completely stabilized at this point. Some people died from the disease, but no one raised suspicions, as they thought they no longer wanted to live.


    Slowly, Kayden began to remove people he considered untalented or too lazy into society. Casualties were minimal, but he was slowly purifying his population. Some heinous crimes occurred and it was something Kayden expected considering the violent environment these people lived in. All criminals were punished by death in a public square.


    The first wave of children was born spaced out after nine months. Kayden already had a unique way of dealing with them. It was something that took time and a lot of persuasion had to be used on the population to accept it.


    No mother would have her child identified. All children would be collected by the government and raised in numbers. Only those who showed satisfactory development at the age of 15 could earn names and live normally.


    Those who failed to reach a certain level of quality would be killed by Kayden. In fact, for the population, they would be banned, but Kayden would eliminate these little nuisances. The institution that cared for these children was run by Milena. Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    She was the first to have Kayden¡¯s child and set out to take care of that part. In recent months, she has not developed a habit of kidnapping men. Even though Kayden gave her permission, he didn¡¯t understand why and he didn¡¯t care either. In his spare time, he sometimes had sex with her.


    Out of her understanding, Milena developed an addiction to Kayden. She practically fell in love with him. Little humans no longer mattered to him. The institution began to operate at full steam and used several runes to prevent babies from killing themselves when awakening their mana.


    Kayden has decided to have a batch of kids every 5 years for now. In the future, he would decrease this number. At the moment, they did not have enough manpower to care for many babies.


    He learned two more concepts during this period. Second-realm concepts were heavier and harder to understand. Furthermore, he spent a good part of his day casting and training other spells.


    His elemental control has become completely bizarre these past few decades. Kayden could practically manipulate all of his lightning based on electrical mana. Even his body acceleration spells benefited.


    As the babies began to arrive, Kayden took extensive notes about each of them. He wanted to understand what characteristics were capable of making someone overcome many lightning strikes and, to that end, he decided to document everything he could.

 Chapter 258: End of the Moths

    This task was passed on to Milena, who understood why Kayden was doing this and took on this goal zealously. Kayden had no intention of being a present father; he would use these children.


    "Kayden," Felix appeared on his shoulder as soon as he left the room. "I have an idea," said the cat, and Kayden waited. "A gigantic sequence of runes capable of isolating this entire city from moths. This will allow me to pass the level." The feline was obsessed with increasing his strength. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    With this goal in mind, he studied camouflage runes all the previous years. His idea was not baseless and he showed Kayden several methods they could use to plug the city into a blind spot in the general mana flow.


    Furthermore, he brought an artifact capable of rendering any being below the fourth realm invisible in its mana expenditure. Unfortunately, Kayden didn¡¯t have or know anyone capable of making this artifact at the moment.


    "Take some people and teach them the basics of blacksmithing. In a few years, we¡¯ll move some of the talented kids into that division. Keep studying the runes and bring me updates. You have permission to add them to the city structure. Bring me any result," Kayden said, dismissing the cat and returning to training.


    He already had a plan for his servants to be able to advance above the third level of the third realm, but it was a little different. His goal was to kill all the moths within a few thousand kilometers and then build a simple rune array on the crystals.


    No moth had the intelligence or ability to understand the difference between mana and elemental mana. What Kayden would do is simply infect all three kilometers of his spiritual sense with electrical mana and kill the moths within a few minutes.


    For every time he did this quickly, other moths would gather where the crystals were. But the surrounding mana would remain infected. In a few hours, most of the moths within tens of kilometers would die attracted by a high-density mana bait.


    Once that happened, he would camouflage the crystals¡¯ mana easily with some runes. This camouflage would not be completely effective and some would end up passing through by some chance of fate. To do this, there would be other runes aimed at killing these intruders. The best part was that the runes would be highly sustainable because of the crystals.


    Furthermore, they would also work to keep people from the second realm prevented from rising from the abyss. In a way, the abyss was a protection for him to freely conduct his unethical and inhumane experiments, and he didn¡¯t want that to change.


    Kayden did some studies these years and concluded that the residual mana from the crystals would fall to the earth and increase its density. This would cause the average level of plants to increase first and, consequently, of animals as well. Maybe in a few centuries, they would have the presence of people in the fourth kingdom down there.


    This would be great for your goals of producing someone with six rays capable of giving you some worthy challenge. Kayden placed the subject of philosophy and self-knowledge in the children¡¯s teaching schedule when they turned eight years old, all so that they could develop a path.


    A mage with six rays and no path was nearly impossible and even if he managed to do it, Kayden doubted he would present any challenge to him. Even someone with five rays and one path wasn¡¯t something spectacular in his current parameters.


    Slowly, time passed and the city developed further. Kayden learned four other concepts and easily subdued them with his path. His number of concepts would be monstrous in the second kingdom.


    The babies had their mana awakenings. Kayden noted the time and characteristics of each one. Those who were able to awaken earlier were able to continue living normally, while those who showed a worse degree of talent were introduced to a diet based on low concentrations of mana.


    Mana was added to their food secretly. This could lead to mana poisoning and consequently death, but Kayden kept the amounts low and would increase it progressively.


    Furthermore, other studies were being done on these children. The things they received and how they spent their time were detailed and would later be related to their level of talent.


    Kayden would not present the identification of natural talents as it was on the surface. This could discourage people with hidden talents. His talent target was wizards at age 12; anything beyond that would be killed or used as generic labor.


    Two years later, children began to have enough intelligence to be educated. Kayden took special time to choose teachers. Furthermore, the time had finally come for Felix to finish the runes.


    "You can begin", Kayden gave the order and then Felix injected mana into the rune sequence which was based on using mana from the environment and some mana stones they found to sustain themselves.


    In a few seconds, the entire city became a ghost region to any spiritual sense coming from outside. It looked like just a spot with low mana in a large open space. The rune tree showed low mana consumption in the following minutes.


    "No need to expand this outward. In a few months I¡¯ll come up with something to clear a few thousand miles," Kayden said to Felix, and the cat just nodded. Now, his focus was on producing the artifact capable of hiding him. Felix had already found some people to carry out his orders. He just had to ask and it would be done. Furthermore, he nurtured them as if they were his toy soldiers. The average strength of the city¡¯s people increased during these years.


    Most people were in the second realm at this time, with only a few in the first rank. This was already the same as before, but now a part managed to increase a level because of the benefits given by the city.


    The alchemy part grew considerably, reaching dozens of pills daily. Furthermore, food became easily accessible after Kayden established some farms with plantations. Only meat was a more expensive product.


    A year later, Kayden already had nine concepts and finally thought it was the ideal time to clean up the moths. He learned the concept of dispersal so he could affect the mana of a larger region more easily.


    During this period, he also introduced Julian to forced slavery, to prevent the man from trying to escape through the holes in the ceiling. He explained the situation to the three subjects in the third realm. The two humans just had to follow his orders like slaves, but Felix was a little different.


    "I¡¯m giving you the choice to stay and grow with me or just leave for the surface. With your current strength, you should be able to survive on the surface alone," Kayden said. He had already given this option to Felix a few months ago and, oddly enough, the cat chose to stay with him.


    He was progressing more every day and soon he could advance to another level. He wanted nothing more than that, and Kayden was instinctively considered his pack and leader. It might take a little longer, but he would still break out to the surface.


    "As soon as the moths start to die, you must be careful to eliminate those that are resistant. Use long attacks without exposing yourself too much", Kayden communicated to the three beings in the third realm around him.


    It then began to change mana slowly. It started at a few meters and then slowly spread out. A layer of lightning elemental mana began to rise toward the moths. They didn¡¯t even find the situation strange.


    Some descended towards the mana and began to absorb it as if it were the sweetest nectar in the world. The layer continued to rise higher and higher, and within a few minutes, it was glued together with the crystal.


    The poisoning process assumed that Kayden¡¯s residual will was stronger than that of the animals, and he was proven right when the moths began to fall by the thousands. For every second, hundreds were falling.


    On the ground, there were a few dozen people responsible for collecting these moths, which would become fertilizer for the crops. Furthermore, various experiments using their blood and flesh could be done.


    Logically, only a minimum quantity of all the moths that would die here would be collected. Because, for every minute that passed, the amount that fell was bizarre. It looked like it was raining.


    In just 20 minutes, three entire kilometers were cleaned. Those resisters were completely decimated. Next, Kayden took out a treasure from his spatial ring: a fruit with fourth-realm mana.


    Instantly, he began circulating this new mana to more distant places. The three-third realm mages extended this by a few more kilometers. Within seconds, the horizon appeared to have turned black.

 Chapter 259: The environment develops

    The sound of flapping wings was so loud that it reached the city a few dozen kilometers away. It was completely ridiculous. They came like crazy, and the attractive mana was passing through the crystals; As soon as they arrived, they were poisoned. Each batch lasted only a few minutes and died completely. The perimeter was cleared in a few hours and about a day later they had the first area with about 500 kilometers clear.


    The rune scheme was designed by Felix and Kayden together. They relied on a negative signal for mana capable of confusing spiritual senses, but the main means of camouflaging such a large area was using rune repeaters. This was humanity¡¯s greatest achievement when using runes.


    They only needed to have a main chain and, using a few secondary runes, they were able to repeat the message several kilometers in length. The process took around 1 month to complete, even moving hundreds of kilometers per day. They needed to extend the runes at the same rate, and this took much more time than killing the moths.


    Kayden stipulated a perimeter of around 5,000 kilometers. This would be enough for some third-realm beasts to occupy five different areas, making the ecosystem function normally. With the crystals free, Kayden had time to study them further.


    The amount of mana each of them exuded could easily elevate someone to the second realm in a few years. Kayden banned anyone from taking to the skies. The runes would kill anyone who got too close. Those who worked on the runes had to sign contracts that prevented them from telling anything and from going near the runes.


    In just a few days, the density of mana had already increased considerably, to the point that Felix had to make runes to prevent the density from getting too high in the city and killing newborns. Kayden took advantage of this additional mana to test his spells and base. He couldn¡¯t find even a single mistake in her even after all these years, but that was something he kept trying.


    Any mage in the fourth realm would be able to do what Kayden did and get out of this place easily, but the problem was that the amount of mana he exuded would attract moths from thousands of miles towards him quickly. Once the wizard fell into the abyss, he would automatically be killed by attrition.


    You could probably still clean a few thousand kilometers of animals and, depending on your specialization, you could clean much more. That was the first impression Kayden had. But perhaps, if the wizard had specific spells, like a barrier that killed the moths instantly, he could survive for a long time and escape easily.


    That thought made Kayden realize that the moths weren¡¯t the only thing keeping information from coming out of the abyss. There was probably something down here capable of killing people in the transitional realm, without a doubt that was it. Kayden didn¡¯t pay much attention to these thoughts, it was something that was far out of his reach.


    Time flew by, and quickly it was ten years since Kayden had founded this city. Felix was currently at the fifth level of the third realm, and even though it was two levels apart, it was only one as he remained on the verge of advancing for decades.


    Milena and Julian only went up one level each. Their advancement was not that great, as they did not have abundant techniques or resources like Felix. Kayden opened his entire private library to the beast, but for the two of them, he only gave the highest level techniques in the city.


    In the future, if they ended up proving themselves worthy, Kayden would invest in them. With Felix¡¯s advancement, Kayden got a good training partner. They were more or less on the same level now, but that was slowly changing as Kayden added dozens of concepts to his repertoire.


    He was learning from strong to weak concepts, it didn¡¯t matter, he just wanted a ridiculous amount to the point of complete saturation. Milena and Julian were still completely dominated in a one-on-one fight.


    His children had reached the age of 9 and revealed a certain talent. Some were already at the eighth apprentice level. Those who received mana in their food developed first.


    Some ended up dying over the years, but those who survived had a stronger, faster body and an easier time manipulating mana. Kayden had already gotten rid of 70% of all the useless weights, and the population would be low if it weren¡¯t for the two waves of children that appeared in those ten years. At that time, there were around 450 children. It would be more if it weren¡¯t for Kayden cutting out the useless ones.


    He decided to wait another ten years for the next generation, as the first had to develop enough to take care of them. Most of the ancient people were in the second realm now and distributed among the various levels. Kayden thought that some of them would be able to advance to the third realm at the end of their lives, but they would be few, very few. These would be invited to become Kayden¡¯s slaves.


    The city has fully developed, with a sewage system and running water. Furthermore, the surrounding beasts also became stronger compared to before. Their advancement was even faster than that of humans. In just one year, the five areas were occupied by beasts from the third realm, and they also managed to reach the fourth.


    The city has fully developed, with a sewage system and running water. Furthermore, the surrounding beasts also became stronger compared to before. Their advancement was even faster than that of humans. In just one year, the five areas were occupied by beasts from the third realm, and they also managed to reach the fourth. Kayden and Felix gave a small warning that certain areas were out of their jurisdiction, even though they were in their territory, and that humans should not be killed by them.


    Vegetation also developed during this period, and treasures from the third began to appear. Kayden made sure to stop anyone from taking them early. The boy let everyone take the time they needed to blossom correctly. Furthermore, it offered protection for certain species of animals and plants to prevent the ecosystem from swallowing them, especially considering that there were no laws other than the law of the strongest.


    Kayden decided to go into total seclusion for two years. He would only leave his training room at a time when the children were in the period capable of advancing to the mage level. He would focus completely on learning four strong concepts during this period. His rest would be set aside for a while. At that moment, 1% did not exist, either he learned or he did not learn.


    Control of the city and all decisions remained in Milena¡¯s hands. Kayden made a presentation to the population, elevating her to the level of demigod, and explained that she would have to remain in seclusion to heal. Felix was still the real controller of everything, but the cat was too lazy to deal with these situations. His preference was to rule from the shadows and use his time to invest in himself.


    In the blink of an eye, Kayden emerged from his seclusion stronger than before. Four strong concepts were added to his repertoire, three of them about his path and one of them about the tree of concepts that Bolt had stipulated for him. Kayden has not forgotten his master¡¯s technique; she would be a great asset in the future. But for every concept he learned, it became less important as Kayden began to feel the flow of mana at a ridiculously high level. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The slightest movement from a spell or mana manipulation could be felt by him. Kayden estimated that when he reached a surreally large number of concepts, he could even feel other people¡¯s breath as mana.


    "Hello future wizards, the lightning test will begin now. Those who present talent will be directly recruited by the different organizations in our city. I hope you all do your best," Kayden was floating in the air as he spoke to over 200 kids on the ground. There were several hundred people around who were there to witness the event. The organizations Kayden mentioned were the different ministries he built. In each, there were a few main members, with the majority being outsourced helpers.


    Other than that, there was no other organization in the city. There were a few that civilians joined to exchange experiences and learn or found a clan, but even those weren¡¯t noteworthy. They only had members and no real power.


    The stands were arranged circularly. In the center, there was a small stage made of golden material that stood imposingly. The order of the children was left to their choice, and the first to go up was a red-haired man with black eyes. According to the data Kayden collected, he was the first to max out the apprentice level and one of the last to undergo awakening. This demonstrated that his experiments of mixing mana into his diet were productive.

 Chapter 260: More time passes

    According to the data Kayden collected, he was the first to max out the apprentice level and one of the last to undergo awakening. This demonstrated that his experiments of mixing mana into his diet were productive. The boy sat in the center of the material and began advancing.


    He was given a pill that had the effects of inducing a state of super focus and ease in learning concepts. In just a few seconds, the sky turned dark. The first beam fell and was easily defended by a cut from the redhead¡¯s sword. He had no elements and followed the doctrine of pure knights. The second beam was also easily defended by him.


    In the third, everyone¡¯s emotions were in their mouths. For those citizens, the third ray represented the peak of society. Anyone who got that amount would be able to reach the top and be successful. The third ray was easily defended. The room took a while to arrive. The redhead was already injured all over his body and continued. His display of resilience impressed Kayden.


    The fourth bolt fell with a bang and... was parried by the boy at the edge of the limit. His life hung in the balance when several of his organs were turned into liquid. If Milena hadn¡¯t instantly come out to heal him, the redhead would be dead. At the same time as he was healed, he went through the process of advancement, and within a few minutes, the first wizard and son of Kayden opened his eyes to the world. His strength was frightening and his genes superior.


    "The heavens gather the first wizard of the first generation into their arms. From this day forward, your name will be Ryan Heart," Kayden chose him directly. His choice was because he knew the boy had a different story. He was born weak and worked harder than everyone else.


    His body was the only thing that put him on a higher pedestal. He was completely crushed in his first ten years of life, but his hard work slowly overcame the rest. He only had four concepts, it wasn¡¯t something that particularly caught Kayden¡¯s attention, but with time and the right nutrition, this boy could reach a great level of strength.


    The next one was the true strongest wizard of this generation, he was 001, son of Kayden and Milena. The woman, even though she was a total psychopath, presented herself as a strict mother, and Kayden didn¡¯t care about her request to maintain contact with her son. The boy wore an ancient wizard¡¯s outfit from fairy tales, his hair was purple like Milena¡¯s, and he carried a staff demonstrating that he was a wizard.


    His element was wind, and he used lightning as a secondary element. The boy was the only one who had achieved the incredible mark of five concepts, entirely thanks to the constant treasures that his mother invested in him. His body was on the same level as Ryan, and yet he was not a physical wizard.


    Four rays fell quickly, and even though the boy was in a state of near death, he defied the heavens and called for the fifth ray. At this point, even Kayden was taking this seriously. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The fifth bolt struck with ridiculous force and shocked everyone. Even so, Kayden, who was a flea behind, realized that his fifth ray was much weaker than his own. Leaving that aside, Kayden permitted Milena to help him.


    The first five-ray mage appeared in the abyss at this moment. Once again, Kayden welcomed him into the government to Milena¡¯s happiness. His name was Astolfo Heart. Kayden would give names after people he knew if people showed they deserved it.


    After that, there was no one else he handpicked. The rest got somewhere between two and four spokes. Those who got two were marked for use as labor by Kayden.


    Three spokes were chosen for some government institutions. Those with four rays were just three more people, and they were placed in the talent division that Milena controlled.


    There was a difference between the reception by Kayden and the division of talent. The former would be defended by Kayden himself even if they were wrong on some issue, would be given full access to the library, and would be enslaved by Kayden. It was a small price to pay for all the benefits they would receive.


    The reason Kayden didn¡¯t directly choose the other three who got four lightning bolts was because of their personalities. They were talented and arrogant. That was the problem. They weren¡¯t power-hungry like Ryan. The strength they were in was enough for them.


    Kayden hated this kind of people, that¡¯s why he didn¡¯t welcome them, he just promised that everyone who strived to reach the second realm in less than 20 years and succeeded and demonstrated talent would be recruited.


    Kayden also did a little purging of those he didn¡¯t consider worthy of remaining in the city. Some were adults, but he also got rid of some of his children. Seclusion also made Kayden realize something. No matter how much he trained someone with six rays, it would be practically impossible to build someone who could catch up and go head-to-head with him.


    His strength increased with each passing day. Even if someone managed to get six lightning bolts in the second realm, it still wouldn¡¯t be enough to face Kayden. This caused his plans to change slightly. Instead of having people confront him, Kayden would just produce future slaves.


    In case he was lucky enough to get someone with an incredible seven lightning bolts, but the chance of that happening was slim. Even if he tried to advance now, he wasn¡¯t sure if he could obtain seven lightning bolts, it was a very large number.


    Each ray above four was a bizarre watershed, practically no one with five rays could face a person with five, likewise, no one with five could face someone with six.


    Time flew by again, the children had already grown to ages over 18 and were approaching 20. Kayden decided to choose this moment to start the next generation.


    Once again Milena accepted being a mother without any problems, meanwhile, Kayden began to choose the people who would have her children. From the old generation, only a few people were chosen.


    The majority were from the new generation, which had greater talent; In fact, two of them had four spokes. Kayden hoped to taper the generations more and more as the years went by, perhaps reaching a point where everyone had four spokes.


    His time in the abyss was just to train and improve himself. He would only leave here when he reached the peak of the third realm, it would probably take a few more centuries. Kayden had been in here for approximately 45 years.


    Kayden began to disconnect from the normal world, only going out to perform some actions. Control of the city was completely in the hands of Milena, Julian, and Felix. His outings were usually just to kill some people or rest his mind. His departures became less frequent.


    Previously, it was one hour a day, but currently, it was only 3 hours once a week, 1 hour for administrative purposes that consisted of making decisions and killing people, one hour for him to walk around the places, and another for he surrendered to carnal pleasures.


    The problem was that these hours would be reduced even further in the future. Kayden recognized the value of giving his mind a break, but it was something he didn¡¯t have much interest in doing. Disconnecting from learning or cultivating was like losing the meaning of your life.


    Advances towards the second kingdom of the first generation occurred over the years. The fastest was Ryan, who managed to advance again with four lightning bolts and, oddly enough, five concepts. Astolfo maintained an average of five spokes and five concepts, standing out from everyone else. Kayden wasted no time in enslaving the two and turning them into people of power within the city.


    More than a decade later, Kayden found himself having a memory lapse. He was in the same circular stand with a platform in the center, this time it was to witness the second generation going through the ascension process. Some of them had real talent.


    Kayden only collected one person this time who got five rays, the rest were distributed between three and four rays, with more than 10 reaching four rays, surpassing the first generation. He decided not to choose other children, as he wanted to keep those in government only with high standards. With this new amount of children, he could kill a few more people and further reduce the quality of his city.


    Currently, Milena was at the fifth level of the third realm and Felix had incredibly reached the eighth level. In just a few more years, perhaps Kayden would have his first slave in the fourth kingdom. At this point, he would no longer be able to face his slaves. Fighting Felix had already become difficult, requiring him to use all his strength and still resulting in a 50% chance.

 Chapter 261: The corrupt king

    It seemed like Felix had grown a lot in strength, but the one who grew was Kayden, as he was still able to match an entire realm of strength while being at the same level. This meant that all his time learning different techniques and concepts wasn¡¯t wasted. And he hadn¡¯t even gotten close to the concept saturation point he was predicting.


    Most likely, at that point, he could, with luck, face someone in the fourth starting realm and have a slim chance of victory. While those in the third realm would be completely decimated by it to a bizarre degree. Perhaps even another person with six lightning bolts wouldn¡¯t be his opponent, simply because he was maximizing his realm to the maximum.


    Hardly anyone would go to the point of spending years just to gain a few minimum percentages of strength. Kayden didn¡¯t even know one person who theorized this path or followed it. In a way, he was the first and only human to have this disposition.


    A while later, Kayden was reading Han¡¯s book. Even after decades, he hadn¡¯t been able to digest everything in the book. The amount of spells and runes the old man stored here was completely surreal.


    Furthermore, it had an entire flap dedicated to manipulating space-time. Kayden discovered after reading the first three lines that two pieces of information that Han seemed to already know would be found and prove his knowledge of the future.


    "Hello, Kayden. It¡¯s been a few decades since I died. Your progress is impressive and you are the strongest second realm wizard I have ever seen in my entire life. I won¡¯t beat around the bush, I have a request and a piece of advice. First, I ask you to spare Heimer¡¯s life and not kill him, this is a selfish request from a father, consider your last favor to this old man. My advice is that you do not return to this part of the book until you reach the fifth kingdom, I would say sixth, but with your strength at the fifth, you should already have the capability."


    Kayden stared at the paper for a while after reading the sentence. A few minutes later, he just smiled and agreed to his father¡¯s request. It had been so long that his emotions with the people on the surface had died down, he no longer cared if David or Heimer died or didn¡¯t die.


    He would only fulfill his promises, the Ashford family would be killed as soon as he rose from the abyss if they had not already been eliminated over time. Afterward, he would focus on destroying Eden.


    Kayden left his room to clean up the population and impregnate the next generation. Time passed very quickly and there were only warnings from Milena that kept him up to date with the city¡¯s news.


    The surface has faced many problems in recent decades. Dozens of cities were completely decimated, and in just fifty years two kingdoms fell completely, Jarvan¡¯s and the water kingdom.


    Humanity had to join forces and unite against a common enemy. The three kingdoms were disbanded and transformed into just one human kingdom called the Trinity, where each king had the right to one vote in general decisions.


    Fifth-level mages had their public appearances completely cut off and only commanded a few times. Most of the decisions were made by the ancient Fourth Kingdom kings. This happened on Merlin¡¯s orders, he didn¡¯t want the demigods to directly enter the war.


    Humanity proved to have a strong strategy and only by utilizing their peak mages were they able to turn the tide in the early years, and this went against God¡¯s goal. Therefore, he simply placed a warning in the heads of everyone in the fifth realm that they just had to obey or be killed.


    Even if someone in the fifth realm saw their son being killed in front of them, they couldn¡¯t do anything. This was the situation that was in front of Azir at this moment.


    "I AM YOUR FATHER, LOCKE! YOUR ANCESTORS WOULD BE TURNING IN THE GRAVES SEEING YOUR ATTITUDES!", Locke rose into the air against his father showing all the glory of a wizard of the fourth kingdom with five rays.


    "You sent me and Luan to our deaths just to force Apollo to inherit the throne. I promised my best friend while he agonized in my arm that I would avenge his death. Today I come here to show that blood ties are not eternal. At the moment that you gave up on me, you stopped being my father."


    Locke and Luan were sent three decades ago on a suicide mission. This became evident when his team was completely slaughtered by a third realm Orc. At that moment, everyone fought to the best of their strength, but the difference in realms was simply too great to overcome.


    What saved Locke was the intrusion of an unknown old man into the apprentice realm, he just made a move using a minimal amount of mana that was able to break the Orc¡¯s spell in half in mid-air and cause it to explode on the caster himself. Locke was in a near-death state actually, but he could still clearly hear the old man speaking to him.


    "You¡¯re too interesting a chess piece to die here." That was the last thing he heard before he lost consciousness. When he woke up, he was still on that battlefield filled with blood and broken parts of human bodies.


    He used a pill he had with him and was able to heal himself enough to get up and leave that place. He did not return to the Sun Kingdom. He knew that this mission was given by his father and he also had the knowledge that the kingdom¡¯s intelligence had not erred in the information.


    This was the breaking point that allowed Locke to break through and become the youngest Transitional Realm wizard humanity has ever seen. Not only that, but he did it with five rays.


    Where he found this refuge in the beast civilization, which was on the opposite side from humans and had opened the door to anyone who dared to look for them. It was the best choice he made in his life, it was able to provide strength and a family for him.


    "Grandfather, I hope you don¡¯t intrude", Locke said nothing, and without him knowing, Azir was crying in the air next to Apollo, the only one who understood why his grandfather couldn¡¯t do anything but watch his family being destroyed.


    "I did what I had to do!" the king tried for the last time, even though he had been in the fourth realm for centuries, he had a miserable talent of only three rays.


    "I don¡¯t care, you¡¯ve been governing our country in a mediocre way, you think I don¡¯t know that you¡¯ve gone into drink and drugs? You¡¯re pathetic," Locke threw his father¡¯s defects and how he was ruining the kingdom with its rampant vices.


    "So come, I want to know the strength of humanity¡¯s youngest genius," the former king stood up against Locke in an imposing manner, showing that his centuries at the top were not for nothing. Locke¡¯s response was just a spell.


    "The sun kneels at my feet", with that phrase, a golden ball appeared below Locke and practically the entire area began to heat up, and there was not even an appearance of flame when everything began to turn to dust.


    The king was unable to react as he was turned into dust, his body began to burn from the inside out at a completely ridiculous speed. He recognized this spell, as he was the one who taught it to Locke, it was called Fire Domain.


    The difference was that Locke had elevated it to a completely surreal level, probably on the same level as a legendary technique. This was completely ridiculous, but it made a mage at the second level of the fourth realm able to kill someone seven levels higher easily.


    "Locke!", Apollo descended from the heavens and saw his brother who he believed to be dead look at him without any emotion in his eyes. Time passed and old emotions slowly died.


    "I have nothing else to do here, the throne is not in my interest," Locke was preparing to leave, but was trapped by Azir¡¯s mana. The prince raised his eyes to the old man in the air and waited. Outside of their expectations, Azir did something that shocked them both, he approached Locke and hugged him while crying. Locke didn¡¯t know what to do while being used as a support. Azir cried for at least half an hour while apologizing.


    "I wanted... I wanted to help you ... but any movement of mine results in my death!... all because I¡¯m weak... forgive this old man for being useless, I¡¯m willing to give my life, but I don¡¯t have a negative image of your grandfather, I loved him as much as the moon loved the sea", slowly Locke¡¯s iron heart that was preparing to fight was melting. The final point was when he looked at Apollo and saw his brother with tears in his eyes. sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 262: Astolfo

    Slowly, Locke¡¯s iron heart, preparing to fight, began to melt. The final point was when he looked at Apollo and saw his brother with tears in his eyes.


    "Grandpa isn¡¯t to blame, he really couldn¡¯t", his brother¡¯s sentence, without any anger, broke Locke¡¯s last barriers. S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Okay, I...", Locke didn¡¯t know what to say. He didn¡¯t expect something like this. "I can¡¯t stay here long, I have a wife and two daughters to take care of ... but if you want you can visit me."


    That day, Azir mourned the loss of a son, but he didn¡¯t care about it. His son had been lost a long time ago. He also cried when he discovered he was a great-grandfather and acknowledged that his grandson had moved on decades ago.


    **************


    Meanwhile, Kayden was cultivating in his room in a reclusive manner. He hadn¡¯t been out of there for over a year. The last time was to impregnate the next generation, something he was slowly losing motivation for, but discipline kept him on his goals. The cleaning of the weak continued to be done. The generation from the other city at that time was just the best of the best. The rest were killed by Kayden over time.


    In the blink of an eye, Kayden was already witnessing the fourth-generation lightning test without any emotion. At that time, the majority got four rays and only a minority had three and five rays. Kayden only collected two people who showed any talent. The rest was left aside as usual. The city had already grown to something around 2 thousand people. It wasn¡¯t much, but considering everyone there was the elite of the elite, it could be considered something incredible.


    They had at this time the first third-realm wizards appearing in the city. Logically, they were enslaved by Kayden. Their talent was not very great and they belonged to the first city generation. Felix reached the peak of the third realm and could advance at any time, he was just waiting for the ideal moment, while Milena was at the eighth level. Julian was still only in sixth and didn¡¯t seem to have the talent to go beyond that.


    Kayden still managed to balance his battles against Felix within the 50% margin, and that was completely absurd considering all factors. Even after decades, Kayden still hadn¡¯t reached his true limit of strength and it didn¡¯t seem like something he would achieve anytime soon. He had already completely disconnected from all human factors. Through constant brainwashing, he no longer needed to promise to resurrect the dead or anything like that for the population. Milena continued to play the role of ruler.


    The surrounding animals and fauna developed at a faster speed than humans, and where there were only five beasts from the third kingdom, it ended up becoming a collection with more than 15 that filled everything. Vegetation developed to support this new quantity of animals in kingdoms higher than normal. The amount of mana also stabilized at twice as much as before.


    Kayden¡¯s only problem was that he had no life-and-death struggles currently. This made him appear to be lazy in his combat training. Unfortunately, this was something he had no way of improving. He would have to wait to go to the surface in the future to train, and if he went out with the strength he had now, he would be destroyed by his enemies. He had to reach at least the fourth realm in here to be able to protect himself.


    Sighing, Kayden turned his attention to the book he was reading and left everything else aside. Time would just pass anyway. Kayden just had to make the best of it.


    "Father!" A knock on the door came a few years after these thoughts and brought Kayden out of his cultivation. As soon as he opened it, he came across Astolfo at the beginning of the third kingdom. He was at that moment the strongest human of all generations.


    "In between!" Astolfo entered his father¡¯s room for the first time and found himself in an empty room with Kayden in the center, on several soft-looking rugs. The incredible thing was that the amount of mana here was completely ridiculous and it was visible in the air.


    "Say what you need," Kayden got straight to the point.


    "I studied enough and put the pieces together. You¡¯re not from that place, are you? We live in a prison, but an incredibly big prison. The examples given in library books are not capable of development here." Astolfo was quiet as he waited for Kayden¡¯s response.


    "Yes, this place is an abyss. Everyone is trapped inside. The real world with the strong magicians is all on the surface," Kayden said directly without any fear. In the end, Astolfo was bound by his will.


    "Why are you here? Your strength should be enough to reign outside", Astolfo was not surprised by everything Kayden said, as he had already developed this idea over the years.


    "I don¡¯t have the strength to be relevant out there. You managed to escape my spell of influence, so I will reward you for your achievement." Astolfo wondered what this influence spell was, something he hoped he didn¡¯t know, for as soon as Kayden started talking, he realized what a lie his life was.


    "All these people who live here or have lived here are constantly being influenced by psychological spells on my part so that society develops correctly, my focus this entire time has been to produce someone capable of rivaling my power, every year I impregnate hundreds of women and I choose those with the most potential to cultivate" every word from Kayden made Astolfo look at him as if he was looking at a monster. "you¡¯re the first one who managed to get out of this influence and reason at a minimum" Kayden finished his little speech and watched Astolfo¡¯s reaction with an amused expression.


    "How can you do this to all these people? What kind of monster are you?" The last sentence came out of Astolfo unconsciously and he immediately looked up and sighed in relief when he saw that Kayden wasn¡¯t mad.

 Chapter 263: Felix advances[BONUS]

    "I am the monster that life taught me to be. You live in a closed and illusory world, Astolfo. In reality, humanity is selfish and cannot organize itself at all well. Therefore, I had to intervene and look for someone capable of facing me", explained Kayden. Astolfo couldn¡¯t make sense of Kayden¡¯s words.


    Kayden manipulated the mana around him, and in a few seconds, a portion of mana with dozens of expressions in the spiritual sense appeared over his hand.


    "Try a little of my memories," Kayden gave Astolfo no alternatives and forced the mana on him. Within seconds, the boy¡¯s eyes became cloudy. He saw the nobility trampling people like cattle. He felt firsthand what Kayden went through with the Ashford family and what it was like to lose his father because of people he considered brothers. The shock was so great that Astolfo spent more than half an hour just going through the memories he received. Logically, they were cut out, but they gave him an idea of the surface.


    The problem was that it was an idea distorted and manipulated by Kayden to make him agree with his opinions and not cause dissent.


    "Humanity cannot be given any degree of trust. If you want to go to the surface now, I won¡¯t stop you, but you¡¯ll probably be killed and plundered the second you appear. In a few years, I¡¯ll come up, and if you want to come, I¡¯ll escort you," offered Kayden.


    Astolfo did not respond and left the room with Kayden¡¯s permission. He needed to think. A completely different world was opened to him, a cruel and violent world, with no rules other than the law of the strongest.


    Kayden didn¡¯t mind going back to learning concepts. His strength had to reach a limit at some point or his useful life would come to an end. Either of these two options would come first. Any one of them would result in him advancing in the realm.


    A few years later, Kayden and Felix were outside the city near the crystals. The mana density of the region here was much higher than on the ground. Along with them were Milena and Astolfo.


    The boy accepted Kayden¡¯s words as if they were the absolute truth and promised to strengthen himself so he could go out with his father in the future. The truths revealed made him distance himself from other people.


    Knowing the truth made him observe the people around him more closely and could easily notice some signs of hypnosis and lamb thinking. For the majority there, there was nothing other than living one day after another, without any objective and without aiming for anything.


    Furthermore, he opened his eyes to see how, even under Kayden¡¯s influence, small negative actions were still present. Be it people deceived to gain an advantage in a negotiation or killing their friends on an adventure to loot their bodies. In a way, Astolfo lost faith in humanity, like everyone who reaches a certain level of power.


    "This is the first step to reaching true peak power, Felix. Do your best," Kayden said. After Kayden said those words, they all stood back and watched the cat begin its ascension challenge.


    His rise to power was very quick. In just a few decades, he was ready to move up the kingdom. This was justified by its number of rays and its lifespan. It took many years just manipulating mana and learning.


    The first bolt of lightning struck and was simply consumed by a sobering vortex that shot out of Felix. The second and third had the same ending and didn¡¯t even manage to present any damage to Felix.


    Every time Kayden saw his companion using his skills, he was sure that they were not the skills of someone from this world. His genes were too advanced for anything on this planet. In the past, your ideas would just be the baseless ideas of a creative mind. However, after reading Han¡¯s presentation, he knew that living beings from outside the planet were constantly manipulating things inside.


    The fourth beam fell and shattered Felix¡¯s vortex like it was nothing. The feline didn¡¯t even move as it cut the lightning with its paws. His strength was completely ridiculous, and yet the lightning managed to pass through his defenses and land on his small body. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Pain surged over him and made him squirm for a few seconds. Fortunately, the lightning was already weakened and was unable to cause any damage other than breaking some bones in its body and burning its fur. Kayden saw in the cat¡¯s eyes that this was one of the first times he was facing real danger to his life.


    "Don¡¯t settle for mediocrity. Rise", said Kayden and saw his sentence reach the cat¡¯s eyes at the right second to regain his motivation. The constant involvement with Kayden slowly changed the minds of everyone around him into more obsessive and less self-tolerant beings. As incredible as it was, this wasn¡¯t caused by Kayden consciously.


    The fifth bolt came as the most frightening display of force Kayden had seen in decades. The lightning came breaking the air barrier in several directions and releasing shock waves visible to the naked eye. Furthermore, his aura was completely threatening.


    Now Felix used his final card, something that made Kayden truly confirm his alien descent. The cat opened its mouth, which stretched for a few meters in a completely unnatural way. A black vortex appeared in the feline¡¯s throat.


    It seemed to be something capable of swallowing all existence in its claws, the suction force was faster than lightning and made it seem like it was pulling the natural phenomenon towards itself. Every second the lightning struck, Felix¡¯s body contorted unnaturally.


    His fur began to burn and disappear into ash, it might look like something caused by lightning to others, but Kayden had a completely insane level of mana sensitivity and could feel that it was Felix who was consuming his existence to sustain his spell.

 Chapter 264: Family

    This was proven correct when one of Felix¡¯s paws disappeared out of nowhere, there was no sound or blood, it just disappeared. Next, it was Felix¡¯s tail that turned into absolutely nothing.


    Fortunately, the lightning ended before Felix¡¯s technique consumed more of his organs. The cat began to fall unconscious in the air; Kayden trapped it on a mana platform in the air and watched as the animal went through the advance.


    His body was entirely remodeled by a golden ray, characteristic of all who passed into the fourth kingdom. In the lightning, there were some streaks of black that Kayden was unaware of. Within minutes, Felix was a realm above and exuded a strength that should not be found in the abyss.


    Kayden took out a fifth realm pill from his spatial ring. He only had three of these, one of his rarest treasures, currently useless to him. At the moment, he gave this pill to Felix not for good reasons, but to test his theory.


    The cat¡¯s body, which was damaged, was healed. His broken bones healed, and his fur grew back. This time, its fur was entirely black, with white lines that looked like runes outlining the animal¡¯s entire body. However, the tail and one of the legs only had a small growth, nothing more.


    "They will grow, but it will take a few years," Felix said, as he woke up to Kayden noticing his missing limbs. Then he began to test his body¡¯s strength.


    "Get out of my head, you furball," Kayden ordered directly as Felix appeared above him instantly. The speed was too great, and Kayden could only subconsciously keep up.


    "Be careful how you talk to me, human. Right now, I am the god of the underworld," Felix replied, boasting. He felt his heart sink as he saw that Kayden¡¯s chains still bound him and that his threats meant nothing. "Forget it, we¡¯re just going to get something to eat," he added, moving down to Kayden¡¯s shoulder as if nothing had happened.


    "Dad!", called Astolfo, gathering the courage to talk to Kayden. Kayden¡¯s presence was still something foreign to him, while for Kayden he didn¡¯t mind it at all. There were no feelings in their relationship, even if Astolfo saw him as a father.


    "Tell me, Astolfo."


    "What is your power level? Even the god Felix has to bow his head to you", asked Astolfo, automatically regretting it when he saw Felix¡¯s threatening look.


    "Below six rays, anyone cannot be considered my match. At the moment, I am in the second realm, but all my effort put me at a level of strength between the third and fourth realm", replied Kayden, surprising Astolfo, who didn¡¯t expect his father to be in such a low realm.


    "How can you be so strong in such a low realm? What do I have to do to become equal?" Astolfo asked, taking advantage of the courage he had gathered.


    "You must discover your path in this world. This will allow you to synchronize with something on a completely different level, and your strength will increase tremendously. There are two great moments in your life: when you are born and when you discover why," Kayden explained. Astolfo had already studied the path, but he didn¡¯t find anyone who had developed it in society, and Kayden was, most of the time, inaccessible.


    Even though the population was extremely talented, none of them would be able to develop a path due to Kayden¡¯s influence. In a way, they weren¡¯t even living and learning about their own will. It was practically impossible to discover something about yourself when you were not driven by your will.


    "Thank you, Father", thanked Astolfo, ending the small event. Kayden returned to his room to learn concepts.


    The years passed again at an absurd speed. This time, Kayden was already seeing the seventh generation take the lightning tests, and the degree of talent had decreased over the years. People with two rays appeared constantly, and three rays became the high-level average again. While those with four rays were rare and five rays non-existent.


    It took Kayden a while to understand the reason for this, but when he understood, he had to slap himself in the face for stupidity. The generations were comfortable, there was no longer any desire to win. Everyone had the right to a good life, even if they weren¡¯t exactly strong. Furthermore, they were not afraid of dying, as Kayden eliminated people with the excuse of it being a disease.


    There wasn¡¯t much he could do at that moment other than cause some traumatic event, such as a war against animals, and kill several hundred people, including those with potential. That¡¯s exactly what Kayden did.


    He faked a big fight with one of the animals that controlled the surrounding areas and caused the other four to attack him by surprise, appearing to seriously injure him. This shocked the entire population and only got worse when the animals began attacking the city in sporadic waves.


    With each attack, dozens of people were killed, and the city¡¯s structure was destroyed in some areas. After that, Kayden simply let this situation go; the city had already been founded for more than a century and that would not be what would make it collapse.


    His training was taking place with Felix during these years. He was managing to win one or two fights out of ten, and only when the feline made serious mistakes. This was still impressive, as the feline had five rays and incredible innate talent. Probably, if Kayden faced people in the starting fourth realm and with little lightning, he could have a higher win rate. It was completely bizarre to think that he was skipping two entire realms. What he forgot to take into account is that his number of concepts was something never seen before in the history of humanity. sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Currently, it has been around 130 years since Kayden had been in the abyss, and he was around 150 years old. This meant more than half the normal age for someone in the second realm. His body matured in that time and became that of a middle-aged man. It still seemed like there was a long time before he died.


    Milena looked the same age as ever, but she was older than Kayden by a few decades. She had at most 160 years to live, considering the technique that increased vitality. With all the investment of resources Kayden gave her, she would probably be able to advance to the kingdom. Furthermore, Felix personally trained her in combat and forced her to improve. Kayden had plans to take her out of the abyss with him, as her abilities would be extremely useful. He expected it to advance in a few more decades.


    Meanwhile, Astolfo has frozen his level for all the years that have passed and followed Kayden¡¯s advice in seeking his path. It was proving to be truly difficult. He made several trips that lasted entire years and still didn¡¯t make it.


    Julian hasn¡¯t made any great progress. Kayden had no interest in taking it with him, at most he released some resources sporadically. Furthermore, Julian spent a lot of time using hallucinogenic substances. Kayden was sure the man¡¯s talent could make him have five lightning bolts, but his addiction destroyed any chance of that happening.


    Kayden was normally studying in his room when he felt someone advanced just two kilometers from where he was. This was prohibited as advances had to be made outside the city when it was for the second kingdom. He wasn¡¯t going to pay much attention, but he saw the clouds form into a very large size and as soon as he got close, he was surprised to see a child advancing into the first realm. She was part of the eighth generation and would be the first after the war.


    Kayden didn¡¯t understand why she was moving forward so soon. He seemed to be at most nine years old, and there was still some time left for him to advance to the realm. His doubts were removed when he saw the boy face an incredible five rays using the fire element masterfully.


    The boy had Kayden¡¯s black hair and eyes, and his features were practically a copy of his childhood. Instantly, he recognized that the boy had managed to develop a path even at this young age. That was the only reason his fire spells were so potent. As soon as the boy finished the realm advancement, Kayden gave him a healing pill.


    Within seconds, the boy¡¯s body, which was severely damaged, was perfectly reconstructed by the effects of the pill. He opened his eyes and was surprised to see Kayden. The god¡¯s vision of this world was rare for most people, but everyone would recognize him at any time.


    "From this day forward, you will be called Han Heart and you can call me father. You no longer need to worry about your health or family. The state will provide for all your needs," Kayden said as if he were speaking to an adult. He realized his mistake with Han¡¯s answer.

 Chapter 265: A special visit

    "I don¡¯t have a family¡­ I don¡¯t want big things, just let me learn more and gain enough power so I won¡¯t be ridiculed and humiliated by others." He was probably an orphan from the beasts¡¯ attacks and suffered greatly from the people who were left.


    Kayden let humanity guide itself a little and saw how they turned against the weakest to eliminate their frustrations. Even children were not completely left out in these situations; that was the case with Han.


    "I¡¯m your family now, no one will touch you," Kayden said gently. "Do you have any person in your mind who tormented you most during these years?" The boy gave a name that Kayden wrote down; Then the middle-aged man began to do to Han what the guide did to him in his childhood.


    "Do you know the difference between rational and irrational beings?"


    It took a few days for Kayden to develop the instincts and bloodthirsty mentality in the boy, but it was quite quick compared to himself and other people, probably because of the environment in which this child grew up.


    The last test Kayden took was something simple compared to what he went through; Han just had to kill the person who tormented him. It was a good fight; Kayden suppressed the adult to the first realm and it was somewhat balanced, strength against experience, but in the end Han came out on top.


    Kayden gave some cultivation tips and helped Han throughout the days, but left the main role of raising him to Milena. I would just give it a few strokes when I thought it was right. He also made Astolfo treat him like a nephew and spend time with him.


    Kayden of course wasn¡¯t doing all this for nothing. He felt from the beginning that this boy¡¯s talent was ridiculously high; his age and rank didn¡¯t match and he still had a path. With a little luck, he could get six lightning bolts when he passed into the second realm.


    In a way, it was an investment. Logically he also enslaved him, but he didn¡¯t tell him about it; In a way, it was a lot for a child to deal with and it wasn¡¯t worth the risk of ruining their investment.


    Time passed again and Kayden was witnessing the test of the ninth generation. This was a generation that grew up with the war in its final moments, practically ending it. Kayden¡¯s strategy proved correct as he again saw talent levels rise in the new generation. With that, he introduced bloodier missions and let the city be invaded a few times; Most people didn¡¯t blame Kayden, the thought didn¡¯t even cross their minds.


    Over the years, Astolfo managed to develop a specific path called a storm. It was a mixture of wind and lightning where he created a domain of elemental mana and enhanced his spells. It was the first time Kayden had seen something like this, a two-element path. His strength instantly grew by several levels. Kayden could currently train with him, but was still able to win 100% of the time; the difference in strength and experience was too great.


    Han had not yet taken the test for the second realm; Kayden was preparing him to achieve six beams or die trying. Milena was very close to being able to advance too.


    Kayden lost himself in his cultivation for the next few years, only leaving to generate the next generation. He didn¡¯t even care to see the rays they got; his team was already quite full. Felix, Milena, Han, and Astolfo were the people he would take with him; At most, I would add one or two more people if they were talented enough.


    A few years later, it was Milena¡¯s turn to reach the fourth kingdom. She managed to maintain the four-spoke average she always had; Her fights with Kayden improved and she was now able to beat him most of the time.


    The region¡¯s fauna and flora also increased; this caused a problem that Kayden had to solve together with all the beasts and humans. They increased the moth-free region by a few thousand kilometers. This made it easier for the beasts in the fourth realm to manage their territories. Several treasures from the fourth kingdom appeared in this period as well and Kayden quickly made a monopoly on them and killed any beasts that disrespected his authority.


    On any given day, Kayden was walking around town right after a carnal desire session. Everything was going perfectly well until he found an old man on the floor who looked out of place. The man didn¡¯t pass through him; it was similar to a person with low strength, but instead of the mana just ignoring him, she avoided him. There was a small difference that was imperceptible to most people.


    He followed him with his spiritual sense for a few days and couldn¡¯t find anything wrong with the old man; he just looked like someone with no talent in the second realm. But Kayden wouldn¡¯t let someone like that live in society. Together with Felix and Milena, he set up a small rune trap to trap the old man. Anyone would be instantly trapped and unable to use mana; even someone in the fourth realm would be no exception.


    "Now," Kayden gave the signal calmly, and as soon as the old man stepped on the tile with the trap, a giant amount of mana shot out and streams of mana appeared over his body and began to suck his mana.


    The old man remained calm as he looked at his three attackers as if they were children. Before either of them could say anything, he just patted the chains and they disappeared.


    "Don¡¯t attack, if he wanted to we would already be dead," Kayden immediately recognized that the person in front of him was on a completely different level of strength than them; that tap had no mana involved, it was just a ridiculous precision of finding the error in the runes. S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I must admit that I am impressed with your growth, Kayden, even if your methods¡­ are not very pretty," as soon as the old man opened his mouth, Kayden recognized him; it was the same person who had presented him with the ring and accompanied him on his walk decades ago.


    "Power has a price," Kayden simply replied as he waited for the old man to take the lead in the conversation. In this interaction, he was the weakest and should have known how to recognize his place.


    "Let¡¯s talk in private, somewhere quieter," before Kayden could respond, he found himself floating above clouds and the dark, starlit sky above him. It was the first time Kayden had returned to the surface in more than a century.


    "The view up here is more beautiful, you must have a lot of questions, you can ask them without fear," the old man was bald and short; Kayden didn¡¯t remember him looking like that, but he let it go.


    "You are Lucifer, aren¡¯t you?" Kayden¡¯s first question made the old man look at him in surprise. "I had a lot of time to think and only someone of this caliber of strength could absent themselves from world politics and still exert influence in Eden."


    "Yes, I am Lucifer, the first wizard of this world and the lord of beasts," the old man just made a short introduction and waited for Kayden to continue.


    "Why did you help me?" Kayden¡¯s second question was his main doubt during these years.


    "You were worth the investment and to this day you still hold that opinion. Besides, Han had spoken highly of you," the response was something Kayden had expected.


    "Did you know my father?" Kayden blurted out this question unconsciously.


    "He and I were friends, but that¡¯s beside the point. You still can¡¯t get out of the abyss. I¡¯m too busy to protect you if Eden tries anything again. I just came to give you a warning. In a little over a century, the elf race will enter the planet and host a championship to choose some people for their ranks. At this point, you should be in the fourth realm and ready to compete. This is your chance to get off this planet and look for places that give you a better chance to stand out," Kayden was a little lost with the large amount of information he received, especially considering he had no idea how much confusion was on the surface during these last few years.


    "Elves?" Kayden asked in surprise. He knew there were other races in the universe, but he didn¡¯t think they would enter Earth anytime soon. There was still some time left for the barrier to fall.


    "Yes, the ones with pointy ears and blond hair. When you rise to the surface, you will understand what is happening. There are too many things for me to explain in the next few minutes. If you have any further questions, ask them now, as I need to leave."


    The conversation was calm and calm quickly changed speed after Lucifer received a signal from somewhere. Within seconds, Kayden received some books and various other treasures to support him in his cultivation. Then he was placed back into the abyss.

 Chapter 266: The goal of centuries

    He found himself floating in the air in a lost manner, not knowing what to do. In a way, he did not receive any useful information from Lucifer. Still, in compensation, he received new books with advanced knowledge that had a different methodology than what he had seen until now.


    This was because these books came from Merlin and were the rarest treasures on planet Earth then, but Kayden didn¡¯t know that, he was just amazed by the knowledge he acquired.


    The strange situation was forgotten by everyone over the years, except for Kayden, who with the new material increased his strength by a few times. This manual taught him how to do something he had observed in the labyrinth when he was at Sol Academy.


    His spells were no longer 100% constructed; he only did about 90% of their structure, and the universe completed it for him. According to the books Kayden received, this was called balance theory.


    If he left a spell with a certain amount of mana, the universe would finish the spell for him, because that mana format did not fit the correct form existing in the universe. It was incredibly difficult, and at the moment he had only been able to conjure simple lightning using this method.


    His lightning bolts were faster than normal and cost less mana. Furthermore, they left his hands almost half the time as before. These techniques were not passed on to his slaves, because as soon as he opened the books he found himself signing a confidentiality contract instantly.


    Without caring, Kayden continued his routine calmly. He still had many years to live before he reached his conceptual limit. At the moment, there were already more than a hundred and there was still going to be much more. If he didn¡¯t reach the concept limit before reaching the elf competition, he would simply leave it aside. Kayden wasn¡¯t going to make the same mistake as before; its base and maximizing were the only things that mattered. Over time, he could reach the top of any realm. It wasn¡¯t worth trading what he had prioritized for decades for a chance to go abroad.


    Time continued to pass, and without Kayden realizing it, it was already in the fourteenth generation and the amount of lightning once again suffered a drop. He just repeated the same thing as before and killed a few hundred people. He didn¡¯t care about that anymore; no one of note appeared during these years. S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Han managed to achieve six lightning bolts and proved himself worthy of the name Kayden gave him. Furthermore, he grew up and developed a courageous and unethical personality, similar to the one Kayden had.


    Kayden had been in the abyss for about 200 years at that point and was heading towards the end of his life. Stacking concepts started to give him a tiny gain in strength; it took at least a dozen for him to make a minimum gain.


    This made Kayden begin to doubt that concepts were synonymous with strength; there had to be something beyond them. Logically, there were still millions of concepts he could explore before reaching them all, but even so, he was still looking for something beyond after all these years.


    His body and face already showed aspects of advanced age; Kayden already looked like someone in the last years of his life, more specifically a 70-year-old man. He estimated he still had at least 70 more years to live; his strengthened body combined with the life-increase technique provided him with this.


    Lucifer¡¯s visit had been an incredible 70 years ago; Kayden had put that aside a long time ago. The books he received were incredibly useful and did wonders for his fighting power. Some of them also showed different ways of cultivating the body and purifying it; Kayden was unsuccessful in these techniques, his body was already purified to a very high level.


    Astolfo entered the fourth realm with five rays and was at a completely absurd degree of strength; he just couldn¡¯t compete against Felix. Considering how long it took him to do this, it was impressive.


    The boy¡¯s advancement was extremely fast. His fights with Kayden were now more one-sided; The years of experience helped him close the gap in strength between them, but even so, Kayden was still able to win 20% of his fights. Against Felix, he no longer had a good win rate; in fact, it was barely 5%.


    This meant that his strength had stabilized in recent years. His progress was minimal; only new techniques and experience were gained during these years. But even so, he continued with his goal of maximizing the kingdom. His goal was to get seven rays, and any minimum percentage would be able to help him in this endeavor.


    His spiritual sense had grown over all these centuries and reached the incredible size of 8 kilometers, a little more than double what he started with. Milena said it was only 15 kilometers when she was in the third realm, and Felix said it was 20 kilometers. Once again, he was a cut above everyone. Kayden couldn¡¯t wait to face seven lightning bolts and see how strong he would become.


    Probably, his strength would skyrocket to an even more ridiculous degree than it already was. He did not doubt that he would achieve this feat; the amount of strength he had accumulated was simply insane.


    Over time, Han grew in strength and experience and reached the third realm, a six-ray wizard in the third realm. Kayden no longer could crush him 100% of the time, but his number of victories was still high, approaching 50%.


    The years began to pass, and Kayden left the city aside. He no longer cared about her; the city would no longer produce genius people capable of keeping up with its progress. It would be a futile effort. This meant that Milena could freely govern the city as she pleased. His old vices and bad habits appeared again after seeing that Kayden didn¡¯t care. Logically, she made a point of hiding this from her children.


    Astolfo and Han were given much more power in their hands than they had before with Milena in full power. In the end, power corrupts people in one way or another, whether with women or excessive flattery. In this case, only Astolfo stood firm and continued training. Han had a bad habit of collecting hearts and impressing other people.


    His hard work unraveled as soon as Kayden stopped closely monitoring his progress. Kayden cut himself off from everyone as he finally felt like he was approaching the turning point in his cultivation. Their concepts were being saturated; he came to this conclusion after feeling that he was no longer able to remember a simple concept he learned decades ago. Not only that, he managed to relearn it; the problem was that another concept was lost in the meantime.


    Kayden was currently 240 years old and still had a few decades to live, but he already had nowhere to improve. His base was perfect; his concepts were stacked in hundreds; his knowledge of spells and other subjects was refined to the maximum extent that their kingdom allowed.


    When he advanced to the realm, he would be able to understand more complex things. In a way, your processing capacity would be improved; his understanding of mana and its concepts would also be improved, as he would understand in more detail how things work.


    According to the books Kayden received from Lucifer, the first three realms were just the basis for how far someone could go in the future. You didn¡¯t learn anything absurd, unlike the higher realms. For example, in the fourth realm, you were already practically a genius and could even change your element at that point and be successful. Felix¡¯s shadows seemed more alive and his control over them was greater. Before it was just a simple, lifeless spell, but now it could attack Kayden in completely different and unpredictable ways.


    "Felix, I need you to protect me if I¡¯m close to dying and use this seed to help me if I can¡¯t," said Kayden as he took out one of his greatest treasures and handed it to the cat. This treasure would be able to heal any injury on his body; he was specific to helping any realm below the fifth. It was practically a second life for anyone.


    Kayden was floating near the crystals. The only person who was with him was Felix. In the end, he was the only one he trusted at all to help him if something went wrong. Wasting no time, Kayden just accepted the breakthrough process he had been holding onto all these years. Completely monstrous clouds appeared and extended for hundreds of kilometers. The golden color appeared beautifully in the skies. The first beam fell within seconds against Kayden, and he just used a simple mana shield and deflected the attack.

 Chapter 267: The goal of centuries[2]

    The second bolt was the same and failed even to get Kayden to pay attention. The third and fourth were deflected as child¡¯s play for Kayden; he was simply on a completely higher level.


    The strength of the lightning was monstrous and caused giant gales in the air. As soon as they fell to the ground, they sank into the landform by several tens of meters and destroyed everything around them. The living beings on the ground were completely terrified; even those in the third realm did not dare to face these lightning bolts easily.


    BOOOM!


    The fifth ray fell brilliantly and with monstrous force; it seemed to carry all the fury of the heavens. And even then, Kayden just had to use more mana and pay attention to deflect it. This lightning fell to the ground and its shock wave spread hundreds of meters.


    The lightning continued to fall for several seconds as if daring Kayden to continue taking it lightly, and Kayden didn¡¯t even care; the lightning didn¡¯t force him to give 100% of himself. Only several seconds later did the lightning stop falling.


    Its environmental consequences were significant; the ground was completely upturned, the trees were torn to pieces and there was no sign of living beings anywhere. After the fifth ray fell, Kayden finally activated his domain and his path, reaching the incredible number of 10 kilometers of absolute control, something completely ridiculous that made him unique in the entire world.


    Probably, a person who reached the third realm with two or three rays would not be able to have such a great spiritual sense; this was completely bizarre. If he hadn¡¯t followed a path of slow and complete maximizing, he would probably only be at 4 or 5 kilometers.


    The mana he gathered around him became liquid because of the great concentration; he seemed immersed in a blue sea, but not even a millimeter of it was touching his body. His control was perfect and prevented any contact.


    BOOOM!


    The lightning struck with the sound of the sound barrier breaking for every meter he traveled; the shock wave spread over more than two full kilometers. Kayden calmly waited for the right time, and when the lightning was about to hit him, he used his favorite attack.


    The mana-charged aura cut met the fifth ray and split it in two like butter; Kayden didn¡¯t even need to continue another attack. The lightning couldn¡¯t advance an inch over him. Even after almost 1 full minute, the aura slash remained undefeated. Kayden noted with a satisfied smile how easy it had been so far. It wasn¡¯t easy; it was just his strength that was far beyond what the second realm should contain.


    The heavens helped with the recovery of mana from the area that Kayden used. All of this was done so he could get a better, fairer test. In just a few minutes, the mana returned to normal, and once again Kayden gathered it around him. This time, he wasn¡¯t going to use an attack as simple as an aura slash.


    His first action was to place a dense defensive mana film around himself; this should be able to buy him a few seconds in case everything went wrong. Then, he began to perform one of the enlargement spells that Han had left in the book.


    A huge pentagram appeared in the air below Kayden; it was at least 10 meters long and was drawn in just a few seconds. Kayden had repeated this spell thousands of times and could do it with his eyes closed.


    The sixth ray came without any sound; he simply destroyed any matter and introduced the true vacuum wherever he went; oxygen itself was destroyed, everything ceased to exist, and sound had no means of propagating.


    Kayden threw a white beam of the same intensity as the beam that was coming at him; the attack was boosted by the pentagram and came out at least three times stronger than any attack he had ever launched in his life. He could easily kill someone at the beginning of the fourth realm instantly with this strength.


    The white beam rose faster than the sixth beam and cut him in two from start to finish for a few seconds; the two rays faced each other in the sky for several seconds until Kayden¡¯s attack was completely consumed. Instantly, he used an aura attack with all the mana he could muster. It wasn¡¯t much, but enough to hold the lightning for a few more seconds.


    As soon as that was over, Kayden irrigated his entire body with mana and then prepared for impact with his katana. Using several different spells, he coated his katana with mana and raised it against the lightning. His attack would have easily broken the sound barrier if not for his spells triggering the vacuum and increasing the speed of his attack.


    The impact held the sixth beam for a few more seconds, but unfortunately, it wasn¡¯t long enough. The lightning struck Kayden¡¯s body; automatically his barrier was able to react and withstand the impact. It worked based on diverting the energy of the attack and fighting the rest head-on, using attrition through several overlapping circular layers of mana.


    Kayden¡¯s defense held for a few seconds before he lost his entire left arm and almost the entire left side of his body. He didn¡¯t even blink when he saw that he survived the sixth beam


    . Kayden wasted no time in stopping the bleeding and closing that part of his body; Within seconds, new skin grew and made it look like a wound from years ago. Then, he began to gather the mana the world gave to him. The heavens seemed to challenge Kayden to do the impossible.


    Kayden didn¡¯t take his eyes off the clouds for even a second; This was the decisive moment, and he was going to do it or die trying. He spent his entire life for this moment; There was no way to run away now. There were decades after decades of trying to improve by 1% per year or less, depending on luck to achieve better things. There were thousands of days, millions of hours perfecting for this moment.


    Kayden again pulled mana from every kilometer possible. This time, five pentagrams appeared at his feet; Each one took a few minutes to make and carried an impressive amount of mana.


    Each of them had a specific purpose, and these pentagrams were spells and not runes. Kayden developed them through many studies; they allowed him to pre-program a change to his spells after they were cast.


    The degree of difficulty of this was surreal, as he needed to know exactly how his spell would be cast, the exact amount of mana that would be spent, and in addition, he needed to know the right time to activate the spell so that it didn¡¯t break.


    Without any fear, Kayden faced the heavens when he felt the seventh ray coming. It was something different from anything that had come before; the clouds parted and a kind of paradise appeared for Kayden.


    For hundreds of meters, Kayden could witness a golden lawn with flying grass; there were some structures, more exactly eight strange constructions, each of them containing a unique design and different from what Kayden had ever seen; in fact, only one resembled a normal house on planet Earth. S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    It was exactly from this house that Kayden saw a lightning bolt that didn¡¯t seem to move coming out of the illusion; he only managed to see its glow before having to activate his first offensive spell, throwing an aura cut that when going through the modification spell gained almost triple its strength.


    The lightning was not divided, nor did it even suffer any damage; his advance was halted for a few seconds, it was enough for Kayden to mount his next spell, a barrier of pure mana, but not just any barrier; it was the same one he used on his skin. It worked based on mana attrition with mana; by exposing spells to pure mana at different layers, he caused them to lose energy through affinity, something very complex and unique.


    This time, the lightning was trapped by the barrier that created a kind of funnel for it; He entered strong and left quite weakened. Kayden activated his third spell and threw a bolt of lightning at the seventh bolt; his spell was magnified and hit head-on for several seconds; In total, Kayden had already bought quite a bit of time.


    Then, he used another spell he developed during these years: mana dilation. It bathed an area of several tens of meters with a kind of sticky mana that pulled any surrounding mana into it; but that wasn¡¯t even the best, the best thing is that Kayden developed it to function as a balancing network, where the attack¡¯s mana would be distributed over several meters.


    Author¡¯s note: I received some fps codes, readers who got here and want can comment on anything in a random chapter, preferably write fps and I will comment on the code, try doing this in the older ones

 Chapter 268: Merlin

    Kayden¡¯s barrier spell was broken, and only the dilation spell was left. Furthermore, he only had one more modification spell, the most special one and the one he had worked on the most all these years, his greatest possible destruction spell. His usual aura slash was compressed to the size of a finger, and its thickness became smaller than that of paper.


    The density of the mana was so toxic that it would kill an apprentice before he was cut. As soon as it passed through the spell, the cut received a protective film that prevented its mana from spilling out. This allowed Kayden¡¯s attack to travel dozens of kilometers if necessary, and although it would have a loss in strength, it would be a small thing; only in the hundreds of kilometers would it be something more significant.


    The aura attack cut the lightning for several meters before it entered a stalemate. The seconds began to pass slowly; Kayden no longer had the strength to attack; his last defense was the mana barrier on his body. Seconds passed slower than decades in Kayden¡¯s mind; the seventh ray had already fallen for more than a minute.


    Finally, after a few seconds, Kayden sighed. "May it be whatever fate wants again", he said to himself when he saw his attack being devoured by lightning. Without giving up, he readied his katana to try and mitigate as much damage as possible.


    As soon as the lightning hit the katana filled with a thin layer of mana, he felt as if an entire mountain was falling on his arm. Without wavering, he held on for just two seconds; then protected the vital parts of his body.


    He didn¡¯t even feel when the entire right side of his body disappeared; then his stomach was completely decimated, and the lightning continued upward. Kayden felt half of his heart destroyed along with one side of his lung. The lightning stopped...


    Kayden didn¡¯t automatically give up hope; he sealed off all of his body¡¯s energy expenditure and automatically forced himself into an insane state of rest where not even his brain functions worked.


    BOOOM!


    A beam of an indescribable color fell on Kayden, it was a mix of amber and gold, it seemed mystical and sent a signal to all living beings within almost 1 trillion kilometers.


    What was this sign?


    "A possible god? So early?" Merlin appeared floating in the air a few dozen kilometers from Kayden and observed the situation. He wasn¡¯t too surprised by Kayden¡¯s condition; seven-ray tests were ridiculously difficult.


    Meanwhile, Kayden was destroyed by the mystical ray, there was nothing left, absolutely not even a tiny particle of his old body. It was practically invisible to all living things, but Merlin could see Kayden¡¯s soul floating in a small enclosed space.


    Meanwhile, his body was being completely remade, from the bones to the veins, every inch of him was being remade. Some organs were removed, as they were no longer necessary, while some new functions were added.


    For example, his kidneys were now able to filter the excess mana in his body through blood circulation. He could stay accelerated 24 hours a day now and there would be no consequences whatsoever.


    His lungs were modified to breathe mana and accumulate it constantly along with his heart. His heart followed the same example as the old one, with some improvements that Kayden wasn¡¯t able to see at his low level. All of their hearts experienced this improvement, but something else was done that Kayden had been studying for years.


    In the past, he had a human heart that pumped blood normally, but now that was no longer true. Only his artificial heart which was located in the middle of his chest was present, and the concentration of mana in his blood increased even more. His entire body had been improved to a completely ridiculous extent, be it strength or speed, practically everything had received a huge boost, be it his speed or the toughness of his muscles. Every inch has been improved to a completely absurd level.


    The body molding process was practically instantaneous. Before Merlin, a true god, could blink, Kayden¡¯s soul was already being introduced into the new body. This was absurdly fast considering the old man could travel millions of kilometers in the blink of an eye.


    Once Kayden¡¯s soul was placed into the body, it fully integrated. Merlin could never understand how it was done; Souls were not things that could be changed easily. It required a lot of individual study of a single soul to make any changes.


    A few seconds later, Kayden was integrated into his body, and his eyes opened. His first action was to draw in a large gulp of air; his last memories forced him to do so. To his surprise, his body did not absorb even a single bit of oxygen; only mana entered. Instantly, Kayden felt his ridiculous strength bursting through every inch of his body.


    This breakthrough was far superior to all the others he had ever made combined. All of his attributes were above the third realm officially. His spiritual sense was nearly 100 kilometers away. Kayden had to shut it down quickly because of the flood of information coming at him. It was simply a frightening amount, and he still had no experience ignoring such a large amount of data.


    Kayden stood still for a few seconds as it dawned on him how strong he was. His path could pull all that mana towards him in a matter of seconds. Probably, his spiritual sense was similar to someone in the fourth realm with four rays, but his control was much greater.


    Furthermore, he could launch attacks at any point in that area. This was completely terrifying. His domain had not yet been practiced, but Kayden estimated at least 3 kilometers with it, a similar tenfold increase. This meant that he wouldn¡¯t even need to get close to Felix to suppress him.


    It would be an impossible fight for the cat. Even in the fourth realm, his spiritual sense was only a few kilometers higher than Kayden¡¯s, while Milena¡¯s was almost 30 kilometers lower.


    His spells would have to be reworked, as Kayden now had a lot more mana for them. The power would be too much if he used the same step model as before. His longevity also increased by two centuries according to his estimates. This was about 100 years longer than he expected. His appearance returned to when he was young.


    "Felix, did you see what that world was like that opened?" Kayden asked the cat that approached his shoulder. The feline didn¡¯t even have time to respond when a voice appeared, taking them both by surprise.


    . "Only the challengers can see the heavens." They both turned to the left and saw Merlin. Kayden didn¡¯t react as surprised as the old man expected. His control over his body was even stronger. He didn¡¯t even say anything, just stared at the old man.


    "Aren¡¯t you going to ask anything? Who am I?" Merlin couldn¡¯t remember having a normal conversation in ages. His mental capacity and his spells meant that he could predict any speech and action of any mortal, but those who had a chance of becoming gods were different.


    He couldn¡¯t even kill Kayden or interfere much in his destiny. In a way, he was bound by the threats from the heavens. The old man couldn¡¯t even move an inch before he was simply erased from existence.


    "You are the strongest in the situation, you call the shots," Kayden said curtly and remained quiet. The god laughed and tried to use his divine aura to impress Kayden, leaving him a day or two trapped in a trance would not be abusive at all.


    "What the hell is that?" For the first time in millions of years, the god cursed in surprise. Kayden was looking at him waiting still. The young man was not bewitched by her divine aura. Only peak mortals could do this easily without any effort, and such people were rare.


    Merlin had 17 planets in his possession, and the number of humans at that level barely reached 1000. This was a very small number considering that he had thousands of trillions of people in total.


    "Sorry about that, my body acts on its own sometimes." Merlin came up with a ridiculous excuse and continued as if nothing had happened. "I am Merlin, the god of this region, you must not know what this is, never mind." Merlin seemed nervous, but in reality, he just didn¡¯t know how to talk to Kayden.


    Time had accustomed him to dealing with people that he could read or predict every thought and action, his ability to predict was so great that he could tell just from the first few years of a person¡¯s life their entire future based on known circumstances.


    His spiritual sense was capable of reading every inch of this planet and predicting everyone¡¯s potential, he could easily tell who the new gods would be so, at least in theory, people with a higher destiny counted on a constant called luck.


    sea??h th§× ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 269: Goodbye Abyss

    Merlin had no way of factoring her into his calculations; it was simply something random caused by forces he didn¡¯t know. In his first centuries as a god, he tried to understand, and spent decades sitting and watching fortune change destinies in front of him without being able to blink.


    "Seven rays mean you have the potential to become a god. As you are in my territory, I am responsible for guiding you through the basics, but you must prove yourself capable of doing so. I will offer protection against those in the sixth realm to you. Those in the fifth are under contract and cannot openly interfere with others. Keep seven rays until the fifth realm and we will talk again."


    Merlin took a few hundred books out of his pocket and tossed them to Kayden. The boy had to hold them back with his mana as his ring didn¡¯t have room for the amount he received. Each book was the thickness of a brick. Merlin threw a button that stuck to Kayden¡¯s garment.


    "Take this as a gift," the old man tossed an earring to Kayden. Instantly, the young man realized that it was a space earring and stored the books inside, but before that, he was shocked to see at least a kilometer of space inside. "Whenever you need me, just break the button and I will appear. Don¡¯t call me for frivolous things like your life or any doubts in your cultivation. Also, present the brooch if you need help from any race on this planet. I¡¯ll wait for you at the top, child." With that, the god disappeared.


    Kayden was left floating in the air as he recorded everything that happened. The old man quickly blurted out a lot of information to him. Kayden didn¡¯t even have time to thank him for the gift. Merlin didn¡¯t know exactly how to talk to Kayden. Normally, only in the fourth or fifth realm could one get seven rays. This early was strange, and there were no easy protocols like recruiting and mentoring. After the third realm, the heavens lessened their vigilance a little, but with Kayden in the third realm, it seemed like Merlin would be killed every moment.


    Without worrying too much about it, Kayden woke Felix, who was sleeping on his shoulder and explained the situation. He went down to gather whatever treasure he could and called his slaves to rise to the surface with him. Merlin¡¯s information changed his plans; he needed new opponents. Kayden prepared for one final test in the three he would take with him.


    Felix was already someone he trusted; their relationship grew over all these years. Felix often faced long years with him locked in his room. Additionally, the cat tried to help Kayden when he nearly died hours earlier. The young man felt the feline running towards him with good intentions. The seed was extended by mana in front of him, and he was running at his maximum speed. This was enough proof for him to trust the animal at all.


    It was late at night, and practically everyone was in their homes. Kayden simulated injuries on his body with mana capable of deceiving any spiritual sense. His situation looked like someone who was about to die. He took random clothes and ripped them to make it even more truthful. His first visit was to Milena. He arrived with his completely chaotic aura, prevented any signals from leaking out, and it didn¡¯t even take a second for Milena to be in front of him.


    "Kayden! What happened?" She tried to heal Kayden¡¯s injuries but was unable to do so; it seemed like they were permanent.


    "Forget it, here," Kayden took out a golden stone filled with mana from his ring. "This is what makes me able to be so strong in my rank. At the moment, I don¡¯t have the strength to resist an apprentice or give orders under the slavery contract. If you crush this stone, I can be healed normally as I will lose my divine gifts forever. Just don¡¯t eat her, please," Kayden said the last part barely audibly, but Milena was able to hear him.


    For a second, her mind led her to greed; her eyes lit up at the thought of the power she could obtain just by eating this stone. But her emotional side got the upper hand, and she crushed the rock in Kayden¡¯s hand.


    "Congratulations, you passed the test. Just wait here and I¡¯ll be back." Kayden disappeared without giving any further explanation and went after Astolfo, who would be the second person to be tested. Kayden prepared the environment in the same way.


    "Father! What happened?" Astolfo stuttered in his characteristic manner, and his complexion turned pale when he heard the sentence Kayden told Milena. He didn¡¯t even have any excitement before he instantly crushed the stone.


    "Congratulations son. I¡¯m proud of your choice. Wait here and I¡¯ll be back," Kayden said a more sentimental phrase so that Astolfo would be happy. His quick decision impressed Kayden; There wasn¡¯t even a hint of greed in the boy¡¯s eyes.


    Without wasting even a second, he did the same situation at Han¡¯s house, the only problem was that his son was drunk and it took a little longer for him to leave. Furthermore, there were some women in the house; Kayden stopped them from continuing to use simple illusion spells.


    As soon as he saw his father injured, Han instantly shook off his drunkenness and quickly expressed his concern. He was in the third realm with six rays and tried to heal Kayden immediately, but as soon as he heard the sentence that Kayden had already repeated twice before, he froze.


    His eyes shone with various feelings: anger, desire, lust, practically all of them turned in a negative direction. It took him a while to react, but after a few seconds, he instantly pulled out his mana and pushed Kayden away at the same time as he grabbed the golden stone.


    Without even blinking, he took it into his mouth and forced it down his throat. He ignored the pain; power was much more rewarding when it came with a little difficulty. He looked at Kayden meanwhile and saw his father standing there, destroyed and thrown into a corner. S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Old fool," he said and was about to kill Kayden, but he couldn¡¯t move even a finger of mana. All sides began to pressure him. When he turned to Kayden again, he saw his father standing and smiling at him.


    "Good riddance to hell," Han didn¡¯t have time to respond as his body was crushed into the size of a tennis ball by the mana around him, meanwhile, Kayden regretted giving his son his father¡¯s name. His father was someone so great and impressive, while this son would only be forgotten by time. His memory would not last even a century.


    Kayden burned the ball of meat and left the house without looking back. He took to the skies and lost himself for a few seconds thinking about whether he should let the people of this city live or eliminate any trace of his coming here, but he put those thoughts aside after a few minutes.


    "Come here," Kayden called his three slaves and within a few seconds they appeared in front of him. The three seemed a little lost and didn¡¯t know what to do. Everyone could feel that Han had been killed.


    "I will go to the surface in a year. You are invited to join me or stay inside. The choice is yours," Kayden was curt and waited in silence. He changed his hasty decision to go to the surface. After thinking for a while, he decided to update his domain and spells for the new kingdom. This shouldn¡¯t take long, just a year at most. "


    I will go. I¡¯ve been waiting for this for ages," Felix was the first to respond. Next was Astolfo.


    "I will accompany you, Father," he managed to say without trembling. Lastly, it was Milena, who had also made this decision a long time ago.


    "I will too," with that, Kayden gave them some advice and went down to loot the resources he thought were worth it. This included dozens of natural treasures and hundreds of pills. The books he left; he didn¡¯t want to take up space on his giant ring. Julian had already died a few years ago of natural causes. Other people in the third realm appeared, some even with five lightning bolts, but none of them caught Kayden¡¯s attention.


    Something was always missing, either they didn¡¯t have a path or their personality was weak. Kayden didn¡¯t let any of them advance to the fourth realm; this would be a hindrance to him in the city, so he only killed those who were not useful for his purposes. A few hours later, the four were gathered near the crystals. Kayden looked at the horizon for a few minutes as he thought about the years he spent there.


    "The language of the gods that I invented is nothing more than the language of the surface, so don¡¯t be surprised. Hold on to that rope and don¡¯t let go for anything in the world", Kayden gave some more instructions and began to float upwards. The trip would take days, and Kayden had already warned them not to be afraid, they would just have all their sensations cut off, but...

 Chapter 270: The current

    "Are we there yet?" Felix asked, he had just laid down on Kayden¡¯s shoulder to sleep and felt the environment change, there wasn¡¯t even a pause for him to start his sleep.


    The four of them came out on top of an inactive volcano, the blue sky that Kayden hadn¡¯t seen in centuries appeared above him, and gigantic white clouds were everywhere, making the environment even more spectacular, in addition, they were in a snowy environment that made everything even more beautiful.


    Kayden had to admit that he missed watching the sky while cultivating, even though he had lived most of his life in the abyss, the blue sky was something he was used to, it was in his first thoughts.


    The other three just watched in awe, it was something ridiculously beautiful and different from anything they were used to until now, they were absorbing everything they could with their spiritual sense.


    "The sky... has an impressive-feeling, as if it had no end", Milena commented, breaking the three of them out of their trance, Kayden was looking for some indication of their location with his spiritual sense.


    It wasn¡¯t long before he saw signs of human life, they were just some plastic bags buried under layers of rubble, it didn¡¯t seem to be something recent, but it gave an idea that he was in the right place.


    "Let¡¯s head in this direction", Kayden chose to go against the rubble, there was a greater chance of finding human beings according to their instincts, they traveled for a few hours at high speed, but the first thing they found was...


    "What the fuck?" Astolfo let out when they saw a village of Orcs, it only had a few hundred members, but all of them were between the second and third realms, in addition, there were several humans and some living beings that looked like they came straight out of legends.


    There were elves, dwarves, and humans with animal modifications like tails and fuzzy ears, Kayden couldn¡¯t understand what was going on, but what became obvious to him was that the Orcs were animals.


    There were only women and other races and they all showed signs of abuse and violence, he didn¡¯t need even 1 minute to think about what to do, gathering mana, Kayden began a massacre.


    The mana of 100 kilometers gathered around him and dozens of aura slashes began to shoot out from Kayden, each one of them killed an Orc easily, even those in the third realm couldn¡¯t blink before dying.


    In just a few seconds he decimated hundreds of Orcs, his strength was beyond ridiculous at that moment, gathering the mana he pulled all the women towards him, some were in a deep comatose state, but luckily some were able to talk to him.


    "Sir! Please help us!" As soon as they saw themselves in the sky they began to beg Kayden, their eyes showed that they were on the last vestiges of hope, these were the ones that had been there the shortest time, and the oldest ones didn¡¯t even look at him.


    "Where are we? What¡¯s going on in the world? I¡¯ve been gone for three centuries, catch me up and I can help you," Kayden was curt and unsympathetic to the plight of women.


    A girl who appeared to be only 16 years old or younger hurried forward, her mind was still intact as she had just arrived at the Orcs¡¯ camp, she was in the first realm, and this made Kayden wonder if she was one of the greatest geniuses. of this generation.


    "Sir, we are close to the kingdom of the Enlightened, a few centuries ago the Orcs invaded this planet and started a war with humanity and the beasts, many cities were destroyed and a bloody battle began in the following years, even two kingdoms fell to the Orcs, at this moment we are starting to regain control of the war" there was a lot of information and Kayden was in complete shock, it took him a few seconds to recover.


    "Where did they come from? What is their average strength? Where is the nearest kingdom?" Kayden asked three questions in a row and the girl automatically answered him. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "We don¡¯t know, their average strength is Orcs of the second and third kingdom, similar to ours, but they are many, the closest kingdom is to the southeast" Kayden wouldn¡¯t ask her many questions, in the end, he would need something more concrete than that it.


    "I¡¯m going to go southeast now, I can take you with me with my strength, those who don¡¯t want to speak out" Kayden waited a little and when no one said anything, he left at high speed with his companions.


    It didn¡¯t take long for them to see a huge wall, Kayden arrived with his spiritual sense open and advised everyone to do the same, this would prevent them from being attacked by mistake.


    Kayden felt the presence of two people in the fourth realm on the wall and thousands in the third realm, as soon as he got close to their spiritual sense, the wall started to catch fire, and everyone prepared for the worst case. When Kayden got close, he saw the two wizards from the fourth realm floating in the sky, but fear was clear in their eyes, Kayden¡¯s group was very strong, but as soon as they noticed the women who were with them, their worries eased.


    "Who comes to the kingdom of the Enlightened?" one of the men shouted to Kayden¡¯s group, the response not something he expected.


    "I rescued these people when I stumbled upon an Orc camp, I¡¯m from the Sun kingdom and just want to be able to pass over to it, I know the Sagebrush family if you guys need to verify my identity just say I¡¯m Kayden, Kayden Heart," Kayden tried to be as peaceful as possible in your speech, but...


    Kayden felt that they were moving their mana to attack, and he instantly stopped either of them from being able to manipulate the mana, not only that he applied enough pressure for both of them to kneel on the ground.


    "I just want to enter peacefully, but if I have to, I¡¯ll just kill you all," Kayden said dryly. The two on the ground were stunned not knowing what to do, it was very fast and brutal, and they hoped to at least save time.


    "You are an invader, Kayden Heart died centuries ago, everyone knows that", Kayden was surprised that his name was so recognized.

 Chapter 271: The surface is changed[BONUS]

    "Just call someone higher or one of the princes," Kayden said and released the two, they instantly backed away and looked scared, Kayden¡¯s aura said he was in the third realm and this was not camouflage. S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    This was a situation that they had no way of dealing with, the opponent was very strong, their superior was notified and in a few minutes he was there, he arrived with four other magicians in the fourth realm, this time the advantage would be completely theirs.


    He didn¡¯t even say anything before he started manipulating mana to cast an offensive spell against Kayden, unfortunately for him with a snap of his fingers all seven mages in the fourth realm were on the ground crushed by mana, the strongest was the leader in the third level and that wasn¡¯t something capable of making Kayden sweat.


    "You have 15 minutes to call a prince or I will kill you all", Kayden gave his ultimatum and this time he didn¡¯t release his mana around the mages, they felt like they were going to die in the next second.


    This time the leader recognized and accepted the situation, and the threat to his life made his mind work without ego, he automatically sent an alert to the royal city and explained the situation, fortunately, one of the princes was always sitting at the border.


    Thomas Sagebrush arrived in just 10 minutes and as soon as he saw the situation he understood everything, he had no doubt that that person was Kayden, the posture and aura were something unique and he would not be fooled easily.


    "Kayden? We thought you had died, come let¡¯s talk", Thomas was respectful, even though he was in the fourth kingdom, and with five rays he saw Kayden crushing his subjects as if they were nothing.


    "I¡¯m in a hurry Thomas, if you want we can talk on the way to the Sol kingdom", Kayden had two objectives at that moment, kill the Ashford family and participate in the elf tournament, he still had some time for that, but he didn¡¯t want to waste it. it developing friendly relations.


    "Of course, I can update you on the events", Kayden accepted the proposal and joined Thomas, he introduced his three companions and then began to listen to Thomas¡¯ explanations.


    "Since you died, the Heart family has grown under the tutelage of the Duke and his daughter, in addition, your son has developed a lineage for the family of geniuses, it may seem strange to you, but with techniques and everything that was introduced by the Orcs to The number of rays has increased considerably, most people with resources can get to four or five, but we have at least two dozen cases with six rays at the moment", Thomas looked like the same person as before and didn¡¯t stop talking.


    "What happened to the princes of the Sun kingdom?" Kayden asked. "The princes?.... Apollo is currently representing the Sun kingdom as a wizard of the third realm and six rays, while his brother is representing the union of beasts and humans as a wizard of five rays and fourth realm," Kayden was surprised with Locke¡¯s development of strength, from Apollo, he already expected something like this.


    "What happened to the king?" Locke and Apollo¡¯s father were not someone weak and would be killed easily in this war.


    "He was killed by Locke, but we don¡¯t know the details," Kayden was surprised and couldn¡¯t understand where it all went wrong like that.


    "How strong is the Heart family at the moment? What level is the Duke? And Sarah?" Depending on their size, Kayden could choose to return to his first home and take it by force.


    "They are the biggest family in the kingdom at the moment, Sarah grew up to be a five-ray wizard and fourth kingdom, she married a few decades later to someone from the sun kingdom, I don¡¯t know the details about that, the duke is still in the fourth kingdom", Kayden was surprised by Sarah¡¯s advancement.


    The rest of the trip was just Thomas contextualizing Kayden about the events, he explained that humanity was now governed by a council of three people and another council of three people commanded that of the beasts, the sum of the two representing the original inhabitants of planet Earth.


    Other races came over the years, elves that had great capabilities in all areas, from physical fighting to delicate work using mana, they were practically a high-level race with all statistics balanced.


    Dwarves were different from mythology and had the greatest ability to manipulate mana of all the races on the planet, their weak point was their bodies, their height meant that they did not have much ability to accumulate physical strength.


    Some variants of humans also came, from people with cat descent to some stranger ones like reptiles, they had a weak participation in the world dynamics at the time, most had founded some cities, but they didn¡¯t do anything much.


    Meanwhile, the Orcs and the original humans were the main political axis of the world, the races that came developed friendly trade relations with the originals, but the Orcs were left aside by everyone they were the main enemies.


    Something strange was that no race was allowed to say where they came from or how they came to this planet, any attempt resulted in instant death for the new inhabitants of planet Earth.


    Other than that, there wasn¡¯t much information that Kayden asked for, there wasn¡¯t anything important going on, he wasn¡¯t interested in the war, and Kayden was practically untouchable within the Earth now, as those above the fourth realm could not touch him and the rest didn¡¯t. I could do anything with it.


    The trip only lasted two days at full speed, this was very quick because they didn¡¯t have to stop from time to time, Thomas just gave Kayden a badge that allowed them to pass, the prince was very busy and couldn¡¯t keep leaving his post.


    "What are those piles of metal in the cities, Dad?" Astolfo asked as soon as they crossed the border and were completely alone, these days the three just watched and didn¡¯t ask anything.


    "They¡¯re called automobiles, they drive for you and take you places," Kayden felt strange explaining something so basic to someone else.


    "Why are they so¡­weak?" Felix asked after observing the fourth city with thousands of people on the first level, not only that but most of the animals around the cities were weak and low-level.


    "Humanity up here has less mana and resources available, but that doesn¡¯t justify it, in fact, it¡¯s because most people lead a comfortable life, they never have a real danger, even with war the average level is the same, only the population seems to have increased," Kayden noticed that there were many more people in the cities.

 Chapter 272: Old acquaintances

    Even those in the kingdom¡¯s interior were still densely populated, this wasn¡¯t normal at all, it was probably some plan of Merlin¡¯s, Kayden didn¡¯t care about that.


    The process of crossing the border was smooth and Kayden didn¡¯t even need to say his name to do so, just Thomas¡¯ emblem was enough for him to get in, they only traveled a few dozen kilometers before Kayden detected a person in his spiritual sense.


    "Apollo, it¡¯s been a while now," Kayden murmured to the wind that carried his words for a few kilometers when driven by mana, the prince was surprised, he expected to catch Kayden off guard.


    "Indeed, I see that you are still a monster", the prince said as he got closer, he had the same friendly and calm smile he always had, but his expressions and features were those of a grown man who has been through a lot.


    "You¡¯ve gotten better too", Kayden said and just waited, he didn¡¯t introduce any of the people to him, he didn¡¯t see the point in extending a friendship with the prince, he no longer cared about other people¡¯s strength.


    "I got six lightning bolts, it took me a while but I caught up to you, can we do a strength test? I admit that you were my imaginary rival during these centuries" Apollo tried twice as hard to see someone unknown take the lead in the world of geniuses, his ego was hurt, and his beliefs were destroyed.


    "Of course, come on," Kayden said nonchalantly making the prince feel slightly insulted, he began to gather mana and... instantly found himself kneeling on the ground supporting the mana of a mountain on his back.


    He couldn¡¯t even react, he didn¡¯t see Kayden manipulating the mana, he was kneeling on the ground without knowing how he got there. When he looked up, he saw Kayden calmly, flying in the air in an unshakable and omnipotent manner. A few seconds later he felt the pressure leaving.


    "You are still a monster", Apollo had to admit, there was a sadness in his voice, he had tried hard all these years and still hadn¡¯t succeeded, he was currently the strongest genius in existence, but it appeared that title was taken from him at that point.


    "Does the Ashford family still exist? I plan on visiting them," Kayden changed the subject. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Yes, my grandfather stopped anyone from touching them, he said that one time or another you would come back, we all thought he was crazy", Kayden mentally thanked the former king for doing this favor.


    "I¡¯m going to decimate them, I hope I don¡¯t have any problems with the Sun Kingdom", Kayden¡¯s tone was overflowing with arrogance, he didn¡¯t say what he expected in a tone of request but rather in a threat, Apollo understood immediately and... just let it go On the other hand, he wasn¡¯t a kid to get in trouble for that.


    "Of course, come, I¡¯ll take you to them, on the way we can exchange a little knowledge", the prince said in a friendly tone, the trip only lasted one day, but Kayden revealed almost nothing about where he was, while Apollo delved deeper the new relationship between them.


    The five found themselves floating in the air on a huge plain with a small village in it, within the village were a few hundred people, mostly workers, while the rest were direct members of the Ashford family.


    The houses were all perfectly balanced and structured, there were several gardens and sculptures made of gold and other precious materials, and the environment demonstrated wealth and power, something consistent with the position they occupied during the centuries in power.


    Kayden detected Kevin in a room with two women, he also saw Duke Ashford, for these two Kayden would be a little more cruel, for the rest he just started throwing hundreds of aura cuts and massacring everyone.


    There was no mercy, be it children or the elderly, everyone was being killed without mercy, the guards couldn¡¯t even understand what was happening, and some third-party mages managed to react but were killed almost instantly.


    Those in the fourth realm, which were about 4 people, a considerable increase from the last time Kayden was here, he left these mages for his subjects to train a little.


    Meanwhile, Kayden pulled the two to the heavens, Kevin appeared to be middle-aged, and his aura was that of a fourth-realm wizard, Kayden could identify that he only managed to get where he was through abundant resources.


    While his father followed the same pattern of red hair and yellow eyes, the difference was that he already appeared to be advanced in age, similar to someone in his 70s, Kayden also noted that he was a sacrificed wizard.


    In short, the two were practically toys in his hands, logically he still needed to use all his ability to jump a rank so easily, but it was nothing to worry about.


    Kayden didn¡¯t say anything, the two recognized him and tried to free themselves from his control, they were going to start screaming at the young man, but the mana in their bodies began to be taken from within them, for the first time in their lives an unparalleled pain appeared.


    For every second that passed, the pain worsened, Kayden maintained a constant suction and rest, and their bodies automatically took the mana from the environment again, and then Kayden took this small amount.


    The minutes began to pass, and everyone around Kayden began to look at him in fear. The pain he was inflicting was palpable to everyone and the worst part was that he had no expression on his face. There was pleasure, anger, disgust.


    There was simply nothing, it looked like he was doing a daily activity like making a cup of tea. Time passed quickly, the first to break was Kevin, he no longer had any reaction and his body absorbed a smaller amount of mana.


    "One hour? How pathetic", Kayden muttered as he took all the mana out of Kevin¡¯s body, this last step caused even the broken mind to show pain, it was something inhuman, everyone saw as Kevin began to bite himself to end it. your suffering.


    Even his breathing was stopped and even though it was almost impossible to kill himself due to lack of air alone, he was very close, but Kayden stopped him from killing himself and continued taking away the mana. It was another 10 minutes of suffering before he died.


    Kevin¡¯s father lasted another hour and a half, much more resilient than his son, Kayden didn¡¯t care and gave him the same treatment, the screams of pain caused sympathy in any of the people who heard it, it was something inhuman.


    The pain seemed to come from the depths of the soul, even Apollo, who had his fair share of tortures, could not understand how they broke so quickly, normally it took a few days or weeks for those in the fourth realm.


    As soon as this was over, Kayden began to burn the entire village, in a few minutes there wasn¡¯t even a single structure standing, everything was charred to ashes, for a few minutes Kayden just remembered where it all started.


    "Now you can rest in peace," he said softly as he remembered his brother, it was such a long time ago, but the images were still vivid in his mind. After a few minutes, Kayden recovered from his memories.


    "We can go to the capital now, I have to talk to Sarah", Kayden said to Apollo, the mention of his first girlfriend¡¯s name made Milena frown, but Kayden didn¡¯t pay attention.


    The trip there only took a few hours and Kayden saw the immense walls again, he noticed the absurd amount of people, there were at least twice as many buildings and almost four times as many people.


    Kayden asked Apollo this and his only answer was that he didn¡¯t know, not even Azir was sure, but those were the instructions they received from superiors, the prince couldn¡¯t say directly, but Kayden knew he meant Merlin.


    "I¡¯m going to explore the place a bit," Felix said and disappeared into the shadows of Kayden and everyone¡¯s spiritual senses. Apollo was surprised and then afraid to have such a strong beast walking around the city.


    "You two are free to walk around or accompany me," Milena and Astolfo chose to stay with Kayden. He said goodbye to Apollo after exchanging a few more words and headed towards the duke¡¯s house.


    The house looked the same with several perfectly crafted statues, even after centuries Kayden couldn¡¯t find any mistakes in these sculptures, the path was highlighted by several perfectly placed trees.


    The green grass along with these statues gave a feeling of tranquility and peace, the path ended at an ancient Greek-style mansion. Kayden still had respect for other people and just buzzed in at the gate. As this was a noble area that few people had access to, the intercom was answered just a few seconds later. A strange voice, which was not strange to Kayden, came from inside.

 Chapter 273: Just old people, no longer friends

    As this was a noble area to which few people had access, the intercom was answered just a few seconds later. A strange voice, which was not odd to Kayden, came from inside.


    "Hello? Who would it be?" Heimer asked, and soon after the line went silent as he recognized the person with his spiritual sense. Kayden had no fluctuation in his emotions.


    A few minutes later, the gate opened revealing some people who hadn¡¯t seen Kayden in ages. The first was Sarah and she still had a perfect body and a stunning face, she had acquired some more adult features, but overall she maintained the appearance of a teenager. There was also a butler in the fourth kingdom with severe signs of age and a characteristic suit.


    Meanwhile, Heimer, who had a strange and gloomy face, completely matured into a man, his curly hair was kept close to his face and his body gained enough mass for him to be called muscular.


    Duke Britten showed signs of age, but his blond hair wasn¡¯t so obvious, the main sign was the appearance of wrinkles on his face, something he could fix on his own.


    Sarah¡¯s brother was not present, as he had died a few decades ago along with Isaac in a surprise attack by a terrorist group from humanity itself. Linus was the last family member present.


    His brown hair clashed with his family¡¯s blonde, he maintained the skeletal, muscleless build he had when he was a teenager, other than that he practically didn¡¯t change anything, this was a benefit of high ranks.


    The taller you were, the less your physical characteristics would mean anything about your age, in the fourth realm you could practically change your appearance as you pleased, an example was Milena who even under Sarah¡¯s presence remained the most attractive in the world. environment.


    The atmosphere became strange, no one knew how to start this conversation, especially Heimer who was facing the most stressful situation of his life in recent centuries, Sarah and the Duke also didn¡¯t know how to start talking.


    In a way, they dealt a blow to Kayden by using his name to promote his family, including many benefits given by Azir to them during these years, apart from the wealth that Kayden had previously, the secret of the mana heart technique fell upon your hands and strengthened your family on a new level.


    Another problem... Sarah had married Heimer a few decades after Kayden fell into the abyss, in a way that made the situation even worse, it was a reunion that neither side had ever expected in their lives.


    "Kayden... I..." Heimer tried to speak, but Kayden directly interrupted him.


    "Quiet, you are only alive at this moment because your father asked you to, we have no relationship", Kayden¡¯s voice came out... indifferent, it didn¡¯t seem like he was cold or sending a threat, he just seemed to be stating facts.


    "Hey! Measure your words..." The insolent word would have been said by the butler if Kayden hadn¡¯t snapped his fingers and suppressed the old man with his aura, it was so heavy that he couldn¡¯t even continue standing, his strength was weak and he only reached this kingdom for family resources, a loyal worker who was rewarded for it.


    "I¡¯m not here to make friends, you no longer exist in my life, I came to take what belongs to me and with interest", this time Kayden¡¯s tone was harsher, and along with the release of his strength his position became clear.


    "The time when you had any authority has passed, boy. Azir is no longer here to take care of you. Leave now and I will leave this matter aside", the Duke took control of the conversation and dissipated the butler¡¯s pressure.


    "Then we¡¯ll have to do it the hard way," Kayden just activated his domain and started pulling all the mana from nearly 100 kilometers towards him, the commotion caught the attention of hundreds of people, and Kayden¡¯s area of effect was very large.


    The duke was the first to react and stepped on the ground, from his foot a mountain of ice rose that quickly advanced towards Kayden, unfortunately, it was a quick spell and was destroyed by Kayden¡¯s dominance.


    Then, a pentagram appeared before Kayden, followed by an aura slash that caused an explosion of wind to all sides. Heimer tried to step forward and create a rune tree, but...


    "Skirt!" The Duke shouted and raised a monstrous ice wall, expending large chunks of his mana.


    BOOOM!


    The sound of it shattering into thousands of pieces reverberated for miles. Kayden¡¯s attack went through her like a slice of soft bread before a sharp machete; the duke¡¯s strength was not light.


    The problem was that Kayden had strength at almost the same level. Neither Sarah nor Heimer would be able to face him directly, and Linus would also be completely massacred. They would need to call the family elders.


    "Call the elders," the Duke said directly to Sarah. The situation became even worse when Kayden opened dozens of pentagrams around him. Before the situation could escalate further, Sarah intervened.


    "Dad! Kayden! Wait a second before you kill yourself", his voice in the middle of the confusion spread extremely well and made everyone stop. Kayden didn¡¯t want to have to face dozens of people in the fourth realm.


    "Father! Let¡¯s try to negotiate, I sense a few dozen wizards hiding in the mansion," Astolfo also intervened. He trusted his father, but with the number of mana signatures, he was feeling, his confidence wavered.


    "I want a breakdown of all your treasures and riches, I¡¯ll take a considerable margin. I won¡¯t accept anything less than that. In any case, I have no problem killing everyone here," this time Kayden¡¯s tone was cold and showed superiority, irritating the other side.


    Heimer was a mess, he couldn¡¯t handle the situation and just sat quietly in his corner without being able to react. Linus also couldn¡¯t associate this Kayden with the old one; they looked like two different people.


    "We can agree, I hope you understand that we can¡¯t give too much of a cut...", Sarah was interrupted.


    "Either you give or this family disappears. I won¡¯t say it again," Kayden was getting tired. It had been many years since he had dealt with people who were not directly beneath him.


    "You¡¯re too insolent, boy. We won¡¯t have a deal. I don¡¯t care about that anymore. We won¡¯t even give you a coin," the duke shouted with hatred in his voice, calling out to the other elders. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Astolfo and Milena, eliminate the weakest ones. I will support you," Kayden said coldly. Again, he gathered his mana and pentagrams began to appear around him. This would not be an easy fight.


    An icy fog began to spread in all directions. This was Sarah¡¯s ice domain, the duke also had the same, and when the two activated it, they were able to reach a much larger area.


    Unfortunately, Kayden¡¯s mana domain was superior and could nullify most of the ice domain. Several other domains began to appear and overwhelm Kayden¡¯s, fortunately, his did not work based on quantity but rather on quality.


    Most were destroyed by his toxic mana, while a few managed to resist. Kayden began to launch dozens of aura slashes with his pentagrams without stopping, each attack had ridiculous strength.


    The duke reacted quickly and launched several compact ice disks that managed to hold back each of the attacks. This made him able to withstand damage against his allies.


    Astolfo entered into a combat of offensive and defensive spells against Sarah. They were the two strongest after Kayden and the Duke. Meanwhile, Milena began attacking those from the fourth realm who ascended sacrificially.


    The fight hadn¡¯t even started properly when everyone¡¯s vision went black and their senses completely disappeared. Linus and Heimer didn¡¯t even have time to join the battle before this happened.


    Felix appeared just above the masses of wizards in the fourth realm and began decapitating heads as if they were just toys. In just a few seconds, he killed a dozen and would have continued killing if a heavy aura hadn¡¯t fallen on everyone.


    "It¡¯s been a while, Azir," Kayden greeted the old man before the pressure dropped and removed all spells and domains from the area. As soon as he finished his sentence, an old man the same as he did centuries ago appeared in the air.


    "It does Kayden, I see that you have grown far beyond my expectations" The old man could not understand the degree of strength that Kayden was displaying, he only had the seven-ray hypothesis. "I know you ¡¯re angry, but could you please not kill my subjects?"


    His tone was quite calm, unlike the Britten family who were in chaos after seeing a third of their best forces dead, all because of a cat lying on Kayden¡¯s shoulder, who didn¡¯t even seem to have made any effort.

 Chapter 274: Rich again

    "I just want a share of the treasures that are rightfully mine. They didn¡¯t want to cooperate," the sentence infuriated the Duke again. Years in power meant that his patience was not regularly tested.


    "What right do you have? Nothing here was done with your help!", the Duke would continue shouting, but Azir¡¯s pressure intensified on him and prevented him from doing anything.


    "Before you take sides, look at this brooch, and don¡¯t create any enmity between us," Kayden took out the brooch he received from Merlin, and as soon as Azir laid his eyes on it, he was surprised and then afraid.


    Fortunately, he had intended to help Kayden in this situation from the beginning. He never made a mistake with a bet and decided to bet on Kayden following his instinct. This pin made the process of showing him he was right easier. S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Don¡¯t worry about it. Apolo must have already given you a card and a cell phone with a bank account. What percentage do you want from the Britten family? It will be transferred to you today" If the negotiation had gone smoothly, Kayden wouldn¡¯t have minded to be fair, but now?


    "Seventy percent and I want to enter the mansion¡¯s treasures to choose some," the sentence was like a stab in the heart of everyone in the Britten family.


    "Of course, it will be done today. You can come with me. I can feel the treasures in a secret room below the mansion. Do you need anything else?", Azir asked in a friendly manner.


    "No, please lead the way." It was funny how their relationship changed over time. In the past, the Duke was superior to Kayden, and he was demoted even before Kayden fell into the abyss. Now, his relationship with Azir had also reversed. He was superior but in consideration of all the times he helped Kayden, the young man didn¡¯t mind being friendly. He would even do Azir a favor at the end of all this.


    "How much have you grown during this time?" Azir asked as they flew.


    "It remains the undisputed pinnacle of humanity. I have no way of making comparisons with my current level of power", the arrogant phrase was said in a carefree manner by Kayden, as if commenting on the temperature of the day.


    "I hope we can maintain our friendly relations as always." Azir was no fool and knew this was the right time to attack his influence.


    "Of course, don¡¯t worry about it. What level of strength are you at right now?" Kayden asked a question he had always been curious about over the years.


    "Fifth realm and third level. Unfortunately, I hit a block in my advancements centuries ago and until now could not advance." The old man responded darkly. They didn¡¯t continue their conversation as they entered the Britten family¡¯s treasure room.


    The room was immense, over 500 meters long and wide. There were hundreds of gold coins piled up, forming huge mountains everywhere. In the center, they had the real treasures inside glass boxes.


    "Kayden!", Milena called to him in a euphoric way. Her blank tone sounded like something had attacked her. "Can I...can I have this jewelry?" She pointed to a corner where there was some of the most beautiful jewelry that humanity has produced. She looked like a child who found a candy store.


    "Of course, you too, Astolfo, take what you want." After saying that, Kayden went towards the center together with Azir and started looking for the things he wanted. There were some impressive pills that he took possession of.


    Unique ice element spells were in some books. Kayden paid a lot of attention to this part. He picked high-grade fruits and seeds. Furthermore, any book with knowledge he didn¡¯t have was usurped.


    In the end, he ended up taking less than 70% of the things, because he wasn¡¯t interested in the rest and just left them aside. Azir didn¡¯t mind either and gave his opinion to Kayden about some of the treasures. Kayden waited for his son and Milena to finish their collections.


    "Astolfo, Milena, and Felix leave the room and wait for us outside, please." As soon as the three left, Kayden broke the button that called Melin. The god arrived so quickly with his mana suppressing everyone in a region of more than a thousand kilometers that not even Azir was able to react.


    "A mere fifth realm dares not recognize my symbol?" Merlin had put so much pressure on Azir that every bone in the old man¡¯s body had already broken and turned into dust.


    "God Merlin, don¡¯t kill him, he is a friend and if you can heal his injuries, I would appreciate it." Kayden¡¯s sentence confused the god a little, and he frowned. Even so, it healed Azir instantly.


    "What do you want, boy? I didn¡¯t tell you not to call me stupid," Kayden felt a weight start on his back, but it was lifted instantly. This was Merlin trying to teach him a lesson and being suppressed by the heavens.


    "I know that, God Merlin. I just wanted to ask a small favor. With all your knowledge, it should be easy. Please help my friend here break through the barrier he is in right now," Kayden was extremely respectful.


    Merlin didn¡¯t care about Kayden having the potential to become a god. Seven lightning bolts were rare, but normally there would be about three per world every thousand years. It was something rare, but for how long he lived, God had already seen hundreds of future gods who failed to achieve anything.


    The only difference was that Kayden had gotten seven lightning bolts much earlier than the rest. Most of the time, they could only get seven rays in the fifth or sixth realm. But that wasn¡¯t the main thing; it was the warning he received from Thoth to take care of him.


    God didn¡¯t even need a minute to understand Azir¡¯s situation. It was a very common case of wrong leveling. Most likely, he had been trying to advance all these years without correcting a tiny, tiny error at his foundation.


    "In your seventh circulation of the fire technique, you don¡¯t balance the mana in your body. Even if your core is perfect for advancing, it impedes your advancement so that the rest of it isn¡¯t harmed. Just fix that, and you should be fine." able to get a few more levels", and as soon as he finished speaking, he disappeared into thin air.


    The pressure that was on all living beings instantly disappeared. It was as if it never happened. Azir was still trying to reason what happened and think about God¡¯s tip. Merlin¡¯s button regenerated on Kayden¡¯s clothing, and he hid it again.


    "Azir, let¡¯s go out so you can think about God Merlin¡¯s tip better", Kayden called the old man, who regained his senses, at least partially. This was the most important moment in recent centuries.


    God¡¯s words entered his mind like hot iron. He followed Kayden out, still a little lost. He was reviewing his technique every inch and with every second he understood more where he went wrong and how to fix that mistake.


    Kayden left, and Milena and Astolfo joined him. Outside was the Britten family, waiting for them with a defeated look. Kayden didn¡¯t care and didn¡¯t even give them a second glance.


    "I¡¯m going now, Azir," the old man just gave a nod and left in another direction. Kayden just walked off in a random direction along with his companions. After checking the map for a few moments, he found where the elf kingdom was.


    "Let¡¯s take another trip for a day or two towards the elven kingdom. There we will establish a residence near the Dawn academy," Kayden gave instructions, and they headed in the direction he pointed.


    Again, they passed through dozens of cities. They were not stopped even once. The number of people followed a high pattern everywhere. Kayden had gotten used to it by now.


    About a day and a half later, they entered the elf border. It wasn¡¯t long before they were stopped by a team of people in the fourth realm. There were about three of them with the leader at the peak of the fourth realm.


    Two of them had white skin, looking like pure milk, while the woman had dark skin. The funny thing is that elves only had these two extremes, either extremely white skin or extremely dark skin.


    "Identify yourselves," the older elf, who showed some signs of age, spoke with a voice that carried more than a kilometer of distance between them, something simple for any wizard with some power.


    "I am Kayden Heart and these are my companions, I just want to settle in the elf kingdom until the contest" Kayden played his line with mana to get to the elves. They looked like they had been in this situation before.

 Chapter 275: Brunno

    "We need you to sign this contract," a paper was thrown in the direction of every person in Kayden¡¯s group, including Felix. The contract only said that they should not commit any act against the elven government or harm its population.


    It was similar to signing an agreement with common laws. Kayden and the rest had no problem doing so. As soon as they signed the contract, the elves let them pass. S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Hello, visitors. Our currency has an exchange rate with any human in your banking applications. Our language is the same throughout the territory. If you have any problems, you can contact the government. Any questions?" Kayden thanked them and walked away.


    He had already downloaded a map and didn¡¯t need any coordinates. The elven kingdom was reduced to a single city with 10 million inhabitants. They had nothing more than that.


    It didn¡¯t even take an hour for Kayden to catch up to her and...she was gorgeous. Each house followed a unique white and black marble design, along with wood and green natural elements. There were trees everywhere, and even some houses were inside the trees.


    They headed to the huge gate that was right at the entrance to the city. It was made entirely of wood and was tens of meters tall. The city wall was made of a chain of living trees that were beings from the second realm.


    Since Kayden had fourth-realm mages in his entourage, they did not have to wait to be attended to and were quickly sent to the administration. They created an identity and were able to organize the purchase of a property.


    Kayden chose a relatively large house in a remote part of town. Furthermore, he opened an account for each of his three allies and invested a lot of money there.


    After that, he went out to explore the city and learn more about the elven culture. In just a few minutes, he could see a real difference in humanity. Here, the elves were, for the most part, happy and always willing to talk.


    There were many food stalls spread across the streets, each offering a local delicacy. Kayden tried a few and continued gathering information. In the end, his trip was just for that. It didn¡¯t take long for him to find out about Alvorada Academy, the pride of the elves. In it, all teachers were necessarily from the fourth kingdom. Ninety-nine percent of the students were elves, but a small portion was open to residents of other races who had been there a long time. Another even smaller part was for guests from other kingdoms.


    Furthermore, they had an incredible three teachers in the fifth realm who administered monthly classes on their specific topics. Kayden couldn¡¯t understand how beings capable of setting up a kingdom were willing to be in positions like that, but he quickly understood why. These teachers were the empress known as Cervantez Kremilin, her husband Eduard Kremilin, and a third party who managed the academy. Everyone only knew him as the administrator.


    Kayden discovered a little about elves and how they related to other people. Even though they were communicative and open, they hid behind fake smiles most of the time. It seemed like a sad and happy society at the same time.


    Without much to do other than farm, Kayden returned to his house and just locked himself in his room. After some time, he would return to participate. In the meantime, I would just cultivate. He gave his three companions complete freedom to do whatever they wanted, be it living alone or getting a job.


    The last option was something Milena and Astolfo would probably do. Human beings cannot live without social interactions. Only Kayden was peculiar, and Felix could keep up with him in his madness.


    ***********


    Time passed quickly, and the contest was already the next day. During this time, Astolfo and Milena established themselves in different positions within the elven government. Milena was part of the healing team at the largest hospital in the kingdom, treating only serious cases, and in return, she received some unique techniques from the elves.


    While Astolfo joined the elven army and had to sign some heavy silent contracts. Fortunately, he could leave whenever he wanted, he just didn¡¯t have the right to spread anything he learned there.


    Felix just farmed with Kayden and went out around town now and then. Its cuteness has earned the cat a fan club with a few thousand people. Whenever they came, they offered their favorite foods.


    Kayden just cultivated silently inside his room this entire time. He didn¡¯t even go out to feed, something he realized was that it would be impossible to get eight lightning bolts in the advancement to the fourth realm.


    He only had a few centuries left to live, there was no time left for him to truly overcome seven lightning bolts. Even maintaining seven would be difficult, but fortunately, he had techniques and resilience to spare. The next day, Kayden left the city towards the Alvorada gym. It was a few kilometers outside the city and was inside a huge forest.


    The entire forest was part of the academy, and the administrator was from a world tree species. As soon as Kayden¡¯s group arrived at the edge of the forest, they stopped and waited. It didn¡¯t even take 10 seconds for an elf to appear to guide them to the competition. As soon as they entered, Kayden felt the difference in the mana around them.


    It seemed like it was locked and under someone¡¯s control, he could still move it and use it, but first, he needed to break that small control, it was extremely subtle and most people couldn¡¯t notice it.


    The spiritual sense was non-existent in this region, the mana paired the senses and caused them to not send the correct signals, this was also caused by the mana in the region.


    Kayden could easily break this control and extend his spiritual sense for almost 100 kilometers, but he had no reason to cause enmity with the event organizers, especially considering their level of strength.


    A few minutes later, they entered a huge clearing that only had green grass on all sides, so far they had not seen any structures or students present on the path.


    The plan already had several different groups with wizards in the fourth kingdom, and the number of candidates exceeded hundreds, all of this for just three vacancies, it was a very fierce competition.


    In this place, spiritual sense could be used freely, as soon as Kayden¡¯s group arrived, dozens reached out to them in an attempt to test their strength, but they were all broken like nothing by Kayden¡¯s mana dominance.


    "Just wait and we will start in a few seconds", as soon as the elf said that, he left in another direction, Kayden sat down on the ground and started cultivating so as not to waste time, he would have done this for several minutes if not for the interruption of a person he hadn¡¯t seen in years.


    "Kayden, this is a competition for those in the fourth realm, trash like you shouldn¡¯t come here," Bruno Keilypson appeared floating in the air in Kayden¡¯s group. He was a legitimate wizard of the fourth realm and had five lightning bolts.


    The beating he took from Kayden deeply traumatized him, he spent all these years dwelling on his defeat, everyone treated Kayden as dead, but at this moment he had the chance to ease his mind.


    The problem was that Kayden didn¡¯t care in the slightest and just ignored the wizard, he didn¡¯t even open his eyes, his companions followed his example and also ignored the man floating above them, this infuriated Bruno, and his psychology was severely damaged in these centuries.


    He started manipulating mana so that Kayden would react, he would just use a simple attack to make Kayden pay attention to his strength, the event administrators didn¡¯t care at all about fights between them.


    As soon as Kayden felt the mana start to be manipulated into an offensive spell, he stacked two pentagrams and activated his suppression domain, the mana of the entire region rushed towards him and caught everyone¡¯s attention.


    A ridiculously strong aura slash came out of Kayden and passed through both pentagrams, gaining even more strength, it made no sound of breaking the sound barrier as a spell disguised it.


    Bruno didn¡¯t take the attack seriously, Kayden was an entire kingdom below him, and his ego and confidence were unbelievable as he was one of the strongest in the fourth kingdom, but at the last moment he understood the strength of the attack


    Unable to pull the mana around him he had to just be content with what he had saved, this was enough to erect a neutral mana barrier that was easily broken, the transition mage placed another and another and saw them being broken in pieces.

 Chapter 276: Students

    He had no alternative but to run for his life and even so, Kayden¡¯s attack caught up with him and severed one of his hands without mercy, Brunno screamed like crazy, he was not used to pain, he grew up in a greenhouse.


    Kayden would continue attacking him, dozens of pentagrams had already appeared around him, but he felt someone he knew approaching to calm the fight.


    "Please let him go, Kayden, he¡¯s just a hothead," Thomas Sagebrush appeared as the voice of reason and Kayden just gave him a nod, with that, Bruno returned to his quiet, butchered side.


    He knew that in a direct fight, he would probably lose badly, even if his techniques were refined and impeccable, he would still be destroyed by brute force, Kayden¡¯s simple attack was monstrous, and in addition, he still had that dominance that suffocated him.


    A few minutes later, everyone remained silent, as the moment approached for the contest to begin. At that exact time, a living being with a wooden appearance and wearing a suit appeared in the center of the clearing.


    Everyone focused their spiritual senses on him and could see that he was in the fifth realm, a level of strength that separated the high class from true kings, only those in the realm of demigods could present true political power in this world, this became even clearer with the war.


    "Welcome everyone, I am the administrator and I will be responsible for this contest, we have around 450 participants, but only three pl so that, so we will have two elimination stages, the first is very simple, you just need to withstand an attack of A mage of the fifth realm, don¡¯t worry that my attack will be limited to the peak of the fourth realm with five rays." The administrator¡¯s statement took everyone by surprise, most of them didn¡¯t have the confidence to do so.


    Only a minority of a dozen had five rays there, while the majority were divided between four and three rays, the latter had managed to reach their ranks through a lot of resources and time.


    Kayden and the rest of his group were completely calm for this test, at most, Milena would have some difficulty, but the rest had full capacity to overcome this challenge.


    "We will do it on a first-come, first-serve basis, you will be called here, and you can leave the competition whenever you want, but I warn you that if you do you could end up dying and we will not be held responsible for that." Most of the people there had passed their peaks of difficulty and would not give up with a simple threat.


    The first to rise was a wizard that Kayden didn¡¯t know, the attack he received was a fiery phoenix that was undoubtedly not just at the peak of the fourth realm, it was something much stronger and burned the participant to ashes in seconds.


    A silence appeared in the surroundings as everyone understood what had happened, a participant from the fourth realm was killed so easily, instantly several dozen people began to raise their hands and be guided out.


    "Milena, I think you better leave too, you don¡¯t need to prove anything here", Kayden said after thinking for a few seconds, she was strong, but not enough to hold back that attack.


    A few seconds later, all the people who had given up had already left the clearing, there were around 200 people left, it there was still a considerable amount, and the administrator who was made of wood and launched fire attacks started to speak.


    "This was just a quick test to eliminate the fearful ones, the attack will be weaker and I won¡¯t eliminate any of you, come next time", as he said, it was calmer afterward, the attacks were relatively weaker.


    Most people were unable to hold the phoenix and ended up being disqualified, Astolfo easily managed to hold the phoenix using his wind attack that canceled out any air in the region and suffocated the phoenix with a tornado.


    While Felix just disappeared into the shadows and easily avoided the attack, Kayden noticed the administrator¡¯s surprise at the cat¡¯s ability and it was clear to him now that Felix was not of this world.


    "Kayden Heart," the elf in charge called Kayden. He floated up and just gathered the mana from the clearing around him, it wasn¡¯t even close to what he had the capacity for, but in the end, he didn¡¯t want to cause a scene. S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Wait, Kayden Heart, you are a wizard of the third realm, your realm is not eligible to participate in this competition," the administrator was surprised by the young man¡¯s appearance, there were several people from lower realms around, but none of them stood up to participate.


    "Mr. Administrator, I have equivalent capabilities and I think that is what is being evaluated", his speech took the wooden man by surprise, there was no arrogance or arrogance, it just seemed like he was telling a fact.


    Most of the people around mocked Kayden¡¯s arrogance in their heads, but those with five lightning bolts had witnessed Kayden get six lightning bolts live centuries before anyone else, in their minds, the day he crushed all of humanity¡¯s geniuses without effort would be engraved in their minds.


    "Okay, I hope you don¡¯t regret this", the administrator just gave in, in the end, he didn¡¯t expect much from Kayden, but that didn¡¯t mean he was going to reduce the strength of the attack.


    The phoenix came magnificently, making a hissing sound while burning the very air, Kayden opened three pentagrams and launched a robust aura cut with great range, the phoenix¡¯s attack managed to resist the attack for a few seconds, but in the end, it was completely broken and the aura slash disappeared powerlessly into thin air.


    Kayden returned to his companions¡¯ side under the surprised gazes of everyone around. This was a leap of a realm and several levels, something completely absurd and inhumane. The administrator was silent for a full minute as he assessed Kayden¡¯s strength.


    Once his mind fit all the details together, he didn¡¯t hesitate for a second to raise his voice so Kayden could hear his invitation.


    "Kayden, if you want, you can become a teacher right now without having to go through the rest of the process", the administrator knew the strength of someone with six rays in the third realm, and Kayden was much higher, which meant he only had one option :


    Seven rays.


    The level of a future god.


    "Thank you, administrator, but I want to use this opportunity to train my strength," Kayden neutrally refused and sat down to cultivate. Once again, everyone was surprised.


    Kayden was just taking this as training. His attitude was not disrespectful, as he did not have any emotion in his voice. The administrator continued with the challenges, it didn¡¯t take long for them to have the finalists.


    In the end, only about 50 people passed, most had four rays, and there wasn¡¯t even a person with three rays present. Those with five rays were all among the finalists, the only one who deviated from the norm was Kayden.


    "The second part of our contest is very simple. You will receive a student in the element that you are best at. Your role is to teach them some skill or technique over 1 day. All apprentices have a similar level of strength and understanding, at least the best ones. Any external resources are prohibited from being used," as soon as the administrator finished speaking, several hundred teenagers appeared on the horizon.


    They were all elves and had similar growth to humans, their more advanced physiques and natural gifts placed them all at the peak of the first realm at around 14 years old, something well above the human average.


    Kayden felt everyone with his spiritual sense, he saw several black sheep and geniuses among them, but nothing that caught his attention. He saw the other magicians in the fourth realm rushing to choose the best of the best, meanwhile, he just watched quietly as he decided what to do.


    After a few minutes, he was left facing hundreds of students, all the others had already been chosen. All eyes were on him, learning directly from someone powerful was a once-in-a-lifetime chance for most people.


    "Attention!" Kayden snapped his fingers and was the first wizard to talk to everyone at once. "Which of you has ever had a life-and-death struggle? Raise your hand." Of the hundreds, only a few dozen raised their hands. Kayden asked them to stand up.


    "Which of you got to where you are without the support of family or abundant resources?" Of the dozens, only two dozen hands were raised. Kayden again asked them to stand up. "Which of you is willing to die for power?" His question would probably cause people to respond dishonestly, but he was applying mana pressure capable of making that impossible.


    This time, only three people raised their hands. They were two extremes, while one of them was among the best in the group, the other two were in the lower tier with low talent and understanding ability. This was the specific type of person Kayden wanted to reach.

 Chapter 277: The basis for everything

    "Administrator, can I get these three?" Kayden asked an unusual question. If he had to divide his attention between more than one student, he could waste time. The administrator just nodded his head.


    With that, Kayden pulled them with his mana sense and took them away from the elf city. Before leaving, he bought three special pills from a random store, having an elf follow his movements to ensure nothing wrong happened.


    "The three of you will face the most hellish training of your lives, but it will also be the most worthwhile training of your entire existence. If you want to give up, this is the time. I won¡¯t let the teacher following us take them off after we start." Even with the threatening phrase, none of them moved to leave.


    They traveled a few more kilometers until Kayden found a relatively unoccupied plain. As soon as they arrived, he marked out an area with water another with food, and one a little further away with golden books. Each area was at least 20 meters away from each other, and the first two were about 10 meters away from where they were, while the last one was about 50 meters away.


    "I will apply mana pressure to you that will make it extremely difficult for you to move. Furthermore, your mana will become strange and difficult to control. I know that you can go days without eating or drinking, so you are going to receive a pill that speeds up your metabolism to the extreme. Your objective will be to collect food and water using mana. The books displayed there are techniques that I obtained from my master, a sixth realm wizard." There was nothing there. Kayden was just promising something they wouldn¡¯t achieve.


    "You can start."


    Kayden gave them each a pill and began applying pressure. In the first second, the three fell face down on the ground and couldn¡¯t even move. Their spiritual sense was reduced to a non-existent distance, and they couldn¡¯t even get it an inch outside of their bodies.


    "Compress your mana and direct it to a specific place. You will stay like this for the next 24 hours." Over the next few minutes, they tried hard to do what Kayden ordered, but unfortunately, they were unsuccessful.


    "The first person to reach any reward will win the benefit of being able to sit in a very comfortable chair," Kayden joked about their competitiveness. None could tell how close one was to the goal.


    They kept trying. When it got close to an hour, they finally came up with enough skills to compress the mana and launch it towards the reward areas. At this point, hunger was already in their stomachs and it felt like they hadn¡¯t had water in weeks.


    "Very well, you¡¯re very close," Kayden threw out this phrase at random. None of them knew who he was talking to, and it sent a dopamine rush into their brains as the voice appeared very close to them and they were still able to hear Kayden walking next to them.


    A few minutes later, Kayden staged a little farce so that none of them would get the chair, as they were face down on the floor, they couldn¡¯t even tell who had it.


    "Congratulations, you have talent. The others were just inches away from winning. Enjoy your seat." None of the three won, and that was Kayden¡¯s intention.


    A few minutes later, they were all able to eat or drink. Each chose an option and received their reward directly into their mouths. A moment of happiness appeared over them, it seemed as if they hadn¡¯t fed in weeks.


    "Now that you¡¯ve learned how it works, I¡¯m going to start the second part. Every minute I will place my killing intent on you, and if your concentration is low, it will be broken and you will have to restart your spiritual sense. Good luck." Kayden logically wouldn¡¯t put out all his killing intent, it would be quite diluted, just to shock them.


    Over the next few minutes, they advanced at least a meter each, which was a considerable increase considering where they started from. Kayden slightly tightened his mana pressure so they wouldn¡¯t notice. As soon as he released his killing intent, he saw them having a small epileptic fit on the ground.


    It was something too strong for their minds to handle at that moment. It broke their minds. In the next 10 minutes, they only advanced a few inches before having their spiritual sense broken due to lack of concentration. But for every minute they spent in this situation, they managed to improve their will a little.


    About thirty minutes later, their recovery from Kayden¡¯s will to kill was at its peak. They just lost concentration for a few seconds. They were still able to resume work part of the way. For every 10 minutes, Kayden increased the difficulty in pressure or desire to kill.


    He let them achieve something every 1 hour. Even though they wanted to give up, they couldn¡¯t. They could not speak or gesture, only extending their mana in a constant desire to eat and drink. If they stopped, they would die of hunger or thirst.


    "You are very close to the treasure. I used this technique to achieve six lightning bolts in the second realm, I was the first of humanity to achieve this." Kayden¡¯s sentence made the three who were already giving their all double their effort.


    None of them had reached the treasure yet, but if they could speed up their process of getting to the food, they could try to get to the treasure. The best thing was that everyone could win this treasure, the only problem was that it wasn¡¯t easy, not at all.


    Quickly half the time passed, and Kayden had already reached a bloodlust that he considered the maximum they could currently handle. The pressure continued to increase little by little, and it was currently almost twice as high as it was at the beginning, but they didn¡¯t notice it. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    His ability to manipulate mana grew stupidly at this moment. The pressure that Kayden was applying was completely selective, and he hid everything that was happening there from the eyes of the elf in charge, only letting him check on their lives from time to time.


    They could eat and drink every ten minutes if they wanted now, but their only goal at the moment was to reach the treasures. They only ate occasionally. Kayden whispered very beautiful words all the time.


    Kayden never let any of them get to the treasure. Whenever one got close, he would increase his mana pressure and release killing intent attacks more constantly. The students lost track of time and couldn¡¯t tell that Kayden was cheating on them.


    "Congratulations on being able to reach the treasure. Start with this book, it will teach you how to jump realms in your fights," Kayden threw one of his best baits when there were only a few hours left.


    This again sparked the desire to reach that treasure for the three of them. It was a once-in-a-lifetime chance for them. The three knew that they would probably reach great heights with their talents, but the speed and quality at which they would get there was uncertain.


    At this time, they could achieve very high strength with just a little more effort. When there was only an hour left, the first of them finally managed to reach the treasure. Kayden let him leave where he was and pulled him towards him.


    The teenager in front of him was someone short, with blond hair and white skin. His pointy ears made him identified as an elf, in addition, he had very visible canines, an anomaly not very rare in his race.


    "What is your name?" The others probably wouldn¡¯t be able to reach the treasure, their wills were weak. The one who succeeded was one of those with low talent and no resources.


    "Lucas Gravin, sir," he replied wearily to Kayden. This was the most difficult situation he had ever been through. He always seemed to be one step away from completely breaking down.


    "The treasury requires you to sign a silent contract. You will never disclose this to anyone and protect this book about your life. It will give you a free pass to reach high heights, but logically it won¡¯t be easy. Do you agree?" Kayden wasn¡¯t going to give them anything, but this student¡¯s performance made him rethink.


    "Yes sir," Kayden took out a book from his spatial ring titled "The Abyss Manual", his name was at the bottom, making it clear that he was the main author.


    "Below us is the abyss, a land without law and organized races. This book is a manual of everything there and all the secrets of that place. You can easily reach the third or fourth kingdom there if you do everything right, and that¡¯s in just a century or two. I recommend that you find a team with a good blacksmith and a good alchemist to get the most out of it. Also, bring plenty of books. You won¡¯t be getting out of there for several decades," Kayden threw a door-thick book at him.


    "Thank you, Mr. Kayden," the boy marveled at the treasure. He was disappointed to learn that it was not a technique, but after thinking quickly, he concluded that this was a much greater gift than he expected.

 Chapter 278: Performance evaluation

    Kayden didn¡¯t just do this out of the kindness of his heart it was just a random act. He had no intention of benefiting from it, it was a whim so that someone else could see his work.


    "Come on, we¡¯re done here," Kayden lifted the three of them into the air and took off towards the elf city. He didn¡¯t give any of them time to respond or comment, the teacher had to hurriedly follow them.


    As soon as they arrived at the entrance to the forest, they were guided by the teacher to the clearing. They were one of the last to arrive. Everyone was there. Felix... was being held in a cage in front of the administrator, who didn¡¯t seem to be in a very good mood.


    As soon as Kayden arrived, Felix¡¯s spiritual sense and the administrator¡¯s spiritual sense caught up with him. He knew something had happened and started heading towards the administrator. Felix started shouting at him from there.


    "Kayden! Help me, I swear I didn¡¯t know they were so weak, I just gave him something very difficult", Kayden instantly understood the situation and why he was trapped in a cage.


    "Administrator, how do you want to proceed with this situation?" Kayden recognized the strength of the strongest person in the room and was not hasty in his actions.


    "Your friend will have to pay with a few decades of his life for his crime. He directly affected our civilization by taking the lives of our students," Kayden had understood that this was all faked.


    "Why was the teacher who followed him unable to prevent the student¡¯s death? What was the method you taught, Felix?" Kayden already knew from the beginning that Felix was going to teach a stealth technique, there was no real risk to his life.


    "Watch your position, boy! You have no power to put your voice in this place," the administrator placed a strong mana pressure on Kayden and a killing intent at the peak of his realm. He was in disbelief to see Kayden not even bat an eyelid about it.


    "Be honest and stop with this fake killing intent," Kayden instantly felt that the director was faking it. At this point, he was running out of patience and was just going to take the button he had from Merlin.


    "How do you know?" Once again the administrator wondered who the young man in front of him was.


    "You are strong, ridiculously strong, but your killing intent is weak and befitting someone who has already retired from the battlefield," Kayden gave no further explanation as he looked at the administrator.


    "I understand, yes, this whole situation is false, we just wanted to exchange your animal¡¯s sentence for your entry into the academy as a teacher", the administrator personally saw Kayden¡¯s methods and discovered at that time who exactly Kayden Heart was.


    "Don¡¯t worry, everything will be done as it should be, just let my cat go and I¡¯ll let this go," Kayden¡¯s tone was arrogant and made the administrator even more wary of dealing with him.


    How many figures could create someone of Kayden¡¯s strength and still give him enough confidence to deal with mages two realms above as if he dealt with people at his level? Few, very few.


    Kayden broke the cage directly using a rune and matter decomposition spell from Han¡¯s book. Felix quickly jumped onto his shoulder and stuck his tongue out at the administrator. This entire event didn¡¯t even last five minutes.


    As soon as Kayden returned, he saw a woman with vibrant yellow hair and a black outfit waiting for him next to Astolfo. She was extremely beautiful and had a contagious smile on her face. Furthermore, her nose was marked by small freckles all over the area.


    Astolfo looked embarrassed as he stood next to her. Kayden knew her son wasn¡¯t exactly the best with women, so he understood that she was probably the one who came here after him.


    "Hi Kayden, it¡¯s been a while. I didn¡¯t expect you to be alive," the woman spoke with a friendly and smiling tone.


    "Who are you?", Kayden had no idea who the woman in front of him was smiling friendly at him.


    "I was sad you didn¡¯t remember me. I am Athena, the wisest woman in the world", Kayden took a while to understand the woman¡¯s sentence. She had changed a lot, a fourth-realm aura was very obvious on her body.


    "I see," Kayden turned to the administrator.


    "I understand? Just understand? Where are the questions? You brat! Respect me, I¡¯m your veteran. Not only that, but I am the strongest in the two techniques you showed me, currently the forerunner of mana masters," Kayden raised an eyebrow when he heard the stronger word.


    "Yes, congratulations," Kayden paid no more attention to her. He was thinking about his next actions. This made the woman angry, she couldn¡¯t even remember the last time she was ignored like this.


    "I¡¯m a six-ray mage in the fourth realm, I¡¯ll pass this test," Kayden just nodded and ignored the woman. This made her turn to Astolfo.


    It didn¡¯t take long for Athena to deduce where Astolfo came from. His body was pale and seemed unaccustomed to sunlight. A few months were not capable of reversing centuries in a fourth-realm wizard, and so he still had certain signs.


    Athena was completely enchanted by Astolfo¡¯s stories. His every sentence opened a new world to her. Plus, the way the boy was reacting was cute in his view. It was very difficult to find men inexperienced in the subject of women at high levels.


    Astolfo had not had a relationship with more than 2 people in his entire life, and both times it was not because of his initiative that he achieved something. Athena was someone with a certain amount of experience and detested the people around her, at least most of them.


    After a few minutes of conversation, they exchanged contacts, and Kayden was still motionless. He didn¡¯t hear a word of their conversation, his mind was focused on silently cultivating while he waited.


    "Attention everyone," the administrator clapped. "You will be called in order and must show what you taught. The first is Athena." The woman who was next to Astolfo rose to the sky and began to speak without any fear.


    "I taught him one of my best skills, the ability to change mana to other elements. Elf, demonstrate." With Athena¡¯s order, the elf who was together with her in the skies transformed a wide margin into fire elemental mana.


    This was very impressive, as it gave him the basis to achieve many more things on his own. Furthermore, elemental mana was a high-level technique that only high-level mages had access to. This demonstration earned her one of the highest scores in the competition.


    The next ones were nothing spectacular, many magicians tried to teach high-level techniques and failed or achieved little results. It was very little time and even the best elves couldn¡¯t learn something complex in that period. At most, they could get into the basics of a high-level technique. Others taught useful things or spread knowledge, and those also got good grades.


    "Astolfo Heart", as soon as Kayden¡¯s son was called, he took to the skies together with a girl who looked as nervous as him. Both had the wind element as their main element.


    "The technique I taught him was called vacuum. It works based on creating a small vacuum path using wind to destabilize a spell or attack. It¡¯s nothing very impressive, but it can be essential in a fight", then the teenager showed the technique.


    It was something simpler, in fact probably the simplest spell anyone had put there, but within seconds everyone could see how it was quite functional. Astolfo threw several attacks at the girl and she managed to destabilize or delay them enough to dodge. Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Astolfo also received one of the best reviews. A few candidates later, Kayden was called. He was the only one who went up with three students instead of just one. Many expectations were placed on him.


    "I developed three skills for them: resistance to killing intent, resistance to mana pressure, and maximized their ability to manipulate mana. Each of you use your preferred spell", as soon as Kayden spoke, the three of them cast some spells.


    To most people, it didn¡¯t seem impressive at all, but to the teachers who knew these students, they could instantly notice the advancement in their strength. Each spell had easily more speed to form and even a much greater strength than before.


    "I request that the administrator uses his mana pressure and killing intent on them. They should be able to form some basic spells even under pressure from a higher realm," Kayden¡¯s sentence was strong, as what he had taught was far superior to any technique.


    Author¡¯s note: bonus chapter tomorrow, it¡¯s exam time at college, I apologize

 Chapter 279: The result

    It was as if he had given them the basis of everything, a trinity that provided the basis for them to reach much greater heights, great mana control, and a calmness to deal with stressful situations. The administrator did as Kayden asked and was amazed to see mere wizards able to form spells under his pressure. She was not something simple and most would be stunned. Logically, he wasn¡¯t using 100% of his capacity, but it was still impressive.


    At that moment, Kayden got the highest possible score on the test. He taught the students very strong skills and increased their combat ability to very high degrees. Furthermore, he helped three students instead of just one. The next candidates were not very impressive. None of them managed to do anything very relevant. The selection process didn¡¯t even take 10 minutes in the evaluators¡¯ minds.


    "We already have our verdict. The three teachers who passed were Kayden Heart, Atena, and Bruno Keilypson. You can come forward tomorrow to be introduced to our academy and all its benefits. The rest also performed well, but not enough. Goodbye everyone and have a safe trip back," as soon as the administrator finished speaking, Kayden got up and left. Astolfo returned with Athena to continue their conversations. Only Felix was with Kayden, sleeping on his shoulder. Even with all the security of the elves, a pair of wizards from the fourth kingdom were waiting for Kayden outside his house. Their auras were very similar to some of the people who were at the event. Kayden wasn¡¯t sure of their intentions, but after studying the perimeter a bit, it became clear to him that it was murder.


    The two were standing underground without moving. Furthermore, a complex network of runes was installed on all sides that isolated mana senses and sounds from the house. These, logically, were not people with good intentions.


    Kayden pulled mana from a large region towards him, alerting all authorities in the region. Anyone within 100 kilometers felt the flow of mana heading towards Kayden. Not all; those two underground didn¡¯t notice anything.


    One of them was an elf and the other was just a human. Kayden showed no mercy as he placed five pentagrams and an aura attack that passed through each of them. The force increased with each step and instantly reached the ground.


    The earth was cut as if it were made of butter and instantly arrived at the elf. He didn¡¯t even have time to react before his head was severed from his body. The other had those milliseconds of advantage and managed to get out of the ground.


    At that moment, Kayden could not continue, as some fourth kingdom elves arrived at his house and they were the government representatives. Their leader was an elf with blond hair and green eyes, a perfect stereotype of an elf in human vision.


    "Sir Visitor, explain your actions or we will arrest you immediately," her voice echoed throughout the space and the other four fourth realm mages around her showed their aggressive auras. Kayden looked calmly at them.


    "I had intruders in my house and I just killed one of them. The other one is over there, and I hope you don¡¯t let him escape", Kayden pointed to a shadow and, as soon as he spoke, it moved and started running. Unfortunately for the invader, he was surrounded by strong wizards and was unable to take a proper step before being trapped by dozens of spells. It took less than 5 seconds with Kayden¡¯s help for them to arrest this person.


    "He will be investigated. I hope you don¡¯t harm the public peace again," the woman in charge still seemed to be upset that she couldn¡¯t use her authority against Kayden.


    "Just do your job and we won¡¯t have any intruders," Kayden said dryly and entered the house. He had to deactivate some traps and runes scattered around the place, but it didn¡¯t cost much of his time or effort.


    "You could have just scared them. It¡¯s hard to place people in the fourth realm," the administrator was sitting on a couch in Kayden¡¯s room.


    "I also had to leave a warning, didn¡¯t I? I¡¯m not going to be spied on, and there¡¯s no point in trying," Kayden replied calmly as if his action had been the most normal thing in the world.


    "Aren¡¯t you afraid I¡¯ll kill you? I doubt anyone would be able to help you," the administrator commented calmly as he watched Kayden take out a bottle of wine and start drinking.


    "No, even if I die, it is not in my control. I don¡¯t need to spend my worry on this. Furthermore, this society would cease to exist if that happened, and even you couldn¡¯t stop that," Kayden commented softly as he poured a glass for the wooden man.


    The two were silent for a few minutes while Kayden cultivated and the administrator thought about the situation. The latter was strangely drinking the wine, levitating some of the liquid, and then throwing it onto his wood. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Who is your supporter?" the administrator asked directly and bluntly.


    "The god Merlin," Kayden replied directly, making the administrator¡¯s roots twitch. This was someone far above his rank; Kayden was practically the most precious person on this planet.


    "What do you want here? Why aren¡¯t you off this undeveloped planet?" Kayden raised his eyebrow at the last sentence.


    "I have no interest in telling you the details of my personal life. I just want to work as a normal professor at your college and have a chance to get off this planet legitimately. I¡¯m not looking for special treatment," Kayden told the truth to the administrator¡¯s surprise.


    "I understand. You will have a primary choice in students tomorrow. Our system works based on tutored teachers. You will have around 20 students directly in your hands and you will be responsible for their correct development. They will take classes with other teachers in various subjects. You are like the leader of the class, you don¡¯t teach anything directly, but you are responsible for everything."


    Kayden was surprised by their system. Each room having a fourth realm teacher in charge was very different from the human world; it was a much higher level of attention. Kayden would follow the same model to get his students. Your follow-through with them would be low; He would spend most of his time cultivating normally, he would just work out a task system and reward himself with some intensive training weekly.


    "What are the benefits of a teacher?"


    "Access to many closed areas of our society, the right to early naturalization, preference in any service of our government, but the main thing is the chance to compete with students in the annual interplanetary competition for 25-year-old students", that was the objective of Kayden with all of this.


    "Tell me a little more about the last part."


    "Normally our students enter the academy at the age of 14 and spend around 10 years in class and 1 focused on competing in the interplanetary competition. As there is only us here, we already have a guaranteed place. There are several points there for teachers to make business relationships."


    New information was presented to Kayden quickly. He already knew that there were other planets with rational life, he just had no idea that it was something as organized as that.


    "How many planets do we have in our system? What is the level of strength between them?" Kayden released his doubts.


    "I can¡¯t say much because the god Merlin requests us, but we are currently on 16 rational planets, and our middle level is the fourth realm, we are a medium-sized solar system."


    Kayden couldn¡¯t understand how big he needed to be to be large. Furthermore, the middle-level being of the fourth realm was completely surreal. Most people would only reach the second kingdom on Earth; a minority would reach the third and an even smaller minority would reach the fourth.


    "I can¡¯t say anything more about this, I felt a slight pressure on my shoulders. Do a good job and you will discover everything you want", the two talked for a few more minutes before the administrator left the room. Kayden just went back to cultivating while waiting for the next day.


    "Welcome to Academia Alvorada, the home of geniuses," the administrator presented a gigantic white marble building to the three new teachers. There were dozens of buildings scattered around the place, but they all followed the same aesthetic.


    White dominated everything, with a few touches of green from roots growing everywhere. This made it look abandoned and gave the academy a unique charm. There were thousands of elves walking everywhere.


    The middle level was the second realm for most of them, and the rest were in higher tiers. Only a few were in the first kingdom. Furthermore, everyone wore a uniform that would be stereotypical of Japanese anime.

 Chapter 280: I am superior

    "The girls wore skirts and tights, while the boys dressed in suits. Kayden noticed that Bruno and Athena followed this model too, he was the only one who clashed with everyone else. Kayden was impressed to see the buildings move at one point; the other teachers shared his surprise. The administrator seemed amused by their reaction.


    "The roots that hold the buildings together and they are alive, they are my children, this is a secret so don¡¯t tell the students. They move to look for the best angle in front of the sun, which helps with their cultivation." Athena was amazed by this information, it was something she had never heard before.


    The director gave them a presentation of where each place was and what each establishment did. Furthermore, it showed the teachers responsible for each subject and where those responsible for each sector were located. The majority were neutral towards them and a minority were negative; there were few friendly reactions.


    This was an expected reaction considering that the elven kingdom was somewhat open to all races, but also extremely selective and eugenic, they only believed in the superiority of strength and talent and these three new teachers just proved themselves capable of being in the same environment. than them and not to have the same treatment as their race


    The director took them to one of the open parks which was also a huge cafeteria. All food was served on floating plates; you just needed to stretch your spiritual sense and choose. There were several hundred students in the courtyard. Everyone there was new to the academy. The middle level was the eighth level of the first realm, with geniuses being at the ninth level. These were the same ones they had the option to choose to teach previously.


    "At our academy, students have a lot of autonomy. He can change teachers of his choice. Furthermore, they may refuse to join you. You will be able to choose before the usual teachers, but you must be able to give a good presentation. If not, none of them will choose to stay with you", the administrator explained and again Kayden chose to stay last.


    Athena was the first to float above all the students. Her aura of a fourth realm mage caused everyone to be quiet and pay attention to her. Few were interested in learning from foreign people.


    "Good morning students, my name is Athena, I¡¯m not going to beat around the bush, I¡¯m a magician specializing in mana distortion", she called the student who had taught during the test. "As you can see, he was able to use elemental mana with extreme ease after one day of class, I can offer this benefit and all my knowledge, I am currently known as the greatest sage of humanity."


    The woman began to present all her talents, which were many. Furthermore, he showed his way of manipulating mana, something very complex and different from what most were used to. His presentation captivated everyone.


    Then it was Brunno¡¯s turn. He didn¡¯t have much charisma and just presented his skills and gifts. Even so, he managed to choose good students. The straightforward promises he and Athena made were very attractive to most elves. Finally, it was Kayden¡¯s turn.


    "The three who trained with me, you can come to my room if you want", the three were surprised and raised their heads, automatically flying behind Kayden. "I¡¯m not looking for strength or talent, I¡¯m looking for will and resilience, I¡¯m not going to talk about the benefits for you, you¡¯re not worthy yet, I¡¯m just saying that I will place all my students in the second realm with five rays, the entry test is simple, just resist my aura pressure and you can pass no matter how many students there are."


    Kayden gave everyone a few seconds to decide whether they wanted it or not. Some left because they didn¡¯t believe Kayden¡¯s promises, but the rest did. He was on the administrator¡¯s side and wouldn¡¯t lie easily.


    It started with strong mana pressure and some directly fainted without even being able to react. The rest lasted a few seconds, but little by little they fell unconscious to the ground. Kayden took the mana pressure off those who were disqualified immediately.


    It only took a few minutes for him to select the top 26, they all had strong willpower and could withstand great mana pressure, it was mainly a matter of will and not strength, this became clear when even some elves at the seventh level were between them.


    "Congratulations everyone, you were the chosen ones, we will begin immediately after you go through the gym tour", Kayden believed it was over when a voice appeared in the crowd of chosen ones.


    "Teacher! We have proven ourselves worthy, but so far you have not done the same," the person who said this was a girl with black hair and fair skin, her pointed ears showed that she was an elf.


    His question was something that many were holding inside and didn¡¯t dare to ask Kayden, all eyes focused on him, most expected an explosive and arrogant reaction like all those at the top would give.


    "I am in the third realm and have a fortune of around 14 trillion human coins, apart from all my treasures," most focused their attention on the third realm part. "Do you want me to prove myself worthy? Well, anyone who is between the third and fourth kingdom is free to ask me in a duel, if I lose I will pay with all my wealth and my life."


    The fact that Kayden was in the third realm and dared to challenge wizards in the fourth was something very difficult to enter into the minds of all the students present, his sentences seemed more like something...


    "Isn¡¯t that very arrogant?" this time, one of the royal family¡¯s elves who hadn¡¯t joined any team raised his voice. He had the features of royalty, hair as light as snow, white skin, and his ears were very prominent.


    "No, I am superior and I defy any wizard on this planet to prove otherwise." Kayden¡¯s voice made a silence fall on the room.


    I am superior.


    S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 281: I am superior[2 BONUS]

    The weight of these words was gigantic and it increased even more when they saw the administrator say nothing; his silence seemed to agree with the boy¡¯s sentence, something that many thought was just daydreams in their heads, but it was simply reality.


    "Ridiculous! Superior? Your arrogance knows no bounds. I challenge you myself at this moment," a voice came out from the cluster of teachers floating in the sky. It was an elderly woman with wrinkles on her face, it was obvious to Kayden that she had a lot of battle experience.


    Even as time passed in his body, his movements were fluid and rhythmic. She carried no weapons and appeared to be a mage from a distance. His level was the sixth of the fourth realm, something strong, but not very impressive to Kayden.


    "Of course, but I only do life-and-death fights. Not even the administrator will interfere with a fair deal. Are you sure you want to continue?", Kayden asked calmly and saw a wave of uncertainty appear on the woman¡¯s face.


    Everyone who fought long enough knew that arrogance was loud, ego made itself heard, but confidence? She was silent. No lion needed to prove itself as king of the savannah; everyone knew who he was, or would find out by annoying him.


    At that moment, the elf began to regret her decision, but there was no going back. His honor did not allow it; elven society would never look kindly on her again. A match would practically be made based on his race.


    "Yes, let¡¯s set a time..." Kayden interrupted her directly.


    "We can fight right now, it won¡¯t take more than a few minutes," his tone finally made the old woman get angry, but not lose her temper. She was not a newbie. Unfortunately, Kayden¡¯s sentence left her at a crossroads.


    An irrational fear began to circulate through her. Kayden was very calm. He was risking a lot for nothing. Was all this trust? Or was it just a bluff from a crazy guy?


    Everyone started to make room after the administrator gave his approval for the confrontation. They could fight freely, as any remnants would be removed by him and prevent them from reaching the teachers or students.


    "Start", each of them was about 1 kilometer away from the other. Kayden instantly pulled the 100-kilometer mana towards him in a forcible manner. The man that permeated the forest was completely deprived of his will and placed in his domain.


    The flow of mana was something extraordinary. Everyone could feel as if they were in the middle of a river with a strong current. The speed caused even the surrounding trees to sway. Kayden extended his mana domain to three kilometers and instantly began to dilate the mana in space.


    His attitude proved correct when the elderly woman released tens of thousands of concentrated beams of light. Each of them had enough strength to penetrate Kayden¡¯s skin a few centimeters, and it didn¡¯t even seem to use up much of her mana, an excellent spell.


    Unfortunately, Kayden¡¯s mana dilation meant that they were unable to move even a hundred meters before being shattered into nothing. He didn¡¯t give her time to conjure anything else and with the help of a pentagram, he used a silent aura attack.


    The attack cut through the air at an absurd speed and would decapitate the elf if it weren¡¯t for her insanely fast reflexes. Kayden could see that her eyes became bright and she acquired a speed much higher than what she should have.


    The woman took out a wooden stick that looked like it was over a millennium old. At each of its ends, a shiny metal that looked new glistened against the sun. Kayden saw her body begin to glow, and with a wave of his staff, a white dragon came out.


    Even Kayden¡¯s domain was completely consumed by the attack. He used black lightning coupled with a pentagram to make the two attacks explode. The residual force caused the trees in the distance to sway.


    "That¡¯s very impressive," the woman commented, but Kayden didn¡¯t respond. He began summoning dozens of pentagrams, each with a specific function. Then he launched dozens of aura and lightning attacks, each passing through a pentagram and gaining a different attribute. The elderly woman frowned at this attack;


    A beautiful dance began in the air, with an old woman and a stick. Each attack of hers caused a dragon to come out; these were scary and simply consumed everything in their path. Kayden¡¯s aura cuts and lightning were mere obstacles to the dragons.


    All attacks that came within fifty meters of Kayden were ridiculously weakened by his compressed domain. He had already added his mana dilation and his layered barrier technique into his short-range domain. This caused the area around him to become a dead, static mana point; nothing could move properly. Even the dragons were severely damaged, and only needed Kayden to launch a ridiculously weak aura attack at them.


    This wasn¡¯t going to be an easy fight, so Kayden decided to take this seriously. A huge pentagram appeared around him, easily reaching 100 meters in length. That pentagram moved along with him as he rushed at the woman.


    In all his years, he understood two things about reality: the first was that it didn¡¯t exist and everything was a lie put together by mana. As long as you had the right knowledge and necessary strength, you could change existence itself. The second thing was that his body... was nothing more than a container of mana, a spell in its pure, consolidated.


    The pentagram changed the structure of his body for a few milliseconds, enough for him to be able to perform extremely fast movements that did not match his strength, not only that but changing his bones and organs around was easy in this state.


    Author¡¯s note: I know it was supposed to be yesterday, but I ended up not being able to keep that promise, I apologize for that


    S§×ar?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 282: Superior, just superior

    The katana, which hadn¡¯t seen a real battle in a long time, glittered in his hands. Dozens of cuts came out of it towards the elderly woman. The ridiculous thing was that Kayden¡¯s body kept up with his attacks at speed.


    ** BOOOM!* *


    The bat collided with the young man¡¯s katana, making a frightening noise. None of them were pushed back. The two exchanged glances for a second and saw a similar flash of amusement.


    Their next blows were exchanged at high speed. Even with all of Kayden¡¯s attributes, the elderly woman managed to match his speed. In a moment, Kayden made a horizontal slash at high speed and...


    ** SWISH! **


    His attack cut through the air and also cut the elderly woman in half. Kayden felt the texture of the flesh tearing, and with the speed, the blood couldn¡¯t even leave the body. Without thinking, he instantly retreated and placed several wear barriers around him.


    The sound of something being dragged appeared throughout the room as several dragons exploded into their barrier. The elderly woman managed to completely deceive Kayden¡¯s senses; he couldn¡¯t even differentiate that he was fighting an illusion.


    He was about to comment that it was a powerful illusion when he saw the woman with a glowing beam on her belly. It seemed like it wasn¡¯t an illusion, but it wasn¡¯t her that was there either. Truly, a mysterious and complex technique.


    Kayden continued to force her with dozens of attacks at every turn. Some were silent and came very close to causing harm, while others were just to attract attention and divert the elderly woman¡¯s strength.


    This time, she was the one who came up. His staff was shining so brightly that it seemed to be made of pure light. It easily passed through Kayden¡¯s barrier, it had no wear and tear and instantly he recognized what was happening.


    The light was so intense that it was burning the surrounding mana, causing it to cease to exist. The mana entered one way and exited the other side of the stick. This was not a technique that someone in the fourth realm should have.


    Kayden imbued his katana with all the mana he had available. One way or another, he was going to win this confrontation. Every attack they exchanged showed that Kayden had the upper hand. In terms of brute strength, he was far superior to anyone. The amount of mana he could utilize was simply too high.


    The woman didn¡¯t even miss a step and Kayden didn¡¯t miss an attack. It was a beautiful dance of attacks and defenses. Nobody made mistakes; every attack created a ridiculously high shockwave that could kill anyone below the fourth realm.


    Hundreds of dragons floated in the air, and dozens of slashes flew. It was a mess of attacks and blows that left most people lost as they watched. Only a few in the fourth realm could truly understand the game of chess they were playing.


    Kayden placed two pentagrams below him, one for his body and one for his lightning bolts. He was about to continue. He hadn¡¯t had a good fight like this in a long time. Unfortunately, he had to stop his attacks.


    "You are superior," said the elderly woman with a smile on her face. Her eyes reflected the defeat she had. A fight like that exhausted his movements too much. She couldn¡¯t go on any longer.


    In the end, the amount of mana Kayden possessed was much higher. Not only that, but his attacks were very strong and forced the opponents to defend themselves. Furthermore, its defense was ridiculously high.


    "That was a good fight. We don¡¯t need to end in deaths," Kayden extended the arm of friendship to the woman. She would be an excellent training partner in the future. His techniques and strength were ridiculously high.


    "My name is Jasmine Kremlin. I hope we can fight again. I acknowledge my defeat," she bowed to Kayden and said his name. Thus, it became clear to him why his techniques were so elaborate.


    She belonged to the royal family, probably still of the highest rank. His techniques were too impressive to be commonplace. Kayden was happy to make the right decision; if he killed her, he could probably have problems in the future.


    "I¡¯m Kayden Heart, it¡¯s a pleasure to meet you. It was a great battle," Kayden was friendly and then went down to his room, waiting while the other teachers chose their students.


    This time, the best of the best were chosen. Only a few high-level elves wanted to go with the foreign teachers, but after Kayden¡¯s fight, most regretted their decision.


    Kayden was too strong for his kingdom. It was something far beyond strength; he was completely oppressive. But it was too late to regret it, and they just had to choose between the best teachers.


    This entire process took about an hour and a half. It wasn¡¯t fast, but it wasn¡¯t slow either. Once everyone was done, Kayden was free to take his students somewhere more private.


    While the selection process was going on, he searched several inches of the forest for a good training space. After becoming a teacher, he received a badge that allowed him access to his full spiritual sense.


    The place he chose was the top of a mountain, the peak of which was so high that it was snowing. This location was chosen on purpose so that he could place several runes that would make climbing difficult.


    "Very well, first I will explain how it will work. We will have meetings twice a week lasting three to five hours. They will occur here. I will teach you some basic techniques and improve your mana manipulations. I won¡¯t do anything in-depth about its elements. This is something you must seek for yourselves. The first month is optional, but in the second month, you are required to attend. Anyone who doesn¡¯t come will be expelled. Any question?"


    Kayden quickly blurted out several pieces of information and waited while they digested everything he said. In a few seconds, someone expressed the doubt everyone had.


    "Isn¡¯t that too little time?" Kayden was already expecting something like this. S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "No, I believe in the method of learning alone. You can have support to reach greater heights, but you must learn to walk alone from an early age. I will only give you the correct directions, nothing more."


    "What about the techniques you promised us?"


    "You will make your own. The ones I have were made by me and it makes you fight much better. For today, you are free, you can go check out the gym but try to start climbing the mountain from tomorrow. Our class starts at noon," with that, Kayden...


    He threw them all off the mountain. As they were first-realm mages, they had no problem turning around so as not to die from gravity. As soon as he was free, Kayden began the process.


    "Felix, please help me," the cat came out of the shadows behind Kayden and began working on the runes along with him. The first thing they did was clear the entire mountain of any unwanted life.


    Then, they placed several runes that increased gravity pressure, made mana manipulation difficult, and caused bad feelings against low-level people; even instincts would be deceived by them.


    Felix placed some golems to patrol the perimeter; Each of them had different attributes and was capable of killing students if they were sloppy. There were a few hundred of them scattered all over the place.


    Felix took a few hours together with Kayden to finish all the preparations. Kayden estimated that it would take the students a few weeks at least to be able to climb the mountain.


    The academy provided him with several elves as helpers, from several different realms, but most were in the third realm. He placed them to prevent anyone from being killed on the mountain but made it very clear that they should only intervene in cases of life or death.


    After that, he left the whole situation aside and built a structure where he said: "Press here to call the teacher". This would take him out of his isolated cultivation. As an accomplished architect, Kayden began building a home for him to spend the next few years.


    All the furniture was removed from his space earring; he had a lot of things stored there, and there was practically an entire house furnished in his space. The structuring process didn¡¯t take long and, in just a few hours, Kayden was finished.


    With nothing to do, he began to cultivate quietly. He was very close to advancing, thanks to the treasures he used during this time he spent in the third realm. The five-year time frame he predicted has been reduced to three or four now.


    About two weeks later, Kayden was finally awakened from his induced coma by the signal from the button he placed; it was a simple rune system that placed foreign mana within his room and made him able to react.

 Chapter 283: Who really rules the world

    Near Kayden¡¯s house, there was a teenager with several bruises on his body and his clothes in tatters. He was short and had very visible canines. His blonde hair and pointed ears gave him away as an elf.


    "Good morning, Lucas", Kayden greeted the same boy who managed to reach the treasure while entering the academy.


    "Hello, professor", his speech came out with gaps, he was worn out.


    "You came alone?" Kayden remembered setting the difficulty level so they couldn¡¯t do the climb alone.


    "No, but I was the only one who wasn¡¯t rescued along the way." These elves were mostly flowers in a greenhouse, but the mountain was a brutal climb. In the early days, they could not climb even a hundred meters before being destroyed by any circumstances.


    Over time, they formed teams and learned to deal with challenges. Even so, it wasn¡¯t easy, and the only one who had managed to climb it so far was Lucas, and not even he believed he could climb it again.


    "Let¡¯s start the class then", Kayden asked Lucas to show his techniques and explain his doubts. Kayden could easily show him a path to follow and demonstrate where many of his mistakes were.


    The personal lesson lasted about two hours before Kayden felt Lucas¡¯s performance slipping. At this time, he just threw the young man down the hill and told him to come here again anytime.


    A week later, the arrival of students became more common, but there were still few who went up. They tried to form large groups to overcome the challenges more easily, but Felix just sent more golems, which forced them to split up.


    Kayden had already set aside two days a week to teach, Monday and Friday. Any other day that a student arrived there and rang his bell, he was severely beaten by Kayden and then thrown down the mountain.


    At the end of the month, everyone in the room managed to reach the top at least once. It was still difficult and they did it with extreme effort. Kayden took a teaspoon to his room and only let them come up once every two weeks.


    Over time, they would improve considerably and be able to climb both days of the week, but this would probably take at least a year. Kayden had already thought about increasing the difficulty progressively.


    That would make it a workout for them. The students also had many other classes to take during the week, which meant they couldn¡¯t spend the entire time just climbing the mountain.


    Kayden¡¯s training method was very different from the rest. Athena¡¯s room, for example, was already much stronger than at the beginning, while Kayden¡¯s room was just getting bruises and no techniques.


    At the top of the mountain, there were around 14 people. Kayden was teaching a private lesson on a random Monday when one of his students raised a question with him, a small mistake on his part.


    "Teacher, why didn¡¯t you come and see us at the monthly fights? We didn¡¯t get a good position, all the other classes have different crazy techniques." The rest nodded in agreement.


    Time made them realize that Kayden was a very approachable and calm person. Even though he was a teacher, he was not someone who used his superior position to impose himself on his students. He also didn¡¯t fight over their mistakes.


    "Just let time pass. You must be able to develop your techniques and, in the end, this will bear greater fruit. All the training so far has only been intended to fix the errors in your foundations. I want to give a broad base. Don¡¯t pay attention to the monthly championships, that doesn¡¯t mean anything. Glory is fleeting, fame is illusory, and only power is eternal. Dismissed."


    Kayden threw everyone off the mountain. He had no idea what this monthly championship was and even if he did he didn¡¯t care either. Soon after he sent everyone out, one of the helpers arrived saying that his purchase had arrived.


    He went down and picked up dozens of different seedlings from a third-realm wizard. Together with Felix, he began setting up his treasure plantation just above. He had many treasures from the abyss that could be cultivated, he just lacked the correct materials.


    He had already completely given up his side hustles, and he didn¡¯t have time for that. With every second that passed, he felt that he was closer to dying and he urgently needed to be able to gain the strength to fight Seven Lightning.


    Time passed quickly and six months after Kayden had started as a teacher, he was called away by one of the aides. According to him, a meeting never seen before was being held and everyone with any weight in world politics was being called.


    The invitation to Kayden was made by the human and elf alliance together. The number of invited organizations at the moment was about six: the human and beast alliance, the elves, the dwarves, the Orcs, the dark elves, and the human beast race.


    As soon as Kayden left the mountain, the administrator was waiting for him. He hadn¡¯t changed anything during that time, not that Kayden had changed anything either. Six months represented nothing in their lives anymore.


    "Hello, administrator, may I know the reason for this meeting?" Kayden greeted him friendly and got straight to the point. Depending on the reason, he wouldn¡¯t even participate.


    "Let¡¯s discuss some important points about this world. Furthermore, we will enter the final phase of your guardian¡¯s plan," Kayden didn¡¯t quite understand the last part, but left it aside.


    The administrator levitated the two and propelled them at an absurd speed off the planet. In just a few seconds, they had the earth beneath their feet and an immense outer space bathed in bright stars.


    They traveled for a few seconds while the administrator checked the direction on a golden compass. It took at least an hour for them to find an asteroid with a gigantic table and several chairs scattered around.


    Kayden didn¡¯t know, but the space outside the planet was messed up by Merlin to prevent any jokers from trying anything. Only those inside with the compass could get in and out, and even they had some effort in doing so.


    The administrator guided them to one end of the table where the empress, her husband, and Azir were sitting. Every person in this environment had the aura of someone in the fifth realm. Only at this level could they have any relevance.


    Representing the Orcs, there was a huge creature wearing luxurious clothes, he wore a suit measuring almost 4 meters in size, something very strange for his race. Furthermore, its color was gray, quite different from the usual green skin. Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The representative of the bestial humans was a woman with shoulder-length hair and white cat ears. Furthermore, she had a white tail that extended down her back. Its eyes were slightly curved and resembled those of a cat.


    One of the dark elves was an elf with completely black skin, not something dark like we have in humanity, but something artificial. Furthermore, he had pointy ears, but the main feature was his red eyes and the dozens of red lines on his body.


    The representative of the dwarves was two people: a thin dwarf with wizard-like features, very thin and with a finished appearance, while at his side there was an ana with brown hair and green eyes. She was holding the other dwarf¡¯s hand, the problem was that she was strong and seemed to be crushing the other dwarf¡¯s hand.


    "With everyone together, we can start this session." A voice came out of nowhere and Kayden saw for the second time in his life the space shatter. A three-dimensional crack appeared in the air and behind it an immensity of...


    Manna. Kayden was able to see and feel such a ridiculous density of mana coming out of that space that it could cause anyone to die instantly from a mana overdose. Not even Kayden, with his control, would be able to fend off that much mana.


    The one who came out was an elf with shaved hair and prominent ears. His eyes were an intense blue that Kayden had never seen before. He wore a cloak that left half of his chest showing.


    "To the new arrival, I am Yame, the elf guardian of this planet." He waited for Kayden to introduce himself, and to everyone¡¯s surprise, the boy¡¯s voice didn¡¯t shake or waver. "Well, now we will start the agenda and we will take the votes. The first point is what percentage of the population were you able to reach?"


    Then, each race and organization spoke a percentage, all with high values, most above 90%. It seemed to be a plan they had been building for years and years.


    "Very well, we will keep the final event in about 50 years, second point, should slavery be legalized? Logically we will follow the universal rules on this, but it is a necessary step for the planet to enter the universal map in the future"

 Chapter 284: Time passes

    Kayden was lost with the new information he was receiving. Furthermore, slavery was a heinous crime prohibited in all countries and races, at least until now. Voting began and quickly reached a tie.


    Three votes were in favor, including dwarves, dark elves, and elves. While against it were humans, beast humans, and Orcs. Humanity did not look favorably on slavery, especially considering that it was the weakest in some ways. The feral humans were not in favor, as most of the time their race was the object of the others¡¯ perverted desires, while the Orcs did not believe that slaves should be auctioned and sold, only conquered.


    "As we have a draw, we will give the decision factor to Merlin¡¯s chosen one", all eyes turned to Kayden with Yame ¡¯s sentence, the power he was receiving was very great in this decision. In reality, this was just Merlin¡¯s test, the decision had already been made by him a long time ago, he just wanted to know a little more about Kayden¡¯s nature, joining his race or going against it was an important factor.


    Each person seemed to want to convey a message to Kayden. Fortunately, Yame was a powerhouse of the ninth realm which meant that none of them were able to act freely in this place. Kayden only needed a few seconds before giving his answer.


    "I¡¯m all for it." Kayden was on top and had zero empathy for anyone other than himself. This would only help you get labor easier. Everyone looked at him; this was not the answer they expected.


    "Why?" Yame asked; he also thought Kayden would side with his race. He was very similar to Merlin, he could easily predict the step-by-step of inferior beings, but Kayden was unknown to him.


    "I¡¯m at the top. When I was at the bottom of the food chain, no one raised a hand to me. So, I don¡¯t care at all if the weakest are going to be used as free labor for the rest of their lives", Kayden¡¯s sentence was heavy and made the atmosphere dark.


    "I see, we have some rules for the slave trade. Firstly, slaves are not allowed below the third kingdom, they must be made through breaking laws, debts, or war conquests. The slave trade is regulated by a private universal institution and it will enter the planet in a few months," after that, they just discussed simple issues.


    It became clear to Kayden that the war between humans and Orcs was just a well-rehearsed theater. Orcs would begin to massively enter human lands after today and humanity would increase its production of humans. Various other factors like resource distribution and similar things came up in the conversations. What Kayden hadn¡¯t seen yet was any information about Eden, it seemed like they had disappeared from the planet these days.


    "With that, I will end this meeting here...", Yame didn¡¯t finish speaking, as Kayden had raised his hand.


    "The Eden organization doesn¡¯t have voting power?" Kayden understood from everyone¡¯s expressions that their information was out of date.


    "They left the planet a few decades ago along with Adam. I have no information about where they are at the moment. If you have nothing else, we will end the meeting here." This time, no one raised their hand.


    Kayden was pulled away by the administrator and everyone left without saying anything to each other. This wasn¡¯t the ideal place for that. On the trip back to Earth, Kayden thought about how difficult his revenge had become with this new information. Now leaving the earth was no longer just a goal to increase his strength, it was now also a path for him to complete his revenge. He could have left Heimer alive for Han¡¯s sake, but the rest would be killed without mercy.


    "I didn¡¯t expect you to be so ruthless, Kayden," Azir¡¯s voice appeared next to them and broke Kayden out of his thoughts.


    "Hello, Azir, life made me this way", Kayden didn¡¯t say anything else and waited for the former king to continue. Sear?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "You know that humanity is the weak link in this relationship. We will probably have many of our sons and daughters being made slaves in the future, but that doesn¡¯t matter either, it won¡¯t reach us."


    "Life is too cruel for me to care about others", Kayden responded in the same way and then Azir said goodbye. The administrator left Kayden on his mountain; the young man just continued training and doing his routine tasks. His life would be quite boring for the next few years, much like what he was used to in the abyss.


    Time passed quickly and after a year of teaching, Kayden managed to reach the second level of the third realm. The level-maximizing pattern was repeated and he saw a slight improvement that, when added to the nine levels, would be impressive.


    During that time, his class also didn¡¯t achieve much in the fights. The best position they had was only in the top 50, but they were slowly progressing to something beyond the normal genius level. His mana manipulation and resilience were constantly honed.


    Kayden began introducing some techniques of his own and from Han¡¯s book to them. Most were neutral mana, but each one was something special. The only problem was that Kayden preached that only perfection was acceptable. No one would gain any new technique without first showing complete mastery.


    At this point, everyone was able to reach the top of the mountain without difficulty, but with the increasing difficulty made by Kayden and Felix, they had to be very careful not to be removed from the mountain. Most were only able to get there one day a week for Kayden¡¯s classes and at the moment no one was able to go up alone. It would take at least a few years before they managed to get strong enough to climb on their own.


    Kayden didn¡¯t care much about his students. It would provide the basis for them to reach a good level, but if it wasn¡¯t enough, they would just leave it aside and try to leave this planet differently.


    "Father!" On a random day, Kayden was called out of his mountain by Astolfo. He hadn¡¯t seen his son for a long time.


    "Hello, Astolfo, what do you need?" Kayden left to see his son. In a way, he liked Astolfo.


    "I want your permission to get married. No! I want your blessing to support my relationship," Kayden was surprised and wondered how negligent he was this year that he didn¡¯t even notice his son¡¯s romantic involvement.


    "Introduce her to me, son, I have no problem, regardless of who it is," Kayden said the words sincerely. He didn¡¯t care enough about Astolfo to get into trouble over the relationship.


    "You know her, her name is Athena," the last part came out as a whisper through him. Even after decades, his father¡¯s presence was still intimidating to him. Kayden was surprised by Astolfo¡¯s speech.


    This was an involvement he hadn¡¯t expected in his wildest dreams. It was a relationship of very different worlds, but I had no problems with it I supported this relationship. Athena was a strong woman and would be able to leave this planet in the future. Furthermore, her current strength was enough to easily place her at the top of this world.


    "No problem son, I approve, just ask me to your wedding, and I¡¯ll make time to go," Kayden exchanged a few more words with his son and went back to training again. His strength buildup was slow but steady. It should only take him a year to reach the peak of the second level and then the remainder would be spent on training to maximize that level.


    A year later, his class finally started to feel the difference in their strength. Now they easily ranked in the top 30 of the academy without difficulty. It still wasn¡¯t anything surreal, but it showed that the training was being effective. Room number one was Athena¡¯s room, which remained undefeated for a long time. All of her students managed to learn elemental mana manipulation, moreover, the best ones were slowly migrating to her.


    Changing rooms was not prohibited and the best students constantly went to other rooms, only Kayden¡¯s had no change, in fact only two students left, but that was irrelevant to him.


    At this rate he would easily be able to enter the best and leave this planet through the elves¡¯ competition, the only problem was that this would happen much sooner than he expected, and his methods were far superior to those of most other teachers.


    This was because he had no fear of hurting his students and wearing them to the limit, if they couldn¡¯t handle it, it was just their weakness and didn¡¯t matter to him.


    Everything was going relatively well and Kayden didn¡¯t have any problems, after 1 year and a few months the first of them knocked on his door, and a teacher¡¯s assistant was waiting for Kayden at the base of the mountain.

 Chapter 285: Bruno

    "Teacher Kayden Heart, my boss is requesting a fight against you to verify your ability as a teacher. You claim that you do not have the necessary qualifications and should be removed from the academy." Kayden was surprised by the helper¡¯s speech.


    "Who is it?" he didn¡¯t show any feelings.


    "Bruno Keilypson, a fourth-level five-ray realm wizard," Kayden remembered Brunno as someone only at the third level, perhaps it was this advancement that gave him confidence.


    "Just give me the date and place. Furthermore, ask Bruno to prepare all his possessions and treasures to be passed on to me if he loses them. This must be done under contract. After that, notify me."


    Kayden didn¡¯t wait for the answer and went back to cultivating on his mountain. He didn¡¯t have to wait long, just three days later the same messenger returned with a date, a time and proof that Bruno signed the contract. It would be a week from now and open to all people in the elven kingdom. Bruno seemed to want to make this a big, highly promoted event. Kayden had nothing to fear, regardless of Brunno¡¯s strength, he was not capable of rivaling Kayden.


    Time passed quickly. During that week, all of his students expressed concerns about him. His teaching skills and patience made everyone like him. In addition to them, his son and Milena came to discuss their actions. Only Felix confidently accepted his decision.


    A week after the invitation, Kayden left the gym towards the kingdom¡¯s coliseum. As they were not a kingdom of many cities and people, they only had one coliseum in the city, but its capacity was for around 1 million people and extended to a few kilometers in range.


    Everyone was waiting. Bruno had already made his entrance to applause in the huge dome, only Kayden was missing. During the week, there were several publications of his name and others defaming Kayden as a professor who rose only through his contacts.


    After that day when Kayden treated him like dirt in front of hundreds of people who represented the peak of power in this world, his obsession with him increased to much greater degrees. At this moment, his reason was slightly clouded by his negative feelings. Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Won¡¯t this trash show up?" Bruno grumbled loudly to the crowd and his words were accompanied by mockery from the elves.


    Even though they were different races and different creations, all rational beings driven by feelings followed a common basis of herd-driven actions and collective feelings. A few seconds later, Kayden appeared in the skies and floated down. All conversations stopped for a few seconds and then came back with boos about Kayden. If there was one thing that elven culture valued, it was talent above all else, and someone who achieved the position of professor at the most coveted academy in the kingdom through nominations was the target of all their negative thoughts.


    Kayden didn¡¯t even flinch seeing this negative reception. His face was devoid of any emotion as he floated in the air unwaveringly and confidently. One of Kayden¡¯s students was cheering him on and was harshly reprimanded by his father.


    "Daddy! I¡¯m telling you, you¡¯re going to regret this." Only a few people were betting on Kayden at the betting stands.


    It was a very similar situation to the time he entered the academy centuries ago. Time passes and never comes back, but it is undeniable that history repeats itself. Kayden this time wasn¡¯t part of this bet, he simply didn¡¯t care about crumbs.


    "Good morning to all the elves present in my reign." The empress herself came to present the event, which, like it or not, was a high-level fight that took place a few times a decade. "Today we will face Professor Bruno and Professor Kayden, a wizard from the third realm and a wizard from the fourth realm." The empress pointed to each of them and let a judge begin to present the battle.


    A fully covered person stood in the center of the arena, his identity hidden by several layers of clothing. He appeared to be in the fourth realm as well and with enough strength to interfere in the battle if necessary.


    "The two gentlemen agreed to give all their possessions to each other and have a life-and-death fight. The two possessions were verified by our inspectors and are by the rules. The battle is a one-on-one fight without any external assistance or pre-programmed weapons. We will start in 1 minute."


    Kayden already expected something like this. He received the request for details of possessions the day before the battle. It wasn¡¯t anything very specific and he just put it on paper and signed a contract.


    When there were only a few seconds left, Kayden focused on the battle and left everything aside. Instantly, the moment it began, he pulled the mana of his entire spiritual sense into him.


    For the general public, who hadn¡¯t seen this before, they were left wide-eyed at the speed and amount of mana coming towards Kayden. Bruno didn¡¯t pay much attention to it. There was no point in having a lot of mana if you couldn¡¯t use it.


    At least that was Brunno¡¯s thinking. His ego was very high, he was literally at the absolute top of this world. While no one with six rays could ascend the realm, that changed when Kayden appeared.


    He spent centuries fighting the feeling of inferiority that spread over him and it appeared again when he was humiliated. This made his feelings take over him. For a year he just brooded and at one point he burst.


    All the basic elements gathered around Bruno, and his spells worked based on bringing together mana and elements and just using them in a pre-ready way to launch them with more force.


    Kayden conjured several pentagrams around him and dozens of aura slashes shot toward them and then toward Bruno. His casting speed was very fast and caused his opponent to have to go on the defensive first.


    Author¡¯s note: bonus chapter first as an apology for the other delay.

 Chapter 286: Bruno[2] B?NUS

    Meanwhile, his aura slashes continued falling by the dozens, and his lightning began to come as well. There was an absurd amount of attacks without stopping for even a second. Bruno still could defend himself and attack at the same time.


    The problem was that his attacks could not pass through Kayden¡¯s domain, they were simply transformed into absolutely nothing as soon as they crossed a few meters towards him.


    Brunno¡¯s spells were all ingenious and capable of dealing a lot of damage to ordinary opponents, but Kayden was not one of them. None of his attacks had enough strength to break Kayden¡¯s hold with brute force.


    He had much more technique than strength, something very different from Jasmin. The woman had enough technique and brute strength to break Kayden¡¯s hold and come very close to taking his life.


    "That¡¯s it? How pathetic," Kayden blurted out at one point during the fight. It seemed like a cheap provocation, but it was exactly what he was feeling, a dull fight.


    Bruno was still a good fighter and didn¡¯t lose his cool, but he intensified his attacks and began preparing his finishing moves. Around him, a tornado formed, carrying all four elements.


    It was something beautiful that no one had ever seen before. The elements rotated in the air with perfection and harmony, without any of them touching. Without hesitation, the wizard threw him at Kayden. S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    As soon as it touched Kayden¡¯s domain, it was instantly broken by the clash with all the elements. It was a spectacular thing to see. For every second in contact with the tornado, dozens of spells of different elements were released.


    This showed a degree of familiarity with each high-level element. There were flames of different types, earth in different states, the wind was thrown into cuts and walls, practically a little of everything.


    Kayden cast a huge pentagram below him and prepared a beam with area damage characteristics. The strength of his attack would also be ridiculously high, especially after he placed two more pentagrams and threw the lightning at them.


    BOOOM! The entire stadium shook from the contact between the two spells. A ridiculously tall cloud of dust rose and covered everyone¡¯s vision. The barrier that held back the attack residue had to be supported by the empress.


    A few seconds later, the dust cleared, revealing Kayden intact and Bruno holding a clump of flesh where his left arm should have been. His countenance was pale and fear was visible in his eyes.


    "You are excellent at everything, all your elements are perfect together, but I already told you last time, right? You are not the master of the elements, you are simply the master of nothing", Kayden said dryly and continued playing dozens of spells.


    He wouldn¡¯t take this fight seriously and pull out his katana, he would just bury the wizard with offensive spells until his defense broke. Now and then he would launch a strong attack like before, the problem was that without Bruno being focused on attacking too, it wouldn¡¯t have as much effect.


    Dozens of pentagrams appeared and disappeared around him every second, he had no break between his spells. Bruno even tried to counterattack, but it was useless.


    Bruno was one of the strongest mages to ever walk the earth and, at the same time, one of the weakest at the top. His knowledge of different types of elements meant that he did not have time to truly specialize in any.


    Kayden launched three pentagrams and lightning at high speed at Brunno, this was one of the fastest high-speed attacks in his arsenal. Bruno instantly went into absolute defensive and closed himself in a bubble with four elements around him.


    The attack broke her at the cost of her very existence. Bruno, for a second, felt triumphant for holding off the attack without spending much mana, but his countenance fell as several dozen aurae slash continued to rain down on him.


    "Fight like a¡­", Bruno was going to shout a typical phrase, but Kayden interrupted him. "Mage? Die quietly and spare me your barking." Kayden again threw dozens of pentagrams and aura slashes passed through them. Kayden just wanted to get this over with quickly, but he wouldn¡¯t give the death of a warrior to a worm-like Bruno.


    Bruno released another one of his best spells, a ball with the four elements that, upon coming into contact with Kayden¡¯s domain, easily passed through him as if it were nothing. It was extremely compact and stable.


    Kayden looked at the ball and thought of all the possibilities. In the end, he made the less risky decision and launched a destructive beam attack augmented with some pentagrams. The ball hit his attack head-on and managed to get past him in an impressive display of resilience.


    "That was unexpected", Kayden commented and then launched another lightning attack combined with his pentagrams. This time, the bubble broke and launched hundreds of different attacks at Kayden from a ridiculously close distance.


    "Shit," he had to pull all the mana in the region into him and increase the strength of his domain by several layers. The amount of spells was simply spectacular. At that moment, Bruno was showing that he didn¡¯t have five rays for anything.


    Kayden had his domain destroyed several times, but the amount of mana he had available was very large. This allowed him to place dozens of wear barriers and dilate the surrounding mana.


    The spells didn¡¯t stop coming out for about five minutes, and Kayden had to spend 50% of all available mana for the spells to stop coming out. When he calmed down, he saw Bruno desperately trying to gather mana on the other side.


    "A good spell," Kayden commented before placing dozens of pentagrams in front of him and resuming his attacks without stopping. Brunno¡¯s barriers were no longer as strong and durable as before. Kayden took this opportunity to press even harder, launching attacks with even more intensity and frequency.

 Chapter 287: A good teacher

    Kayden had his domain destroyed several times, but the amount of mana he had available was very large. This allowed him to place dozens of wear barriers and dilate the surrounding mana.


    The spells didn¡¯t stop coming out for about five minutes, and Kayden had to spend 50% of all available mana for the spells to stop coming out. When he calmed down, he saw Bruno desperately trying to gather mana on the other side.


    "A good spell," Kayden commented before placing dozens of pentagrams in front of him and resuming his attacks without stopping. Brunno¡¯s barriers were no longer as strong and durable as before. Every minute, an attack would pass through the barrier and cause Brunno to suffer some damage. At first, they were just thin, weak cuts that did not pose any harm to Brunno¡¯s evolved body.


    Kayden¡¯s attacks were intended to make the mage slowly lose hope and fall into despair. Everyone could see that it was only a matter of time before Bruno died. Kayden¡¯s critics fell silent, and an eerie silence dominated the entire space as everyone watched a wizard face someone from an entire kingdom above him.


    Paradigms were being broken in front of millions of people, and this transmission would gain global proportions. Once again, Kayden¡¯s name would spread to every corner of planet Earth.


    "Come on, Bruno. React! You can do better", Kayden said mockingly, and the wizard began to despair when he realized that he was going to lose. There was no way to run, as the residual damage protection bubble functioned both to protect the public and to trap the participants inside. He had no escape. With each minute, his emotions became darker.


    "Let¡¯s negotiate!" he shouted at Kayden, leaving his honor aside. His only response was a mocking laugh, and Bruno lost all consideration that the elven race had for him. At this moment, he was complete trash in the eyes of the elves.


    "Please, I have many techniques I can offer," Bruno pleaded, but Kayden did not respond. He continued throwing his attacks, pushing Brunno towards a precipice of depression and hopelessness.


    "I can accept living as a slave!" shouted Bruno desperately. Kayden felt disgusted with him on a completely heightened level.


    "You don¡¯t even deserve the dignity of dying like a man, like a wizard who reached the top. You¡¯re nothing but trash," Kayden said coldly, placing three pentagrams in front of him and launching a destructive beam to wipe everything out at once.


    The first attack didn¡¯t kill Bruno, it just broke his barrier completely. But the next one destroyed his entire body into pieces, and the next one completely burned any remnant of his existence.


    A silence hung in the air as the elves and all the invited races witnessed a human break an entire kingdom and triumph in spectacular fashion. Even the administrator, who already knew Kayden¡¯s strength, was surprised.


    It was an absolute massacre. Bruno had no chance from the start. Kayden was at a level of strength where even those an entire kingdom above him posed no danger to his existence. The mages capable of killing him below the fifth realm could probably be counted on one hand.


    "The winner of the match is Kayden Heart, and he receives all of his opponent¡¯s assets," the empress¡¯s voice announced. In the arena, only a few dozen voices cheered, but these shouted enough for thousands.


    The betting discrepancy meant that even those who entered with just a few coins walked away with a ridiculously large amount. The crazy people and dreamers who entered with thousands came out millionaires.


    Kayden didn¡¯t look at anyone as he levitated into the air and left under the gaze of millions of people. A new legend was born in the elven world, and Kayden¡¯s morals were raised to new heights. If before he was just a teacher, now he was a national idol.


    Two years later, Kayden managed to maximize his second level and advance easily. This time, he was half a year faster than expected, all because of the techniques he studied from Merlin¡¯s book.


    His progress seemed rapid, but on the outside of this planet, it could be considered mediocre at best by true geniuses. However, the techniques he received were on a completely different level.


    He realized that the way mana was manipulated was much more efficient than what he had previously learned. Their class had already risen a lot in the general classification, and practically all of them developed their fighting style, boosting their strength to another level.


    Unfortunately, they had not yet reached the top 5 as most had advanced to the second realm. Kayden was the only teacher who banned his students from advancing. One of them broke his orders and was harshly thrown out of the room, making everyone realize that Kayden was as strict as he was kind.


    "Why do we need to spend so much time training in the same realm? We are losing and being humiliated, in two years we will be the last class and we will become ridiculous in the eyes of elven society", Lucas questioned freely to Kayden freely during one of his open classes.


    Kayden sat in a rocking chair while his students balanced on just a strand of mana a few feet above the ground. Those who fell or had their thread broken received Kayden¡¯s punishment, a combination of spells that shaved off all body hair and then caused some physical pain.


    "Have you ever asked yourselves why you want strength?" Kayden was talking more to himself than to his students. S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I want to protect my family!"


    "I just want fame and power!"


    "I want glory for my lineage!"


    Several different answers, without falsehood, were given. Most teachers might condemn some of them, but they all learned that Kayden had very questionable ethics and morals and preferred the truth in every situation, even if it wasn¡¯t pretty.


    "All of these are futile reasons. If I kill your parents, you won¡¯t be able to protect them and, consequently, you will end up declining in strength. Glory? This will just be forgotten over time. Money? Women? Treasures? All of this can be taken away from you. These are things that won¡¯t get them anywhere."


    The class was all silent as they listened to Kayden¡¯s words. He would often give them a life lesson, and oddly enough, they always fit perfectly into the context in which everyone lived.


    "The reason must be yourselves. Seek strength for yourselves, seek power for your ego, for your happiness. This is the only thing that will give them the strength to continue fighting the current."


    "What is the current?" again Lucas asked. He had no family and always raised himself alone. Kayden¡¯s lessons absorbed him like a sponge absorbs water.


    "Mediocrity. Look around you. How many people out there follow the same technique as you? How many have the same habits as you? Few? Lots of? It doesn¡¯t matter. You are currently towards mediocrity. The true source is at the beginning of the river and not at the end."


    "We are not a current, professor. We all have strong techniques that, if placed in the second realm, would dominate this academy", expressed his opinion, Lucas.


    "You are like frogs stuck in a well right now. What¡¯s the point of being the best in the gym? This is just one place of thousands of others throughout the universe. You may be the 1% of the population, but you are not the 1% of the 1%. This is what you should seek. Reach the true peak of the first realm, and maximize everything. Your techniques must be authorial, your cultivation method must be authorial. Have enough strength to rise above everyone, and at the moment you are not capable of that."


    "But why should we try for years? What if in the end we don¡¯t achieve anything relevant and just waste time?" This was the fear of the majority, and the person who expressed this doubt was another student. Lucas didn¡¯t have that fear.


    "I only spent 15 years in the apprentice realm and advanced to ridiculous strength that allowed me to jump several levels even against geniuses. I didn¡¯t even spend 10 years on the first level and obtained even more ridiculous strength that allowed me to destroy anyone at my level."


    At that moment, everyone thought that Kayden was being a hypocrite by moving forward so quickly and leaving them waiting for so long. Everyone still had a big ego for being the best in their society, literally frogs in a well.


    "But¡­ I spent about 250 years in the second realm," Kayden¡¯s sentence made some fall off their threads in disbelief. That was a long time, a long time. "And I achieved a strength that puts me on top of this world even with people a kingdom above mine. Perfection cannot be rushed. I never asked how many lightning bolts each of you has, but for this event, everyone must get at least five, ideally six," Kayden ended the class there and punished those who fell.

 Chapter 288: Special invite

    His goal was quite unrealistic. Probably more than half of his group had achieved five lightning bolts in the first realm, but none had the potential for six. That was until he arrived, with his imbued training and outside techniques, anything was possible.


    Furthermore, elven society had several techniques and cultivations superior to those of humanity. Six-ray mages were in Athena¡¯s first-ranked room. Five rays were common and four rays were the minimum for this academy. S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Unlike humanity, they already came with techniques and methods proven by millennia of use. It was something completely different. Humanity only began to develop rapidly in recent centuries thanks to the flood of new techniques.


    A few weeks later, the administrator called Kayden and all the other teachers into a peculiar space. Above the academy, there was a forest hidden above the clouds.


    As soon as everyone arrived, the forest opened up, revealing a clearing in its center. There were hundreds of chairs and sofas waiting for teachers. Kayden didn¡¯t hesitate to sit down in one and start helping himself with tea and some appetizing food.


    A few minutes later, everyone was in their seats and waiting for the administrator. As if he had been observing everything during this entire period, he appeared sitting next to Kayden. Most were surprised by his sudden appearance in their spiritual senses, but Kayden already knew it would happen.


    This entire forest was part of the administrator¡¯s body. Kayden just sat where he felt the highest level of mana, it was probably the place where he had his core. This different shape made Kayden wonder how many rays the director had gotten. Probably six, that was the ceiling for all normal people.


    Kayden had already understood that this was the turning point. Like it or not, seven rays gave you the potential to become a god and that should be something extremely rare. Once Kayden left the third realm, he would need to look for ways to reach other worlds. He no longer could give his opponents strong enough to train with. It would be practically useless.


    "Good afternoon everyone, I called you here because it opened up a unique opportunity for exchange between the eleven academies. The rules are simple, the ten strongest teachers can take one student each. We will have a process of individual fights for those classified", the administrator was about to continue talking when Kayden sent him a secret message.


    "Assume there are only nine vacancies and I will accept that as a favor to me and consequently to Merlin in the future", Kayden freely used his support as a bargaining method.


    The administrator was quiet for a few seconds as he thought. Quickly, he chose to accept Kayden¡¯s bribe. He knew the boy would get the position one way or another, but he still played dumb.


    "Sorry, there are only 9 spots. A special invitation was made by Professor Kayden. Sorry for this mistake, let¡¯s continue with the process..." Kayden stopped paying attention as soon as he got what he wanted and started cultivating.


    The royal family would not mind this corrupt factor that happened as they also received some invitations. It was practically their joint gain and in the end, they were only in this world temporarily.


    Over the next few minutes, several teachers began to face each other in the air. There were several high-level battles taking place. Athena was ridiculously strong, but she couldn¡¯t go head-to-head against some of the teachers.


    The academy had several retired teachers who only taught some specific classes without necessarily having any classes in their responsibilities. Many of them came from outside this planet and had superior techniques and a high amount of lightning.


    Probably the lightning count on the earth about the outside was one level different. This meant that someone with five rays on the outside could balance the fight with someone with six rays on the inside, all because of the difference in quality between the techniques.


    Kayden was slowly converting to the methods he received from Merlin, but it was complex and took a long time. At the moment, he had only achieved something around 50%. The biggest difficulty was because he was learning everything on his own.


    "Where exactly are we going?" Kayden asked the administrator at a random time.


    "We will go to the headquarters of the elven academies on our home planet," then they would leave the planet. Kayden was excited about this idea. Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t ask anything else relevant as the administrator was under a heavy contract restriction.


    "What is the language of the place where we are going?" Kayden tried to squeeze out some more information.


    "The same as ours. This is the universal language that Merlin gave for this solar system," Kayden was surprised for a moment and then recognized that it made sense.


    The god was probably the first living and rational being in this entire space. Kayden thought of two options: he evolved from nothing and made this entire empire, or there was life beyond this constellation. By his intuition, he would say it was the second option.


    It took about 10 hours for all the teachers to be selected. Kayden didn¡¯t know any of the nine. He never socialized in all his years at the gym.


    "Congratulations to all those classified. You will leave in three days with me. Everyone has the right to take a student of their choice, that¡¯s all. Family members are not allowed. In three days, come back here at the first ray of sunlight", with everyone dispersed.


    Kayden already knew exactly who he would choose. Only one student had caught his attention in this entire period, and it was none other than Lucas. He just sent an assistant to tell the boy to go to the base of the mountain in the early hours of the morning.


    As he did not have access to any type of information about where they were going, Kayden only had the option of continuing to cultivate diligently. The process of advancement was taking time, but it would be worth it in the end.


    Three days later, Lucas presented himself at the base of the mountain and waited for Kayden to leave. He still didn¡¯t know why he was there, but as soon as he left, he understood everything through Kayden¡¯s words. His once affection for his teacher turned to adoration.


    The two took to the skies and in a few seconds, they reached where the huge forest should be. In its place, there was a ship that looked like it came out of a movie. It was gigantic and easily a kilometer wide, a complete metal monster.


    "Come in," the admin texted Kayden. The two floated closer and reached the top of the ship. It had an entrance similar to a well. After descending for a few seconds, they found themselves in a huge blank space.


    "Don¡¯t move, it¡¯s just the washing process. We don¡¯t want unknown diseases traveling between planets", the two heard a voice through a loudspeaker and felt the room filling with a white liquid that burned their skin slightly.


    It was a kind of general vaccine liquid that recognized all recorded diseases and quickly killed them within seconds directly in the host¡¯s DNA. Kayden felt this because he noticed himself inside his body.


    "Three illnesses eliminated in the teacher and 14 in the student," Kayden was surprised, he didn¡¯t remember being sick. "Don¡¯t worry, they are planetary microorganisms that only the Earth has. You are resistant to them, but other planets are not," Kayden understood the situation.


    He had studied immunology and understood that beings evolved as they went through a situation or disease and even if they were harmless to them, when these microorganisms encountered unprepared immune systems they could cause real damage.


    This attitude was made with the weakest sections of the population in mind, especially children who had not yet cultivated enough to be able to break this barrier of diseases.


    As soon as the liquid subsided, a door opened in the wall, and the two were able to leave. Outside they found a small town with some buildings and leisure spaces. It was a really big space, you could practically live in there for years.


    "Professor Kayden, welcome to our ship. I¡¯m Vice Captain Kat. Everything is free and you just need to ask one of the employees. We have some other people who came from previous planets and we ask that you maintain order. You have a room in the main hotel, it is in the center. If you have any questions, ask local officials. Have a good trip," the vice-captain then left before Kayden responded.


    Without wasting any time, he headed towards the main hotel. It wasn¡¯t difficult to find the building entirely made of navy blue glass in the center of the nave. Kayden identified himself and went towards his room.


    "You can go out and do whatever you want. The trip should last around 7 days. Try not to get killed or kill anyone, otherwise do whatever you want", Kayden said to Lucas and sat down on the bed to cultivate.

 Chapter 289: The new planet

    He wouldn¡¯t even move a finger for the next seven days and would just silently cultivate around here. The ship was extremely fast to make the trip, but it was still geared towards comfort rather than speed.


    Kayden disconnected from the world while Lucas went out to get to know the environment a little. He was never afraid of discovering the unknown and now it would be no different. The city was packed with dozens of people.


    Employees identified themselves by wearing specific blue clothing, which made it easier for Lucas to understand the services available there. Something he noticed was the huge amount of slaves present. On Earth, they had not yet become popular and were something that only the richest had access to, so this was rare to see. Every slave was identified with a collar around their neck, some who were destined for more sociable places had a bracelet.


    It didn¡¯t take long for Lucas to be identified as someone from planet Earth, as this was the God Merlin¡¯s latest acquisition and only Earthlings would be as inexperienced as him.


    Fortunately for the boy, the group that found him first were some princes from one of the planets furthest from the sun and they were very friendly and calm. They just invited him to drink and talk about his life on planet Earth.


    Without any clich¨¦s, this was a very peaceful trip. Kayden spent the seven days just cultivating and was woken up by a message from the administrator in his mind, asking him to join the other teachers outside.


    They were all in a room that would just open the ceiling to let them out. The detail is that it was transparent and it was possible to see that they were entering a completely green planet, without any sign of the sea, something very different from what Kayden expected.


    "You are all free to do whatever you want here, but you only need to attend the last 3 days of the event. We will stay for six months. I highly recommend that you try to go to as many talks and events as you can," the administrator threw a card to each person in the group. "Use this card to buy necessary things, don¡¯t go overboard."


    After that, the administrator simply remained silent, and within a few seconds, he jumped out of the aircraft as the roof opened. Kayden didn¡¯t wait even two seconds before pulling Lucas with him and jumping as well.


    An entirely green world opened up to him. The clouds had a light blue color, very different from Earth, similar to the way it was portrayed in some children¡¯s drawings. Furthermore, the mana density there was ridiculously high, at least 100 times greater than on Earth.


    Below them was a huge floating city, and when it says huge, it was bizarrely huge, reaching over 10 10,000 kilometers in length. It was all perfectly wooded and had houses and buildings in different styles. The color green and blue predominated throughout the space.


    Kayden was a little lost on what to do and decided to just float down with Lucas in some random place and look for information, but before he could do anything, he felt a spiritual sense stick to him and Lucas.


    Automatically, he broke the spiritual sense and prevented it from getting any meter away from him. Then he looked at the owner a few dozen meters away. It was a pot-bellied elf with about five teenagers around him.


    The pot-bellied elf carried a barrel that seemed to contain some type of drink, and he also had red hair, something very different from the usual elven appearance. The teenagers around him followed the same hair pattern. The difference was that they had normal bodies and were not completely disproportionate. Kayden stared at them for a few seconds and measured their strength. Instantly, he was ready to use Merlin¡¯s button when he saw that the pot-bellied man was in the sixth realm.


    "Lucas!" One of the teenagers shouted and walked over-friendly. "Come with us, you can bring your friend along, we are going directly to the academic city", recognizing that they were friends.


    "Hello, Jonathan, this is my master Kayden. I¡¯ll let him decide what to do," Lucas was polite but recognized Kayden¡¯s power, something these teenagers didn¡¯t do. They were all in the third realm and did not place Kayden in their eyes.


    This was because of Kayden¡¯s age, anyone with some life experience could feel the age of other magicians regardless of their appearance and Kayden looked like someone who lived several centuries, very different from them, in a way it showed that his talent was low.


    "Come on mister Kayden! come drink with me and we¡¯ll let the kids play alone "The fat man tried to get over Kayden¡¯s aura and pull him with his mana, but unfortunately for him, Kayden wasn¡¯t normal and easily broke his harmless pull.


    " Lucas, who are they?" Kayden asked calmly, but inside he was ready to press the button at the slightest sign of attack, his sense for killing intent was sharp and capable of detecting any movement, until now the fat man just seemed annoyed by the delay.


    "I found them on the master ship, they teach me about the tree we are in" he paused "Ah! I forgot to tell you this, this planet is a world tree that has been dead for many centuries, they are very nice and welcomed me" Kayden reduced his animosity a little, in addition, his sixth sense said that they were trustworthy.


    "Very well, we will go with you, thank you for your hospitality, Lucas try to learn something from them, they all have six rays and are only 50 years old." Kayden read each one of them like an open book and they were surprised, but they didn¡¯t show it.


    No matter how hard they tried, they couldn¡¯t say anything about Kayden other than his age and this information came mainly from the fat man, the stand only saw a young man floating in the air and no information. Kayden floated towards the fat man and left the teenagers alone below.


    "Hello elder, I pay my respects," Kayden said respectfully, the fat man came out of his thoughts with Kayden¡¯s approach and resumed his friendly air.


    " Hello Kayden, just call me Gragas, have some mead for our relationship to flourish" he took out a giant mug from his space ring and handed it to Kayden "It is a good custom on my planet to give drinks as a way of establishing a friendship" in fact drinking wasn¡¯t something everyone did on their home planet.


    Gragas was extremely friendly with everyone he met, he was constantly drunk and this was apparent in his slurred and cheerful speech, his high realm did not make him arrogant, something very different from usual. Kayden took out a wine that he took from the abyss and handed it to Gragas.


    "I don¡¯t think it¡¯s something your taste buds approve of, but it¡¯s the best drink I have" The fat man smiled and.... drank the bottle in just one gulp, let out a big burp, and hit his belly.


    "strong and bitter, it goes down your throat, it feels like I¡¯m drinking sis, my final rating is 5 out of 10" When the teenagers heard this they let out an exclamation of surprise.


    "He hardly gives more than two points for any drink " Jhonatan explained to Lucas and the others, he was the one closest to the fat man. "your master seems to be special, Gragas says this is a good sign"


    "My master... is unique ." Lucas had no words to describe Kayden. History is a big wheel that repeats itself, this was the same sentence that Kayden said about Sasaki, in this case, he called Astolfo¡¯s master unique at the time.


    Kayden tasted the mead and felt all the taste buds in his mouth expressing the sweetest flavor of his life at the same time, it was something addictive and Kayden downed the bottle in just one sip too, that amount would turn any man into a drunk. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Even those with special spells and unique bodies would enter a state of intoxication, this was because of the way the drink was fermented using high concentrations of pure mana in the ingredients, but for Kayden it meant nothing.


    His total control over his body easily meant that he could suppress the symptoms of drunkenness directly by preventing his body from absorbing the alcohol, the mead would only be degraded and destroyed within his body.


    "wow... that was impressive " the fat man slapped Kayden on the back and laughed loudly, this little feat ed Kayden raise him several steps in his vision. "let¡¯s go, my family has a house around here"


    "Who exactly are you Gragas?" Kayden asked as they flew down the path.


    "We are the royal family of the planet Pandora, the planet number 17 on the power scale, more specifically the majestic Helvers" Gragas expected a reaction from Kayden and soon realized that these were just names for him "We have potential god at the peak of the kingdom mortal and three elders in the ninth realm" now Kayden expressed surprise.

 Chapter 290: Privilege test

    Once again, Kayden realized how new he was to the universe and didn¡¯t understand the true power dynamics. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I see. Are you their teacher by any chance?" Kayden tried to keep the conversation focused on obtaining information.


    "Yeah, I don¡¯t have much talent as I spend most of my time drinking and living life," Gragas laughed as if judging those who don¡¯t do the same. "But they are talented, my charisma brings together only the best," he gave Kayden a wink and the boy had to admit it was true. "But tell me a little about yourself, who exactly is Kayden?"


    Kayden found himself surprised by this question. He was keeping the conversation just about Gragas and was caught off guard. He didn¡¯t take long to organize a small presentation summarizing everything he wanted to express.


    "I am Kayden Heart, I have no titles, I just possess my strength and live as an eternal learner," Kayden liked how that sounded. Gragas was surprised by Kayden¡¯s humility, even more so considering that he could feel the total truth in the sentence.


    "How did you end up here then? You¡¯re a little weak for your age, Kayden, no offense", the words in Gragas¡¯ voice were light and even though it seemed like an insult, he had no intention of causing any disagreement.


    "Chances of life, Gragas, just coincidences," Kayden replied, changing the subject shortly afterward. "Can you explain to me how this event works and what I should try to look for here?" that was one of the main points for Kayden.


    "It¡¯s called the universal quest for elven knowledge, in short just the Quest, you already have the registration automatically, you just need to go to the headquarters to get your access key corresponding to your level of strength or knowledge", the fat man showed a ring with a red ruby on it. "This ring shows that I am on the fourth level of privilege, they will ask you for a small proof and give you something similar."


    Gragas stopped talking as they dodged a huge houseboat. As soon as they passed her, Kayden felt his entire body being scanned, but it was so quick that he only felt a shiver.


    This was a control house, there were dozens around the perimeter of the city constantly checking people. In each of them, there was a seventh kingdom monster ready to act upon any threat.


    "With it, you can search for lectures and places open exclusively for the event. There are thousands and they are all cataloged in an annual book. There are exams, lectures, demonstration events, dissemination of discoveries, practically a big academic event", Kayden was more relieved that he asked the administrator for a favor every second.


    "What do lecturers get paid? They shouldn¡¯t work for free, should they?"


    "Everyone gets academic points that they can use to access higher knowledge. Unfortunately, they don¡¯t give drinks in these rewards," Gragas took a large gulp of mead as he remembered any mention of alcohol.


    "As a newbie in this world, what should I avoid? Are there any local rules?" Kayden asked once again for vital information. Gragas rubbed his belly before responding.


    "Don¡¯t look for enemies, anyone here could practically crush your entire planet. Read the local rules," Gragas tossed a small booklet to Kayden titled The Basic Laws for Unsuspecting Aliens. "Other than that, just stick with the young ones, the knowledge they will seek should be useful to you," Gragas stopped talking as they began to descend over the incredible aqua-green clouds.


    The landscape that opened up to them was a huge area with blue grass growing high on the ground. It had a few dozen small buildings. Each of them extended a few hundred meters below the ground. Its design was unique, with huge windows in each space and trees growing on the buildings¡¯ balconies. The color of the building was a light blue that contrasted with the grass everywhere. There wasn¡¯t even a car or transportation like that.


    Gragas took them to one of the buildings furthest from the others. It followed the same pattern, the only difference was that the trees that grew on the balconies had the predominant blue color, no other building had anything like that.


    "I will have to leave for a few days, but you should be fine with the young people. They have a good character and will help you both during these days. You can register your student as your dependent and take him with you to classes." Good luck, Kayden, and if you see any good drinks, buy them for me", the fat man¡¯s last sentence was slurred as he disappeared into thin air.


    Kayden didn¡¯t have time to think about what to do, as the five teenagers caught up to him along with Lucas. The six seemed to be on good terms with the friendship of those who had known each other for years.


    "Kayden, come with us, I¡¯ll show you how it works," Jonathan took the lead and called Kayden an equal, something Kayden didn¡¯t mind, he had no ego. The young man floated to one of the balconies with an open window. "As soon as you enter a balcony, you will be redirected to one of the available rooms. You can leave your things there and when you return they will be placed in a new room in the same way", the young man explained simply and jumped inside. a balcony, disappearing from everyone¡¯s sight.


    Kayden didn¡¯t hesitate and jumped too. Before he could blink, he found himself in a luxurious room measuring a few dozen square meters. It was practically a fully furnished apartment, complete with a bedroom, kitchen, and a thermal pool.


    "Amazing," Kayden couldn¡¯t help but mutter as the balcony remained in his view. This was a masterpiece of space magic in his layman¡¯s conception, at least that was his best bet. As soon as he stepped out onto the balcony, he found himself floating in front of the building again.


    The five teenagers were already floating in the air, only Lucas hadn¡¯t returned yet. The boy must have been amazed on the other side and checking everything in the apartment, as well as leaving his things tidy.


    "Kayden, I don¡¯t think we¡¯ve introduced ourselves yet. This here is Kolpin Helvers," Kayden pointed to one of the elves who was barely 4 feet tall. He had red hair and a thin body, his eyes were deep blue.


    "This is Cleopatra Helvers," he pointed to a woman who was dressed sensually in a skintight black dress that showed off every curve of her body. Her red hair and white skin contrasted with her clothes.


    "This is Bianca Helvers," he pointed to another woman, this one relatively normal and wearing heavy, baggy clothes that looked extremely comfortable. "And this other one is Jennifer", the last woman was very muscular and appeared to have a completely defined and attractive physique, her muscles were proportional to her feminine beauty.


    "And I¡¯m Jonathan Helvers," everyone greeted Kayden with a few words or a nod. They were good people, their features of red hair and dark blue eyes made it clear that they were all related.


    "Hello everyone, it¡¯s a pleasure to meet you. I¡¯m Kayden Heart," his tone was friendly and calm, furthermore, a smile on his face made him seem quite friendly. Without a doubt, Kayden had mastered the art of simulation.


    "Wow! What an incredible place and this magic is even more impressive!" Lucas came out looking like a country bumpkin who was going to the city for the first time and seeing something different, a normal reaction considering the circumstances.


    "We are the Helvers. Our house in the capital is the most luxurious", Bianca responded, in a tone of pride. The others nodded in agreement.


    "Let¡¯s go to the academy administration building so you can get your keys, then we¡¯ll decide what we do," Jonathan was the leader of the group and took charge of the situation. They started flying in one direction upon his orders.


    Kayden only interacted lightly with the group. He had to admit that he had lost the habit of being sociable over the years. Meanwhile, Lucas continued talking to them in a cheerful tone.


    "You must obtain the first level privilege with your current strength, even if it is little it will still give you a lot of knowledge. Plus, we can take them to third-level lectures," Jennifer explained to the two sympathetically.


    Within a few minutes, a huge building appeared in everyone¡¯s vision. It was probably the biggest building Kayden had ever seen in his entire life, a building at least a dozen kilometers long was in front of him. They were out of town at the time.


    The building followed a completely random pattern with houses and buildings standing out in different positions. Furthermore, there were several trees of different colors everywhere, decorating the environment bathed in different colors.

 Chapter 291: Privilege test

    This disorganization and chaos was because each elven dynasty had the right to a space within this building, and there were hundreds of them. Only a few planets had total rule by just one elven kingdom. For example, the earth of Gragas shared space with 23 other elven dynasties. Their planet was completely gigantic and could do so, but they were still the dominant ones on that planet.


    "Hello, gentlemen and ladies. What do you need for today?" A robotic voice appeared on a speaker as soon as they got closer to the city.


    "We want the privilege test," as soon as Jonathan gave the command, Kayden and Lucas¡¯ jaws dropped when they saw a black portal open in front of them. The royals jumped at him directly, and Kayden and Lucas followed suit.


    Similar to entering the balcony, they found themselves in a huge coliseum instantly. Instead of bleachers, there were just large spaces with people waiting to be called. In the center of the arena, nothing could be seen other than a large expanse of sand.


    Jonathan and the others took out chairs from their space rings and sat down. Kayden followed suit and pulled out a couch for him and Lucas; it seemed like the process was automatic.


    "You just need to wait a few minutes and you will be called. There are two types of tests, strength and knowledge. In the first, you will fight against a dummy from your kingdom, and your performance will be evaluated as his strength grows. In knowledge, you will have to solve problems of mana using spells or creating new spells. That¡¯s the hardest one and I don¡¯t recommend it because of where you guys came from," Bianca explained in just one breath.


    "What is the relationship between the strength of the dummy and the privileges?" Kayden asked directly before the girl continued talking like a crazy person.


    "Up to the fifth level of your realm, you receive rank one privileges. Between six and nine it¡¯s rank two; at the peak of your realm, it¡¯s rank three. But they have a weight relative to your age in the realm you¡¯re in. Furthermore, realm skipping is a level four perk directly."


    Kayden quickly understood that privileges were difficult to achieve. Since the dummy should be configured to the strength of a normal person in the off-earth universe, Lucas probably wouldn¡¯t even be able to get out of the first level of privilege, while Kayden should be able to balance between the third and fourth levels.


    His techniques converted to Merlin¡¯s methods raised his strength to a monstrous level and, even if they were not complete yet, the quality of Merlin¡¯s methods filled the missing gap.


    "He was chosen first," Jennifer explained when she saw Kayden¡¯s surprise when Lucas disappeared from her side without him even being able to react.


    "Kayden, how many lightning bolts exactly did you get? I can¡¯t detect it in you," Kolpin asked Kayden in surprise. The elf was extremely studious and hated mysteries. Kayden¡¯s response further disappointed his expectations.


    "Only four rays," the remainder that placed Kayden over his eyes automatically lowered them in his mind. Even so, they would still treat him the same as anyone else on the same level as them.


    No one had time to respond before Kayden disappeared. The boy found himself inside a small square world of a few tens of meters. In front of him was an old man with a notebook and sitting on a chair.


    "Which method?" He seemed to be doing this work on purpose and was extremely dry.


    "Strength," Kayden replied without a care in the world. Then, a mannequin appeared in front of him, exuding no kind of aura. It just looked like lifeless material, but even so, it started moving towards Kayden at high speed.


    In fact, not that high, it was only at the first level of the third realm. Kayden felt like he was fighting a child. Just a pentagram and an aura cut were enough to split the puppet into two halves.


    "I would like to directly start with one at the peak of the third realm," his line was instantly recognized, and a puppet of that magnitude appeared in front of him. As soon as he started running against Kayden, the boy felt like it would be a good fight.


    His aura slashes and lightning attacks were easily deflected by the puppet. Furthermore, he attacked using several different elements and spells. Fortunately, Kayden¡¯s dominance was able to prevent most from getting close to him.


    "This is going to be fun," Kayden muttered when he noticed a small detail that changed all his predictions: the amount of mana he could use here... was completely insane.


    Such a ridiculous amount of mana came at his command that he began to believe it was infinite, even the old man raised his head when he saw the amount. It wasn¡¯t something normal. His first thoughts were that the mage in front of him was going to kill himself with mana.


    Kayden was oblivious to all these thoughts as he experienced a feeling of ecstasy. His usual three-layer pentagrams were instantly opened into nine, three times more than before.


    It only seemed that the mana expenditure increased by three times as well, but it was a much greater expenditure, practically 30 times greater, as the stacked pentagrams spent more and more mana to enter into resonance. S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The strongest aura slash Kayden had ever unleashed in his entire life came out at high speed, breaking each of the pentagrams and absorbing their strength. As soon as he passed the ninth, he...


    "Got it," Kayden muttered as he saw his attack shatter in mid-air. He had missed the goal of the ninth pentagram. Even under the robot¡¯s constant attack and pursuit, he remade his spell as he ran.


    This time, the nine pentagrams worked correctly. The latter was intended to protect his attack from frictional forces, be it the air or the surrounding mana. The force he was releasing was very great and broke with the air itself, so strong was its impact on the system.


    The doll placed several barriers of different elements around it, but Kayden¡¯s attack broke them all as if they were made of Styrofoam. Only the sound of breaking glass could be heard.


    His attack was severely obstructed by the barriers, and when he reached the doll, he took off one of its arms easily, with only the residue of his attack. Kayden didn¡¯t have seven rays for nothing and he showed it at that moment.


    "Pretentious," the old man muttered as he saw Kayden visibly relaxing. He took this as a sign of the boy giving up. He probably tried to use all his strength in just one attack. The old man¡¯s surprise was when Kayden again gathered mana and launched the same attack.


    This was repeated three more times in a row before the doll was even able to formulate a defense or attack in response. Within seconds, the dummy was destroyed into pieces, and only Kayden was left.


    "Send me the one from the fourth kingdom," Kayden expected to face a real challenge now. He would probably have to use all his strength in this fight. A new doll was placed in front of him, and its strength was much greater than the previous one.


    As soon as he exploded forward speed, Kayden had to activate his domain to the maximum, with mana dilation and all other support spells. It was quite a considerable force stacked on top of dozens of weak pentagrams.


    Kayden wasted no time in throwing his strongest attack with nine pentagrams against the doll. It wasn¡¯t weak and it broke several layers of defense, but it wasn¡¯t enough to cause any real damage to the doll.


    Seeing this situation, he took out a katana from his space earring, more specifically his katana that he hadn¡¯t used in a while. Unlike his spells, his body could not freely use a modification pentagram.


    And he wasn¡¯t crazy about trying at this point either. Messing with his own body was accompanied by intense pain and his senses screaming that he was doing something wrong. One wrong step and he could end up killing himself.


    The doll came at him without any fear, using all its strength and speed. The dummy¡¯s arm opened into a scythe and lashed out at Kayden. He received the attack head-on and was slightly pushed back.


    The difference in strength wasn¡¯t much, but it still existed. There was no way Kayden could completely ignore an entire realm of difference. Even so, he was not discouraged and exchanged a few more blows against the doll.


    The real problem with this fight was that he was fighting a wizard-fighter hybrid. His attacks were both physical with the scythe and using different spells of varying elements.


    They were fire phoenixes, explosive water balls, cutting wind attacks, neutral mana explosives, and strength and speed support spells. He was practically a perfect fighter with all the positive points of all classes.


    It was completely ridiculous. Kayden has never felt more pressure than in this fight. All the negative points of a fighter did not exist in this doll, and all the positive points were used by him.

 Chapter 292: Privileged

    Kayden continued attacking the doll with extreme speed. Even though he lacked strength, his technique and experience were not something that could be easily surpassed. He spent decades training.


    BOOOM!


    BOOOM!


    An aura cut accelerated by six pentagrams instantly came out of the doll at point-blank range and caused Kayden to take the first damage in this battle. One of the doll¡¯s arms was sunk a few centimeters.


    There were only six pentagrams, as that was the amount that Kayden could throw instantly, fast enough to pierce the doll¡¯s defense by surprise. Then, the doll also fired three beams at point-blank range at Kayden.


    Kayden didn¡¯t have time to dodge, but his normal attrition barrier was able to easily hold back the attack, which was weakened by his dominance. This caused a breach in his protection.


    This small imbalance affected the entire system, as the damage was shared across a long series of layers throughout his body. Fortunately, the excess mana around allowed him to recompose the layers in a minuscule amount of time.


    Kayden stepped aside and threw several beams driven by nine pentagrams. The puppet was strong, but it still couldn¡¯t ignore it easily. This caused him to put his focus on defending himself while being attacked.


    Unlike normal people, Kayden had an absurd facility for holding mana and manipulating it. It didn¡¯t cost anything to his physical or mental health. So, he just continued while thinking of a plan, something that only took a few seconds.


    When there was a break in the attacks, the doll approached again and continued its relentless attacks against Kayden. A positive point of this test was that it simulated a real battle, even though the doll was quick and easily cast dozens of spells, none of them were ridiculously strong.


    Kayden began exchanging blows with him again while gathering up an amount of reserve mana. His attacks were defended by the doll and retaliated at high speed.


    A few seconds later, Kayden used the same tactic as before and released a ridiculously strong aura slash against the robot supported by six pentagrams. Again it was very strong and fast, and he managed to cause damage to the doll.


    Nothing really impressive, just a cut on his legs that would leave any human being bleeding horribly. Similar to the other situation, the doll took advantage of this moment to throw two ice torpedoes at Kayden, driven by a vacuum break.


    Again his barrier managed to hold back the attack, actually not perfectly, as a hole opened in his stomach. The puppet launched both attacks together at the same point, the first attack was handled perfectly and the second was severely damaged.


    "Now," Kayden thought and didn¡¯t hesitate to open six pentagrams below his katana. Her body moved with her and descended onto the doll. The force was so great that it passed through the doll¡¯s barriers as if they were made of paper.


    The katana continued falling and cut the doll in two diagonally. Instantly, the dummy¡¯s body was split into two and fell to the ground lifeless. The attack was so strong that Kayden¡¯s arm was completely broken and several veins in his body were destroyed by the pressure of the attack.


    If he had used this on his body, he would probably be dead right now. Just using it on your katana was already able to give a great reaction to your body. He urgently needed to create spells to remove the rebound or strengthen his body.


    The first option was easier would give him less headache and would be faster, in addition to lasting for higher realms. The appraiser was looking at Kayden in complete shock.


    Those capable of doing what he did were rare. Normally there would only be five or six per meeting of elves. This meant that it wasn¡¯t exactly something rare or unique per century. But the problem...


    "He is in the third realm," the appraiser thought to himself. He had only seen people in the fifth realm manage to pass this test like this. There were some similar cases in the past, but they were all quickly hushed up by the higher-ups.


    "Kid, do you have any affiliation yet?" The appraiser wasted no time in trying to pull Kayden over to the elves¡¯ side. It was clear to him that the person in front of him had seven rays, the potential to become a god.


    "Yes," Kayden wondered if he meant Merlin. It was better to make this clear at the beginning so that there was no chance of him being oppressed into joining any group on this planet.


    "I see. Your assessment is currently privileged 4. Privilege assessment five is only available to people in the fifth realm." This was an old rule so that younger people would not kill themselves.


    "Is my age not taken into account?" Kayden asked and made the old man look more closely at his body. It didn¡¯t take long for him to use a tracking spell on Kayden.


    "More than 250 years?" he asked confused. "But it¡¯s okay, you did a good job and your age isn¡¯t relevant in this situation." After the initial surprise, he gave his answer without hesitation.


    The old man tossed Kayden a ring, identical to the one Gragas had. The ring fit perfectly on her finger and didn¡¯t even feel like it was there. Kayden could also hide it inside his space earring easily.


    "The level 4 privilege grants you the right to most things on our planet: lectures, specific training rooms, special libraries. In addition to a free discount at all government-affiliated establishments, which are the majority in our kingdom. But you have some obligations. At the next meeting, you must give an open lecture on a high-level technique. In addition, you must then give a closed lecture teaching this technique to everyone selected for the government."


    This requirement was not something heavy for Kayden it was something extremely light, as he had no problem sharing his techniques with other magicians.


    "Only that?" Kayden asked when the appraiser paused.


    "We have some mandatory exploration expeditions, but since you are in a low realm we won¡¯t ask you to participate yet, just prepare one technique for every 20 years."


    "Got it, thanks for the information," Kayden thanked and instantly found himself outside the testing environment. Around him was Lucas with a despondent expression and his friends trying to comfort him.


    "Master! I only got the level 1 privilege and it was still very painful, the doll was too strong for my current level", Lucas felt guilty and felt that he had disappointed Kayden.


    "It¡¯s okay, Lucas, he was really strong. Just train harder; next time you¡¯ll do better," Kayden reassured his student without any surprise. He didn¡¯t expect much from him.


    None of the teens around Lucas would ask how Kayden performed. They were completely sure that the most he got was a first-level privilege and they didn¡¯t want to humiliate the master in front of his students. The problem was that Lucas had unshakable faith in Kayden.


    "What privilege did you get, master?" Kayden had no problems showing his strength to others and directly took out the ruby ring and placed it on his finger.


    For a few seconds, no one said anything. What everyone expected was just a normal green ring that all privileges below four had. What Kayden was presenting was far above any crazy dreams they had.


    "What level is this, master?" Lucas was the only one lost in the conversation. The person who responded for him was Jonatan, the first to recover from the shock and accept reality.


    "Perk level 4, the level of the thousand best fighters in the elven kingdom, an achievement considered legendary. Gragas tried for more than ten thousand years for this..." With every sentence Jonatan spoke it became clearer how impressive this was.


    "How did you do this? Who exactly are you? Is your age of nearly three centuries false?" Bianca asked Kayden directly. The situation made her lose any modesty.


    "Perfection can¡¯t be rushed. You set an age goal to compete against other people your age in an imaginary competition in your mind, it doesn¡¯t exist, it¡¯s just you against you. Perfection can¡¯t be rushed," Kayden let out a deep sentence out of nowhere.


    The moment was perfect and it entered these young people¡¯s minds as if they were a sponge. His sentence, which seemed simple, brought wisdom that only a few people understood in this universe. S§×ar?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Regardless of race in this universe, everyone shared one thing that made them rational and different from simple animals: that was emotions and feelings. This naturally meant that a society was organized on a hierarchical basis.


    There would always be people above and people below. This also meant that there would always be someone looking to climb the social ladder. No matter how peaceful the society was, some selfish goal was the reason it moved.

 Chapter 293: Benefits of power

    This naturally meant there was competition, whether to find a romantic partner or rise socially. Those who managed to escape this cycle were few, ridiculously few.


    "You opened my eyes, thank you for that," Bianca bowed in gratitude. The others also thanked them in their own way, but there was not much sincerity; they were still shocked by the situation.


    "Lucas, stay with them, I¡¯m going out for a bit", Kayden didn¡¯t give anyone time to say anything and disappeared into thin air. As soon as he was free, he sighed in relief. It had been a long time since he interacted so much with other people.


    He had to admit that he lost any desire to do this. He had nothing against Jonathan and his friends, but he felt like he was wasting time while hanging out with them.


    Once he was completely free, he just had to ask people flying for some information and find out where the information center about the event was. He had to get out of the huge tangle of buildings.


    The event was something so unique and reserved for the elites of the entire elven race and their subordinates that the building related to it was an isolated construction. Kayden only needed to fly a few minutes at high speed.


    He entered a sort of snow biome. In the center of a large area, there was a castle above a large mountain. This castle extended for several kilometers and ran along the length of the mountain.


    Its design was based on black and red colors, both in dark tones. Torches were burning golden, illuminating the environment that seemed to always be dark. This entire region had its climate artificially altered.


    It was a giant area of several tens of kilometers that was completely altered. For example, the weather here would always be dark, as if it was always night. Fauna and flora developed based on these characteristics. Plus, it was always snowing lightly.


    Kayden could feel his body cooling down and throwing signs of cold at him. This would only be possible if the cold was made of mana; low temperatures, but carried out naturally by nature, would not be able to make him feel cold.


    Thanks to his ring, he wasn¡¯t stopped when entering this private zone. Quickly, he headed towards the castle. He sensed several high-level beasts in the vicinity, even some in the fourth realm. Therefore, he hid his presence to avoid any waste of time.


    "Hello, Master Kayden," as soon as he got close enough, a blue-haired woman with a short stature came out to welcome him. She wore a slave collar and had a phenomenal body and beauty.


    "Hello, I need guidance, it¡¯s my first time here", Kayden remained polite even though he was a slave. Something the woman was surprised by.


    "My name is Ana and I am your private slave for the next few centuries. I can manage your diplomatic schedule and organize your presentation to eleven high society in just¡­" Kayden cut her off before she could continue.


    "I don¡¯t care about that, I just want to know where I can find all the available lectures and resources for my level of privilege. Also, just call me Kayden, I¡¯m only my students¡¯ master," Kayden felt disgusted at being called other people¡¯s master without ever teaching them anything.


    Ana was quiet for a few seconds as she reasoned what Kayden said. He was different from what she expected. His speech was perfectly rehearsed and according to the presentation manual it was the ideal to be spoken, it softened the gigantic ego of people from this social class.


    "Okay, Kayden..."


    "Kayden."


    "It¡¯s okay, Kayden. We have an artificial intelligence called Sora that answers questions about academic events. We are currently in arrival week and we don¡¯t have any other than the member showcase competitions. It is held to showcase new members and the development of old members," again Kayden interrupted her.


    "What is the real gain from this? And what is the intangible gain?" Ana had a way with words and spoke sweetly to Kayden, but this only irritated him. The old feeling of wasting time stood out in his mind.


    "Material gains have practically none, while immaterial gains you gain honor and glory", this award meant nothing in Kayden¡¯s view.


    "What rooms are there here? Just tell me the ones that help with cultivation, I¡¯m not interested in concepts or things like that," Kayden got straight to the point again.


    "We have rooms with infinite densities of mana, we have rooms with training dolls, we have accelerated learning rooms", she continued saying some more, but Kayden remained focused on infinite mana.


    "How much mana is in a room with infinite mana? Is the name just symbolic?" Kayden released his doubts.


    "It is just a very large amount of mana caused by a rupture in space, as you are a fifth realm mage¡­"


    "Third kingdom," Kayden corrected him and saw the surprise on his face.


    "That¡­ I don¡¯t know if you will be able to enter the room with this realm. The amount of mana could be toxic to your body, but we have rooms with lower densities for other realms," Kayden had thought about this hypothesis as well.


    "Take me to the infinite mana room, please", Kayden asked in the same way, and for a few minutes, he found himself in front of a golden door. As soon as they opened it, she found herself in a temple with a much larger space than should have been possible.


    Inside it was several hundred meters. Furthermore, small rooms were measuring a few square meters. Kayden could feel a ridiculous amount of mana in each of them. S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Hello, Mister Kayden," a human who appeared to be middle-aged greeted them. He had black hair mixed with white, and his square face with his suit made him look like a movie butler.


    As soon as any member entered this room, the ring they had sent all the information that the slaves should have access to directly to them, and this made it easier to talk to the members of the elven faculties.


    "Hello, I¡¯m in the third realm, I want to know the degree of difficulty in using these rooms", Kayden expressed his situation directly and caused the slave to be surprised. He had never seen a level four member at such a low realm.


    "Unfortunately, these rooms are of no use to you, sir. They are used to break the barrier of the fifth realm, something that is only possible with a ridiculous amount of mana. For lower realms, it is toxic and not worth the risk," Kayden thanked the man and left.


    He just wanted to gather useful information about the rooms in this castle. After that, he went together with his private slave to the next room. The situation was very similar, and as soon as they walked through a golden door, they found themselves in a different place.


    This time, they were in some kind of bar with several rooms upstairs. Each room was a few dozen square meters and represented a large expanse, very different from rooms with infinite mana.


    Kayden became increasingly amazed at the ability of mana to freely unfold space however the author of the spell wanted. This castle was ridiculously larger than it appeared from the outside.


    "Mister Kayden, welcome to the mana quarters. Do you have anything specific in mind?" The one who received them this time was a young girl like Ana, who was also a slave of the human race.


    For every minute that passed on this planet, it became clear to Kayden that the elven race was a race with a strong inclination towards slavery. Something he didn¡¯t care about; It was simply none of his business.


    "What density levels do you have? How exactly does this place work?" Kayden liked the woman getting straight to the point and did the same.


    "We have folds that increase every fifty to a thousand times. As a fourth-level privileged, you have no hours limit or any restrictions. Just ask and you will be directed to the room," Kayden was impressed 1000 times.


    It was a very large number. If he had used this amount of mana since he was a child, he would probably already be a realm or two higher by now, but he didn¡¯t think much about it. All situations in his life culminated in him arriving at his most perfect being possible.


    "I want a room with a thousand times density," Kayden asked directly and the woman just smiled as Kayden¡¯s vision changed instantly. In front of him, a golden door appeared.


    He was without Ana at that moment. She was not allowed to accompany someone to that level. Without hesitation, Kayden opened the room, and... the amount of mana was so great that it was in liquid form.


    Kayden had to go through some sort of barrier that prevented any mana from coming out. When he found himself inside, he was amazed at the feeling he was having. It felt like he was submerged in water, but at the same time, nothing impeded his movements.

 Chapter 294: Hassles

    It was an alternation between feeling suffocated and free. Furthermore, the room was at least 30 meters wide and another 30 meters long, which made the amount of mana ridiculously large.


    Kayden had forgotten to ask if he could practice his techniques there. He wasn¡¯t sure of the strength of the walls and runes that supported that place; they could be strong enough that he couldn¡¯t even scratch or weak enough that a weak punch would break all stability.


    Leaving these matters aside, Kayden just sat down and started cultivating. His base was practically perfect. For every thousand searches, he would only find one error. It was a ridiculously low amount, all because of the reconstruction he went through in the second and third kingdoms.


    This way, he could just focus on increasing his level. If he focused solely on this, he should be able to advance at least three levels in just six months. But logically he wouldn¡¯t do that. As tempting as fast advancement might seem, he knew that wasn¡¯t the main gain from this event.


    Your focus should be on the high-level classes and lectures you can find. He also learned from Ana that there were several pill-testing rooms and treasures freely provided by the alchemy industry. Like it or not, this was a great way to get clients.


    In just a few seconds, Kayden¡¯s mind was lost as he cultivated without stopping. The days slowly began to pass, and four days later, something took Kayden away from his focus. The door was opened by an elf.


    He was a teenager with silver hair and white eyes. He had a muscular body and looked extremely angry. His white skin was marked red by his irritation. Kayden just stared at him blankly.


    "You do all this nonsense and you¡¯re not going to say anything?!" the teenager shouted at Kayden in a visible degree of irritation. Kayden couldn¡¯t understand what was happening.


    "Sorry, I think you confused me with someone," Kayden opted for the neutral approach.


    "No! You are the only person using this room in the last few days. You can¡¯t even cultivate for long in here and your body will start to tingle. You are here just holding one of the only five thousand-fold rooms. Get out now!" Kayden quickly understood what was going on.


    "I can cultivate here without getting overwhelmed, you see," Kayden demonstrated his point by cultivating a little and performing a few simple spells that anyone focusing on something else wouldn¡¯t be able to perform simultaneously.


    This caused the teenager to be surprised. His first action was to deny Kayden¡¯s actions, but he continued to do increasingly complex things. The anger disappeared and was accompanied by shame, but it was camouflaged under a proud countenance.


    "That doesn¡¯t give you the right to rent that room for that long. There are other people to use it", Kayden began to feel a slight twinge of wanting to tell this young man to fuck off. He showed the ring on his finger.


    "That gives me the right, that¡¯s what was given to me", the young man¡¯s face was priceless when once again anything he could say was closed by Kayden¡¯s speech. "Look, I¡¯m not using 100% of the mana in the room all the time, I don¡¯t mind sharing it with you."


    Kayden opted for a more peaceful alternative. The truth was that he spent most of his time using a small amount of mana to cultivate and only occasionally took more.


    "Don¡¯t you mind cultivating alongside someone you don¡¯t know? What if I steal your techniques?" the teenager came in angry, embarrassed, and was now confused by the situation.


    "I do not care about it. I¡¯m going to cultivate now. You can do whatever you think is best, but I¡¯m not leaving this room for a few more days," Kayden sat down and tuned out the world. He didn¡¯t fear for his life, this was a controlled environment.


    The teenager tried to say a few more words to Kayden and was harshly ignored. Kayden¡¯s focus was very strong when he wanted to distract himself from the useless things around him. With no better alternatives, the teenager just sat down and started cultivating as well.


    A day later, the peace was disturbed again. This time, three other people entered. Kayden just sat there cultivating and didn¡¯t care. He didn¡¯t even notice that more people entered.


    "Hello, the princesses we have here, renting the best room in the castle just for them," the group consisted of two slant-eyed, light-haired women who were identical twins, while the man in the center was the leader, with a tall height. and an athletic body. Furthermore, he had a hairstyle and beard that made him look aged.


    "Who are you? Do you happen to know who I am? Leave before I get angry," the silver-haired teen¡¯s voice rose against the invaders.


    "I don¡¯t care who you are. My father is a level eight wizard and owner of one of the planets in this solar system. I am Mario Venus. I¡¯m ordering them to leave now", unlike the expected reactions, the silver-haired teenager just laughed.


    "And I am Marco Kremlin, a direct heir to the elven dynasty," that was a name of absolute respect. Mario was apprehensive for a moment and then calmed down again.


    "Show your medallion and I will kneel in apology" This time Marco¡¯s complexion frowned, he didn¡¯t have his medallion, and for some reason, he was grounded and couldn¡¯t use any royal force.


    "That¡¯s what I thought, are you going to get out okay or do you want to be beaten?" M¨¢rio lost his calm when he saw that Marco was lying, as soon as he saw the slightest sign of hesitation he attacked the boy.


    It was three against one and these three were still in the fourth kingdom, a completely one-sided fight began, Marco had an incredible six rays and was one of the best of his generation, but the other three also had six rays and were one kingdom above.


    S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 295: Hassles [2] BONUS

    This wasn¡¯t even a fight, it was practically a one-sided beating. At every moment, Marco was shouting that they would regret this and all the typical phrases of those powerful people. The mess ended up waking Kayden up.


    "Crap?" Kayden blurted out in surprise and made everyone stop to look at him. The three hoped that Kayden would step in on Marco¡¯s behalf, while the silver-haired teen hoped that he would receive some help.


    Kayden first wondered how poorly guarded this place was and soon the answer appeared in his mind. Probably the powerful just let the new generation solve their problems and grow through conflicts.


    "Don¡¯t worry about me, just continue whatever you¡¯re doing," Kayden sat down and went back to cultivating, leaving everyone disconcerted by the situation. This was not even remotely a normal reaction.


    "Hey! Help me here, call for help or something, I¡¯ll reward you for it", Marco¡¯s scream fell on deaf ears. Kayden just went back to cultivating normally, without caring about anything. In his mind, this was a personal fight.


    Over the next few minutes, Marco was ridiculed and beaten up a bit. After that, Mario just threw him out and turned to Kayden without knowing what to do. The young man in front of him had a strange aura.


    "Boy! Hey!" Mario shouted at Kayden, and again his words fell on deaf ears. Seeing this, he decided to throw a small mana attack at Kayden. That wasn¡¯t a good idea.


    Kayden opened his eyes and a sinister aura came out of his body, all his killing intent focused on the three people in front of him, all the thousands of people he killed strengthened his aura by several folds.


    Nine pentagrams appeared in front of him instantly, and his domain broke Mario¡¯s attack instantly. From the pentagrams, an aura slash was released and came out at high speed towards Mario.


    The man in the room became static and seemed to be crawling into existence, its control became difficult, all because of Kayden¡¯s path. His attack was met with surprise by Mario, but he had time to conjure a barrier that was easily broken.


    Again, the surprise factor and ego played a big role in the situation. He could sense Kayden¡¯s realm and didn¡¯t expect such a strong attack. Fortunately, her companions put up two other barriers and managed to hold off this attack.


    "Explain yourself", Kayden said in a neutral tone and with his voice without any increase in tone. His eyes were cold, almost as if there wasn¡¯t any life in them. He looked at Mario like someone looks at a pig about to be slaughtered, he had no emotions, no pleasure, just the silent promise of death.


    "You weren¡¯t waking up¡­ I just wanted to scare you!" the century-old man stuttered as he did when speaking to his father. Kayden¡¯s aura automatically made him lower himself as inferior in conversation.


    "Alright, what do you need my attention to?" Kayden¡¯s dark aura and killing intent disappeared and a calm and peaceful face appeared. Again, his actions confused them both as it was a very quick turn of emotions. What seemed like a fight turned into just a quiet conversation.


    "I want to use this room, and you¡¯ve been holding it for too long. That¡¯s not right", Kayden¡¯s friendly tone made Mario also more relaxed and not aggressive like in his conversation with Marco.


    "I will use it for another 7 days, but I only use large amounts of mana a few times a day. I don¡¯t mind sharing the room with you", Kayden said and watched the surprise on Mario¡¯s face.


    "What if you steal my techniques? Furthermore, I practice a... special type of cultivation," Mario had the same doubts as Marco.


    "I don¡¯t need your techniques, I can just sign a contract that I won¡¯t pay attention to you for the next seven days," Kayden just wanted to get back to cultivating as soon as possible.


    "Contracts can be broken, let¡¯s take a soul oath."


    "Broken? I didn¡¯t know that, I don¡¯t know what a soul oath is, you¡¯ll have to teach me", Kayden¡¯s sentence made the three of them look at him strangely.


    Even a hillbilly would know about soul oaths and that contracts were easily broken by different techniques or advancing into the cultivation realms. Mario sensed Kayden¡¯s sincerity and threw a roll at him.


    Quickly, Kayden understood the soul oath technique. It was simply putting some of someone else¡¯s mana into your core with the oath between the two parties in it. If either side broke their promise, they would be instantly killed.


    Furthermore, the papyrus that Kayden received showed that the technique did not have any danger, as the piece of foreign mana was placed in his body by himself, and he could verify that it did not have anything other than the promise. It was practically a perfect agreement technique. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Thank you for the technique, can we sign it immediately please," Kayden and Mario signed the agreement, and Kayden could feel a piece of mana from Mario at his request to not pay attention for the next seven days and never share any information he got in there.


    The piece of mana was inside his main heart, something strange since it didn¡¯t take up any physical space and could easily stack thousands of promises inside. Kayden began to develop an idea of forcibly placing this oath in other cores, practically a quick and easy way to create slaves.


    That was an idea for another day, Kayden just sat down and went back to cultivating without answering any additional questions from M¨¢rio or being the least bit sociable. He was very close to getting a breakthrough.


    It had only been a short time since he was at the second level and even less time since he had maxed out that level, but this room, coupled with some treasures on his part, sped up the process a fewfold.

 Chapter 296: Abusing power

    Time passed and everything was going well, at least until two days later, when another event happened. The room they were in was removed from the space in which it existed and placed in a world of its own. No one noticed anything until the door opened, revealing Marco and a phenomenal-looking woman.


    The woman was about 1.80 meters tall, had silver hair that fell to her waist, and eyes that looked like outer space rotating in various colors. Its beauty and proportion were perfect due to its high realm.


    Mario was speechless for a few seconds. The fact that he was a man meant that he was easily affected by the natural charms of the woman before him, while his two companions quickly put on their clothes.


    "To whom do I owe the pleasure of addressing?" asked Mario. But before he could respond, he was pressed to the ground by a ridiculous mana pressure. Meanwhile, Kayden was quiet in the corner of the room, unaware of what was going on.


    "Did you find out about the penalty for what you did to a direct member of royalty?" Marco said, with a smile on his face, finally making M¨¢rio realize the seriousness of the situation.


    "Your Highness, please forgive this fool. I just thought Your Highness was taking advantage of the name of our elven dynasty," Marco tried to explain, slightly nervous. He knew his actions would not result in death as he came from a powerful family.


    "The punishment is death, but you¡¯re trash with a good record. So the most I can do is beat you up a little. Sister Triz, hold him down, please," said the woman, waving her hand. head.


    In the next few minutes, Marco took out all his anger against M¨¢rio without mercy. It was a brutal beating, leaving several bones broken and some teeth missing. But M¨¢rio didn¡¯t care, as he recognized the woman holding him.


    She was the death elf, a divine-level challenger, someone who achieved seven lightning bolts in her advancement to the fifth realm. Even though he was young, he was already in the seventh realm and maintained his amount of seven rays. S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I hope you know who you¡¯re dealing with from today onwards. Get out of this room, you trash," Marco said, throwing the three of them out. Then he turned to Kayden.


    "Hey! Wake up, you piece of shit. Do you know what the punishment is for not helping a direct member of the royal family?" he shouted, but the words fell on deaf ears. Kayden was focused on his cultivation and had no idea what was going on around him. Marco thought he was scared and threw it in Kayden¡¯s face.


    "There¡¯s no point in freezing in fear now, you¡¯ll have to pay for your mistake!" Marco just wanted to scare Kayden; he had nothing against the boy and knew that his help would be useless at that moment.


    "He¡¯s not listening to you, you idiot," Triz said, her voice seeming to hide the truth of the universe and resonate with existence itself. She directed her mana at Kayden and before she could get within a meter of him, she felt her mana becoming spaced and distorted, and then being shattered. At that moment, Kayden¡¯s eyes opened.


    "You again? Just cultivate like last time. I¡¯m busy, your friend can also participate, I don¡¯t care what you guys do," Kayden blurted out a few words and was about to sit down to cultivate again when he felt the aura of someone ridiculously strong open up over him.


    All of his movements were frozen and he couldn¡¯t even expand his mana an inch outside his body. This made him look into Triz¡¯s eyes. She expected a surprised and dazed man, but what she found were endless, dead eyes.


    "Do you know the punishment for not helping a member of the royal family?" Kayden remembered the fight before and automatically closed the missing parts in his head. Now, he understood what had happened to Mario.


    "No," Kayden released that single word without any fear and stared blankly at the two. That certainly wasn¡¯t the reaction they expected, especially since Kayden didn¡¯t seem to be lying.


    "The punishment is death, only death awaits this kind of person," Marco expected to see fear in Kayden¡¯s eyes, but he only saw disinterest and boredom.


    "I don¡¯t sense any killing intent from either of you. Just tell me what you want and save both of us time," Kayden was ready to summon Merlin at the slightest sign of disagreement.


    "Aren¡¯t you afraid of death? From the royal family?" This time it was Triz who spoke, Kayden¡¯s genuine actions seemed too stupid for her to keep quiet.


    "I didn¡¯t commit this crime, I didn¡¯t know he was someone from the royal family and he didn¡¯t inform me either. I just want to resolve this peacefully without having to ask my support for help," Kayden¡¯s speech made it clear that he had someone on his back.


    His confidence in expressing this in front of elf royalty and even more so in the presence of a seventh-realm wizard made him seem sincere in saying that his support was ridiculously strong. Even Triz was reluctant at this point, but she also had the option that Kayden was just an excellent liar.


    That was the option Marco chose, and he calculatedly released his killing intent on Kayden slowly. Kayden was 100% attentive and at the slightest sign broke the brooch instantly.


    An absolute mana pressure fell across the entire planet. Even the elf monarch was frozen in his actions, unable to react. There was no way to compete with a god. The pressure was great enough that the planet was almost frozen in time.


    The freezing was such that nothing was able to move, not even air could pass through. But time kept passing, it just seemed like everything had frozen. Kayden thought about how good it felt to have strong support and use it when he saw Merlin appear in the room.


    "God Merlin, I had a little problem here, sorry to bother you," Kayden was polite again and saw Merlin¡¯s expression turn irritated as he recognized the situation. The mana pressure disappeared from the planet as if it had never happened.


    Marco and Triz fell to the floor, suffocating. The two could barely keep up with the changes that were happening in the situation. Marco had never seen Merlin, but Triz was one of his direct prot¨¦g¨¦s.


    "Challenger Triz, why are you bullying a junior Challenger?" Merlin¡¯s voice was harsh and fell on everyone¡¯s ears. At that moment, Marco understood a little the status of the person in front of him and was sure when he heard Triz¡¯s voice trembling as she responded.


    "God Merlin... I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t know about who he was, it was a mistake on my part and I¡¯m willing to give something to reward the defiant Kayden for my lack of manners," his speech was shaky and Merlin¡¯s presence made with enormous pressure assaulting his mind.


    Marco couldn¡¯t even think straight, his thoughts kept slipping away and he wasn¡¯t even looking at Merlin, if he did that he would be completely stunned for a few months.


    Merlin stopped for a second and studied the situation of the entire world and all the treasures and opportunities that Triz could offer Kayden. Right now, he was by Kayden¡¯s side in every situation that might come his way.


    This was because of the boy¡¯s peculiarity, in his entire territory there was no low-realm mage who could escape his God aura easily. Furthermore, this was a bet that cost him nothing, at most in a few thousand years everything would go back to square one and he would have to find another future investment.


    "Your entry into the elven time room, I want you to give Kayden this opportunity," Merlin¡¯s voice was like thunder in Triz¡¯s mind and caused her expression to drop deeply. At that moment, Kayden coughed.


    "Sorry to interrupt, God Merlin, but I would like to know what the time room is before receiving this invitation. I know you have more knowledge than me, but I believe I must follow my path with my own mistakes and choices," Kayden¡¯s voice caused a ray of hope to sprout in Triz.


    Merlin looked at Kayden with surprise in his thoughts. The fact that he couldn¡¯t easily see Kayden¡¯s actions caused long-dormant emotions to awaken in him from time to time.


    "It¡¯s a room that compresses time and makes it pass faster. How it works doesn¡¯t matter to you right now, it¡¯s something too complex for your mind. Just know that you will spend the rest of your life there and can only leave when you have 24 hours left of your life. Besides, it¡¯s impossible to pass the kingdom in there," Kayden didn¡¯t let Merlin continue talking to convince him.


    Kayden was as emotionless as before and didn¡¯t care at all about the other two¡¯s thoughts. He was about to sit down and cultivate again when Triz spoke to him.

 Chapter 297: Triz

    "I accept the invitation, God Merlin," Kayden couldn¡¯t believe how lucky he was. It was a once-in-a-lifetime chance; he could accelerate his cultivation and learning concepts thousands of times. Triz¡¯s emotions fell to their lowest point at that moment.


    Merlin had no repercussions from the threads of destiny in his action, as Kayden was already destined to enter this room within 6 months, and Merlin had already managed to predict that. Besides him, some other mages from the ninth realm must have also noticed it.


    "Triz, it is your job, from now on, to protect and guide Kayden on this planet. Feel grateful to stay with your life," Merlin disappeared, leaving the two on the floor free from his pressure.


    For a few minutes, no one said anything as the situation entered everyone¡¯s mind. Triz was sad, her mood at its lowest level in centuries. This was his chance to ascend to a kingdom and compete with the true owners of power in this solar system.


    Marco was trying to understand how ridiculous this was. A mere action of his, which he did thousands of times in his life, caused his sister to miss a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The time room opens once every thousand years and costs a ridiculous amount of mana.


    Kayden was as emotionless as before and didn¡¯t care about the other two¡¯s thoughts. He was about to sit down to cultivate again when Triz spoke to him.


    "I¡¯m not mentally stable right now, can we talk another time?" Kayden nodded and returned to cultivating, leaving the two alone with their thoughts.


    Triz disappeared from the room. She needed to tell her father this. Not that he could do anything about the situation; she didn¡¯t dare to try to convince Kayden to choose something else. They could even give the boy a planet, but if Merlin found out about this, and he most certainly would, she would be dead.


    Merlin had killed other God Defiers before; he even eliminated one of his planets that wasn¡¯t going according to his ideals. There were trillions of lives just on a whim on his part.


    Marco was the next to leave and was completely lost in thoughts of self-blame, meanwhile, Kayden continued cultivating peacefully. Quickly, the days passed, and he was able to reach his breaking point.


    Author: I know it may seem like a lack of desire on my part to write Kayden leveling up, but I feel bad that you guys would pay to read an entire chapter just of him leveling up a single level. I hope you understand.


    Without any surprise, Kayden reached the third level. He no longer had any difficulty advancing levels; its body and base were shaped by seven rays. He had enough quality to stop cultivating today and would still be pushed to the next realm by time.


    His maxed-out level meant that he was able to be much stronger than he would have been previously just by advancing levels normally. It was a small amount again, but it would make a difference later when they all added up.


    "Ana, what¡¯s new?" Kayden asked his slave as soon as he left. The woman now seemed extremely nervous and ready to accept any of Kayden¡¯s requests with all the strength in her body.


    "Master!... I mean, Kayden, Challenger Triz asked you to come to her so you could talk once you left. She said she would be in the palace of the elven race," Kayden just asked for directions and left without wasting any time.


    The palace of the elven race took its name thanks to the number of kings and queens of elven kingdoms who had access to it. Only residents of the eighth realm or direct descendants could access it.


    After a few hundred kilometers in the opposite direction to the capital, Kayden began to see the structure of the palace and... a structure floated above a mountain without making the slightest shadow below.


    On the mountain, there were several buildings and houses of different styles, but they all shared the characteristic of being extremely luxurious. The structure upstairs was made of white stone and light gold stone, creating a feeling of lightness and grandeur.


    Unlike the places Kayden went to in this world, here the structures were smaller and only big enough to house a few people. Probably because the number of people qualified to enter these environments was minimal.


    Kayden was stopped by a strong mana pressure that prevented any movement from him a few kilometers away from the city. He didn¡¯t have time to react before he was brutally scanned and then a voice appeared in his mind. S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "What are you doing here, Kayden Heart?" She had no gender, and her intonation was neutral.


    "Challenger Triz invited me," Kayden said quietly.


    "Wait a few minutes." Kayden just floated in the air for a few minutes, and an Elf wearing classic butler clothes appeared floating in the air. Kayden could feel that the level of the person in front of him was quite high and was hidden by layers of spells.


    "Lord Kayden, come with me, and I will take you to Master Triz," Kayden nodded, and the two began to float towards the palace. The closer Kayden got, the more impressive the building became.


    The palace had several gardens floating around it and was mainly made up of scattered towers, each with a different height. The one in the center was the highest and reached more than 1 kilometer in height.


    "The towers demonstrate the degree of importance of the person in the circle of the royal family. That one is Master Triz¡¯s," Kayden looked to where the butler was directing his mana. It was a tower that was only second in height to a few in this palace of towers.


    It was entirely made of red and black, with large transparent windows, but which did not show anything inside. Furthermore, some parts were open, and some floating gardens appeared in the tower.


    In one of them was Triz, calmly reading a book and drinking something from a steaming cup. Its beauty was even more apparent with the soft vegetation around it.


    "My master is waiting for you. Can you go to her, please, Mister Kayden," on the man¡¯s cue, Kayden just floated towards Triz and reached her. The woman hadn¡¯t shown any reaction as Kayden sat in one of the chairs.


    Neither of them spoke a word. Triz hadn¡¯t even shown any reaction to Kayden¡¯s arrival yet. The boy didn¡¯t care and calmly began to cultivate. Each of them was focused on something and did not notice the passage of time. At least until a foreign mana comes into contact with both of them.


    "Master Triz, it¡¯s time for dinner," the voice of the butler and his mana woke them both up.


    "Very well... Kayden?" When she was about to go to the butler, she noticed that Kayden was sitting next to her.


    "Hello, Triz Challenger," Kayden greeted her and waited.


    "Since when have you been there?"


    "I don¡¯t know."


    "About 8 hours, master."


    "Why didn¡¯t you wake me up when you arrived, Challenger Kayden?"


    "I¡¯m not familiar with you, I had no idea how to get her out of your focus, so I just chose to wait," Kayden just forgot to say that he got lost cultivating too.


    "Serve dinner for two," with the woman¡¯s words, two plates appeared on the table. Each of them had a fried fish that was more than 1 meter wide. The golden color of the frying was impressive and would make anyone¡¯s mouth salivate.


    "Sign a soul oath with me not to disclose anything you see here. Whatever you hear is okay," Kayden found the request strange but took the oath without any hesitation. Then he understood why.


    "You look like an Orc eating it," Kayden couldn¡¯t help but comment as he saw the woman in front of him lift the entire fish in her hands and eat it with her mouth open in several bites.


    "Shut up, worm!" His cheeks turned red with embarrassment. No one dared to say those words in front of him.


    "It¡¯s cute," Kayden commented and went straight to his fish. This meant he didn¡¯t notice another blush on Triz¡¯s cheeks. As soon as he put the first piece of fish in his mouth, he was amazed.


    His thoughts stopped for a few seconds as he enjoyed the taste of the most delicious food he had ever put in his mouth. All the foods in his life seemed like junk compared to this.


    "It¡¯s a fish from our sixth kingdom planet, one of our best delicacies," Kayden was amazed to learn where this meat came from. It was from a beast ridiculously superior to him and yet the elves only raised it to eat.


    Mana exploded within him as if he had eaten a fifth realm seed. Kayden didn¡¯t have any problem with it and just directed it away from his body with each bite. His control allowed this easily.

 Chapter 298: Triz’s presentation

    For the next few minutes, the two ate in silence, Kayden marveling at his food and Triz embarrassed by his speech and a strange feeling about the latter. Her contact with men of the opposite sex had been ridiculously little in her life. Since she was little, she was protected from any contact with the outside world. He practically only met 30 people in his entire life. She didn¡¯t even participate in the gyms and similar things aimed at the younger generation, her parents considered it a waste of time considering her strength.


    "That was the best meal of my life," Kayden commented when the two were finished. Triz didn¡¯t understand his words perfectly. To her, this was just normal, boring food.


    "Let¡¯s get to the main topic," Triz put on a serious face. "The invitation you received is to the greatest treasure that the elves possessed, one of the reasons that make us capable of dominating so many planets. It is a rupture in space that can be opened by a ridiculous amount of mana, large enough to annihilate an entire planet through poisoning, regardless of realm. Even those at the ninth rank can fall if they are not careful."


    Kayden raised an eyebrow in surprise. This was a realm far away from him, but also a realm that should be just below divinity. It had to be something very strong and special and finding out that they could be killed like that was ridiculous.


    "Only Merlin is capable of opening this room, not even he knows where he came from or how he got here. It was before he created the solar system. Simply put, you are teleported to a room with infinite space. No matter how far you walk, you will only see white in all directions. You will only get out of there when you have one day left of your life expectancy. Being alone like that for so long... it¡¯s scary," Kayden cracked a smile to himself when he heard that.


    "Hey! I saw this. Do you think it¡¯s easy to spend centuries without any social contact, just with your mind?" Kayden responded calmly.


    "Yes, that¡¯s not a problem for me." If you think about it from a certain point of view, Kayden was alone for centuries, his last two true friends died along with Han.


    Triz looked at Kayden looking for any sign of ego or arrogance, but there was nothing, not even a microexpression appeared on his face, the boy was sure of what he was talking about.


    "How much mana do we have in the room?" Kayden asked, depending on the amount it wouldn¡¯t be worth it for him to enter.


    "Practically infinite, but there is a small problem. The more mana you use, the louder the voices in your head get. It¡¯s a little mystery that no one knows why, but there are some voices in your head telling you to kill yourself every moment, every day, every minute."


    Kayden didn¡¯t care about that either, his will couldn¡¯t be broken, not even Merlin was capable of doing that, the golden eyes strengthened him to a completely ridiculous level.


    "Are there any other disadvantages?" Kayden asked.


    "No, it depends, if you don¡¯t have confidence in reaching the peak of your realm and learning enough to advance when you leave, it will be useless to enter. That¡¯s why many people refused this invitation, they are afraid of being incapable and stuck in a barrier." S§×ar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden had thought at this point, that if he hadn¡¯t been able to pass the third level of the third realm for any random reason, he would have practically wasted his life going to that room, simply because he wouldn¡¯t have been able to look for a solution to his problem.


    "I see, is there anything else you want to tell me?" Kayden was already feeling that old feeling of wasted time.


    "No, but I would like to invite you to tour the palace and learn a little about the elven race." Kayden looked straight into Triz¡¯s eyes and saw an innocence and lack of knowledge about life.


    "Is this a date?" Kayden couldn¡¯t help but plant his roots in an innocent mind. His words immediately caused Triz¡¯s cheeks to turn red, even her ears turned that color.


    "No!! I... this..." Triz stuttered for the first time in ages and was lost for words.


    "What a shame, then I¡¯ll have to refuse, Miss Triz. Please let me know when the time is right. Thanks for the meal." Kayden stood up over Triz¡¯s embarrassed eyes and logically he wouldn¡¯t miss the opportunity to leave a final touch when he was a few meters in the air. "Ah, I recommend you learn to control your face, shame makes you beautiful, but it doesn¡¯t suit your social status."


    Kayden left before she could respond, again he would see red cheeks and ears. Triz was like a flower in a greenhouse, not even heirs from other races and planets dared to even approach her, but a simple human from the third realm flirted with her shamelessly.


    Before, Kayden¡¯s image was just that of a cold young wizard spoiled by Merlin, who would easily solve any of his problems by calling God. But now, the image she had of him was of someone confident and elegant, exactly the image Kayden wanted to portray.


    ***


    "That¡¯s why we should always opt for incomplete conjuration, prioritizing increasing the quantity the closer we get to consolidating our concepts into truths," Kayden was in a lecture on conjuration speed and strength.


    It had been about a month since he had the conversation with Triz. During all this time, he ignored all invitations from her and any member of the elven race, focusing only on learning as much as possible.


    The class he just saw explained exactly how incomplete world-driven spells worked, opening Kayden¡¯s mind so he could expand it to his pentagrams.


    After clapping for the speaker a few times, Kayden headed to his next talk. They were all done in special rooms where there were a ridiculous amount of chairs available for them to sit on.


    It was very similar to ancient European theaters, made mainly of wood and leather. In addition, they had the famous giant red curtains, as well as a wooden stage and a structure that descended towards the speaker.


    Kayden has only been to high-level talks so far and in many of them, there has been mention of something called truths. He didn¡¯t know exactly what they meant, but it was clear that it was a level above concepts and necessary to move into the fifth realm.


    "Hello everyone, let¡¯s start the talk about the truths..." The presenter, who was none other than Triz, fell silent when she saw Kayden sitting in the first chair in the auditorium with a smile on his face when their eyes met. "I am Challenger Triz and I will give this talk."


    Everyone who was there knew the legend of Triz, the elf prodigy, the greatest pride of the elven race in recent centuries. Practically any self-respecting elf would know about her history, even those on Earth were taught about her.


    "Everyone learns concepts to advance their kingdoms. Their quantity is limited by the person¡¯s talent, but we already know that quantity doesn¡¯t mean anything close to quality. One high-level concept is superior to ten weak ones and they have a similar learning time, but what defines something to be strong or weak?"


    His question was followed by a great silence from everyone in the auditorium. No one dared to open their mouth and be wrong in front of the greatest genius in the elven kingdom. As the seconds began to tick by, Kayden raised his hand to respond and save Triz¡¯s lecture.


    "I could be wrong and I ask you to forgive my ignorance, but would it be the complexity of the concept that makes it superior?" Kayden¡¯s response caused everyone to fall silent, and then some mocking laughter appeared.


    Everyone there knew that Kayden¡¯s answer was wrong, the reaction he was receiving was exactly what everyone feared, but Kayden... couldn¡¯t get even one thought out of his mind.


    "Your answer matches what we believed in the past. Challe ¡­" she was about to call Kayden the Challenger, but Kayden interrupted her in a way that many would consider inappropriate.


    "Don¡¯t call me by my title, please." Triz frowned, Kayden was again the first person in centuries who interrupted her in a speech.


    "Okay, Kayden, your answer is wrong. Today we know that the quality of a concept is the depth we learn about it. The same concept can have different strengths depending on the person, for example, someone who learned the concept of wind and storm should have a deeper understanding of storm than someone who learned air and storm."


    Kayden felt his mind opening with the new information, the primitive way of thinking was probably what all civilizations developed first, something that Earth as a recent planet developed.

 Chapter 299: The beginning of a plan

    Triz continued to give some more examples of concepts and other differences, he also showed the importance of the concept tree being essential for progress to continue in an orderly manner. At that moment, Kayden wondered if his decision to learn hundreds of concepts was the right one because in the end they were all tied together in his path and did not form a true tree.


    The only tree he developed was the lightning tree and it wasn¡¯t something he focused on much during these years, only in the fourth kingdom would he have the time to be able to do something related to it. At the moment, all his focus was just on being able to maintain seven rays and that was not something easy. Kayden had two more centuries to live according to his calculations, he didn¡¯t have time to focus on anything else, and many of his projects were paused because of this realization of lack of time.


    "Concepts are like the ingredients in a cake recipe, truths are the cake, regardless of the person or learning, everyone knows what a cake is and for everyone, it is the same cake, the only difference is its quality," Triz said. She took out three giant chocolate cakes from her spatial ring and easily divided them into a few hundred pieces that would give every person in the room a bite. The cakes were identical and had no visible difference between them. Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Try a piece and wash your mouth, after that eat the other and repeat the process, try to list in your minds the level of quality of each cake," instructed Triz, easily levitating hundreds of pieces and distributing them to each person in an incredible demonstration of mana control.


    As soon as Kayden ate the first one, he was impressed with the flavor. It was sweet and at the same time wet, it didn¡¯t seem cloying. The next piece was a little different, extremely sweet, that¡¯s all. The last piece was also special and just had a moist taste.


    "As you may have noticed, they are all identical cakes and have a similar flavor, but one characteristic is predominant. Or he is perfect and has balance, the truths are like that. You must learn several concepts about water to be able to master one of its truths, the way you learned and how much you learned will demonstrate the main characteristic of your truths." A class that was supposed to unlock mysteries opened many others for Kayden.


    Triz ended the class after some more basic explanations and dismissed everyone. Kayden calmly stood up and walked out of the room. Outside was a huge courtyard with some torches illuminating the space, snow fell on the unprotected parts.


    "Hey, old man, aren¡¯t you ashamed of giving such a stupid opinion?" Kayden looked to his left and saw three teenagers looking at him with mocking looks, all in the third realm, probably the same generation as Jonathan.


    Kayden didn¡¯t even give it a second glance before he began to float away, but like any clich¨¦d scene from predictable stories, the three silver spoon-born teenagers raised their mana in an attempt to mess with Kayden. Unfortunately for them, Kayden had no ego or patience. He just camouflaged his presence and activated his surrounding domain. With a slight modification, his domain bent the light and made him invisible. He was ready to leave for good when a new voice stopped him from continuing.


    "Kayden! Please wait." Triz¡¯s appearance caused the entire room to become silent in respect for a superior. All eyes were on her and Kayden, who appeared in the air again.


    Silence remained as Kayden just stared into Triz¡¯s eyes, the woman who faced armies and destroyed civilizations easily seemed to get lost in her thoughts, the last encounter between them was still etched in her mind.


    "Challenger Triz, I¡¯m a little late getting to the next lecture," Kayden said politely so she could start talking quickly.


    "Can we talk privately again tomorrow? In the same place, I have some matters we need to deal with," Triz proposed. Kayden didn¡¯t know exactly what it was, but he had no reason to refuse.


    "Of course, I will be at your tower at the same time. For now, I say goodbye and..." Kayden saw the opportunity to leave Earth permanently. "I leave wondering if your opinion on my last question has changed."


    Kayden left before she could respond and left both Triz and the people around her to their thoughts. The nobles who wanted to mess with Kayden didn¡¯t even know where to put their faces. With a mere sneeze from Triz, they would be killed and the relationship between Kayden and the elf was still unclear to everyone.


    *********


    On the same day, Kayden went to two other lectures, one on the refinement of the spiritual sense and another on the exponential enhancement of the senses for short periods. His spiritual sense became much sharper and clearer in its details, in addition, his response speed increased considerably.


    The difficulty in evolving the spiritual sense along with the realm seemed to be just something present on Earth. Kayden would just need a little training and probably his spiritual sense would be in relative strength very similar to the first realm. While the improvement in his senses was something more specific and for unique situations, but still very useful when he needed it. It was a good learning experience, even if it didn¡¯t directly improve his strength.


    Again, he went to the palace of the elven race and once again had to undergo a strong scan of his entire body. After explaining the reason for his visit, he was released to accompany the same butler again. The garden and the entire tower remained the same as on his first visit, at least Triz¡¯s. Some he passed along the way had visibly changed, whether in height or color.


    "You can come in, the master is waiting for you in the garden," said the butler. Kayden thanked him for driving and headed towards the garden. As soon as he passed through the trees, he could see what was below. Triz was sitting on one of the benches again, but this time she wasn¡¯t reading as she waited for Kayden. She just compulsively drank a cup of tea, Kayden didn¡¯t understand how she didn¡¯t finish it.


    "Challenging Kayden," her voice came out a little shaky, and before she could continue speaking, Kayden interrupted her.


    "Just call me Kayden, we don¡¯t need so much formality if Triz Challenger wants it." It took Triz a few seconds to understand what he had proposed. For Kayden, it was something silly, but for her, it was a sign of closeness.


    "Okay, we know exactly when the room will open and its location, if you have to go alone you just need to follow these instructions." Triz handed Kayden a papyrus, he read it quickly and saw that it was easy.


    "I see, do you have anything else to inform me, Miss Triz?" Kayden asked and saw the woman¡¯s eyes light up in confusion. Kayden was under the impression that this meeting was just so she could talk to him.


    "No..." Kayden had confirmation of his hypothesis after that slurred speech with no sign of continuation. It was funny how she was someone so strong and superior to everyone and at the same time incapable of having a decent social conversation.


    "I agree to have a meal of that fish again... Triz," Kayden chose that moment to look into the woman¡¯s eyes and pronounce her name without any title. This action did not go unnoticed by the woman. Few could do this, ridiculously few. Triz signaled the butler to bring the food. She hadn¡¯t planned until this part. She figured Kayden would ask about the route and location, but unfortunately, that didn¡¯t happen and her plans were thwarted.


    "What is your path tree, Triz? I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s a personal question in this world," Kayden knew it was personal, he just played dumb.


    "I manipulate darkness, my concepts are based on sucking the energy from things around and bathing everything in a sea of darkness. My truths are based on exchanging this energy into more energy and causing a death loop," Kayden was impressed, it seemed quite complex.


    "That looks strong and complex too," Kayden commented and saw her face become happy with the compliments. Kayden¡¯s personality was already consolidated in her mind and she was aware that the third realm wizard didn¡¯t pay lip service to him.


    "It guaranteed me entry into the top 10 mages in our solar system, I don¡¯t think you know, but this system is made based on the strength that each person presents in each realm, even those who have already died or are in higher realms."


    "That¡¯s impressive, but how can you have so much knowledge and eat like that?" Kayden didn¡¯t miss the opportunity to tease the woman when she saw her choking after biting off a piece larger than she could swallow.

 Chapter 300: Karma

    Author¡¯s note: these chapters today refer to the entry into the web novel anniversary


    "Quiet¡­ Kayden," She was about to call him a worm, but couldn¡¯t finish her sentence. "Eating like this takes me back to happy times in my childhood." Her face became sad and Kayden automatically identified an opportunity.


    The classic manipulation when someone showed any sign of painful or happy memories was to connect their memories and demonstrate that you were on the same wavelength in the conversation.


    "My childhood was the time when I was happiest, I didn¡¯t have any worries and my father was always with me," Kayden released two lies with total mastery and his face became closed and sad to accompany them.


    "What happened to your father?" she asked instinctively and Kayden put some fake tears in her eyes, a theater worthy of a master.


    "He died protecting me from some people," Kayden conveyed this in a way that didn¡¯t encourage Triz to keep asking. "And you? What was the happiest part of your childhood?" Kayden saw the hesitation in Triz¡¯s eyes, but the fact that he shared something first made her feel indebted, and would feel guilty if she didn¡¯t share something too.


    "When my talent hadn¡¯t been revealed, I had no responsibilities or pressure, people treated me like a child. After I got seven rays, the eyes changed, envy and fear were common, even among adults."


    Kayden never experienced this directly, but he understood that talent made one isolated at the top and the top would always be lonely. Few people would have talent beyond the average genius.


    "I feel nostalgic when I remember my childhood, but if I went back in time I would do everything the same, even the negative points. In the end, all the events in my life culminated in me becoming who I am today," Triz heard Kayden¡¯s sentence and had to agree.


    Over the next few minutes, the two ate the same fish again and talked a little about lighter topics. Kayden didn¡¯t worry, as he had already done what he needed to do. It was better to go little by little to have something more lasting.


    "I¡¯m going to have to leave now, Miss Triz," again Kayden left to say something more provocative just on his way out. "Next time, call me directly so we can meet, you don¡¯t need to come up with a silly reason." The girl¡¯s cheeks turned red.


    She directly understood Kayden¡¯s provocation and what he was saying indirectly. She didn¡¯t have time to respond as the boy quickly disappeared from her sight.


    ***********


    A week passed and Kayden still hadn¡¯t been called by Triz. He didn¡¯t care, as any training or business from a mage of her level could last a long time. Meanwhile, he just enjoyed the classes and special training rooms.


    Kayden began to make plans to stay on this planet, but to do so, he needed to conquer Triz quickly. Alone, he didn¡¯t have any support in this place, and depending on Merlin was a very crazy dream on his part.


    The boy understood that he had the support of the god, but he also understood that it was only support in specific cases. He would not interact directly with their life and development. In a way, he was just a shadow who could always jump to help him in life and death cases, but in small matters he was irrelevant.


    Just two weeks later, Kayden was called by Triz. This time they went to a lecture on karma. It was a lecture only for those with level five privilege, something far beyond Kayden¡¯s scope at the moment, as that level of privilege could only be granted and not earned. S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The place was completely surreal. The lecture was taking place in outer space. It was done at the exact moment the sun appeared floating on the speaker¡¯s back. The most incredible thing was that a web of spells prevented the light from passing through. It was only possible to see the sun in all its splendor, but it was not capable of warming or blocking anyone¡¯s vision. This was one of the most impressive sights Kayden had ever seen in his entire existence.


    "Hello everyone, I am Conor Kremlin, the current monarch of the elves," a middle-aged elf was floating in space. He wore an impeccable purple robe, his hair was silver, and his eyes were identical to Triz¡¯s, with a swirl of different colors. "Everyone must take an oath of silence regarding today¡¯s information."


    Over the next few minutes, the monarch called person by person in the stands and asked them to take a soul oath directly with him. Each oath only took a few seconds, and considering there were only four dozen people, Kayden¡¯s turn quickly came.


    He clashed with the environment. His kingdom was the lowest in that place. Even the heirs of some powers were already in the fourth realm. Furthermore, everyone there knew each other. Only Kayden was a total unknown to everyone.


    "Strong mind," the monarch murmured as he saw that Kayden didn¡¯t even flinch under his presence. There was not even a single sign of fear in his movements. It was probably good acting from Kayden. That was Conor¡¯s thought.


    After that, the king ordered Kayden to take the soul oath and open his core for the monarch to place the piece of mana with his will inside Kayden. This was not something that pleased him, but considering that the monarch probably knew who his supporter was, he had no tricks.


    Kayden returned to Triz¡¯s side under everyone¡¯s eyes. The mystery about who he was became even greater after Kayden sat next to Triz, a place that many there wanted, even with the age difference.


    "This is going to be a quick talk, as I only know the bare minimum about karma and destiny. If you have any questions, just raise your hands," the atmosphere¡­ began to change impressively.


    Before Kayden knew it, they were in a small elf village. But... everything seemed very strange and disjointed. The flow of mana from where they were was strange and felt unnatural. Kayden couldn¡¯t understand this.

 Chapter 301: Karma[2]

    Over the next few minutes, Kayden watched as the midwife handled the situation with extreme mastery and the doctor frantically cast healing spells on the woman. At a crucial moment, Kayden could sense a foreign mana in the environment for a millisecond. It was just because the pitcher wanted him to understand that there was his meddling in the situation, that¡¯s all. Kayden couldn¡¯t understand exactly what was done, but the woman instantly improved.


    The doctor began to cry with emotion. He seemed very close to her; the child was also very similar to both of them, and it was clear that they were family. Not only that, but they were very happy, even more so now with a new member.


    "This child would grow up with a strong and disciplined mentality. His father would strictly teach him and would never smile easily again. This child would do anything to earn his father¡¯s praise and this would cause him to work extremely diligently, making him the village¡¯s next doctor." Time began to pass quickly. S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    It seemed like Kayden was seeing the situation at a thousand times greater speed. In just a few minutes, he saw the child grow up and receive lots of love from his father and mother. His father¡¯s position as a healer made him someone of high status in society, and this caused him to be isolated from the other children.


    "In his first life, he would grow up more slovenly and would not be isolated from other children," the monarch¡¯s voice appeared again. Kayden watched as the child watched people¡¯s smiles as they were healed by his father.


    This small action made him begin to seek to learn about medicine and cure the sick. His father had never demanded anything from him and was happy with his son showing interest in his field.


    In the next few minutes, the boy began to show a talent that he didn¡¯t have in his other life, mainly because he started later than he would have in his first life and already had a greater capacity for reasoning.


    "At this point, he begins to heal the children around him and develops friendships with the same people he would have made in his first life." The boy continued to work harder and harder.


    This time, he didn¡¯t want to prove himself to his father; his goal was just to help everyone in society. His healing caused more people to talk to him and more smiles to open in his presence. This was the difference that made him start cultivating and training in a disciplined manner.


    "At this point, he is already close to the second turning point, when he ends up losing his father and completely isolating himself from the village. In his first life, he would quickly grow in power and return to a position of high power." The turning point was very similar.


    At one point, his mother was bitten by a snake, and the invading mana began to destroy various parts of her body. In a moment of pride and pride, he began to heal his mother while his father tried to study similar cases that had already happened.


    That was his mistake, something that ended up costing his mother her life. His father loved him as a son, but his first love was always his wife, and seeing her dead was the point at which his heart broke. His only son was also no longer someone he could look in the eye.


    "The man ends up taking his life, and the child follows the same path as the other life, identically. He isolates himself and grows in power, then returns and enjoys a life in power with wealth and all the rights of the powerful."


    When the monarch¡¯s voice finished his sentence, the atmosphere changed again, and everyone found themselves floating in outer space again. Kayden couldn¡¯t even blink before finding himself in the same place as before.


    "Destiny is immutable, only the person himself can change destiny, and only when a trigger gives him this opportunity. In this case, I was the trigger, and because it was in an environment outside of universal laws, I did not suffer any reprisal from Karma. But if it were the reality we live in, I would have to defend myself from a small green-hued claw that could easily take my life when I wasn¡¯t paying attention¡­"


    Again, everyone followed the monarch¡¯s eyes and saw Kayden, the weakest of all in that place, having the courage to do what not even one could. Conor¡¯s name was a heavyweight; he was the monarch of the elves, the strongest representation of the peak of power. His words were the law and reality of everyone beneath him.


    "Does karma have strength proportional to the level of the action you take or about the force you represent, your majesty?" Kayden said politely. Your question was extremely accurate on the subject.


    "It¡¯s a mix of both, but it¡¯s mainly about the level of action you cause. In our reality, my action would have produced an attack that would not have even managed to cut a hair from my skin. I can¡¯t say what the proportion of the action represents, but I believe it is the size of the splash it causes in the lake of destiny."


    Kayden understood perfectly what the man was saying and was impressed by the monarch¡¯s humility in admitting that he didn¡¯t know something. He didn¡¯t expect such a noble action from someone so strong.


    "Karma is so strong that even gods are not free from it. Most can easily escape its repercussions, but will still receive an attack capable of killing them. But karma is not something you need to worry about. The false free will you possess is not enough to cause karma. You must, at the very least, be a god or have a rune tree of that style to be able to see the lines of fate."


    Kayden remembered Han at that moment. The old man wasn¡¯t even at a very high realm when he was able to predict many points of Kayden¡¯s future. This should be a unique talent in the entire solar system. Kayden only further affirmed his certainty that Han was the most talented person planet Earth has ever produced.

 Chapter 302: The plan continues

    "That was today¡¯s lecture. Until another time," the god disappeared, leaving everyone alone in outer space. Triz also wasted no time in pulling Kayden back into the planet¡¯s orbit.


    "I need to go back to studying now..." Triz was about to pull away from Kayden when he stopped her with a small tug on her arm. The surprise factor meant that she did not react to the action.


    "Can we have a meal together first? I don¡¯t mind studying by your side too," Kayden said this sentence looking into Triz¡¯s eyes. The woman remained unresponsive; she didn¡¯t expect Kayden to have such a direct reaction.


    "We can eat together, but I can¡¯t study around other people," she looked at Kayden expecting a negative reaction.


    "Okay, a meal with you is perfect." All of Kayden¡¯s sentences seemed to have two meanings: on the one hand, just a good friend, and on the other, it seemed like he was hinting at something more.


    Triz¡¯s innocence only captured some parts; most of the time, she didn¡¯t know how to respond to such boldness. The closest thing she had ever received to flirting in her entire life was a marriage proposal.


    The two of them had a fish meal again and talked a little about small things. Kayden already had experience manipulating people and always turned the conversation back to Triz so she could continue talking about herself. After eating, Kayden said goodbye to her and returned to his daily training. On that particular day, he would just cultivate in one of the rooms with increased mana. The expectation was not to have any problems, but life was not a strawberry.


    "Kayden! Get out of that cultivation and talk to me like a man!" Marco¡¯s voice filled the entire room and still didn¡¯t wake Kayden, only when the man put some mana near Kayden did the boy open his eyes.


    "Just do the same thing as before, I don¡¯t mind sharing the room with your Highness," Kayden replied and was about to close his eyes again.


    "No! I came here because I want to know the intentions you have with my sister. Plus, it¡¯s a lot of sand for your truck! She¡¯s a future goddess, and¡­" Marco trailed off when he remembered who exactly Kayden was.


    "I don¡¯t have any intentions with your sister, I just enjoy her company and she enjoys mine too, but I don¡¯t have any plans to increase our relationship beyond friendship, Your Highness," Kayden lied like crazy in that sentence and didn¡¯t even get it wrong. a beat of your heart.


    "Why do you call her Triz then? This is something only a select few can do and you are not qualified to do it," the jealousy of a protective brother was visible in Marco¡¯s tone. The funny thing was that he was much weaker than his sister.


    "In my world, it¡¯s normal to call friends that, that¡¯s all, your highness." Marco didn¡¯t know what to answer. He came here thinking he would fight for his sister¡¯s honor and convince an idiot not to talk to her anymore, but Kayden was very calm and answered everything perfectly.


    "I¡¯m watching you!" Marco left the room quickly and Kayden didn¡¯t pay attention. He just continued cultivating diligently.


    A few minutes later, a woman entered the room. She was short in height and barely reached 1.50 meters. His hair was white and his ears were well-marked. Furthermore, his eyes were completely purple, they had no color other than normal white and deep purple. Her beauty was even more ridiculous than Triz¡¯s. She could easily order a man to kill himself with just her natural persuasion.


    "Hi," his voice was filled with a small amount of mana, but that small amount was perfectly built into an illusion and persuasion spell. The amazing thing was that she wasn¡¯t trying hard to do it; it was just natural to his kingdom.


    Kayden opened his eyes as he noticed the foreign mana around him. He raised his eyes and looked directly at the woman. There was no sign of hypnosis on his part; the woman¡¯s beauty didn¡¯t move his mind even a little. S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Hello, how can I help you?" Kayden¡¯s tone was neutral and did not reveal any information. This caused surprise to flash across the woman¡¯s eyes.


    "I am looking for a sexual partner and I am willing to pay a lot for him." His eyes and his tone made his intentions clear to Kayden. Unfortunately for her, the boy was completely immune to her charms.


    "I¡¯m not interested." Kayden closed his eyes and went back to cultivating. Even though it was a fake, the woman felt her ego being completely crushed, even more so by someone so many realms below her.


    She couldn¡¯t even remember the last time she spoke to someone of such a low level; it had probably been centuries if he hadn¡¯t considered his direct family. Kayden¡¯s refusal was so brutal that she didn¡¯t dare to try again; his pride was hurt.


    Kayden didn¡¯t care at all and quickly forgot about this situation. He was investing in Triz; I had no reason to look for someone else at that moment. Furthermore, Triz was without a doubt the best option of all.


    She was someone easy for Kayden to manipulate in subtle ways because of her innocence; plus, they already had a blossoming relationship. What Kayden didn¡¯t know was that the woman who tried to seduce him was Triz¡¯s mother.


    Taking Kayden to Conor¡¯s class was a very bold move by Triz. She had never done anything like this before and her family logically didn¡¯t understand. The interest made several people want to go after Kayden, but luckily Conor was a rational head and banned them all.


    Only a few people, like his son Marco and one person he wasn¡¯t crazy about giving any command to, his wife, went after Kayden. The two got little information. No one could go directly to Kayden, but it wasn¡¯t difficult to get all the information about the boy. His entire life on Earth was placed in the view of countless people. Once the majority understood how weak Kayden¡¯s support was, they put their unfavorable opinions on the table.


    Author¡¯s note: we¡¯re over 300 chapters, I admit I didn¡¯t expect to write so much

 Chapter 303: A bigger stage for a theater

    This lasted until Marco revealed to everyone that Merlin directly supported Kayden. Not only that, but he had strong support from the god. At that moment, all opinions changed. He had no wealth or power that surpassed the support of a God. Not even if someone conquered the other 27 worlds would they have a greater influence than Merlin¡¯s. Whether he wanted to or not, the old man only needed to move a finger and he would completely eradicate any force opposing him.


    The time passed quickly. Kayden was not involved in any conflicts during this period. Any sign of struggle, he dodged easily. Furthermore, he never had contact with his students and his students¡¯ friends, he practically forgot about them.


    Kayden spent four months just training in the density room and watching the lectures. His knowledge of the universe and advanced forms of mana has improved by many folds. Each lecture was unique and knew the highest level. Another gain he obtained was his relationship with Triz.


    He hasn¡¯t made any sexual advances so far, just making some camouflaged flirtations at opportune moments. Their meetings became more frequent. Slowly, their relationship began to blossom into a friendship with a hint of something more. Kayden was slowly going to pin Triz completely. The only problem was Marco¡¯s constant visits and, recently, Triz¡¯s parents started showing up at their lunches. sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden didn¡¯t feel any pressure from their presence, but it was obvious to him that Triz was a little uncomfortable in their presence. Kayden didn¡¯t like how this was interfering with her dates and started scheduling more random times with her.


    This was the last month of the event, and the talks were over. Something called proof of value began. All generations could freely face each other to show their gifts and strength. The best of the best had the right to be called by some renowned masters.


    Kayden wouldn¡¯t be interested in this if it weren¡¯t for something very specific that would be given to the category of those below the fifth realm: an invitation to a special room. This would be the perfect gift for him to give Triz.


    This room was the time room. Furthermore, elven culture had a unique way of beginning a romantic relationship. First, they would be a different type of boyfriend called "hookers." At this stage, the suitor, whether male or female, had to give a gift to their partner and ask for their permission for them to start a relationship. After a few months, they could evolve into an official relationship, and only after that would they move on to marriage. The funny thing about elven culture was that they didn¡¯t have betrothal; it was just a linear progression from dating to marriage.


    Kayden¡¯s cultivation also bore fruit, and he managed to reach the fourth level of the third realm with perfect maximization. This was only possible due to the sum of three factors: first, the mana density room; second, his meals with Triz. He didn¡¯t know, but that fish was an incredible ally in cultivation. And the third point was the treasures he had been consuming to speed up the process. The treasures came from several lectures he attended. Not only that but also from your stash. They were much inferior to what he had access to on this planet, but he needed to use them because when he entered the room, these treasures would probably not be taken with him. Besides, when he left, they wouldn¡¯t be that useful anymore.


    "Can I accompany you to the test of valor?" Kayden asked Triz, she still didn¡¯t know he would participate. The two were having breakfast together at that time.


    "Every member of the royal family has to be there. If you don¡¯t have any problems with that, that¡¯s fine with me." Kayden already knew that.


    "It¡¯s okay as long as we can be together." Kayden saw the woman turn red in the cheeks and turn away from him. The two flew a few kilometers out of the palace and it didn¡¯t take long for them to arrive at the competition venue.


    It was a huge stadium over 10 kilometers wide. He was floating on a huge piece of land in the air that looked like it had just come out of the ground. The stadium glowed with grandeur in the air. It was an immense building with a round glass at the top. The stands were completely immense and could easily accommodate almost a hundred million people, mainly because the space was remodeled in this place.


    The center of the arena was a few kilometers away in reality, but with the space compressed, it was almost a hundred. It was without a doubt something completely immense. In it, there were dozens of trees, rivers, and mountains. Not only that but entire cities were set up inside the stadium. It was completely surreal. The competition would be very similar to a battle of the last man standing but with some special conditions.


    First, there were some treasures to be looted that were worth points and would give the participant a strength boost. Furthermore, forming teams was prohibited under any circumstances. Any victory against another participant guarantees a 100% cure to your physique and stamina. In a way, it was a competition aimed entirely at showing the skills of the participants and did not allow luck to get in the way, nor even personal feuds to interfere directly.


    Kayden descended directly from the heavens together with Triz in the most special area of the entire stand. His arrival was watched by the eyes of many powerful entities. Some people there had a planet under their thumb and answered only to Conor and Merlin. Triz had already explained to Kayden on the way the correct procedures for greeting everyone. First, the two of them had to bow to a specific region where the veterans were.


    "My regards to the veterans, I am Kayden Heart." His presentation was short. Then he turned to the elders¡¯ table. At the first table, there were around 30 people; at the second table, only 10. All these ten exuded an aura of knowledge and strength. Kayden couldn¡¯t measure their realm, but they were probably above Triz in terms of strength. His greeting was neutral and short in the same way.


    "My regards to the elders." Kayden bent down until his forehead was on the floor this time, but without touching his knees. It was strange, but culture would always be unique in each place in the universe.


    "My regards to the highest elves, the great royalty." Kayden bent down and put both knees on the floor this time. In front of him was Conor in all his splendor and someone he had the impression he had seen before but didn¡¯t remember perfectly.


    This was Triz¡¯s mother, known as Rafaela, one of the strongest elves in this entire solar system. In addition to them, there were two other people: Marcos, whom Kayden had already met before, and a woman very similar to Triz, but only in the fourth kingdom. She was Triz¡¯s sister and a few centuries younger than her, the girl was called Helena and had a great talent, just not as great as Triz¡¯s. After greeting everyone, Kayden waited for Conor¡¯s orders.


    "Triz, sit with your guest here." A sigh of relief was released by Triz. In a way, this was Kayden¡¯s introduction to his family. She didn¡¯t know why she was so nervous, Kayden was just her friend.


    "Hey, Kayden! I still have my eye on you." Marco said as Kayden sat down in the seats along with the elf emperor¡¯s children. The emperor and empress were sitting right above them but with a fair distance separating them.


    "Hello, Your Highness Marco, hello, Your Highness Helena, it¡¯s a pleasure to meet you, I¡¯m Kayden Heart." Kayden bowed to the two to greet them. What he expected was a gigantic level of ego, but...


    "Just call me Marco too, your background gives you that right." Marco spat out these words as if they were bitter.


    "You can call me Miss Helena, there¡¯s no need for so much formality." Helena also reduced the amount of pompous words, but still kept the "miss", this was normal considering the gender difference between the two.


    "I ask you to do the same to me then." Kayden helped himself to everything he saw Triz picking up. He didn¡¯t know how the woman would eat in public, but he soon noticed that she began to get nervous with every second she spent just looking at her food.


    "Triz, would it be breaking the law or something if I put up a bubble around us?" Kayden¡¯s question at the table made everyone look at him as if they saw a madman.


    "No, but it would be extremely offensive and could disrespect all the elders around, besides, everyone probably heard your words since they are nosy old men." Marco was the one who responded and that earned him a spoiled brat scream from the veteran¡¯s table.

 Chapter 304: Proof of value

    The mood was much lighter than Kayden expected, but he could still see that Triz was too nervous to eat in public. She had probably been in this situation before.


    "I think it¡¯s worth offending the strongest beings I¡¯ve ever seen." Kayden raised a barrier over everyone¡¯s eyes, no mana and no vision could enter his barrier. In fact, it would be extremely simple for the surrounding powerhouses to just put their spiritual senses through the holes or just unravel the barrier and see it as if it were transparent, but none of them were crazy enough to do that in Conor¡¯s presence. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "He¡¯s crazier than you were when you were young," Rafaela commented to Conor, and the man just snorted dissatisfaction.


    "You are crazy? Or just mentally retarded? Why did you do that?" Marco couldn¡¯t believe his eyes, neither he nor those around him who looked at the bubble in astonishment.


    "Triz doesn¡¯t feel comfortable if other people see her eating." Kayden¡¯s speech had a very simple reason for such a big action. Each of the three at this table faced Kayden directly, each with their thoughts.


    "Just for that?" Marco looked stunned.


    "Kayden, you didn¡¯t have to do this for me. It¡¯s not the first time I¡¯ve eaten with members of the royal family. Furthermore, none of them dare to spread the word about this matter." Triz seemed to feel guilty about the problems Kayden could get with his actions.


    "Don¡¯t worry Triz, to see you at ease, I don¡¯t mind making some enemies." Kayden¡¯s speech was said looking into the woman¡¯s eyes and in a slow tone. This earned him two red cheeks and silence at the table, at least until Helena exploded.


    "Marco, become a man like Kayden, you piece of shit! I won¡¯t accept anything less from my little brother." Along with Helena¡¯s not-so-elegant sentence came a slap on the back from Marco that would easily ruin her image as a lady.


    In the next few minutes, everyone exchanged a few words. Inside the bubble it was just normal topics, but outside Kayden¡¯s name represented the hottest topic. Everyone knew why he did that, mainly because Rafaela was a great gossip and quickly got together with her friends to gossip.


    After almost an hour, everyone had already arrived for the competition. The test of valor would begin once again but with a unique gift for first place: the right to enter the divine room of the elves. Few knew what this was, but that didn¡¯t stop everyone from wanting the room.


    "Good morning to my people." Conor appeared in the center of the stadium, and his voice reverberated everywhere with perfect equalization. "Once again we have proof of value and with a very special prize this year. Know that this award is worth as much as millennia of work. This is a direct offering from the God Merlin and something that was written in the stars. Anyone brave enough to participate can jump into the arena and you will be transported to a random point."


    Conor stopped talking as hundreds of people started jumping around the place. This would be an epic event and many people would be participating, from apprentices to fourth-realm mages.


    "Triz, I kind of lied to you, I¡¯m going to participate, I just wanted to spend more time with you." Kayden didn¡¯t give the woman time to respond and just jumped from the stands along with the other hundreds of people.


    He was teleported to the top of a snowy mountain. In front of him were two people from the third realm and a small tree with only a blue fruit on its branches, it was dripping with a large amount of mana. His body was immobilized by superior mana.


    "The strong should not beat the weak, moreover, your performance will have more impact on your evaluations than the level of the things you achieve. In other words, everyone has an equal chance to prove themselves worthy. Good luck to everyone." The exact second Conor finished speaking, Kayden could feel the mana around him and...


    "1000 times!" The mana density was completely ridiculous, and he wasted no time. He conjured nine pentagrams and threw an aura slash at one of the third-realm mages. Without even waiting for the result, he conjured nine pentagrams again and threw them against the other wizard.


    His time in all the lectures was not wasted for nothing. The nine pentagrams came out completely stable and without any errors. The aura slash passed through them and perfectly gained all the attributes Kayden wanted to put into his spell.


    Before anyone could even reason about which participant to follow, a name appeared on the table with the highest score. While everyone had a zero, Kayden was on top with two points.


    The two aura cuts were perfect and easily knocked his two opponents out of the competition. This earned him a few million looks. There were so many that Kayden¡¯s sixth sense began to tell him something was wrong, but his eyes were quickly suppressed by runes and he didn¡¯t notice anything else.


    Without wasting time, Kayden took the fruit and placed it in his space ring without even seeing what it was. His spiritual sense opened, but he only managed to reach 500 meters around him. Before the lectures, he would probably only be able to reach 100 meters with this ridiculous mana density. These 500 meters made him easily spot some other third-realm people on the mountain.


    In every location, there was at least one fruit or a scroll and some people fighting over them. Kayden took off like a rocket towards those closest to him. His name on the table was in first place, but several others appeared in second and third with one or two points.


    He only had three points for retrieving the fruit quickly, but soon his score would increase. In front of him were two people facing each other equally. Kayden couldn¡¯t sneak up on them, at least not while they were in combat.

 Chapter 305: Proof of value[2]

    "Hey! I¡¯m intruding here!" Kayden shouted, getting both of their attention. At this moment, he conjured his absolute mana dominance and cast two aura slashes at the one that seemed weakest. The spell was propelled by nine pentagrams and passed through space at a ridiculous speed.


    The first attack was contained by the opponent¡¯s barrier, but it was broken into pieces. The second hit him squarely as he tried to conjure something to defend himself. Unfortunately for him, Kayden¡¯s dominance prevented any movement on his part.


    The second saw the situation and automatically understood that Kayden was superior. The problem was that he didn¡¯t have time to run; His escape was interrupted by lightning hitting his barrier and throwing him against the mountain floor.


    Although he was stronger than Kayden¡¯s other opponent, after two pentagrams, his defense was easily broken, and he was taken out of the competition. Kayden picked up the scroll that was on the ground and continued his journey in search of opponents.


    His nine pentagrams were strong enough to kill someone in the fourth realm, but at the moment, he only arranged them to be quick and stealthy. He wanted to quickly end the fights and prevent anyone from getting close to him.


    For the next few hours, Kayden just made his way around the mountain, defeating everyone he came across. His score was at the top, and just below him was just one other person, about one or two dozen points lower.


    Third place was four scores behind Kayden, but fourth already had a difference of almost 100 points, demonstrating the disparity in talent between them.


    The scoreboard floated in the view of everyone who called it out loud, and Kayden didn¡¯t allow himself a second¡¯s pause. After clearing the entire mountain, he continued flying in a random direction, encountering more opponents.


    Whether in giant trees or incredibly extensive caves, Kayden simply sought out opponents and defeated them. So far, he had only met people from his kingdom. He quickly concluded that it was because of the region he was placed in.


    Just three hours after the competition began, Kayden saw his name drop to second place, and by a huge margin of almost 100 points. The sixth place suddenly rose and opened up a big gap between everyone.


    Kayden only took a few seconds to make a decision; chose a direction and left without looking around. His journey took about two hours at high speed, covering dozens of kilometers and ending up in an area with people from the second kingdom.


    His name had already dropped several positions, and he would soon fall out of the top 10 if he continued like this. The people watching him lost interest as they saw him just flying around. Without hesitation, he chose a direction again and set off.


    Two hours later, he arrived at the apprentice-level members¡¯ area, only children aged 5 and under. They weren¡¯t even considered real competitors, they were just testing their luck.


    His name had already fallen below the top 20. He still had two chances and... About three hours later, Kayden found the first person in the fourth realm. Furthermore, it was clear to him that it was someone in the early levels.


    "Perfect," Kayden murmured as he extended his grip around the person subtly. Then he used his nine pentagrams in the absolute strength setting, without stealth.


    His attack came out with great force and immediately alerted the man in the fourth realm. A huge stone wall was erected directly between the two, but it was pierced by Kayden¡¯s attack.


    The wizard¡¯s barrier made a loud sound as it swallowed the attack, stopping it. Unconsciously, he raised the huge ax he was holding.


    BOOOM!


    The sound of the katana hitting the ax was like an explosion. The man was pushed back a few meters, and he finally saw his attacker: a young man from the third realm with a pentagram in each eye and one spinning on his back.


    "Are you stupid? How arrogant!", the man was about to tell Kayden to get lost, but his words had to be delayed when he had to defend himself from a bolt of lightning that attacked him from below.


    The attack wasn¡¯t strong, and his barrier easily swallowed him. This confirmed his idea that Kayden was a weak idiot. Kayden, once again, went to attack his hand-to-hand but ended up being pushed back in every exchange.


    For every attack Kayden was pushed into, the man¡¯s confidence grew a little. Kayden had impressive strength, but in the end, he was an entire realm beneath him. The problem was that his intuition told him something was wrong; he just didn¡¯t know what it was.


    Using his earth element, he fell to the ground, and for several tens of meters, the gravity was altered to his will. Kayden¡¯s movements would become heavier, and his lighter, or the opposite; it all depended on the situation.


    "Stop with this useless lightning shit and die!" Kayden¡¯s rays always came from his blind spot and just hit his barrier harmlessly, which irritated him because he could never dodge them.


    "It was a good fight", muttered Kayden, and his eyes, which seemed to show strong emotions, became neutral, while the earth element man confirmed his intuition. Instinctively, he backed away, but...


    Three aura slashes awaited him, each coming from a different direction. Fortunately, he had his barrier active and would only suffer some damage to non-vital parts of his body. Hope welled up in him again.


    * Tlec !*


    With a snap of Kayden¡¯s fingers, the man¡¯s barrier disappeared. The wall he erected held back some of the force of the cuts, but not enough for him to be able to resist Kayden¡¯s attack unprotected.


    "Just that?" Kayden muttered as he saw his name only rise to the top 3. Furthermore, the top 1 was almost 1000 points apart. This was a problem, but considering that this wizard at the fourth realm gave around 500 points, it wouldn¡¯t be too much work. sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 306: Duel of challengers

    At least that was what Kayden expected, but first place continued to climb at high speed and even though he took out the fourth realm mages like grass, the other side was also doing the same.


    It became clear to Kayden that Nathan Yuma was a seven-ray wizard and that he was fighting people from a realm above him. The question was how Kayden would overcome him; this competition was practically just between the two.


    Third place and the rest had no chance of competing. The prize pool for skipping a realm was much higher than hundreds in the same realm. Some special wizards could jump realms, but not as easily as Kayden and Nathan.


    "That was close," muttered Kayden after dodging a wind attack that surged dangerously beneath his foot. It was very sneaky and he had no idea where the attacker was.


    "Hang on! Hang on! I attacked by accident!" Kayden saw a young man with light blue eyes and bright yellow hair. He was tall and carried a sword. Her outfit was elegant and full of folds, but at the same time tight and with a diagonal divider from shoulder to foot.


    Kayden immediately felt that the person on the other side was in the third realm. The problem was that he couldn¡¯t tell what his opponent¡¯s exact level of strength was. Coupled with the perfect surprise attack, Kayden killed the charade quickly.


    There were seven rays. Seven rays in the third realm were rare, extremely rare among challengers. In this generation, for example, there was only Kayden and Nathan. The third place who was fighting for the top positions was just a young girl who reached six lightning bolts directly into the first realm, a ridiculously rare feat.


    "You¡¯re Nathan, aren¡¯t you?" The boy¡¯s eyes lit up when he was recognized.


    "So you know the illustrious challenger Nathan Yuma. I could even give you an autograph, but I don¡¯t have time for that right now. Furthermore, your low power disgusts me." Nathan couldn¡¯t understand Kayden¡¯s kingdom or his strength. He just considered it as someone at the apprentice level.


    He considered that his attack on Kayden was deflected by someone superior at the last moment. He just didn¡¯t understand how someone of that level of strength was present in this region. His superb nature was clear to Kayden.


    "Illustrious? Don¡¯t you mean the most pathetic? I challenge him to a fight until only one side remains. I put my honor on the line that I will not run away and I hope that a worm like you does the same." Kayden¡¯s speech was extremely heavy. High society was not used to direct offenses like this.


    Even more, Nathan, who was considered a future god by everyone on his planet and outside, received the same respect as a monarch of a planet. Kayden¡¯s speech entered his young mind and made him automatically roar in response.


    "I won¡¯t run away from a weakling like you. Tell me the name of whoever I massacred at my hands!" He was much younger than Kayden and still only 60 years old.


    His talent was far superior to Kayden¡¯s and even Triz¡¯s was inferior to his. His age and his lightning count were something that shouldn¡¯t be possible together, this gave him one of the biggest egos in this solar system.


    "I am the challenger Kayden Heart, the monarch of mana." Kayden¡¯s speech caused the audience to erupt in such loud noise that runes had to be added. Not only that but all eyes were focused on them now.


    No one knew Kayden or had even heard of him. His name did not exist in any universal internet registry. His speech was treated as a lie by the majority, but... deep down everyone wanted to see what the end of this fight would be. S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Do you know what a crime it is to impersonate a challenger?" There was no punishment for this, but Nathan was extremely furious at the thought of someone being on the same level as him. "I ask you to stop this test and arrest this rubbish!" His voice was only met with silence.


    "I recommend you take this seriously or later don¡¯t say I didn¡¯t warn you", Kayden stopped talking as he took a deep breath, his eyes closed for a few seconds and...


    "Come to your monarch," the mana from over 5 kilometers converged towards Kayden at high speed, his spiritual sense was expanded by 10 times the amount it was at, a feat that was only possible for a short period of time.


    "It¡¯s your last chance to prepare," Kayden said looking into his opponent¡¯s eyes. The amount of mana combined with Kayden¡¯s calmness in the situation caused Nathan to expand his wind domain automatically.


    His body lost its shape and for about 150 meters the air changed slightly, not only that, but this entire area became an extension of Nathan¡¯s body, he could appear anywhere immediately, and his speed increased dozens of times.


    "This is my domain, the wind becomes one with my person, and to this day no opponent has been able to overthrow me, I am the undefeated king and will continue to be", Nathan¡¯s voice came out as if it was accompanied by a strong wind.


    "You are the first to see my peak power, I hope you entertain me enough", Kayden named this peak the monarch state, his mana control was ridiculously increased, and his spiritual sense received a huge increase in transmission speed and range.


    All of this was done using several pentagrams that amplified and increased power, but that was not the main thing, the most important point was that Kayden had managed to place the pentagrams in his own body.


    There was a complex layer of pentagrams all over his body, some increased the power that the mana passed through his veins, others distributed it to his flesh, and others regenerated the damage caused by pressure.


    It was a sum of gigantic changes, from tiny ones like increasing the elasticity of a tendon to the size of an organ to increase its activity, this was the stage that a few months ago Kayden wouldn¡¯t have had the courage to try, but after all the knowledge he obtained was willing to take the risk.


    Considering there were several dozen peak healers in this competition he would be fine regardless of the damage he received, his katana appeared in his hand in time to parry a wind slash that appeared inches from his head.


    His speed was completely ridiculous, his reaction time was accelerated by dozens of times, and he could practically see the flapping wings of a fly in front of him at that moment.


    Clang!


    Nathan came at Kayden without any fear, his rapier was masterfully defended by Kayden, but Nathan ended up being pushed back, the boy had very high speed, but his strength was not consistent with his speed.


    Whenever Kayden moved, a pentagram appeared on the opposite side and released a kind of explosion of air and mana, this was to prevent Kayden¡¯s body from receiving the impact of his movement.


    "Are you going to hide?" Kayden teased as his opponent disappeared from his spiritual sense and vision, he couldn¡¯t understand, the wind attacks kept coming from all directions and he didn¡¯t even know where his opponent was.


    "You talk a lot!", the voice appeared from all sides, Kayden concentrated on trying to find out exactly where the strongest point of propagation was coming from, and Nathan continued trying to abuse his speed and stealth far above normal.


    Every time he appeared, Kayden ended up receiving a blow, even with his high speed he could only partially defend himself, so every time Nathan disappeared, Kayden tried to understand where the boy had gone.


    He began compacting the mana around him, practically causing it to become sticky and stick to anything. As soon as Nathan came out of his immaterial state, he was completely marked by Kayden¡¯s mana, but it didn¡¯t do anything, the marking only stayed for a few milliseconds and disappeared.


    Kayden, who had always been the master of battles of attrition, was starting to get the worst of it. Fortunately, he had enough mana around him to suppress his excessive spending. His strongest attacks were useless against Nathan as he was too fast and stealthy.


    He continued placing the mana around 100 meters and stacking it so that it was extremely dense and difficult to pull, his idea was to first limit Nathan¡¯s space to just 50 meters.


    "A small sacrifice," Kayden said when he saw his arm being severed by Nathan¡¯s attack and he managed to apply a reasonable cut to his opponent¡¯s chest, the blow was a bonus, as the main thing was that he was able to close the 50 meters with extremely dense mana.


    "There¡¯s no point in keeping me here, you¡¯re stuck with me and not the other way around" Kayden smiled when he saw Nathan¡¯s arrogance, maybe in the future he could lose this fight when Nathan managed to overcome the physical limits of his spell, but now?

 Chapter 307: Winner

    "Burn," Kayden began to consume all the oxygen in the place with a simple large-scale fire spell, Nathan¡¯s carefree attitude disappeared as he began to create oxygen to maintain his dominance.


    Kayden only needed to organize some pentagrams and simple matrices so that the fire was infinite, this forced Nathan to come out of his camouflage more often to try to break Kayden¡¯s concentration.


    They could do both simultaneously, but for Nathan, it was a little more difficult, as he had to concentrate to cast the spells. The boy was a genius but hadn¡¯t yet lived long enough to diversify his skills.


    This situation caused Nathan to start attacking Kayden directly, his speed was ridiculous, but Kayden was in such a ridiculous state of strength that he could keep up with his opponent with only a slight disadvantage that was compensated by battle experience.


    BOOOM!


    Kayden¡¯s aura cuts began to explode the sound barrier, most were deflected by Nathan, but some still hit his poorly raised barrier. His immaterial state did not allow him to keep any spell working at all times.


    Performing spells that were not directly from his element was very difficult, for that he had to leave his immaterial state. Kayden began to get the hang of the situation little by little, memorizing his opponent¡¯s movements, and learning how long it took for him to leave and return from the immaterial state.


    Everything was being analyzed, but it all came at a price. Nathan¡¯s speed was ridiculously fast and his attacks were extremely effective. One of his arms had already been removed from his body and one of his legs ended up following the same path. S§×ar?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    His injuries didn¡¯t go to waste as Nathan also had a few cuts. There were very few of them compared to Kayden¡¯s, but each one was deep and caused a strong pain that he wasn¡¯t used to. For every second, the battle began to approach its final moment.


    Kayden already understood how Nathan¡¯s spell worked and was ready to end this battle. The price would probably be something that only a few crazy people would have the courage to take to the end.


    "You fought well enough," Nathan muttered as he placed his rapier directly at Kayden¡¯s neck. His words were sincere, but his face went from relief to confusion when he saw Kayden break into a smile.


    "These words belong to me." All the mana around the two was frozen as if time had stopped. Nathan¡¯s instinct began to scream as he saw his movements become weakened. Kayden¡¯s katana started coming towards him at a crazy speed.


    He did not hesitate to enter his immaterial state, the problem was that Kayden had already mapped all the mana in the region and understood in a rudimentary way Nathan¡¯s spell, which was based on the distribution of his existence over a few points of mana in the air that quickly increased to thousands.


    The secret behind this was that even if tens of thousands of points were broken, there would still be hundreds of thousands. The only problem was that the first points were more unique and only later did they split. For each of the 10 points, one Kayden attack was played. Everyone only had a few pentagrams supporting them, but this allowed the casting speed to be ridiculously faster.


    "Crap!?" Kayden¡¯s vision flickered and he saw every bone in his body being broken as he collided with the dirt floor and sank several dozen meters. In the air, he momentarily saw Nathan protected by a golden bubble.


    "Competitor Nathan is disqualified for using powers that don¡¯t belong to him," the voice appeared from all sides, and Kayden felt his body return to peak state again. The healing was so fast that he couldn¡¯t even imagine the pain of having his bones broken.


    The crowd was delirious with Kayden¡¯s victory, someone who came out of nowhere and dethroned one of the most talented beings this solar system had ever seen. Only Kayden was unhappy with his victory; this was a battle won purely by his superior experience. If they were both the same age, he probably would have lost.


    His name climbed to the top of the ranking list. He still had a few more days and after digesting the experiences he gained from this battle, he went after more points. Predictably, over the next few days, he continued attacking those in the fourth realm. Against the weak, he showed himself as a lion, and against the stronger, he just ran away like a madman.


    "Congratulations to all the participants. Those who have proven their worth will be called in a few days. Now, let those who are called rise to receive their prizes and glory before everyone," Kayden saw some people in the distance with his spiritual sense.


    They all just waited, the list was already finished and their name was at the top with a large amount of second-place points. The voice called out to the first person and the skies above their heads changed in amplitude, causing everyone to see the girl who was called as if she was just a few meters away from them.


    "Maria Jarlan with 47 thousand points, your reward as a mage of the first kingdom is the right to spend a year on the artificial planet with all the privileges, free of charge. Empress Rafaela also asks that you take a second of your time to speak to her after the event." To Kayden, this award meant nothing as he knew nothing about it.


    Unlike Kayden, the fans had a complete understanding of how great this award was. Practically any idiot could pass nine levels in just one year on the artificial planet of the elves, it was something quite special. Then another woman appeared with the appearance of a born fighter, she looked like someone who skipped a kingdom just to get more points.


    "Luiza Gargamel with 81 thousand points and second kingdom receives private tutoring from the master of our planet¡¯s defense tower. It will help you for six months with a possible extension. This offer comes directly from her, but you can decline and receive the regular prize instead." Kayden wouldn¡¯t change this offer, even though he didn¡¯t know the person who made the offer, he was sure it was special.


    "I accept the offer from the great master of hand-to-hand fighters." The woman bowed in the air with a huge smile on her face, without a doubt she hit the jackpot in her conception. Then Kayden felt his body rising to the heavens. A few seconds later, he found himself in the center of the arena with millions of eyes on him. The skies above his head were completely free of pollution and the stars were shining beautifully. It was incredible to see such a large audience in silence, it was a level of education that would hardly be seen on Earth.


    "Kayden Heart with 175 thousand points and the current record for points in the valor test. Your first prize for breaking the record is the right to a house within the city of towers with all expenses paid for life." The city of towers was just below the elves¡¯ main palace, this was a more symbolic prize, but it still brought great influence to Kayden. "Your second prize is a special invitation to the elf room. For our audience who don¡¯t understand the value of this place, know that this invitation is worth more than a planet to the right person."


    Wealth was common everywhere, but wealth to have a planet? That was ridiculously little. Only a few people had this power and they barely numbered a hundred. At that moment, the audience burst into whispers but soon fell silent so the presenter could continue.


    "Your ultimate prize is an offer from the Elven Monarch and Emperor to learn the way of swordsmen of the imperial family." This offer came as a shock to everyone, even eighth-realm powerhouses would kill for this opportunity, but Kayden only needed a few seconds to think about the offer.


    "I thank Your Majesty for this offer, but I will have to humbly decline." Kayden¡¯s speech was accompanied by a ridiculous silence. A mere wizard of the third realm was refusing one of the greatest offers ever made in this solar system.


    "Why?" Conor¡¯s voice resounded like thunder everywhere. The small act of speaking normally and a simple thought made the world carry his message to everyone. Her higher realm made her look imposing even when she was just asking a genuine question.


    At the royal family table, no one could believe Kayden¡¯s refusal either. They all recognized the value of this path even more. Marco was freaking out. Until today his father refused to teach him because according to the monarch, his son hadn¡¯t worked enough to do so.


    "Life has taught me not to follow a path that I did not build with my own hands, Your Majesty" Kayden¡¯s phrase seemed like a wise old man¡¯s jargon, but at that moment considering what he had just refused, it was clear that he was not speaking out of mouth.

 Chapter 308: An epic show

    Conor was stunned by Kayden¡¯s response and then found himself laughing. This boy reminded him of his youth, he had the same thoughts. Fortunately, it worked out and he was in the position he was in now. In a way, this was the perfect answer to your question.


    "Your majesty, forgive my boldness, but I ask that you allow me to speak for a few seconds," Kayden raised his voice to a Monarch with extreme courage. In the entire stand, none would have that courage.


    Even in the royal family, those with the courage to do this were no more than 10 heads. Conor was very approachable and calm, but his ninth-realm aura caused ridiculous pressure on the mind of anyone below his realm. His voice struck a primal fear and a desire to bow in even the strongest of men.


    The problem was, that Kayden didn¡¯t feel even an ounce of that pressure. Not even Merlin could pressure him, who would have thought a mere mortal who was light years behind the God? S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Speak, your previous answer pleased me enough," Kayden had already thought of this speech before and it was rehearsed in his mind.


    "Six months ago, I met someone who I consider my soulmate. I still don¡¯t know her feelings, but slowly I fell in love with her way of talking, happy with her advances, the way she likes to eat fish and seafood, and the way she loves to paint her fingernails in different colors. or tie your hair up when you¡¯re angry about something."


    Each sentence from Kayden made Triz blush even more. She had no idea that Kayden had paid so much attention to her. His face revealed to everyone who Kayden was talking about. Conor¡¯s mood immediately turned sour.


    "I¡¯m not someone who has a lot of riches, especially considering that the person I love has the universe handed to them on a platter. That¡¯s why I had to take a risk and come to this test. If I want to sell this invitation, I may be able to reach high realms just with the wealth it would provide me, but... no wealth in this universe would be great enough to suppress the lack of your company."


    Kayden knelt in the heavens and his hands were a ring beautifully crafted in wood with runes to increase its size and provide greater comfort. The jewel in the center was a large drop of water, this was the ring Han wore when he was married. Han¡¯s letter stated the place where she was buried and asked that Kayden not let her die underground.


    "That was the ring my father used. His wife died centuries before him and even after so long, he never looked at another woman, because as he taught me, a man only loves once. I apologize for the quality of the ring, but what it has means more than any wealth."


    Every woman¡¯s heart in that stadium was beating erratically. For one crazy moment, they imagined themselves in this situation. Even Rafaela was jealous of her daughter. It seemed like a scene prophesied by soothsayers that would be painted throughout history.


    Something that would happen. Over the next few years, films and stories inspired by this moment would begin to appear by the thousands. Even the men were moved by this moment. Many there wondered what they had been looking for until today, changing women every few months.


    "I offer this invitation to the love of my life. Triz, do you want to start a romantic relationship with me?" Conor would get up from his chair and put Kayden in his place. All this small talk wasn¡¯t enough to win his approval.


    Unfortunately for him, his wife had a bigger say in the relationship than he did and with just a good pinch on his arm, he sat meekly in the chair with a pout that didn¡¯t befit an emperor.


    "Daughter, let¡¯s not interrupt ourselves on this matter. Go down there and give your answer or just stay here and deny the boy¡¯s request." Conor just sulked without saying anything. Some battles weren¡¯t worth fighting.


    For a few seconds, there was only silence. Everyone started to think that Kayden had been rejected. The situation escalated from strong happy emotions to sadness. Such a beautiful speech only to be rejected.


    Triz appeared in the skies floating. Not everyone had seen her, but even those who had seen her a few times lost their breath. The woman¡¯s hair flew freely in the wind and the moonlight fell on her face, causing a feeling of divine appearance. She slowly lowered herself until she was facing Kayden.


    "I... accept, Kayden", his speech came out strange and in a thin voice. Plus, she couldn¡¯t look Kayden in the eye and her face was like a pepper. Still, she extended her finger to Kayden.


    The boy passed the ring over Triz¡¯s little finger. It was a little rough considering the quality of the materials she used, but nothing that would stop her from using it. Kayden¡¯s hand didn¡¯t leave hers and slowly intertwined with her fingers. Calmly, he moved his other hand to Triz¡¯s chin and made her look into his eyes. In hers, there was a mixture of emotions, in Kayden¡¯s, there was tranquility and calm.


    "Can I?" Your question was to finalize the process of starting a relationship. Triz was visibly nervous but still nodded. When Kayden crashed his lips to hers, the entire stand roared in celebration. Even some firecrackers were released into the air, almost as if this had been the main presentation of the entire test of valor. Kayden and Triz stared at each other in the sky for a few seconds, lost in thought.


    "I am happy."


    "A successfully orchestrated plan." Two different thoughts for the same situation.


    The two began to climb towards the area reserved for the royal family. His ascent was accompanied by thousands of applause and whistles. Once Kayden got up there, he was greeted by some cheers of support.


    "Hey! You little shit, didn¡¯t you tell me you didn¡¯t have plans with my sister? Explain yourself now!" Marco shouted at Kayden directly. Kayden didn¡¯t have time to respond, as Helena placed a rear naked choke on Marco.


    "Shut up, you retard. Welcome to the family, Kayden." Very different from any noble family, the elven family was very united and had good personal relationships, all because Conor was raised without any privileges. Conor was someone who was born out of nowhere on an abandoned planet with no resources even to eat. His story was unique and all the situations he went through meant that the arrogance and ego that nobles normally had did not exist in him. He passed these qualities on to his family members.


    "Kayden," Conor said in a dark tone. His aura and killing intent escaped a little and caused the surroundings to automatically freeze. "I hope you don¡¯t make a mistake with Triz."


    "Don¡¯t worry, Your Majesty. It won¡¯t happen," Kayden replied calmly and without any issue with the emperor¡¯s aura. Over the next few minutes, Kayden was introduced to some of the royal family. The conversation was flowing normally, at least until an old man appeared in the center of the place. He had no presence and didn¡¯t even make any noise. He didn¡¯t need it, for in the end he was a God and his mere presence would do the job.


    Everyone automatically knelt. Only Triz, Kayden, and the Elf Monarch remained standing, only the challengers had that right. Merlin remained silent for a few seconds while organizing the situation. Instantly later, eight more people appeared in the room, each of them with different realms and different characteristics. Kayden didn¡¯t know any of them, but Merlin¡¯s next sentence explained the situation.


    "The room will open in a few minutes," he just said, and Kayden¡¯s vision changed completely. He found himself in space, but... something was wrong. His hair was standing on end and his instincts were telling him to run.


    After searching for a bit, he saw a small black orb a few kilometers away that was pulsing. For every pulse of his, the surrounding space seemed to bend and propagate as if it were a wave, it was something completely strange to observe.


    "All ten members are already here, if any of you want to give up, now is the time," Merlin waited a few seconds while the ten people selected for the room rethought their actions. In the end, none of them gave up.


    "Close your eyes with mana and disable your spiritual senses as much as you can. If they don¡¯t do this, they will probably be killed", Kayden did as God ordered and felt some kind of clothing covering his entire head.


    For a few minutes, nothing happened, but suddenly Kayden felt something ridiculous, the same feeling as when he was inside the high-density room appeared in his body, but there was a difference...

 Chapter 309: The room

    This time, what seemed to be passing through his body was not liquid mana, but solid mana. It was an indescribable feeling, it felt like he was walking through a wall with his body, but at the same time, there was nothing.


    His curiosity was immense, but his will to live was much greater. If he had succumbed to curiosity, he would have seen one of the most incredible scenes that few mortals would be able to witness in their entire lives.


    His hypothesis that mana was not the answer and only one path would be confirmed, as Merlin was manipulating tens of thousands of kilometers of mana like it was nothing. If this were put into an aura-cutting spell, for example, Kayden could make it travel across the entire solar system. But that was exactly the point: sis shouldn¡¯t be able to do it alone.


    It only took Merlin a few seconds to manipulate the immense amount of mana needed. The black hole began to turn white and slowly its tone changed from black to white.


    "You can go back to normal now," said the god, and everyone opened their eyes and saw the black and white ball floating in space. Her pulsars ceased to exist, and she was just floating.


    "In a few minutes, you will be able to enter. First, I will make a copy of all your current memories, as being isolated for so long can change your personality and cause disconnection with your current family members. When you leave the time room, you will review these memories and they will be placed first in your chronological order." Merlin tossed a small clock to each person.


    "Put it on for a few seconds." Kayden did as the old man asked and felt his mind go blank. When he regained consciousness, he no longer had the watch on his wrist.


    "Remember to focus your time on advancing the realm first, otherwise you will die when you leave. In five minutes, you will be automatically teleported to the room." With that, Merlin fell silent as he waited.


    The atmosphere was a mixture of fear and anxiety: fear of not being able to reach the peak of his kingdom and anxiety about the opportunity to advance so much in such a short time.


    "Good luck, I¡¯ll miss you every day that passes." Kayden took Triz¡¯s hands and squeezed. Even though he was the weakest in the situation, his calmness and words calmed the woman down a little. She didn¡¯t have time to respond, as Kayden timed the exact time they would be teleported.


    Kayden found himself in a white space without any depth. He walked a few meters and found himself in the same place. It was exactly as they had told him, the mana around him did not exist and his spiritual sense was also null in this place.


    Every time he tried to use mana, it came to him, no matter how much he drew, the mana came. The mystery was that he couldn¡¯t feel where it was coming from.


    "First, we will reach the peak." Kayden sat on the floor, ready to spend decades in that position if necessary.


    ****************


    "That was quick." It took Kayden three years to reach the peak of the sixth level and maximize it. The process could have been faster, but he decided to do the perfect maximize and look for all the errors he could find.


    At this moment, he was going through the process of changing the density of the mana within his body. Very similar to the other times, he had an easy time reaching five-folds, only the sixth was difficult on his body.


    The seventh fold exploded several veins in his body and broke some bones because of the pressure, but only when he tried eightfolds did it become a life-and-death situation.


    "That was crazy," Kayden commented as he saw one of his arms explode into pieces from the mana pressure. Even his ridiculously strong body wasn¡¯t able to handle it, but he wasted no time and continued the process.


    Eightfold was an impossible dream, but eightfold was entirely possible. The more he forced the folds, the closer he felt to dying. After his arm, one of his legs also exploded.


    The situation seemed grim to Kayden, but he didn¡¯t even have a worry line on his forehead. The minutes continued to pass. Saying minutes was a strange word.


    Kayden had already lost track of time. Minutes and seconds seemed unrealistic to him, the years he spent here were just an estimate on his part, it could be months or decades and he would have no idea.


    After a few minutes, he managed to stabilize eight folds. The only problem was that he lost a lot in this situation, his two arms and his two legs were no longer there. He was currently on the ground bathed in his blood and flesh.


    A macabre situation that would make anyone automatically get up to clean themselves or try to heal, but Kayden just plugged the bleeding and started cultivating again. He didn¡¯t want to waste even a second of his time.


    "You¡¯ve already lost everything, why don¡¯t you kill yourself?"


    "There¡¯s no way out of here, just end your life."


    A few voices appeared in his mind, but Kayden didn¡¯t even hear what they were saying, they just sounded like whispers trying to reach him. The situation, coupled with the voices, would have destabilized many people, but Kayden didn¡¯t care. S§×ar?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The parts of his body, at that moment, were not important. Kayden took this so literally that it wasn¡¯t until six years later that he began to heal his body. Only when he reached the peak of the third realm and had nothing left to improve did he turn to healing.


    The healing process was slow and would probably take a few years, but he didn¡¯t care. At that moment, Kayden began to think about the concepts of the third realm that he would learn. Much like the second realm, he just started looking for any concept he could learn.


    As they were all concepts more focused on your path, some of them complemented each other and facilitated understanding. The third realm was a place where he would just try to maintain the quality grade of advancement, it was not time to reinvent the wheel.


    Any concept that had to do with your path was learned. Something he also did was try to learn as much as possible about each concept. After Triz¡¯s talk, he understood something fundamental: every concept he learned was now considered strong.


    This increase in quality came at a price, and Kayden needed to learn the concept and still spend a lot of time on it. Each concept took a year to learn with third-realm depth and another six months to elevate to high quality.


    It would probably take a lot less time if Kayden had the information and resources to utilize, but nothing was allowed in this room other than his body. In the end, it wouldn¡¯t make that big of a difference either.


    A few decades later, Kayden began to accumulate a large number of concepts. He could advance at any time, but to maintain seven lightning bolts was still not enough; it would need a lot more stacked concepts.


    "Would that be the way to go? Piling thousands of concepts together?" Kayden had been repeating this question to himself for a few decades. No matter how strong he got, no matter how much he grew, his instinct seemed to tell him something was wrong.


    "What¡¯s the point of just piling on concepts?" Kayden struggled with this every day. Only after decades of piling concepts into the third realm did he come up with an answer.


    "My way is the way, concepts are not the way." It took Kayden ages to understand this. Concepts would make him strong and superior to everyone, but only his path would make him superior to everything.


    This small paradigm shift caused Kayden to completely abandon learning new concepts. Right now, he was doing something a little different: his path was his priority. He turned to ancient concepts that suited his path perfectly. Having learned so many, he still had a few dozen perfectly aligned with his trajectory. Kayden decided to spend time bringing them all up to a high level of quality.


    This was a last-minute gamble. Kayden could be doing the right thing or just wasting time. If it was the last option, he would not be able to maintain the seven rays, but, if he was right, he would maintain the seven rays and open doors to a much greater level of strength.


    The decades slowly began to pass. Kayden¡¯s strength hung in the balance as he pushed useless concepts out of his way and improved the ones he already had. There were years and years without any improvement, just a strange balance of strength gain, and loss.


    "Dumb," Kayden mentally cursed himself every day. He traded one of his biggest pillars just to gain strength. Probably, on this path, he would be stuck in some realm without any chance of moving up.


    There was no point in increasing their concepts indiscriminately. Its greatest pillar was the absolute mastery of something. There was no master of all things; there could be good people in different areas, but a master? No, that didn¡¯t exist.

 Chapter 310: The realm kingdom

    To become a master at something, you should dedicate your entire life to it, without any other hobby getting in your way. Kayden was too busy, blinded by the power of stacking concepts, to understand this.


    He now had about a century and a few years to live. He spent a lot of time finding his way and now had the same level of power as before, practically back to square one.


    A decade later, Kayden felt he made the right choice. He was elevating your specific concepts brought almost twice as much strength as just stacking other concepts. He had no way to test his spiritual sense in that place, but his spells and ease of manipulating mana increased.


    The voices continued to speak in his head, becoming more and more present. They grew about the amount of mana the person manipulated and their kingdom. The problem was that Kayden manipulated much more than a normal third-realm person.


    The good thing was that he didn¡¯t care. They didn¡¯t budge his concentration in the slightest, even if his voice was slowly becoming smaller than theirs in his head. In the end, his mentality proved superior.


    As the decades passed, Kayden did nothing but improve his concepts. Time ceased to have any meaning. He had been in this situation for so long that if it weren¡¯t for his perfect body, he would be losing key memories.


    Minor things had already disappeared from his memory, for example, the faces of some people he knew in the past or things he saw that wouldn¡¯t make any difference in his life.


    His body, even perfect, was not capable of fighting time. Slowly and steadily, Kayden began to show wrinkles and gray hair. Once again, he was approaching old age and the end of his life.


    It was a strange feeling for his body to grow old while his mind remained as young and active as it had been centuries ago. It seemed that death was something far away and that it would not reach him. Kayden didn¡¯t feel death anxiety knocking on his door.


    His fighting skills were rusty. He had already accepted that the third realm would be a struggle where he would just have to do the best he could by increasing his strength. The fourth realm would be where he would invest in his skills.


    When he only had a few more years left to live, Kayden divided his time between improving concepts and improving his skills. His pentagram spells became much more robust and evolved into a new form. This time, he was using hexagrams.


    The shape change was to sustain different types of mana in his spell. This small change was something very big, practically twice as strong as before. But it came at a price and Kayden, at the moment, could only stack six of them.


    In his body, he also achieved a huge breakthrough. His change now was much more radical, his body practically bordered the absolute peak of the fourth realm with its punctual changes. The only problem was that the wear was much greater. S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Everything he could was improved. His domain was expanded and had more techniques incorporated. His control over him increased when he placed a few hundred small pentagrams scattered around that played the role of repeating his commands and increasing his spells along the way.


    Most of them were small details, but each of them was something fundamental that took his strength to another level. His mana dilation spell was increased by the pentagrams. The distribution of impact force throughout his domain was completely enhanced.


    When he received an attack, several pentagrams appeared in the air in a transparent blue tone and absorbed the attack as if it were a barrier. The trick was in the fact that these pentagrams were meant to be broken and the residual force distributed against the attack itself.


    This caused the force to be distributed twice, once through the domain itself and once through the pentagrams. Kayden was quite pleased with the improvements to his new spells. He finished everything he had planned and didn¡¯t know what to do.


    He only had one year left, but he had no idea. So he just kept studying his concepts and looking for errors in his base. During that entire year, he found only three errors, which were quickly fixed.


    Without realizing it, Kayden spent two centuries just training and cultivating. He didn¡¯t do anything else. His focus was absolute. No other thought crossed his mind all these years.


    Again, he spent a large period of his life in isolation. Considering the years in the abyss, Kayden lived longer with just his own company than in contact with other human beings. It was a strange feeling not to depend on other living beings. He lost any connection he had with the elves, his plans seemed so distant and meaningless. At the time, he had tried so hard just to deceive Triz and today it didn¡¯t seem to make much sense.


    He was no longer able to remember the names and faces of his students on Earth. He only remembered a few names from that planet. Earth also lost its designation as a home for him. I no longer had any feelings towards that planet, it was just one like any other.


    The days began to pass quickly and finally, something changed in the white room. Its color began to slowly turn black, in some spots Kayden could see stars. This showed him that his days were ending.


    His body was so close to death and his mind was so far away. After a few months, the room became completely black. Kayden was cultivating and did not notice this change, not even when he found himself floating alone in space and his body suffering the attacks of radiation and the spatial void.


    "Kayden! Wake up!" Merlin threw his mana at the dying old man in front of him and finally saw some sign of life in his eyes. It was just their movement, as Kayden¡¯s eyes seemed dead and disconnected from reality.


    Around Kayden, some old men and women appeared. Of the ten who entered, only six were still alive. Four of them succumbed to the voices. Triz was one of those who survived and was looking around listlessly.


    "I will put your memories before anything else." Merlin didn¡¯t wait for anyone to respond and just forced the memories into these people¡¯s heads. His action did not cause any reaction from the universe, as this would already happen with or without his intervention.


    Kayden felt a sharp headache as he saw all his old memories flashing through his mind at high speed, but only from his last decades of life before entering the room.


    Out of all six survivors, Kayden was the only one whose eyes didn¡¯t change. He was already dead at that time and this period in the room didn¡¯t change anything. Kayden¡¯s personality wouldn¡¯t be changed even by millennia of isolation, but he remembered his plans with Triz and put on a more normal look on his face.


    "Those who are not under my protection can leave." With Merlin¡¯s sentence, only Kayden, Triz, and an elderly woman were left floating in space. "I will place each of you in a private space to make your breakthroughs. Because of the short time, I will do it now."


    Instantly, Kayden found himself inside an immense square with clouds in the sky and immense green grass on the ground. He knew he was in a square because when his spiritual sense was opened to its maximum of 200 kilometers, he would hit a wall.


    Kayden stood still as he welcomed the warmth of the sun into his body. This small fake world even had the wind hitting his skin, sensations he hadn¡¯t experienced in a long time.


    "Child, you have little time to live. Can¡¯t you feel it? Don¡¯t your instincts scream at you to move forward?" Merlin saw his other two charges already facing the second ray while Kayden just stood with his arms open, standing in the wind.


    "I am the master of my mind. If mere animalistic instincts were enough to direct my actions, I would never get anywhere, God Merlin." With every contact with Kayden, Merlin felt that he was completely crazy.


    The perfect guy to rise to the divine level. Most of those who reached the peak without strong talent were a little crazy. A little was the wrong way. Those without divine-level talent were completely crazy. Kayden was exactly that kind of person.


    Just three hours later, Kayden opened his eyes and prepared to enter the breakthrough process. His domain was expanded to the maximum, insanely large golden clouds appeared and covered the entire 200 kilometers of this small world.


    Kayden took a bottle of wine out of her space earring. As he couldn¡¯t take his earring into the living room, the wine remained perfectly preserved. He sat on the floor and just waited. His carefree attitude seemed to cause anger in the heavens, which thundered with a deafening sound.

 Chapter 311: Everything is mana and everything belongs to the monarch

    The first lightning struck at high speed and with ridiculous force. It was an attack that the previous Kayden wouldn¡¯t have been able to handle easily, it would have taken a lot of effort on his part, but now? His domain absorbed the lightning completely and distributed its attack force easily across dozens of kilometers.


    Kayden didn¡¯t even blink at the first bolt. The second came even stronger and suffered the same end. He was at a much higher level of strength than before. Your choices were correct. Your constant maximizations were correct. He was walking a perfect path. The third ray had the same result.


    Merlin was not impressed by this. The first rays weren¡¯t powerful. He was slightly surprised when Kayden did the same with the fourth ray. Not even two seconds had passed from one lightning strike to the next, yet Kayden¡¯s dominance remained undefeated. sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    When the fifth bolt struck, Kayden placed a barrier of weathering layers and a funnel to defend the attack. It was the same strategy he had used previously and it proved successful.


    Even with five lightning bolts, Kayden still hadn¡¯t gotten up from his spot. He didn¡¯t even seem to be paying attention. His mind was focused on understanding the situation he found himself in. Kayden was feeling something different at this moment. He was feeling his own body die.


    The fifth beam was still falling, but Kayden was diluting its strength and dragging out time. Merlin was confused by the situation. The fact that he couldn¡¯t freely predict Kayden¡¯s actions bothered him deeply.


    Kayden was able to hold off the attack for a few more hours. The feeling he was feeling increased even more. It was something incredible in his vision. At times, he stopped feeling certain parts of his body, almost as if those parts were disconnecting from his mind. He began to stop feeling his body as his property. It just seemed like a carcass to hold his mind.


    The sixth ray made him pay much more attention. He had to put all his efforts into making the lightning last longer. He had more time in the third realm than most people should have.


    While everyone had a century, he had two full centuries. It was a much longer time and this caused his strength to grow to a much more ridiculous degree than before. Winding the sixth ray was something that didn¡¯t cost him much.


    For every hour, he felt his body changing. When he had just two hours left to live, something incredible happened. His left arm...ceased to exist for him. He had no sensations in that arm, no blood circulation. Absolutely nothing. Kayden only saw a cluster of dense, compacted mana. Slowly, he began to stir this mana. The problem was that with the slightest movement, his arm crumbled into pieces of flesh and bone and fell to the ground.


    He wanted to continue experiencing this sensation to discover something, but the seventh ray was about to come. This time, he abandoned any thoughts of holding him back. His focus was totally on defending the lightning.


    Meanwhile, Merlin watched Kayden like a human being would watch a unicorn in a zoo. What Kayden was doing was beyond ridiculous. The closer a mortal got to death, the more his soul left his body.


    Merlin was able to see Kayden¡¯s soul leave his arm and try to concentrate on his body, a common attempt to survive longer. The problem was that, in this state, when the soul itself began to move, the mortal should not be able to reason.


    It was a state of pain and madness so great that even a peak ninth-realm mage, who had lived thousands of years, should not be able to think clearly. Meanwhile, Kayden seemed to be studying the situation as if it weren¡¯t in his own body. At that moment, he stopped his study and began to prepare for the seventh ray.


    The golden clouds opened. For hundreds of meters, Kayden could witness a golden lawn with flying grass. There were some structures, more exactly eight strange constructions, each of them containing a unique design and different from what Kayden had ever seen. Only one resembled a normal house on planet Earth.


    Your domain has been expanded. Hundreds of pentagrams were thrown and distributed evenly. A funnel was made to hold the seventh ray. Kayden hadn¡¯t paid attention to the other lightning bolts, but as soon as this one started falling, he was impressed.


    It was ridiculously strong, far beyond ridiculous. His funnel only held the attack for a few seconds and was destroyed. The barrier held for a few more seconds and was destroyed.


    Kayden had to keep pulling mana around him like crazy, trying to rebuild his defenses with the seconds he managed to buy. His pentagrams rose to hold the lightning.


    This time, his defense was much stronger and held for several seconds, practically twice as long as the other two protective measures combined. It was enough time for Kayden to mount a strong attack with an incredible twelve hexagrams, twice what he normally could.


    His poise and confidence gave the impression that he was doing something easy, but in reality, it was all a gamble. With every second that passed, Kayden felt a part of his body stop responding. Every time this happened, his mind became clearer and a state of transcendence began to assault his mind.


    The pentagrams did nothing but float. Kayden was stalling for as long as possible. His domain took a few more seconds to be completely torn apart. Excessive use of mana brought him closer to death by the second.


    The lightning struck his barrier at the moment he could no longer feel either of his two arms or either of his legs. Merlin could see Kayden¡¯s soul gathering in his mind, something even he had never seen before.


    Kayden didn¡¯t have any thoughts in his mind as he looked at the lightning and launched an attack of his own, backed by twelve hexagrams. The resulting explosion was not enough to damage even the grass around it. This made the lightning seem weak, but if the situation occurred in the same place where he made his breakthrough to the third realm, the circumstances would be different.


    The destruction would probably reach more than 50 kilometers with just the residue from the attacks. Even the roof of the abyss could fall from this attack Kayden was receiving. It was a level of strength far above the fourth realm, and it still couldn¡¯t make Kayden despair.


    At the moment, Kayden had already lost sensation in almost his entire body. Only from the neck up did he still feel something. At this moment, he was at the absolute peak of his existence. His thinking was ridiculously fast.


    His body didn¡¯t respond, but his mind responded hundreds of times faster. He had felt something like this state before, once, when he was with the guide to learn how to kill, many centuries ago. But this time, the sensation was magnified hundreds of thousands of times.


    The world has changed in his view. Grass and earth ceased to exist with colors and matter. The very air in front of him was changing. His dominance took a leap forward that should not have been possible in his kingdom. Kayden looked at one of his legs. He couldn¡¯t feel it or move it, but the mana that was in it?


    "Come to your Monarch," he said. Kayden¡¯s leg... disappeared into pure mana and ceased to exist. At this moment, no matter how hard he tried to regenerate her, he wouldn¡¯t be able to. Not even Merlin would be able to heal his leg.


    The amount of mana Kayden got from this was beyond ridiculous. It was probably equivalent to 100 kilometers of mana at normal densities. He looked at his other leg and did the same.


    All the members of his body followed the same path, leaving only one head floating in the air. At that moment, the seventh ray would continue to fall, but Kayden almost instantly made hundreds of pentagrams.


    Merlin looked at Kayden scared. What the boy was doing was considered a universal taboo by the gods. No matter how bad you were or how desperate for power you were, this path Kayden was taking shouldn¡¯t be an option.


    There was a reward for the advice that would make even the most useless god reach the peak below the peak. This reward was given to anyone who could find a wizard who was doing what Kayden was able to do.


    The pentagrams bought Kayden a few more seconds, enough for his next action to have Merlin¡¯s heart beating at a high frequency and his hand sweating like that of a mortal seeing his creator.


    Kayden looked at the grass like a god looks at an ant, like a god looks at something that is under his control and will, Merlin followed the boy¡¯s gaze and began to mumble some words of shock.

 Chapter 312: The fourth realm

    "Your existence is no longer necessary," said Kayden, his words resounding like thunder in Merlin¡¯s mind. The grass for tens of kilometers around exploded into pure mana. S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The amount of mana in this space was so great that it began to solidify on its own. Kayden absorbed all this mana, expanding his domain in such a bizarre way that it seemed like he was floating in a sea of water. The mana itself turned into liquid around him.


    The lightning that Kayden¡¯s pentagram held began to enter his domain, but the amount of mana expanded was too high. The distribution of the lightning¡¯s attack force was being done on such a ridiculous amount of mana that it was having difficulty penetrating the first layer of Kayden¡¯s defense.


    This didn¡¯t make sense to Merlin, who couldn¡¯t take the situation calmly. He saw Kayden face the seventh ray as if it were a blow from a child, with his mastery to a completely absurd degree.


    Seconds passed, and although the lightning managed to enter, it did not have the strength to destroy Kayden¡¯s domain. It seemed like an absolute defense, where mana never ran out, a finite that seemed infinite. The seventh ray died shamefully, without even being able to make a sound, looking like a child¡¯s attack against a wall, unable to scratch the smallest stone of the barrier.


    "I¡¯ll go up there in the future," said Kayden, looking at the clouds closing in and hiding the paradise. He gave up the eighth ray. The boost state passed and mana was falling everywhere.


    It was too large an amount for him to handle alone. Outside of the flow state, he wouldn¡¯t risk his life. I had already achieved a lot with it. His mind remained clear and he came to some conclusions before a golden ray mixed with amber fell upon him.


    The peculiar ray rebuilt his body. All of his bones were improved, all of his nerves were improved, and every pore in his body was raised to a perfect degree. Everything he lost was rebuilt. His lungs and stomach no longer existed in the way they were before, as he no longer needed oxygen to live or food. In the past, he still needed to breathe once a week or eat once a month, but now his support was done completely with mana.


    His blood was completely exchanged for pure mana. The myth of nobles having blue blood came from the fact that descendants had mana running through their bodies in place of red blood.


    This small difference made its circulation much more robust and faster. The mana leaked into her flesh and passively healed it. This was the first step towards the realm of demigods. Therefore, the fourth kingdom was called the transitional kingdom.


    Kayden felt his consciousness shut down as his soul was removed from his body so his head could be remade. His brain was instantly rebuilt. He couldn¡¯t even understand it and was already back to his normal body.


    He returned to his usual youthful appearance, probably managing to live another 1500 or 1800 years. He was practically in his early years, with that young face and defined body.


    His strength had a ridiculous increase, practically on a completely different level. While he had difficulty placing more than six hexagrams previously, now he conjured twelve as if they were nothing.


    Only at twenty-four did his strength waver. Kayden was impressed but still had to consider that he didn¡¯t place his spells in a new realm. His spiritual sense was not able to reach its maximum in this place, as the environment was small.


    Another thing he noticed was his vision and sensations. Everything seemed enlarged and at the same time normal, just with better processing and detail. It felt incomplete and that was normal.


    The fourth realm was an undefined level. His thoughts turned to what happened in his advance. He tried to review things like mana and failed. It seemed like a very difficult state to achieve. Its path seemed to be widened, as when we inflate a balloon beyond its natural limit. When he returns to his limit, it seems like he still has more space.


    That was the exact sensation he was feeling, but no matter how he looked at it, Kayden wasn¡¯t able to do the same as before. The boy smiled thinking about the new challenge that opened up for him. Without a doubt, this was the path he should follow.


    While Kayden was testing his attacks and how far his body had advanced, Merlin was thinking about what to do. With just a small action, he could secure resources to reach a ridiculously high height.


    It wasn¡¯t just resources, it was a new level that would open up for him. Merlin was just a god from a distant point in the universe. His strength was high among weak mortals, but in front of divinity, he could never be someone decent.


    The problem was that all the gods would know how he reached his new level of strength. These gods were called dirty gods. The deity had a different way of increasing his strength and, if Merlin chose to hand over Kayden, he would have a rapid increase, but at the cost of his dignity.


    At that moment he had two options, hand over Kayden and face a new destiny or make a bargain with the boy, it was only a matter of time before he rose to the top, and like a god, Merlin had all the time in the world.


    He was not exactly an insensitive being and knew that leaving Kayden alive was condemning trillions of people to death, his type of power would transform everything into mana, be it planets or living beings, and he would carry out a massacre so large that it would probably raise thousands of planets of dead.


    Against all these factors and adding the possibility of him gaining abundant resources, there was only one advantage, Kayden rising to a point far beyond what the resources would take him and then he could demand this favor.

 Chapter 313: Inspiration

    It was guaranteed by the middle ground, it was right by the unknown. Merlin¡¯s mind was pounding, it had been so many millennia since he had had to make such a difficult decision. Any normal person would have simply turned Kayden in, but Merlin was a unique god; he got to where he was just by gambling and going against the grain.


    "Kayden," the god called to the boy as he made his decision, "you did very well. I recommend that you hide this new power of yours for now. When you reach the fifth realm, we will talk further." Merlin decided to buy a little time to think.


    It was a very difficult decision and he didn¡¯t want to make any hasty decisions. There was no chance of Kayden¡¯s power leaking out of this solar system. Like it or not, it was all in Merlin¡¯s pocket...


    "God Merlin, can I ask you a quick little favor?" Kayden thought about his situation and decided to fix some problems.


    "Depending on them, I don¡¯t mind doing it," Merlin replied without paying much attention.


    "Inside planet Earth, there is an abyss and a human civilization inside it. Could you eliminate all human beings with my blood from that place and erase any existence of civilization?" Merlin responded immediately to Kayden but was slow in his godly mind.


    "Why?"


    "This could end up destroying a lot of my plans. I¡¯m going to do it one way or another, I just wish I didn¡¯t have to waste time on it." As Merlin listened, he cast his spiritual sense toward where Kayden spoke.


    It didn¡¯t take long for him to find several humans with Kayden¡¯s blood. Without much conscience, he eliminated all life in that region. Even animals that had some consciousness were eliminated, and all traces of this civilization also ceased to exist.


    "Ready. I¡¯ll be out for a few decades. Try not to kill yourself during this period," Merlin said and threw Kayden into space along with Triz. Kayden took the longest to go through the advancement process.


    Their gaze met after thousands of years for Triz and a few centuries for Kayden. At the same time that a smile spread across each face, Kayden did one of his worst actions.


    On planet Earth, Astolfo and Milena died with their bodies combusting from an enslavement spell that had been on their bodies for centuries. It was at a completely random moment and neither of them could do anything to resist.


    Kayden didn¡¯t even blink at killing the woman who spent the most time with him in this universe and his son. All this so that no evidence of his previous actions could escape. Felix was spared for the simple fact that the cat was a special breed and his thinking was more similar to Kayden¡¯s.


    While on Earth Athena and other family members of the two dead people were in despair when they felt people important to them die out of nowhere and without any explanation, Kayden was smiling at Triz.


    "It¡¯s been a while," his first sentence was just that.


    "Yes, are your feelings¡­ still the same?" Triz seemed more mature and with more courage. Kayden didn¡¯t like it very much, but he didn¡¯t let it show on his face.


    "As strong as the day I last saw you." What hasn¡¯t changed is his talent for sweet, persuasive words. Triz wouldn¡¯t be easily attracted these days, but luckily she already had feelings for Kayden, and that made the process easier.


    "Do you want to eat fish with me?" Kayden was surprised by the woman¡¯s initiative, but unfortunately, he had his latest actions rattling around in his head.


    "Sorry, Triz, but I urgently need to digest what I learned and I need to do it alone." Kayden didn¡¯t see the woman¡¯s face change, but he felt the mana around her move slightly, something imperceptible, as there was no change in the quantity or quality of mana.


    It was his path subconsciously emerging in a way he wasn¡¯t able to understand.


    "All good. You can stay in your house that you won. When you¡¯re done, just come find me." Kayden didn¡¯t have time to respond as he was placed in a small mansion in the Palace of Towers.


    His speech probably hurt the girl, but he didn¡¯t feel like thinking about that right now. He didn¡¯t even have the curiosity to walk around the house he received. He just sat down on the ground in the yard and started to review what happened.


    His first thought was how he got to the boost state. He had never come so close to death. Slowly losing the life in every part of his body was a very strange feeling, something completely new to him.


    Normally, no mortal should be able to deny their primal instincts. These were instincts that all living beings had. Regardless of race or strength, as long as you had a soul, you would have these instincts.


    During history, some of them were framed. The main thing was the protection of the soul. Whenever the soul was attacked or modified in any way, ridiculous pain would assault the person. A despair strong enough that someone would kill their parents with just their teeth to survive would be awakened in the person.


    There would be no limits to what a person would do to survive. It was automatic. His feelings ceased to exist, his rationality was set aside. When the body perceived the slightest sign of failure, it simply died. S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The brain was forcibly turned off and all organs automatically failed. Even a possible ninth-realm god would be forced to die when his soul was attacked. Your own body would order it from you. There was no way to resist.


    The pain of denying this action was unbearable. It was like going against your existence and that¡¯s exactly what Kayden did. He was one of the only people in the universe who came so close to death and calmly analyzed his own dying body.


    His will held his life back and made him lose bits of life little by little. This was something that should not be done by any rational being. It was scary and crazy, but Kayden did it anyway.


    Author¡¯s note: For Ten Stones there were no two bonus chapters /:

 Chapter 314: The top is still mediocre

    The unique situation and his unique path made it possible for him to take a leap in power that his path would only have in the distant future. His path was the monarch of mana, and mana was what governed all existence.


    His flesh was something that was connected to him; Kayden built it himself. He knew every inch of his body, feeling his body with his mind and his path together caused him to enter a state where he could recognize the threads of mana in the matter itself.


    If he hadn¡¯t started seeing his body as mana, he wouldn¡¯t be able to see the rest of things the same way. At that moment, everywhere he looked, there was only mana, be it the rivers or the air itself.


    Everything was mana.


    I was just waiting for your call.


    The world was yours and it was at your feet.


    It took Kayden about a year to digest everything that happened in that small space of time of one day. For a year he just sat in the backyard, the environment was air-conditioned and, for some periods, he found himself covered from head to toe in leaves.


    In others, it was snow, but that was not felt by him. He was in much greater focus. Kayden tried to express every little detail he could of the situation. Even the way you breathe was analyzed.


    Unfortunately, this only brought little results for him, but a new path was opened before him. His plans for the next few years were to max out the fourth realm levels at high speed and subsequently study his way like crazy.


    Kayden decided to make a bet. He would swim against the current, he would go against the norm. The concepts and truths... would no longer have meaning for him. Your focus would only be your path; he would try hard enough for his path to overcome any barrier.


    In all the books he read and in the lectures, this method was never put to the test. Many believed that the path was the final answer to everything, but it was not the path to that answer. In a way, the concepts and truths should solidify his path and this would allow him to advance in the kingdom. S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    But Kayden got a small glimpse into his ascension process. This glimpse showed something greater, showed his path as something greater than any concept or truth he would use as a crutch.


    But this decision had a small problem. Kayden has based his entire existence on learning concepts. They were like various crutches and support for him. For your path to be the majority, it would need to be predominant in its structure. This meant that he would have to unlink all his concepts.


    His strength would drop to ridiculously low levels, probably even someone with four rays would be able to match his strength, but if his bet was successful... he would have a chance to face eight rays and enter a different level.


    Before starting this adventure, Kayden would need to talk to some people and organize so that he wouldn¡¯t be caught by surprise in any situation. Furthermore, I would need to ask some questions. Kayden got up and began flying towards Triz¡¯s tower.


    His journey was unhindered and he could easily enter the floating garden. Triz was sitting as she seemed about to discover something. Kayden didn¡¯t want to interrupt her and just sat down next to her.


    Triz¡¯s butler showed up just to greet Kayden and ask if he needed anything. With Kayden¡¯s refusal, the butler disappeared. The boy just started cultivating while waiting for Triz to wake up.


    ***************


    Note: as I said before, I¡¯m not going to add several filler chapters just for you to pay, so sorry for rushing at some points.


    "Kayden?" Triz woke up from her little reflection and saw Kayden next to her, an image very similar to one of their first encounters. The girl looked at the sand clock in the garden. "Five years?!"


    Triz couldn¡¯t understand how so much time had passed in the blink of an eye. Her sense of time was completely wrong after spending time in the time room, the years lost their meaning in her eyes, and millennia were like nothing to her.


    The royal family had a special hibernation technique, but even so, she still lived inside for a long time, but not alone. Triz had learned some techniques for creating artificial companionship. She pretty much lived a normal life to a point. That was the minimum to not go crazy in there.


    "Hey Kayden, wake up." Triz placed her mana around Kayden and saw like magic the boy waking up with those cold, dead eyes, an expression that was quickly replaced by his usual smirk.


    "Hello, Triz. How long has it been?" Kayden lost track of time. This garden had a high density of mana, very similar to a 1000 times density, so he didn¡¯t have any problems staying here.


    "Five years." The boy¡¯s reaction was the same as Triz¡¯s. He was surprised, he didn¡¯t think it would take long for Triz to wake up and then wake him up.


    "A meal and a talk about everything we¡¯ve been through?" Kayden offered with a smile which Triz readily accepted. Love was something beautiful and even after thousands of years, women still remember these moments fondly.


    A few minutes later, the butler came in with a huge fish for both of them. It was the same dish they always ate and Triz¡¯s favorite. Kayden marked this dish as a fond memory and always made a point of ordering it at meals with Triz. Creating memory points was a key to manipulation.


    "How was your time there?" Kayden was the first to ask and Kayden was surprised by the answer.


    "Pleasant. At first, I created some little elves using my DNA, and after a few years, they created a small town. It was enough for me to have company and entertainment for millennia. Also, I hibernated at various times to keep from going crazy, but in the end, it was normal and healthy." Kayden almost grimaced in disgust.


    That was the difference between effort and talent. Triz could easily waste thousands of years and still maintain seven lightning bolts, while he couldn¡¯t miss even a day of training.


    The woman¡¯s stay in the time room was... easy. It almost felt like a camp trip. She didn¡¯t have any problems and didn¡¯t even face any pressure. But that wasn¡¯t what Kayden found bad, it was the fact that the woman didn¡¯t want to go any further. She did not try to enjoy every second, her talent was able to suppress her lack of greed.


    "What about you, Kayden? How much time you were there?" Triz was interested in knowing these deeper details about Kayden.


    "I stayed 200 years. I didn¡¯t sleep, I didn¡¯t eat, I didn¡¯t interact with anything, I just sat there for 200 years looking for answers." Kayden¡¯s dark speech didn¡¯t match his calm tone.


    Triz didn¡¯t know what to answer. She didn¡¯t expect something so unusual. Kayden always seemed calm and normal to her, not someone who would do crazy things for power. This was perhaps the biggest mistake of his life.


    "Did you find the answers you were looking for?"


    "Yes, that was one of the things I came to talk to you about. Do you have any knowledge of someone who passed the kingdom without using concepts and truths? Just supporting yourself along the way?" Kayden¡¯s question caught Triz by surprise.


    "No, I¡¯ve never heard anything like that before. Theoretically, it could work, but in my opinion, it¡¯s not worth it. You would have to break a completely new path and, in addition, you would lose a lot of strength in the concepts."


    Kayden¡¯s hope that this adventure would be easy was dashed.


    "I understand. I¡¯m going to try something new in the fourth realm and I won¡¯t be able to do great strength performances for a few centuries. I apologize, but I will be a useless suitor during this period." Triz didn¡¯t quite understand Kayden¡¯s motives.


    " Why? Even if it works, you will suffer a lot for it." It didn¡¯t seem like a trade that would be worth it, especially considering the level of strength Kayden had at the moment.


    "It could end up going wrong and I end up wasting my life for an imaginary goal, but I want to get to the top and¡­" Kayden was interrupted by Triz.


    "Aren¡¯t we already at the top? We are unique geniuses in our solar system, we have a high chance of becoming gods in the future." Kayden didn¡¯t even need to think before answering.


    "The top we are at is imaginary, Triz. I want eight spokes, nine spokes, maybe ten? Becoming a god is just one step to power." Kayden¡¯s words sounded like a crazy person¡¯s fairy tale to Triz and Kayden realized it.


    In the end, Triz was someone normal. She sought power for the benefits that power could offer her. Deep down, the two were different. The woman saw no reason to make a bet just to increase a radius; seven rays were enough for her.

 Chapter 315: Criminal

    " Why? What¡¯s the point of this desperate search for power? What¡¯s the point of power if your strength is already enough to provide you with everything?" Kayden couldn¡¯t answer what he thought.


    If he spoke his true motives, he would be branded a monster by her, and he knew it. In the end, Kayden had what led the human race always to excel even though it was the weakest: infinite ambition.


    "I promised my father that he would breathe again. I need a strength much greater than my current one to go against the laws of nature," he said, with sweet words filled with feelings.


    Triz regretted asking Kayden, even more so when the boy¡¯s face became closed and he stood up.


    "I¡¯m sorry, but I need some time alone. I¡¯ll be back in a few days," he said, leaving without letting her respond as if this conversation had affected his emotions. When he found himself alone, Kayden laughed at the situation; he became a master of lying.


    After cultivating for five years, Kayden understood that he would need about 10 years for each level, assuming he stayed in high-density rooms all the time; otherwise, the time would be much longer.


    With this realization, it became obvious to him that he needed to continue his relationship with Triz. So he visited the girl constantly over the next few days, whether to have lunch or just sit together.


    It seemed like the millennia they spent apart didn¡¯t even make a difference. Kayden improved his relationship with her with each passing day. Furthermore, he obtained the right to use a high mana density room in the same location as the academy meeting.


    Time slowly started to pass. Kayden timed each level exactly, and after another five years, he reached the second level of the fourth realm. The boy did nothing more than that during these years. Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Merlin hadn¡¯t spoken to him again. Merlin¡¯s decision would take a few more decades. Kayden also hasn¡¯t made any headway in figuring out how to utilize his path like before.


    Ten years later, he achieved another level. At this time, his relationship with the royalty of the elven race increased considerably. He went with Triz to several events, and their relationship went from just hooking up to permanent boyfriends.


    In the fourth kingdom, he continued unmatched; not even the strongest of elves were capable of facing him in the same realm. But Kayden also discovered another fact: he wasn¡¯t able to jump a realm like previously.


    Fortunately, the problem was not with him, but with the difference in powers between the fourth and fifth realms. In the fifth kingdom, magicians were supported using truths, a level of strength much higher than concepts.


    Furthermore, Kayden¡¯s strength was constantly declining. He might be leveling up his realm, but he was slowly moving concepts out of his way. This action caused his strength to swing downwards.


    After 25 years of relationship with Triz, they had their first sexual relationship. Kayden prepared everything so that it would be something magical and please the woman. Even though he didn¡¯t have strong strength or resources, he had experience, and sex was something basic that didn¡¯t need anything complicated.


    This would be the most peaceful period of Kayden¡¯s life. He had no worries, his life was not at risk, he had everything at his fingertips. Triz was madly in love with him, and that guaranteed the support of the elven race.


    He planned to continue managing to increase his level. The loss of strength bothered him, but he didn¡¯t care about it; a thousand steps back so that one can only take 1001 forward would be worth it.


    When Kayden reached the fifth level of the fourth realm, he was practically naturalized into elven culture. Triz was not seen in public without Kayden. Their romance has written thousands of books and films; it was practically every young elf¡¯s dream.


    Kayden felt the time was right to marry Triz. The problem was that he didn¡¯t have the resources to give the girl a gift. Only one person could help him at this moment, and that was Merlin.


    The boy had to negotiate an irrefutable favor in exchange for what he wanted. Kayden asked Merlin for something unique: an entire planet in exchange for a future favor. Merlin recognized Kayden¡¯s value and, in the end, he also knew that everything was under his control.


    Giving the planet to Kayden did not represent any loss for him, as in the end, he was only handing over the right of possession and not the planet. The god could retrieve it whenever he wanted.


    This was the perfect gift to propose to Triz in front of the entire elven race during one of their biggest events, a competition designed to find the genius of the century, where only elves could compete.


    Everything went perfectly well and Kayden¡¯s name rose even higher. This was practically the greatest proof of love in the entire solar system: a planet in exchange for a hand. Not even Conor did this in his youth; the emperor had already accepted Kayden at that point.


    Time has proven that Kayden was a good man with character and talent. Furthermore, he never did anything in his past that incriminated his morals. Kayden had a few incidents, but no one was going to find out when everyone they knew was dead.


    The only problem during this time was that Kayden began to feel restless. The easy life was leaving him feeling bad. Kayden felt like a flower growing in a greenhouse.


    As the elves were one of the dominant ones in this solar system, he had no enemies and no planet that he could go to fight on, especially considering that his strength was much higher than average and he had no way of jumping kingdoms. Right now, his opponents were just helping him train. Kayden hadn¡¯t felt the sensation of a life-and-death struggle in decades. He was looking for a solution to this problem, but there was nothing that could be done.


    Kayden was quietly cultivating. At this moment, he was at the eighth level of the fourth realm. His strength was very similar to when he had just advanced. He only got six mana folds when he broke through to the seventh rank, but that wasn¡¯t important.


    The mana within his body would become irrelevant when everything became mana within his reach. Kayden had already gotten all the concepts out of his way. At this moment, his strength was still superior to most people in the fourth realm, but those with five or six lightning bolts were very close to beating him.


    Furthermore, he was not able to crush those with six lightning bolts in the same way as before. What many would consider rock bottom, Kayden considered the peak of his existence. Everything was going exactly well.


    At least until ridiculously high-pressure drops across the entire solar system. Practically everything was frozen. It wasn¡¯t mana, it was something higher. Simply nothing was able to move. It seemed like time had frozen.


    Merlin appeared next to Kayden along with two other gods. One of them with a wolf¡¯s head and the other with a sheep¡¯s head. They were the gods of balance, one of the strongest in this universe.


    The two were just dressed calmly and had extremely toned bodies. One of them was completely white, while the other had a black body. Their race was something Kayden had never seen before.


    "Kayden Heart, you are being arrested for the intergalactic crime of reality manipulation." Kayden couldn¡¯t respond. The situation was very fast and he was still under mana pressure.


    Merlin didn¡¯t say a word as the two gods picked up Kayden and began to leave the solar system. They couldn¡¯t fly at full speed until they were outside the area where they exerted the freezing spell.


    After decades, Merlin decided to take the easy way out and chose to receive resources. Betting on Kayden was something he didn¡¯t find advantageous after seeing the boy¡¯s strength continue to decline for decades.


    "Criminal Kayden, you have the right to present your defense and exchange your knowledge for freedom regarding contracts, but you need to go through the council¡¯s judgment. Do you know the reason for your crime?" As soon as they stepped out of the solar system, the wolf-headed god spoke to Kayden.


    "I don¡¯t know," Kayden replied calmly. He had already accepted the situation.


    "You turned reality into mana. This is a universal crime that cannot be done under any circumstances," the god replied politely. Kayden found all this education with a mortal strange. What he didn¡¯t know was that those representing the council were extremely professional.


    "What is the usual punishment?" Kayden asked and watched his hope die.


    "Freedom to live the rest of your life or join a special organization, and in the worst case you will be killed" The boy was quiet, the two gods were surprised by Kayden¡¯s calm occurrence, but they didn¡¯t care enough to ask .

 Chapter 316: A new beginning

    One of the gods tore through space with his arm. Once they passed through the rift, Kayden found himself floating in a space very similar to the one before. The only difference was that they were in a space with much more mana.


    Practically a density of over 100 thousand times, it was so much mana that Kayden felt suffocated for the first time in his life. His spiritual sense, which reached over 1000 kilometers, was only at a small margin of 100.


    "I hate pocket systems, they are so poor", one of the gods said and the other agreed. This time, they were speaking a different language. Kayden wasn¡¯t able to understand and just continued cultivating with the new mana.


    As he cultivated without a care in the world, the two gods escorting him stood frozen in midair without moving. They felt the presence of someone far superior to their existence.


    A huge dragon several tens of kilometers long was floating in front of the two. Any god who didn¡¯t live in isolation knew who he was: the Luck Dragon, the deputy leader of the dragons and one of the strongest gods alive.


    "Boy", the dragon¡¯s voice came out without him opening his mouth. It was dragging and seemed to carry the weight of eternity. "How long has it been since the last ascension?" The dragon spent a long time still in its master¡¯s bubble.


    All because a voice appeared out of nowhere and surprised him and his master. Neither of them had made a move for several years, more specifically since Kayden found his way. But the dragon was here only by a twist of fate, more specifically because Kayden had too many strands of karma about him.


    "Approximately three centuries, Your Divinity." The dragon was surprised, it was just a blink of an eye.


    "Child, wake up." He placed his mana on Kayden. He expected a scare and a fearful reaction, but he only saw a lack of emotions and dead eyes. Kayden didn¡¯t speak a word as he looked at the dragon.


    The God of Luck thought it was a state of fear. He withdrew his aura to the maximum and did not let any sign of divinity come out of him. The other two gods only realized now that they hadn¡¯t done this yet, which meant that Kayden was unaffected by their divine auras.


    "To be carried away by the council¡¯s executioners, you¡¯re in a pretty bad situation. I can offer you a way out." Kayden couldn¡¯t see through the dragon¡¯s words.


    "Speak your proposal, Dragon God," Kayden replied in a neutral and respectful tone. His speech surprised the three gods; mortals were not proactive in their presence.


    "I have a world called the Universal Coliseum. It is immense and accommodates mages of different kingdoms and ranks. All nations are at war. There is a system that manages points and popularity for each person inside. Everyone has their lives transmitted to the universal network at all times. It¡¯s practically a big entertainment stage."


    For most of the universe, that was it, considering that in one of the areas, only mages of the ninth realm were allowed and they were constantly warring. This made it a unique display in the entire universe.


    It was one of the most profitable events in the diachronic race. The universe was so big that even the most mediocre participant had a few hundred billion viewers, and this whole situation was made so that the Dragon of Luck could study the luck and misfortune of mortals.


    "Okay, I accept. Won¡¯t the council come after me?" Kayden responded with a neutral mana. He hadn¡¯t even heard the advantages or disadvantages, but it was undoubtedly better than dying for the advice. The Dragon God¡¯s surprise was so quick that not even the two gods noticed.


    "No, I have the power to do that." The dragon was telling the truth. With the dragon¡¯s words, Kayden decided to gain a little encouragement.


    "Can you do me just one small favor? I have a cat attached to me on planet Earth. Can you put it with me on the planet?" Kayden asked with a boldness that neither of the two head-down gods would ever have in their lives.


    "This favor will be called for in the future," the dragon said and Kayden turned to the two gods.


    "Lord God Wolf and Sheep, can you pass a message on to Merlin, please?" Kayden didn¡¯t give them time to respond. "Merlin, do everything in your power to kill me. Look for me in the ends of the universe, because when I come looking for you, I will have the strength to remove your head."


    Kayden didn¡¯t care about Merlin. He understood the god¡¯s actions, he just needed to have external pressure to reach even greater heights. Psychological pressure would always be good.


    "Now sleep, child. You will wake up with a new language and a system of your own." With the dragon¡¯s speech, Kayden lost consciousness. "Both of you cut this situation out of your memories." The dragon said in an authoritative tone.


    The two gods obeyed without even thinking twice. A piece of his memories was directly cut off by a high-level spell. They played both pieces of memory at the same time as they turned off their consciousness. The Dragon God erased the memories and disappeared along with Kayden.


    A planet as large as the solar system was floating in space, rotating on its axis without moving in any direction. Several artificial suns and moons were present so that the planet would have the necessary conditions for life.


    At one of these points, there was a huge expanse of land. This particular part saw two moons and a sun during the day and only one moon at night, with days and nights lasting 18 hours each. Within this expanse of land was a cave, located in one of the weakest areas in terms of mages¡¯ strength. Inside it was a person with black hair cut close to the scalp and completely dark eyes.


    He had just sat down and had a massive headache as he tried to understand the large chunks of information about the language he had been given. It was one of the most complex languages he had ever seen in his entire life.


    "Hey! Master Kayden Heart!" A cute voice along with a fairy appeared next to Kayden. The boy didn¡¯t react; If it was an enemy, he would already be dead. "I will begin the presentation protocol."


    "Make no mistake, you are not the protagonist, you are not special. This is just a world for the universe to enjoy. Your movements and actions will be recorded and transmitted at all times. Kill, steal, or destroy civilizations, you are free, but public support can be the difference in your life in this place." The fairy was quiet after that, waiting for Kayden to say something.


    "That¡¯s it?"


    "Yes." Kayden thought this presentation was pretty poor.


    "How do I access the system? What are its main features?"


    "You just need to think and it will appear in front of you, only you can see it." Kayden did as the fairy said and saw a blue screen appear in front of him with various information. "It estimates your age and places you in a star category, namely SS, S, A, B, C, D, E, F. Each of these levels has some advantages, whether in the world or outside it. Information from abroad about what happens here is prohibited, but techniques and some resources are allowed."


    "How do I increase them?" Kayden saw a tab telling viewers it was in the two billion, a ridiculously large number.


    "Gain an audience and raise donations for the Dragon Kingdom. How you do it doesn¡¯t matter."


    Kayden saw an area designated as a map. He found himself in a huge space of land, with the rest of the map in dark colors. The information that appeared on the map indicated that only people below the sixth realm were present. S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "You can close the life for a few hours, but this is harmful to your ranking. The world is constantly filled with treasures and powerful monsters. There is only one universal law: not to cause mass genocide against the original populations of this planet." Kayden was quiet as he looked at the rest of the information.


    There was an inventory tab, but nothing that was on her space earring seemed to count. Another tab showed their titles; at the moment, there was only the rookie one. Something very characteristic of RPG was also present, with a chat and guild tab available at all times, regardless of distance.


    Kayden decided to put all of this aside and began to feel the mana around him. The density was ridiculously high, approaching 10,000 times that of its original planet. At this moment, he also felt something that he had already forgotten.


    "Felix, you bum, wake up." Kayden kicked the cat and saw the animal dodge at the last second and meow at him.

 Chapter 317: A direction to follow

    Kayden was too lazy to explain everything to the cat, but he felt he owed this consideration to Felix. With just a few words in the chat, he explained what happened and apologized for dragging the feline with him.


    "Don¡¯t worry, I was getting bored on Earth since you left. Give me something as an excuse and we¡¯ll be even." Felix, in fact, spent some decades sleeping and others training alone; he was already accustomed to a life of solitude.


    Kayden pulled out a huge fish for the cat and told him to go through the presentation and understand how the system worked. For Kayden, it was intuitive, but it could be complicated for anyone who has never encountered something like this.


    "I need a few years here to max out the fourth kingdom, after that, we can leave," Kayden said and saw Felix nod and ask for food. The boy gave the cat a few tons of food and sat down.


    "Hello, my viewers, I¡¯m sorry to inform you, but I will be idle for a few decades. Come back in a few years." With that, Kayden sat down and began cultivating.


    Most thought it was just a bluff, and it worked. Kayden gained a huge audience along with Felix over the next few days, but unfortunately, everyone was disappointed as they watched the months and years begin to pass by.


    While Felix just slept and woke up to eat now and then and very rarely trained any skills, but nothing exotic or unique, Kayden just stood still. Even vines began to grow on them.


    This situation caused Kayden and Felix¡¯s audience to drop to ridiculously low levels. Only a few crazy people who were waiting for him to wake up were watching. The pair¡¯s rank dropped from the letter E to F. F-rank participants were very rare.


    Only those who were at the end of their lives and no longer had the means to provide entertainment reached this level, but that didn¡¯t matter to Kayden. He just continued cultivating without knowing this matter.


    The mana density didn¡¯t influence Kayden¡¯s leveling speed much, and the entire process took about two decades. After so long, he finally reached the absolute peak of the fourth realm.


    His strength was ridiculously high. If he were with his concepts, he might be able to represent an absolute power in this realm. But, at the moment, he believed that his maximum would be to face someone with six lightning bolts at the same level of strength.


    Being able to rival someone with six rays was only thanks to the amount of mana available that maximized the effect of his path. If it was earlier, Kayden would probably only be able to face someone with five lightning bolts.


    "Felix, I¡¯m done." Kayden felt the cat that was at the sixth level of the fourth realm and let out a sigh. Some were blessed. The animal didn¡¯t even respond, it just woke up, laid down on Kayden¡¯s shoulder, and went back to sleep.


    Kayden took a look at the system and saw his F rank. Without giving it much thought, he saw some new information that appeared to him. The kingdom¡¯s newspaper published that a huge war was raging in the region and that everyone was free to choose a side, the rebels or the monarchy.


    Kayden knew he was in just one of the kingdoms of this immense space of land. There were several dozen countries only those below the sixth realm were present. Without much to lose, Kayden decided to just face a few opponents.


    As soon as he stepped outside the cave, he took a deep breath and felt the breeze hitting his body. A red sun was in the sky; its color didn¡¯t influence the light or the pleasant heat that hit Kayden¡¯s skin.


    Kayden¡¯s spiritual sense was reduced by a large margin, only remaining at 100 kilometers again. This place wasn¡¯t as dense as space, but the difference was that Kayden was clueless at the moment, probably the only madman in the fourth realm to attempt something like this. S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    It only took him a few minutes to find a person flying. Kayden let her see that he was there because he was just a teenager in the third realm, probably only 20 years old, with a level of strength far higher than that of his universe.


    "Hello, I need some information." Kayden decided to be neutral but made it clear that he was the person who would direct the conversation. The teenager in front of him was visibly nervous and just nodded.


    "Explain to me everything about this region and where the city is..." Kayden was about to say "human city" when he noticed that the teenager had three eyes and three fingers on each hand.


    "I am a native, sir." This line would prevent many players from killing the teenager, but that wasn¡¯t the case with Kayden. "I¡¯m going to my hometown, a small village to the west. We only have a few thousand people and we are one of the few pure natives. We are in the kingdom of Wales, one of the environments with the most wizards of all the kingdoms, and currently at war."


    "What is the policy towards foreigners in your city and how strong is the strongest man?" Kayden asked as gears turned in his head.


    "We have no problem welcoming peaceful players. The village leader is someone at the peak of the fourth realm, but most people are also at the fourth realm, stuck at some point." Kayden had truly come to a world where big sharks ruled.


    **Kayden and Felix in a New World of Magic: Facing the Reality of Lightning and Cultivating Power**


    "What is the average radius?" This question would define the way he would approach people on this new planet.


    "The majority get five rays and a large portion get six rays, while a select few get seven rays." The words "chosen few" rang in Kayden¡¯s head.


    He came to a place with a completely ridiculous strength paradigm. Only a small town in the interior had the capacity to accommodate a few people with seven rays. Entering this village was relatively risky. Evading multiple challengers was not difficult for Kayden, but facing a city prepared with runes was impossible for him.


    "Why do you have so many magicians with seven rays and trapped in the fourth realm?" Kayden asked with sincere doubt.


    "Sorry, sir, but I didn¡¯t understand the question." The teenager showed confusion on his face.


    "Aren¡¯t they supposed to be future gods who easily climb the paths of power?" His sentence caused the teenager to look at Kayden strangely.


    "Sir, we have several people with high radii, but only a few have the talent to climb the realms. Most just want to have a normal life." Kayden was silent for a few seconds until a realization came to him.


    Probably, on this planet, high-level techniques were available to everyone with some sacrifice. Furthermore, the amount of mana was not a real deterrent to people. In the end, the quantity of lightning was not synonymous with talent in this place. This was obvious when seeing so many people trapped in the fourth realm in this city, as the first great barrier was precisely the fifth realm.


    "Sign a soul oath promising that all your words were true," Kayden requested, and the teenager in front of him didn¡¯t hesitate, but...


    "Are you going to do it the uncivilized method?" Kayden looked at him doubtfully, and that made the boy just lower his head. "Never mind." Knowing no other way, Kayden took the oath.


    "How long have we been from your city?" Kayden asked after the oath.


    "Three days of flying straight, sir." Kayden found it too long.


    "Point the direction and I¡¯ll take you with me." The teenager took a drop of his blood from his thumb and burned it directly in the air. Instantly, he pointed in a direction. Kayden tied him with a mana chain and left at high speed.


    After a few hours, Kayden had to ask for directions again, and the teenager did the same spell as before. What was supposed to be three days was done in just one day. The path could be covered in less time by the teenager, but the problem was the beasts and other players along the way.


    Kayden left his aura open at all times, and this meant that no one dared to face him. Even the other players stood aside when they saw Kayden, his realm and strength were very high.


    "We¡¯re here, kid." Kayden woke the teenager who was sleeping on the chain. In front of him stretched a huge lake thousands of kilometers long. Just a few kilometers from the edge was a city on the water.


    The city had no streets and the houses were a few meters wide and long. They did not extend downwards or upwards, which meant that the space was occupied extensively. The city, which shouldn¡¯t even be a dozen kilometers long, was almost three dozen.


    Kayden could sense a few thousand people with just a few large pockets of strength. Most were strong in terms of kingdom and quality, but they gave off a feeling of peace and... of common people.

 Chapter 318: Normal people with high talent

    "I might stay here for a while. I owe you a favor. Remember this. Now, get out quickly," Kayden said to the teen, who wasted no time in running away as he sensed some strong mages approaching.


    Kayden just floated as three figures appeared in front of him. The one in front was a woman with curly black hair and a body made of water, something Kayden had never seen before.


    The woman¡¯s features were perfectly detailed and her beauty was visible. Behind her were two women with similar features, also made of water. His features were equally handsome but visibly younger.


    Kayden felt a force of the fourth realm and seven lightning bolts from the three people in front of him, but only felt a threat from one of the teenagers. It was contradictory considering the leader was the oldest woman in front of her. Kayden couldn¡¯t understand how someone with such high talent was able to convey such a low threat level to him.


    "Hello, a foreigner. What are your businesses in our city? Sorry for the hostile reception, but your strength is too great to disregard," Kayden could understand the meaning in the woman¡¯s speech.


    "Hi, I¡¯m Kayden Heart. I have no hostile intentions. I came to propose a business exchange," Kayden was interrupted by the woman.


    "We are not interested in joining any guild," Kayden was surprised by the interruption but quickly understood what his speech and situation made it seem like.


    "I¡¯m not from any guild. I¡¯m new to this world, I just need a place to stay for a few years and recover from an injury. In exchange for your hospitality and information, I can offer combat training to a few mages of your choice." Kayden¡¯s proposal took the women by surprise.


    "What training can someone centuries older than me and at the same level of strength teach?" asked the young woman who gave Kayden a normal aura.


    "Before I continue, can you introduce yourselves?" Knowing their names would create a small emotional bridge and make the conversation easier between both parties.


    "I am Eldora Lagus. These are my daughters, Riven Lagus and Nami Lagus ." Riven was the one who posed some threat to Kayden, and Nami was the one who had a normal aura.


    "I could show my strength in many ways, but just ask Riven about the feeling I get just by standing here, without suppressing my aura." Kayden let his aura become normal and without any camouflage.


    Riven let out a sigh and took a step back, entering the natural fight-or-flight mode of every living being. The other two women couldn¡¯t understand her reaction nor did they feel any change in Kayden.


    "Riven?"


    "Even with my current power, I feel insecure in a battle against him. The aura he gives off is that of an insurmountable mountain. Out of everyone in the city, only a few along with me can match anything close to that." Kayden found the description funny.


    "You have very strong people in your midst, but weak at the same time. Most have never experienced a life-or-death battle and never had any difficulty in their training. I can help you with that."


    "Show your killing intent, I want to see her purity," asked Eldora with an accusatory look at Kayden. This city had no place for murderers and bad people. Kayden unleashed his spiritual sense at its maximum strength.


    Centuries of killing and isolation have strengthened their killing intent to absurd levels. The three women saw almost everything around Kayden go dark. Several faces and hands began to fly around him, and some hands clasped his feet. But that wasn¡¯t even the scariest thing.


    The eyes.


    Kayden¡¯s eyes were empty and without any expression, looking like a dead person was looking at the three of them. His gaze just exuded death, but not as a threat. It just seemed to show the future.


    This was one of the most terrifying killing intents the three of them had ever seen in their entire lives. It could be considered the scariest. The worst thing was that this killing intent was pure, without any depraved feelings.


    Kayden didn¡¯t kill for pleasure or to achieve some lust. Their deaths were clean. That was the only point that became clear to the three after a few seconds. Eldora raised her hand and Kayden returned to being just another wizard.


    "That was enough. We can welcome you with a soul oath. You will have to follow our laws and teach some classes at our academy for us to start a stable relationship." Next, Kayden was introduced to the laws.


    None of them were difficult for Kayden, but for other people, it might be a little strange. For example, in sexual relations, the government should be notified in advance, even with prostitutes. Furthermore, all his expenses and steps were monitored by the government.


    Kayden would have no problem following these rules and didn¡¯t mind being monitored. It only took a few seconds for him to swear a soul oath. Eldora looked at him strangely but remained silent about her thoughts.


    "You will stay at the gym and teach one class a month lasting a few hours. In exchange, we will give you access to the city and housing. Additionally, additional classes can be exchanged for money. Riven will show you the way. For now, goodbye, Kayden." Eldora and her other daughter disappeared, leaving the two floating in the skies.


    Riven said nothing as she tried to measure Kayden¡¯s strength more accurately. It had been a long time since someone made her feel inferior, but that was just Kayden¡¯s aura. In a battle at this time, Kayden would be destroyed.


    "Miss Riven?" Kayden asked after a few seconds had passed. This woke the girl from her reverie and caused her to start floating towards the city. Kayden followed her a few feet away.


    The further he went, the more he realized what a unique city it was. The houses followed a model where some rooms were completely flooded, but this was only in the houses of aquatic beings.


    For the rest, it was just gray stone everywhere. Most people just flew or walked on water, even children could do that. The commerce was in the center of the city, where there was a single area with a large expanse of solid ground.


    They headed in the opposite direction of the shopping center, and after just a few seconds, Kayden found himself facing a large ship at least two kilometers wide. Inside, there were dozens of teenagers and children, it seemed like the gym was for everyone in the city.


    As soon as they arrived, an old man came out to welcome them. His appearance was not that of water; he had three eyes and three fingers on each hand. His face had some wrinkles, but his hair was a deep red color.


    "Hello, Riven. To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" Kayden felt that Riven had a strong respect for the old man, perhaps because he was at some level of the fourth realm and only had six lightning bolts, which was plausible. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "This one with me is Kayden. He will stay in our city for a while and we agreed for him to teach some classes during the month. I will leave it to you to assist you in your accommodation. I¡¯m a little busy right now." Riven didn¡¯t seem to have any respect for the old man and disappeared after a few orders.


    "Hello, I¡¯m Kayden Heart," Kayden introduced herself neutrally and let her aura escape. It was good to set limits from the beginning.


    "Nice to meet you, Mr. Kayden. My name is Lu¨ªs Riacho," the old man¡¯s tone was friendly. Showing your strength did magic on people. "Come with me."


    The ship had a large deck on top that should be used for some events, as it had several stands and protective runes. Kayden saw several students of different races and varying levels.


    The old man took him to the top floor of the ship. Several windows were showing the outside. The lake had crystal clear water that made this view quite pleasant. In the lower part, all the rooms and structures were made of wood that exuded feelings of calm and peace.


    "We don¡¯t have many teachers who are living on the ship, so you can get more than one room if you need. We don¡¯t have any specific rules, just don¡¯t be a nuisance to the neighborhood."


    Kayden opened the door in front of him and found himself in a small apartment, but it was different from the model his previous planets followed. The main difference was that the master bedroom was a living room with a bed in the center of the apartment. This was a pattern throughout the city.


    Kayden saw no private rooms in the houses. Most had beds that followed a circular shape in the center of the houses. Even in larger families, everyone slept in the living room.


    "When should I teach?" Kayden got straight to the point after a quick look around the room.


    "What are your strengths and what is the topic of your class?" the director asked some questions to understand more about Kayden.

 Chapter 319: Searching for information

    "My strength is all the nuances of a fight. I can teach you about mental toughness and how to conduct yourself in direct combat." The director was a good fighter but would not doubt the ruling family¡¯s choices.


    "Early tomorrow, appear at the top of the ship. You will teach an open class on general combat." Kayden thanked the director and entered the apartment. After a few seconds, he sat down and began to observe the movements in the city with his spiritual sense.


    Many people noticed that Kayden was spying, even some in lower realms. Kayden had to admit that this place had top-level techniques. Fortunately, his high realm caused his reaction speed to be superior in some cases, and in others, his path suppressed this difference, so no one could notice it was him.


    In just a few hours, he understood how everything worked in this place. Children, for the most part, were in the first and second realms, with teenagers reaching the third realm in some cases. Most of the adults were in the fourth realm, but that seemed to be the limit of the strength of the people in this city.


    Furthermore, most just wanted to lead a normal life, without the lust for power like Kayden. He saw several elderly people in the fourth realm just living their lives with simple and dull jobs. It was strange to see something like that in a world of magic, where you could fly and cause mass destruction.


    The truth is that few dared to leave their comfort zone to train enough to become great wizards. And of those few who had courage, an even smaller number had the discipline and talent to reach great heights.


    Kayden found the shopping area where he could exchange some of the items he got in the past for this world¡¯s money. This money, in turn, could be exchanged for information in different places.


    "Where are we?" Felix woke up and said in a sleepy tone. Kayden had even forgotten about the animal¡¯s presence. This made him realize how strong Felix was becoming, as not even one person could identify his strength in this place.


    If Eldora had noticed the beast, she would have made it sign an oath on the same terms as Kayden¡¯s. Kayden explained to Felix where they were and what their plans were for the next few years. Felix just nodded and ordered something to eat.


    Kayden had a frightening amount of stuff stored in his space earring, from tons of food to tons of treasure. He currently had two earrings, one he received from Merlin and one he received from Conor at his wedding.


    Conor¡¯s was an incredible two miles wide. Kayden placed enough treasure and resources in each of his compartments to build a small empire if necessary.


    "They have seven wizards in the fourth realm with seven rays, but only four of them pose any real danger. The rest is just talent without strength. But you must be careful, if you have any problems, come to me." Kayden recommended to the cat before leaving. Felix was in one of his rare moments of rune training.


    The cat just purred at Kayden and the boy left. His exit from the ship was constantly monitored by some spiritual senses, but it was clear to him that they were just guards hanging around the ship.


    He went directly to the huge dome where local businesses were located. It was made up of several little shops arranged in squares at different points. Some were on the ground, while others floated, all offering a large number of different items.


    To an outsider like him, it seemed like an extreme mess. All spots were occupied by people. Kayden saw several foreigners like him walking around the place. This was probably a meeting point.


    As he was standing still, thinking about what to do, he saw a boy wearing tattered clothes and barefoot appearing in his vision. He was just a teenager in the first realm, someone far behind most people his age.


    "Welcome to the city market, Mr. Wizard. If it¡¯s your first time, I can introduce you to the place and recommend the best points to negotiate. All this for an affordable price of just ten coins." Kayden noticed, at that moment, something he ignored.


    The economy of this world was completely cloudy for him. It had been so many years since he had worried about the price of something that this detail went completely unnoticed to him.


    "I need somewhere to exchange treasures for coins. After that, I can pay you." The boy¡¯s eyes lit up when he saw a possible client.


    "Sure, come with me." The boy guided Kayden to a tent a little larger than the others. Furthermore, it was completely closed. Without hesitation, Kayden walked in and saw only a few armchairs with silent runes.


    In each of them, there was someone negotiating something. Some presented delicacies while others came to buy delicacies. This seemed to be a general house where everything could be sold and bought. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden was advised by the boy to sit in an armchair and wait. After doing so, it only took a few seconds for a water race man to appear in front of him, wearing a black seaweed outfit that resembled a luxurious outfit.


    " Hello dear customer, what can we do for you?"


    "I¡¯m here to exchange some treasures for money. What do you need most right now?" Kayden decided to play the scarcity game to blatantly raise the price of his products.


    The man seemed to have been in this situation before and took a book out of his pocket. Kayden could see that this book was connected to other people in this room by a thin thread of mana that should be invisible to everyone. After reading for a few seconds, the man began to pass a list to Kayden and tell him the priority of each item.


    "How much are you able to offer for ten-third realm deep earth cores?" Because it was a village relatively far from the land, they had few centers of this type. The man looked at Kayden in surprise at how much the boy in front of him had.


    "Ninety coins for each core." Kayden, without any emotion, played a higher price.


    "One hundred coins per core. You don¡¯t have many fighters around here and this type of nucleus is very far from where your hunters go." The two could continue talking and fighting over price, but the market knew a customer like Kayden from afar. He made an offer and wouldn¡¯t go back on anything.


    "One hundred for high-quality cores and only seventy for low-quality ones." Kayden agreed and took out the ten worst cores he had. Unsurprisingly, they were all rated as low quality.


    This was obvious considering they were from a place with a much lower average level. The man gave Kayden a total of seven hundred coins for this little bargain and offered Kayden a discount on his products, something he refused for now.


    "Here." Kayden threw ten coins to the boy who was waiting for him outside. "I need some general information about the city and other information about the region. Show me a place."


    "I know everything an ordinary person can know, sir. For just ten coins, I will summarize the entire region for you." Since the boy had already helped him before, Kayden didn¡¯t mind waving at the boy.


    "We have four big spots around our city. The red coral is a huge space measuring tens of kilometers and the floor is made of huge coral. Only players who want to face other players go to this place. It is a lawless land where everything is permitted. Then, we have the storm of wisdom, a huge mass of clouds that rains uninterruptedly. When someone dies on this spot, a golden air comes out of the person and whoever is nearby receives a bit of momentary wisdom."


    Kayden was interested in both points. The first would provide a stage for him to get more viewers and the second could be used for him to improve his path and return to his peak.


    "We have a staircase with a hundred steps, where on each one you have to solve a mana pressure problem to pass, in addition to voices and other torments. As incredible as it may seem, it is the place with the highest mortality rate of the four. For each step, you receive a fruit that improves your body or some organ slightly."


    This would be useful for Kayden to be able to further break the barrier of the fourth realm. He was extremely strong, but he wanted to reach an even greater level. In this place, his strength was nothing special.


    "Lastly, we have something strange. At one point in the lake, there is a small, unknown metal platform. In it, there is a man full of muscles wearing war clothes from primitive tribes. His strength is unfathomable and he has never lost a single battle. But as long as you prove yourself worthy, he¡¯ll give you some advice. Each person must pay with a certain amount of blood to receive your help."

 Chapter 320: Private lessons

    Kayden asked a few more specific questions about each place, such as the average level of people who visited them and what were the best days and times to go to each of the spots. The boy knew how to answer each of Kayden¡¯s questions perfectly. S§×ar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "The city is made up of one ruling family and we all just follow their orders. It¡¯s been like this since always. Our currency is only used locally and needs to be exchanged at a ratio of five to one of the national currencies. We have a public library that costs a hundred coins an hour; It is a luxury for few. Our economy is based on fishing and selling exotic fish."


    "Thank you for your help," Kayden said goodbye to the boy and disappeared before he could receive any response. He returned to his room and saw Felix studying the ship¡¯s runes curiously.


    "These runes are far superior to ours. It¡¯s practically like we used wet wood to start a fire," the cat commented, and Kayden just nodded. His knowledge of runes was extremely low at this point.


    He practically stopped studying runes in the second realm and only kept a few in the third. His spells didn¡¯t qualify as runes, so he didn¡¯t understand anything the cat was babbling.


    Kayden was lost in thought. His priority at that moment was to improve his path, but it was something very difficult to do, mainly because he had nothing to support himself. Everything had to be explored by him.


    His focus lasted until the next day when a knock on the door disturbed Felix, who in turn bit Kayden to go see who it was. The principal was outside, and Kayden remembered at that moment that he had a class to teach.


    He spoke to the director for a while and then said goodbye to Felix. The walk to the top was quick. Kayden found himself in front of at least two hundred students, few considering what he had seen before.


    There were some bleachers arranged circularly around a stage. Kayden walked calmly to the center while observing the students. The average level was similar to what he had seen in the city, probably because no students lived on the ship.


    In one of the corners, he saw two people he had met before: the teenager who helped him get to the city and the teenager who helped him at the market. But the two were in totally different groups; while one was with the best, the other was isolated alone.


    "Hi, I¡¯m Kayden. You don¡¯t need to call me by any title, just Kayden is fine. I will be teaching some monthly classes on how to fight. Before we begin, you will have to answer one simple question: are you here to learn how to fight or protect yourself?" Kayden¡¯s introduction was short and his question took everyone by surprise.


    Most needed a few minutes to think and the vast majority already knew they were there just to protect themselves. Few were interested in exploring this world; their parents and ancestors told stories too dark for them.


    "Those who want to learn how to protect themselves can leave. This class won¡¯t help you at all, but you¡¯re free to stay if you want." Kayden¡¯s sentence was ignored by the majority and, like a herd effect, no one left.


    "Alright, I¡¯ll start by making a few things clear." Kayden took advantage of this moment to pull out a chair and sit down comfortably. "Practically all of you would die in a fight outside to any fighter in the same realm, even with an inferior amount of lightning or strength." Kayden was about to continue talking when someone raised their voice.


    "You¡¯re very arrogant..." Kayden saw a boy clearly from the upscale area of the city surrounded by his fan club of ass-kissers. Before the teenager could start a clich¨¦ sentence, Kayden stood up and...


    SLAP!


    He gave the boy a hard slap in the face, which sent him spinning in the air. As if he hadn¡¯t done anything big, Kayden sat back down in his chair. His speed was greater than anyone could keep up with inside.


    "I think something is not clear. I was hired to teach. I don¡¯t care if you have complaints or want to use your superior position in the city to pressure me. This is irrelevant. Just shut up and watch or leave."


    Kayden released some of his mana pressure on the students, directing it fully against the teachers who seemed to want to cause a stir. Even the director felt pressured and scared to face Kayden. It was a very frightening pressure and it made it clear that he would be a dead man if he made a mistake in his actions.


    No one in this town could truly threaten Kayden. The strongest would still have a cost to fight him, especially considering that Felix was together with Kayden. At worst, he just needed to get away.


    "As I said, what¡¯s left for you is a life or death struggle. You are flowers that grew in greenhouses. Anyone outside will just use their killing intent against you, and the battle will tilt toward their side. This is the first defect we will correct." Kayden saw a hand raised and stopped his speech. "You there, with your hand raised, ask your question."


    "What is intent to kill?" Kayden blinked in surprise at the question and realized he had a lot of work ahead of him.


    "The more people you kill and the more you understand about life and death, the stronger you develop a type of intention similar to mana pressure. The difference is that the intention to kill does not waste energy and does not depend on anything to develop other than killing other people. Those who have never interacted with her will be severely weakened when confronted."


    After Kayden stood up to everyone in the room, teachers and students were paying more attention to his words and taking the class seriously.


    "The training for today and the next classes is to resist my intention to kill. I will dilute it and increase it as you improve. To pass the test, it¡¯s very simple: you just need to fly 30 meters above the ground. Those who want to leave, do so now." Kayden gave everyone a few seconds and then released his killing intent.


    Most who had a weak will began to instantly feel sick and suffocate on their own; others fainted immediately. Kayden just looked at this with disgust and removed these students from the scene, placing them a few meters away. Even the weakest human would not have such a weak mentality.


    Probably, because human society was much more competitive and violent, from an early age you were taught to stand out and be better than others. Death was present everywhere and, once in a lifetime, one human would kill another.


    "You have a short 5-minute rest. Afterward, my killing intent will return." Kayden stopped after a while. Of the two hundred students, only half were still resisting.


    Five minutes later, Kayden continued with his diluted killing intensity. Whenever someone started to float, he would increase the intensity. Incredibly, the pathetic first-realm teenager who helped him the day before was among the best.


    It took about four hours before no one else was able to continue. At that moment, Kayden stopped his killing intention for good. This was work that had to be done continuously and was unlikely to have immediate results.


    "Come back next class. We will continue this until you can resist perfectly." With that, Kayden returned to his room under everyone¡¯s gaze. He just came to get Felix so they could go to the Storm of Wisdom.


    The cat complained a lot but was convinced by some food. Felix¡¯s help would be very useful if they encountered any group of strong opponents or even a peak transition mage with seven rays.


    He didn¡¯t need any map, he just headed in the right direction, and after a few minutes at full speed, he was able to see a huge gray storm with red threads thundering over the sea.


    His spiritual sense was shrunk once again and only reached 10 kilometers, but it was still quite high considering Felix was barely 500 meters at the moment. This small advantage on his part caused him to be able to locate a trio of mages in the third realm.


    Without any shame on his face, Kayden asked Felix to distort the three¡¯s senses and, easily, he performed a hexagram and cut their bodies into dozens of pieces. Kayden didn¡¯t forget to burn the bodies completely to avoid any traces.


    A few seconds later, the two felt red rain dripping onto their bodies. The drops felt like falling cotton and were barely felt by them, but quickly penetrated their skin through their clothes, or, in Felix¡¯s case, through their fur.


    "It¡¯s little, but it¡¯s very useful," Kayden commented as he felt the symptoms of the urge, but on a scale hundreds of times smaller. This moment of impulse lasted about an hour. It was useful and helped him better define his path.

 Chapter 321: Classes

    At that moment, he remembered being filmed and broadcast to thousands of people. Most likely, your actions were not very beautiful and ethically correct. Kayden pulled out a chair and sat down, while Felix looked like he was about to advance to another level. He moved away a little and decided to start his plans to be a star.


    "Hello to the entire universe watching me. As you can see, I have no ethics or morals. If you¡¯re looking for that, you can stop watching me," Kayden paused. "I¡¯ll be honest with you, I¡¯ll probably do actions that not even the worst rational being would choose to do. My only goal is power, and I will do anything to achieve it."


    As Kayden spoke, the number of spectators began to increase rapidly. At the moment, he was just a beginner in this world, so viewers gave him the benefit of the doubt.


    "I don¡¯t have a fun personality, I don¡¯t have plans to do suicide missions or things like that to gain viewers," his statements made some viewers lose some excitement. "What I propose is a fair exchange. Most of you don¡¯t know how to fight and I¡¯m sure of that. You may probably have great talents with various rays, but in the end, you are flowers in a greenhouse who dream of being great fighters but don¡¯t lift a finger about it."


    Kayden¡¯s speech was accurate and touched many people¡¯s emotions. The truth was that most planets were relatively peaceful, with combat mages different from ordinary mages. It was exactly like the city he was taking shelter in. Even people with high realms and great talent were just content with doing normal things.


    "I can change your situation. I will teach you how to fight, think, and become a true mage," Kayden¡¯s speech sounded very arrogant and... "Yes, my speech is arrogant, but I was born with a body useless for manipulating mana, in a world where the third kingdom makes you practically a king. And even so, I invented my techniques, I invented my path with my own hands. It doesn¡¯t matter if your kingdom is superior to mine, if you don¡¯t know how to fight, I will teach you. But to do that, I need to be able to open private streams, something that only in category E might be possible."


    Kayden paused for a few seconds as he watched Felix finish the advancing process as if it were nothing, practically a slightly shorter sleep for the beast. Whatever race Felix was, Kayden was sure it was scary.


    Its number of viewers was at half a billion at this point and seemed to be increasing rapidly. It would probably reach category E when it gets close to 1 billion. Within the system, there was a metric showing the percentage missing for each rank and, at that moment, it was at 54%.


    "For now, I will continue hunting mages in this storm and killing them. When I reach E rank, I will schedule the date for the first private lesson so that everyone has time to prepare. The cost will be as low as possible."


    After that, Kayden didn¡¯t say anything else and just started hunting mages so he could get some rain. The amazing thing was that he didn¡¯t even have to look very far. Every few hundred meters, someone was waiting to be killed.


    Kayden faced some people with six rays in the fourth realm and it was a good battle. He didn¡¯t need to take 100% of his strength, but he still had to pay close attention to not die.


    About two days later, Kayden killed dozens of people and got a few hours of rain. Furthermore, his viewers finally grew to the minimum E-Rank mark. His promotion was notified by the system.


    "In an hour, we will begin private broadcasting. The price will be a universal currency. Today¡¯s topic is going to be the basic foundations for making your plan," Kayden said this and, when it was time, he built a small platform in the air where he could sit with an armchair.


    The process to open the transmission was easy and didn¡¯t cost him more than two moves. The participant count grew by the second. Kayden waited a full ten minutes before closing the input requests. In total, around 10 million people entered. It was a much lower amount than the number who were watching him, but it was something to be expected.


    "Very well, you paid to be here to change your minds or just satisfy your curiosity, but it doesn¡¯t matter. First, I want you to ask yourself three questions: what is your current skill level, what is your motivation, and what are you willing to sacrifice for power."


    Kayden waited a few minutes for everyone to think about their answers. In the meantime, he studied the transmission options a little. For example, he could leave this class recorded for other people to purchase in the future. He chose to leave this option open and allow people to make short videos of certain moments to post on social media.


    "Of all the questions, the only one that matters is the last. You will sacrifice a lot of time to achieve something great. Abandon the idea of friends and social events. Dedicate ten years of your life to 100 years of success. First, let¡¯s start with the basics."


    Kayden made some mana puppets in the air with great mastery. Each of them carried a different weapon or element.


    "Society must have gotten it into their heads that training more than one element or weapon is something that would make them different, a genius among so many people, but that is the biggest idiocy there is. Always remember that there is no master of all things," the puppets began to fight in the air.


    Some carried different elements and always seemed to have an advantage, but when they faced one of the dolls with only one element, their defects became apparent, as the strength of just one maximized element was much greater.


    "Choose something you like, it doesn¡¯t matter if it¡¯s considered weak or has no future, just choose it. This moment will define your entire journey. If you are already in the high realms, just focus on what you do best or, if you want to take a step beyond mediocrity, break your cultivation and start over."


    Kayden¡¯s sentence was like a bolt of lightning in viewers¡¯ heads. What he was proposing was something very radical: sacrificing a lot just for power, exchanging an entire life for another chance that could go wrong.


    The class lasted about three hours, and Kayden explained the advantages and disadvantages of each element and weapon he knew, showed how to maximize and choose his spells, and where to direct his training.


    "The next class will be in a week. I will let you know the topic a day in advance." With that, Kayden hung up and went back to hunting people within this storm. As the days went by, he began to gain fame abroad.


    Kayden wasn¡¯t the first to take private classes of this style. Many people did this to get a higher rank, but none of them did it for such a cheap price and, at the same time, taught such basic things. Most did only one of these two things.


    No matter how many people Kayden killed within this storm, there would always be someone else. The number of people was practically infinite. This week, Kayden faced some people with seven rays and had to run away with his tail between his legs, it was still too big a force for him to face.


    A week later, Kayden taught his second class. The number of people tripled in this second class, and its growth was clear. For the next rank, he would need something close to 10 billion people watching him. At the moment, he was at 1 billion and a few hundred million.


    The theme of his second class was how to learn to fight alone, without the help of other people or resources. Kayden¡¯s recommendation was to face beasts from a lower realm in some forest and not kill them. They should just use this as training to resist the killing intent.


    On planets that did not have easily accessible forests, he recommended looking for underground fight clubs. They would probably take a lot of beating before they started to see any results, but that would be the quickest method.


    Kayden finished that class and returned to town. He still had to teach another class on the ship, this time he just kept introducing killing intent. I could probably do this for the next few months with ease. S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    After that he went back to his room and started to digest all the knowledge he had in a short time, his focus was only on his path and he was making little progress, but he still had some progress, the problem was that he was moving at a fast pace. turtle, but in the end it would be worth it.


    Author¡¯s note: I¡¯m sick, sorry for the lack of a bonus chapte

 Chapter 322: The tower

    Kayden felt like he was stuck in a wall. There was a long way to go before he could break it, but his strength would take a giant leap when he managed to do that. For now, he just had to maximize his skills and fighting experience.


    Before the boy was a tower of brown blocks a few hundred meters tall, the water around him was an indescribable pure color but spelled so that the bottom of the lake could not be seen.


    The sunny day and the wind moving the water gave the atmosphere of the most current RPG games on Earth. All of this was done with mana; This entire scenario was false and didn¡¯t fool Kayden for a second. There weren¡¯t any people around him; the way to the tower was another large spell, you would always be alone for the first few kilometers near the tower.


    Kayden floated for a few hundred meters; out of nowhere, his view changed to that of a city in a desert. The floor was made of sand and was burning to the touch, the sun fell on his body at a temperature that didn¡¯t exist on Earth.


    Around him, thousands of people went about their lives as in a normal city, buying and selling things and living normally. The average level of people in this place was also the fourth realm. Furthermore, Kayden felt the presence of some mages in the fifth realm.


    This caused him to withdraw his spiritual sense automatically and control any mana output from his body. With a few more camouflage techniques, Kayden looked like a low-realm mage.


    "Hello, are you a climber?" An elderly woman with white hair appeared in front of Kayden without him being able to notice. The boy automatically felt that she was in the fifth realm.


    "Yes," Kayden said without hesitation. He had already been discovered, there was nothing to do. The elderly woman felt his sincerity and lowered her spells, ready to come out at the slightest sign of trouble.


    "Go to that buried building." The woman pointed with her mana at a kind of igloo completely buried in the sand.


    All the mages in the fifth realm felt Kayden¡¯s sweep across the city. It was a range that shouldn¡¯t have been possible given the number of runes and delicate spells there were, but Kayden got around them with insane mastery. This made the elderly woman think he was an intruder, even more so when Kayden¡¯s presence quickly disappeared.


    Kayden didn¡¯t have time to respond and, as soon as he was alone, he walked calmly towards the giant igloo. Kayden saw several people with their names and titles appearing; he also followed suit and put on his professor title. It was a title he enjoyed more than just being a fighter.


    As soon as he entered the igloo, he realized how big the place was. The entrance was just a door to a huge staircase that led down to a huge pavilion with hundreds of people, some sitting in armchairs and others talking on benches.


    The environment was somewhat gloomy, with hot sand falling from the ceiling to the floor and magically disappearing. This caused infinite sand towers to appear in the environment. Everyone, there were players with names and titles appearing.


    Kayden started to go down the stairs and saw the temperature continue to drop until it reached 20 degrees celsius. It was neither too cold nor too hot, an ideal temperature. Kayden walked to a side with several benches and people wearing matching clothes, a kind of red and green blanket.


    "Hello player, how can I help you today?" The woman in front of Kayden was an elf but with much more visible ears and red hair.


    "I¡¯m new and I¡¯d like to know a little more about the tower." The woman didn¡¯t seem surprised by Kayden¡¯s statement and began to explain.


    "We don¡¯t know who created the tower or where it comes from. We welcome people from all corners of the universe. Each floor is the size of a class A or S planet. You are on the lucky planet¡¯s part and the operation here is very simple: every ten thousand kilometers, the environment repeats itself with the same monsters and challenges. On each floor of the tower, you must prove yourself worthy to pass."


    Kayden was getting cold feet, this whole situation just seemed like some god with too much time on his hands. Lots of free time in the literal sense, as he made dozens of planet-sized floors with room for trillions of people on each one.


    "The first floor is very simple, you just need to kill a second-realm golden scorpion. On the next floors, you will have to buy the information or find out on your own."


    "Can I leave with the things I get here?" sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "No, only prizes from floor bosses can go to the real world. Additionally, you cannot tackle the same floor twice, but you can still descend to floors you have already completed." Kayden thanked the woman and decided to go outside.


    He wouldn¡¯t get anything else in there; any information would have to be paid for, and he felt several eyes on him. It was just easier to wait for the information to come to him. Kayden left the city and slowly flew for a few kilometers.


    It didn¡¯t take long for him to sense two mages in the third realm lurking in the distance. Kayden smiled to himself. No matter the race or place, people were always predictable when they came together.


    BOOOM!


    A meteor and dozens of metal darts flew at Kayden at high speed. The two wizards hoped to catch him by surprise, but what happened was that their spells were destroyed in the air as if they hadn¡¯t even been cast.


    "Run!" The leader of the duo had experience as a thief and understood that they were deceived. Unfortunately, Kayden was already next to the two and, with his mana, prevented any movement of the two forms.


    "An oath promising that you will only tell the truth or I will torture you until I get what I want." Kayden appeared beside the two. His dead eyes and emotionless tone gave both of them a shiver, the worst part was that his aura was absurdly neutral.


    "Sure, sure, just stay calm," the leader said as he tried to use a smoke bomb. The problem was that Kayden was smart and just cut the leader¡¯s arm without any expression.


    Kayden waited for a few seconds as the man screamed and made a dramatic scene. After that, he slapped each of them in the face.


    "I only need one of you alive." With that sentence, the two accepted their fates and swore Kayden¡¯s oath. In the next few seconds, Kayden gained a lot of information about how life in the tower worked.


    He was surprised to discover that it was a refuge for fugitives from the universe, as no god had any influence there. Not only that, but the top floors were for the gods to fight.


    To find the golden scorpion, he just needed to kill some normal scorpions. The tail of the golden scorpion could be eaten, its effects cleansed the bones and coated them with a certain greater quality. Kayden would probably only receive something very weak from this improvement, but it would still be useful to him.


    The two explained the distribution across floors and how each floor had an average realm and strength. Kayden also discovered that the two were part of a large organization of thugs that were distributed across all floors.


    No force majeure or law was governing inside. Most of the time, they were just organizations that existed in real life or people who couldn¡¯t leave the tower for political reasons. The distribution of power was equal, as superior kingdoms could not descend freely.


    Information about the next floors was also included in this interrogation. Unfortunately, the two thieves only made it as far as the room. Kayden estimated that he would need to reach at least the thirtieth floor for things to start getting difficult for him.


    "Thanks for the information," Kayden said without looking at either of them and began to fly away. Instantly, the two went in the opposite direction, but... Kayden would never leave loose ends. The two were squeezed by his mana and their remains burned.


    The difference in realm meant that they couldn¡¯t even blink before losing their lives. Kayden continued flying as if it wasn¡¯t his fault. He quickly arrived in the city and went to the center of it.


    A huge fountain dripping with crystal clear water was in the center of the city, contrasting with the dry and sandy environment of this place. As soon as Kayden stepped into the fountain, he found himself outside the tower, in the same environment as a few hours ago.


    Kayden sped back into town. He just came to get Felix to stay in the tower for a few years, it was an environment that would offer more opportunities than this city and surrounding areas.

 Chapter 323: Climbing floors

    "No, I¡¯m comfortable here," Felix said without even opening his eyes from his nap.


    "I¡¯m going to be gone for a few years, you¡¯ll have to be content with eating low-kingdom foods", Kayden said the magic words that made Felix¡¯s ears perk up.


    "Come to think of it, this environment is boring," the cat jumped onto Kayden¡¯s shoulder without any shame and continued to sleep.


    After that, Kayden went to talk to Eldora and explained that he was leaving town for a few years. The woman was disappointed with Kayden¡¯s departure, but there wasn¡¯t much she could do; Kayden practically caused a revolution in the city¡¯s strength in these years.


    Next, Kayden traveled with Felix to the tower and explained all the information he got. The cat just nodded and told Kayden to do whatever he wanted.


    Kayden went straight after the golden scorpion on the first floor of the tower. It only took him a few minutes to eliminate hundreds of scorpions and anger their golden leader. As soon as the animal appeared, he killed it with just one clean sword swing.


    The beast¡¯s body was large, nearly three meters wide, and over two tons of muscle and bone. Kayden removed the gem from the animal¡¯s forehead and saved the body for another time. Without fear, he ate the yolk and felt his body warming up.


    The heat that assaulted his body focused more specifically on his bones. Kayden felt a bit of pain as he saw his bones changing shape. It was not an evolutionary change, but a total change.


    Like all humans, their bones were made of collagen and organic and inorganic components such as phosphorus and calcium. But at that moment, a cellular change was happening where some metals were being incorporated.


    Kayden couldn¡¯t make out these details exactly, but he could feel that his bones weren¡¯t identical. They became more malleable and at the same time harder, reacting to pressure in a solid way and, in normal moments, becoming freer.


    It was excellent in terms of combat, as it would help him withstand strong attacks and carry out attacks from different positions previously inaccessible to him. Kayden had to admit that he had misjudged the quality of this tower¡¯s rewards in just a few moves.


    To go to the next floor, he had to hunt some more scorpions and get another gem for Felix. After that, the two had to jump into the fountain again and find themselves in a different place.


    This time, they were in a huge swamp surrounded by water and trees. There was no city in sight; this was considered the true starting point of the tower, without any support or facilities.


    It was just a large space inhabited by thousands of crocodiles and other giant monsters, most between the first and third kingdoms, the latter being rare.


    "What a disgusting place, wake me up when it¡¯s over", Felix closed himself in an iron square with a bed made of beast skin inside. Kayden just had to take this cage with him.


    This was a relatively easy floor to pass; he needed to devastate everything he could until the guardian dryads showed up. This barely took thirty seconds with his strength level.


    He only needed to destroy a few kilometers with lightning and saw two women appear in front of him, made of crystal clear water and an unnatural blue. It was a strange thing to see at the same time.


    "Who is the¡­" Kayden didn¡¯t wait for them to finish and killed them both with a strengthened aura slash. They were just second-realm beasts and they didn¡¯t even manage to see Kayden¡¯s attack before they were killed.


    Something Kayden was doing during this period was opening private lessons to show how to get through each floor and detailing the strengths and weaknesses of the monsters he encountered. The boy practically made a manual on how to climb the tower.


    These classes were compiled into recordings that cost a little more than their regular classes, but few complained after seeing the quality of the material they received. Kayden only needed to exchange a few blows or see the animals to understand their weaknesses.


    "Felix, wake up, we have to get into the part where the water on their bodies was." The cat was disgusted and strongly refused. He was about to enter his cocoon again when Kayden threw him into the water.


    The problem was that Kayden didn¡¯t expect the cat to react so violently and bite his arm, ripping off a large chunk of flesh. The animal would practically eat his hand if Kayden hadn¡¯t reacted quickly enough.


    "Look at my fur! You filthy human!" Kayden just laughed at the cat throwing a tantrum, his lines interspersed with irrational meows.


    "Just enjoy the benefits and stop bothering me," Kayden said and felt the water entering his body and changing the structure of his skin in a similar way to the first floor.


    His skin was given a type of material that made it easier to patch. Any cut caused the remaining ends to automatically grow closed, even though there was still extensive damage inside. It was a great benefit to avoid bleeding and poisoning.


    This time, the gain was minimal for Kayden. His body was already capable of doing this before and there wasn¡¯t any significant boost, but for Felix, it was something new that would help him in the future because of his technique of exchanging his body for mana.


    "I don¡¯t want to go down!" Felix was complaining to Kayden once again, this time the young man just laughed at him.


    "I¡¯m going to take all the food with me, I hope you¡¯re happy eating only hard crocodiles here", Kayden didn¡¯t give the animal time to respond and just went down to the bottom of the swamp, a few dozen meters down.


    As soon as he touched the lowest point, he was teleported to the third floor. This is where things started. Here it was no longer a repetition of the terrain every few thousand kilometers; in fact, it was a real planet with civilizations existing within it.


    Kayden found himself inside a floating city with buildings made only of red and gray wood. These tones left the city with an air of tranquility and boredom at the same time. The boy found himself in a huge square with an immense golden wooden platform that stood out in the city.


    His spiritual sense reached various parts and studied the entire city in just a few seconds. He saw several different kingdoms in this place, but the one that prevailed was still the second kingdom, probably because those with a higher kingdom had already left this place.


    Felix appeared at his side and started meowing and asking for food. Kayden gave a fifth kingdom fish to the cat to make up for his actions. At that moment, he looked at his arm and began to put some mana into it to heal itself. The boy was so used to the pain that he had forgotten about it.


    "Hello, climber, congratulations on passing the first¡­" Kayden disappeared along with Felix before he had to talk to the multitude of recruiters that were appearing.


    Taking information from the bandits proved to be right, as he discovered that on the third floor, there were millions of guilds and groups always ready to recruit new members, but these guilds were not strong.


    Most of the time, their leaders were only in the sixth realm and possessed little power in the tower. True guilds only recruited outstanding geniuses or people who reached above floor number thirty.


    Right now, Kayden would just climb the floors at high speed. He didn¡¯t plan on making a name for himself here, at least not yet. It was better to know a little more about the tower before taking any action.


    Kayden searched for a few minutes with his spiritual sense for one of the tower¡¯s stores, a special place among so many stores, because in that store there was no person or sign of a common establishment.


    It was just an altar where you would go to exchange floor keys for something useful. Kayden, as he was a player in the world of luck, had no right to take the key in his hands, it was directly stored within the system space. S~ea??h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I want a mask of anonymity," Kayden said and saw two keys appearing out of nowhere and being consumed in golden light. After that, a white mask fell at his feet.


    It didn¡¯t have any details and was just a white circle without any features, but when Kayden placed it some changes appeared. It was something quite simple: a black smile and two eyes that looked like just a line were seen on the mask.


    Felix did the same and his mask appeared with the same features as Kayden¡¯s. This happened because they were identified as a group by the tower. The mask had a legend that showed the face mask that the person used most in their life; in Kayden¡¯s case, it was exactly that. He was always a happy actor for his friends and acquaintances.

 Chapter 324: David Nakir

    "This mask will make our identity anonymous throughout the tower. Not even a god will be able to see through it. This is good so that we won¡¯t be related to our true identity on the outside." Kayden, at the moment, was a stranger, but there was no harm in being cautious.


    The next few floors were completed by Kayden at high speed. Most consisted of simple challenges for their kingdom: labyrinths, beasts to face, riddles, and mana problems, all with a high degree of difficulty for people of the second and first kingdoms.


    Kayden also had to face some ill-intentioned people, but at most he encountered some fourth-realm mages with little talent. The only difference was the number of elaborate and unique techniques he saw; practically no magician used the same techniques in this place.


    There were many different races in various places, and the number of living beings was simply absurd. For each floor he passed, the complexity of life and environments increased. From artificial worlds with space repetition, they began to become real worlds with resources and civilizations.


    On the floor Kayden was on, he needed to qualify in the annual Glorious Kingdom¡¯s Best competition. It wasn¡¯t something really difficult considering that the average level of strength was only at the third realm. This was an undeveloped world, but Kayden learned, after a few months here, why: people on the outside practically forced all newcomers not to spread decent information here.


    It was practically a virgin world developing little by little. Some wizards from the fifth realm came to talk to Kayden as soon as he appeared on this floor. The boy had no problem following their orders to avoid problems.


    This was one of the floors that took him the longest to complete, as he couldn¡¯t go directly and kill everyone to get to the next floor. He needed to gain the respect of one of the dominant kingdoms in this world and only then could he move on to the next stage.


    The competition was held on a huge cherry-colored lawn, with heel-high grass. The wind, which passed at a very high speed, gave a magical touch to the environment. Spectators were seated in armchairs and chairs scattered haphazardly around the place.


    It was an atmosphere of family and friendship. No people were shouting or hiding their eyes from the children. Dozens of picnic tables, where each family brought their food to be shared, were arranged irregularly across the lawn.


    It would be a perfect place if it weren¡¯t all caused by hypnosis and illusion spells. Kayden felt his mind being manipulated into smiling and being friendly. Negative emotions were unnaturally suppressed in this place.


    Kayden was sitting at one of the tables closest to the center. All his opponents were around him and ate the same food provided by the kingdom. The smiles and conversations were real and not forced.


    He entered this competition as a commoner born in a distant village. That was his background. His identity should have caused repulsion among the nobles, but even this type of reaction was not shown.


    "Welcome, people of the kingdom. Your king will preside over this competition and seek out the best talent to protect us." A manly-looking man appeared. He wore full black stone armor and, on his head, he had a golden crown.


    "The battle is very simple. We will raise a transparent bubble and you will go up with everyone at your table. Whoever is left standing wins. We have a total of 30,000 tables with dozens of people, so we can¡¯t take too long for each battle. The bubble will diminish over time." sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    As the king spoke, Kayden saw a huge bubble appearing floating in the center. It then split into a few hundred smaller bubbles. Each person received a sign to identify themselves.


    At Kayden¡¯s table, there were only people from the third realm. That wouldn¡¯t even be a worthy battle; It would practically be a massacre.


    "Good luck everyone and remember you can die at any moment. Know how to recognize your limits." With the king¡¯s speech, Kayden felt his body begin to levitate and could not resist the foreign mana.


    Quickly, he was hoisted into one of the bubbles along with three dozen other people. In this world, everyone was a normal human like Kayden, but their mouths were split in half into two different cavities. Kayden let everyone face each other before making his appearance, showing that he had the honor of giving the weakest a chance.


    As soon as the last wizard remained, Kayden came out of his camouflage and dealt just one blow to his opponent.


    Initially, few people paid attention to him, but when this pattern repeated itself over the next three bubbles he passed, Kayden began to gain some notoriety, although not much, as other climbers were also doing the same.


    Many climbers participated in this competition, and it was usually only they who achieved a good classification, as the techniques abroad were much stronger than those in a rudimentary country.


    At the moment, Kayden was already starting to face strong people, but he had not yet faced any other climbers. The leaders did this so that everyone could reach a stage where they could walk.


    After several rounds, Kayden finally fell against the first climber. It wasn¡¯t a difficult battle; in fact, it was extremely easy as the climber was only at the base of the fourth realm and possessed ridiculously weak techniques.


    Everything was going well for Kayden. He managed to win all the clashes without any difficulty and gained fame among the championship spectators. However, not everything is perfect.


    David Nakir.


    The mad scientist was in the same place as Kayden and entered the bubble with him. Kayden froze for a few seconds as thousands of memories from many centuries ago flashed through his mind.


    David was in the fourth kingdom and looked much younger than before. Her disheveled white hair was now green and well-kept, straight, and tied into a bun. The scientist was never old in Kayden¡¯s memories, but he remembered that David had some signs of age.


    Mr. Nakir was without wrinkles and his hands were steady. There was no sign of age on his body. Kayden began to remember the details that were engraved in his mind, regardless of centuries.


    His emotions were normal. Kayden didn¡¯t even have a spike of hatred or any other feeling as he looked at David, just the surprise of seeing his old friend in such a random and remote place.


    It had been so long that Kayden didn¡¯t even care about the man¡¯s existence anymore. I didn¡¯t feel resentment or any other emotion, just nothing. It was as if he was seeing a stranger in front of him.


    He probably would have just taken David out of the picture if it weren¡¯t for one small detail: David¡¯s actions caused the death of Han, the only person Kayden still had any value in his mind. Therefore, the scientist would have to die there.


    Kayden once again camouflaged himself when entering the room. Of all the people in the bubble, only three managed to notice his presence, one of them being David, which made them afraid to face each other. It didn¡¯t even take a few seconds for the natives to be disqualified, leaving only David and another wizard who was able to detect Kayden earlier. No one made any move until...


    Kayden began to draw a ridiculous amount of mana into himself, utilizing his maximum capacity. The amount of mana he was able to manipulate was surreal, causing the environment to quickly become charged.


    No one knew exactly where this amount of mana came from or where it was going. Kayden¡¯s presence was camouflaged by the immense amount of mana around him.


    Before either of Kayden¡¯s two opponents could sense his presence or attacks, he conjured twelve fully enlarged hexagrams for the fourth realm. His attack broke the sound barrier and exceeded speeds of over 10 kilometers per second.


    "Shit¡­" David didn¡¯t have time to say anything as he tried to defend himself from the attack. He had no time to give up and must do his best to survive. In the past, scientists fought with animals and beasts within their reach, but that was in the past.


    David erected ten transparent barriers in front of him as if they were nothing, and just as he had an easy time doing so, Kayden¡¯s aura cut had an easy time breaking each of his defenses.


    The scientist managed to gain less than a second with this, but it was enough for him to erect a stronger barrier with the ability to dissipate the foreign mana within it. As soon as the aura slash entered, it began to be heavily weakened. David quickly put up a few more barriers. The scientist had specialized in mental and pure mana spells, which gave him incredible ease in casting several protections in a row.

 Chapter 325: A guild

    David achieved a significant level of power after leaving Earth and reshaping its base and structure, achieving five lightning bolts. With the help of the Eden members, he obtained a lot of resources, but it was still insufficient to face Kayden. With his seven rays and a much more advanced path, Kayden vastly surpassed anything David had achieved. Furthermore, David was never a particularly talented person.


    "Sleep well, David," Kayden said. His voice sent a shiver through David, but before he could react, Kayden severed his head with a clean swing of his katana. He collected the opponent¡¯s body into his spatial earring. Before turning to the other opponent, he jumped out of the bubble, fearing he would be the next to die. In the next match, Kayden jumped out of the bubble as soon as possible.


    Kayden had already reached the point in the tournament where he would advance to the next stage. He needed to reflect on what had happened a few minutes ago and put his mind inside the earring. David¡¯s body was there, motionless, with expressions of surprise still apparent. His head was separated from his body, and Kayden spent a few seconds looking at the scientist.


    "Such a dull ending," Kayden thought. He was still trying to understand the coincidence of finding David in that specific place at that particular time. The coincidences that led the two to meet were many, which did not seem normal. Kayden pondered how David had lived all these years. David should have tried hard to be in the fourth realm in a few centuries, but his talent was meager and his will was not enough to make up for it, which kept him only in the fourth realm.


    Kayden didn¡¯t know what to think. Everything was so bland and fast. The situation had not yet sunk in for him. It was something very random. After a few minutes, Kayden accepted the situation. Life was not a movie or an action story; they wouldn¡¯t fight an epic battle to the death on a planet about to explode. Life was boring and monotonous. There was no happiness or other emotion; in fact, he felt a small weight lift from his mind as Han¡¯s memory was respected and avenged.


    "Why are you gloomy?" asked Felix the cat, who ignored Kayden¡¯s emotionless look and lay on his shoulder. "I mean, even darker than normally."


    "Nothing much," Kayden replied, beginning to think his way through as time passed. This event would last at least another full day. Only at the celebration party would he go to the next floor. Battles continued in the skies. Kayden looked for any sign of anyone else from Eden as he cultivated his path. In all the decades he had been atop Merlin¡¯s solar system, he had never thought of seeking out the wizards of Eden. He simply forgot about them. Even if he remembered, he would still ignore them and focus on himself.


    A day later, one of the natives stood out, as agreed with the leaders behind the shadows. Natives should have their cultures and places intact. The championship ended with great music playing everywhere. People started to get up and dance, and several food tables appeared so everyone could eat to their heart¡¯s content. The festive and joyful atmosphere permeated the place and only increased.


    It took Kayden and Felix a few minutes to find one of the goblets containing the golden wine. As soon as they drank it, they felt their bodies shrinking and shrinking, a completely strange sensation. This only stopped when the two found themselves in a new environment with their normal bodies. There was no change in his sensations or vision, they just appeared elsewhere quickly.


    The surrounding environment was at a very high point. They were on a huge dais with a few pedestals around it, with hundreds of people appearing at any given time, all looking disoriented.


    "Welcome, climbers, to the first floor of World S. This is a floor of dungeons and an entire planet dominated only by climbers. In the next few minutes, several guilds will come to you. Some have already been recruited previously because of their fame, while others will receive their first offerings," announced a voice.


    Kayden was practically unknown, as he never stood out anywhere and just passed through the floors as quickly as possible, not even making a single acquaintance during all these years. He lost track of time but estimated that three or four years must have passed inside the tower. He would open his private broadcasts when he thought it had been a long time since the last one or when he had some time left.


    His new form of videos climbing the tower and documenting this made him receive many more views, reaching the 140 billion mark, practically doubling in just a few years.


    Kayden was experiencing rapid growth, but his fame was limited to a specific audience. He already had some notoriety outside, but it was ridiculously small, comparable to someone famous in a small town in a small country on Earth.


    "Kayden!" someone called, making the boy automatically go on the defensive, ready to attack. No one was supposed to be able to identify him; besides, no one was supposed to know him there.


    The person who approached him was a four-armed humanoid, more than two meters tall, with a single eye on his head and completely white skin. He was wearing a shirt and pants made of a strange material.


    "Who are you?" Kayden asked immediately, preparing some escape spells.


    "I forgot you wouldn¡¯t recognize me. It¡¯s been a few centuries, Kayden Heart. I am Thoth," the humanoid replied. Kayden immediately remembered the name. Thoth was one of the most mysterious people he had ever encountered.


    "Don¡¯t ask questions; I¡¯m not going to explain. You might be wondering why I¡¯m here. You see, I pulled the strings of fate a little and handed David to you on a platter. I was hoping for a more emotional scene, but that¡¯s okay, " Thoth said, surprising Kayden.


    Kayden was amazed, not only to find Thoth again in a different body and an unexpected circumstance but also for him to admit to being able to manipulate destiny, something that, according to his knowledge, was ridiculous.


    "Remember you owed me a favor? I want you to join one of the guilds in this place called the Night Wolves." S§×arch* The n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden owed him a favor and always kept his favors in mind.


    "I can join as long as they don¡¯t hinder my progress," Kayden said, not wanting to waste time even though he had hundreds of years ahead of him.


    "Don¡¯t worry about it. Look for them and tell them you came for me," Thoth said, disappearing shortly thereafter.


    "Who was he, Kayden?" Felix asked, unable to feel anything from the four-armed humanoid.


    "An old acquaintance who is probably the strongest person I¡¯ve ever met in my life," Kayden replied, no doubt about it. The situation only increased his certainty.


    "He seemed strong. Wake me up when you need me," Felix said, going back to sleep. Kayden spent a few seconds thinking about the coincidence of this meeting.


    Then he started searching for any sign of the guild. It didn¡¯t take long to spot a teenager with a flag a wolf and a moon. There were dozens of other similar representations, but Kayden could feel Thoth¡¯s mana permeating the flag.


    The teenager was one of the few seemingly normal humans Kayden had ever seen, at least until he noticed a furry black tail behind him. The young man in front of him had a medium height, white hair, and black eyes. Furthermore, he appeared to be in the fourth realm, with six or seven levels, but Kayden did not feel any threat from him, even with the teenager carrying a staff on his back and displaying several layers of muscles.


    Around him were four other teenagers who appeared to be friends. Each of them had different characteristics. Two were women who fought with staff and appeared to be offensive mages to Kayden. One had red hair and extremely white skin, while the other had blue hair and brown skin. What differentiated their race was that they both had four eyes and were a little taller than the human average.


    The other two were men. One appeared to be a kind of short, heavily furred beast-man, also appearing to be a wizard, with prominent canines. The last one was an enormous rock with giant hands and an even larger body, easily three meters tall and appearing to weigh dozens of tons. The stone giant didn¡¯t carry any weapons and didn¡¯t look like someone with the ability to cast many spells.


    The four appeared to have similar levels to the leader, with just a few differences in simple numbers. Kayden didn¡¯t sense any danger from any of them; They looked like flowers created in the greenhouse, like most of the young people in the tower. Climbing the tower was not easy, but when done with a large group of people, it became not very complicated. Kayden estimated that a group of ten third-realm mages could probably reach floor number 30 without much difficulty.


    "Hello," Kayden¡¯s voice made everyone jump in surprise; they hadn¡¯t even noticed his presence a few meters away from them.

 Chapter 326: New team

    "Hello! Dear climber! ... I mean, traveler ... no, no, climber." The leader was visibly nervous, it seemed like he was the first person who came to talk to him. "I am Thomas Edson and the leader of the Night Wolves guild. We are an unregistered guild, but please listen to what we have to say!" Thomas spat out those last words in a single breath.


    Kayden understood that he probably wasn¡¯t the first person to come see them, but everyone refused after learning that they didn¡¯t have registration. Registering a guild required that there be at least one wizard of the fifth realm and a participant who had surpassed floor number 40. These were practically two simultaneous requirements, as it was impossible to surpass floor 39 without a demigod, for the simple fact that the final boss of that floor be a monster at that level, but Kayden didn¡¯t know that.


    "He can talk." Kayden would first understand what he was getting into and only then mention Thoth¡¯s name.


    All the teenagers in front of him introduced themselves and explained their strengths. Kayden was impressed, they weren¡¯t weak. The one with red hair was called Shiva, the one with blue, Aqua. The little one was called Gnar and the biggest one was called Malphite. The five were known from their planet and came to the tower to show that they were capable of great things. This was a ritual on their home planet, at least with the large families. Kayden was surprised to find out that they all had gods in their family.


    This was quite strange to him, as Kayden came from a solar system where there was only a single god controlling everything on dozens of planets. The five in front of him were only approximately fifty years old, so Kayden thought they were flowers.


    "Are you direct descendants?" Kayden¡¯s question interrupted the group¡¯s flow of words. Neither of them responded immediately, but in the end, Thomas stood up and responded.


    "No, but that doesn¡¯t matter in here." Kayden had already assumed that.


    "I came for Thoth." With Kayden¡¯s speech, the group¡¯s expression changed instantly.


    "Do you know the four arms ?" Speeches like this came from the four in the group, it seemed like they were well-known to each other.


    "He¡¯s an old acquaintance." Kayden didn¡¯t quite know how to describe his relationship with Thoth.


    "He helped us climb 30 floors in just six months. It would have taken us years if we hadn¡¯t found him." Kayden thought he had been quick, but this line proved him wrong.


    "The one eye was incredibly strong and had a lot of knowledge," Aqua commented in a thinner voice than usual. The others also gave positive praise to the four arms.


    "What is the purpose of this guild?" Kayden sent another question and this time Thomas answered easily.


    "We want to climb the next floors of the tower. We have the inside scoop on each floor and where its treasures are. From floor thirty onwards, everything can be removed and taken outside." Kayden didn¡¯t know this information, but he didn¡¯t let on.


    "I would like to join the guild together with my companion." Kayden took Felix off his shoulder and shook the cat, this made everyone notice that the animal in Kayden¡¯s hands was a beast from the fourth realm.


    "How cute." Aqua was about to approach when Kayden stopped her with some mana. This proved to be the right move when Felix woke up in a bad mood and started scratching everything around him.


    "He gets irritated when he¡¯s woken up like this, but it¡¯s quicker." Felix recovered when he saw that he was in an environment with more people and lay down on Kayden¡¯s shoulder again.


    "Hello, I¡¯m a sentient beast and I thought you were really cute too," Felix said and made Aqua blush. Everyone assumed it was a mindless animal next to Kayden, it wasn¡¯t something rare.


    "How many lightning bolts do each of you two have and what are your capabilities and abilities?" Thomas asked as soon as he saw the two willing to join the guild.


    "Seven rays, and Felix has six rays. I am a combat mage specializing in killing anything that breathes. Felix is a combat mage and at the same time a runemaster of the fourth realm." The cat only had five rays, but Kayden could easily embellish his record.


    "Perfect, we all have seven rays too." Kayden expected nothing less from people with gods in their families. "Just take an oath not to intentionally cause harm to the guild and we can consider you a member."


    Kayden and Felix swore the oath to the guild, and Thomas received both pledges of mana. The group was visibly happy to get another member. It seemed like they had been trying to recruit people for some time without success.


    "Every day thousands of people come up from the 29th floor. There are many kingdoms in that place. You¡¯re our first member in two weeks," Aqua commented as Kayden waited beside them.


    "Why don¡¯t you go after the climbers?" Kayden found their approach very peaceful.


    "We can not. Only when we are registered guilds do we have the right to make approaches. This sucks, but there¡¯s not much you can do about it." Gnar¡¯s speech made the discrepancy clear to Kayden.


    They stayed for another hour or two, but all the climbers who heard the "no record" line made excuses or didn¡¯t even hear the rest of Thomas¡¯s lines. It was a big difference.


    After everyone was chosen, Kayden went with the group to their headquarters. The first step was to descend below the clouds and see an immense city that grew around a mountain. The higher up the mountain, the more luxurious and spacious the houses were.


    They continued flying for a few dozen kilometers until the planet¡¯s vegetation began to appear. It was a mixture of yellow grass and yellow trees approximately 10 meters tall.


    They flew to a small mountain barely a kilometer high. In the middle of it, there was a very large house made of yellow wood and black stone. The contrast of colors made it look like a luxury home.


    The house had a reverse U shape, with the space in the middle being a living space mixed with a kitchen. On the sides, there were only rooms. Each room was a few tens of meters, and the social environment was almost a hundred meters.


    "I¡¯m a carpenter in my spare time," Malphite commented to Kayden with a tone of pride.


    "It looks nice," Kayden had to admit. It was a very unique look for the house. Thomas introduced him a little to the environment and told Kayden to choose a room and wait a few days.


    They needed two or three more members to be able to balance the team and climb the next floors. Kayden also received a small book explaining the next floors in brief.


    Over the next few days, the guild¡¯s core members continued going to the town square and returning without any additional members. Meanwhile, Kayden just cultivated and thought about how to progress.


    Floor number 30 was just a resting point without any challenge. To go to the next floor, you just needed to go to the city center and go through a huge red portal open to everyone.


    The problem was that the next floors were much more difficult than all the others combined. Floor number 31 was an apocalyptic world dominated by mana-tainted humanoid monsters. Any living being that entered and was killed became part of this horde of beings.


    The floor was only at night all the time, with a moon cycle acting as daylight with low lighting. It had abandoned cities and dungeons full of treasures and opportunities.


    In terms of treasures, it was a perfect place, but the amount of undead was colossal. They were all at least in the third realm and had strength corresponding to the amount of lightning they had in life. sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    They weren¡¯t the best in terms of intelligence, but their instincts made them great hand-to-hand fighters and some rare mages with a little more intelligence. Everyone fought similarly, using their bodies and ridiculous natural regeneration.


    Some undead were able to overcome the natural barrier and become Liches. These were the minority of the minority. The benefits of this race were immense: first, immortality and bizarrely good mana manipulation.


    Liches only had a single defect: they had a small bone in their body carrying their entire existence. If it were broken, they would die instantly. This made them solitary and suspicious creatures. Some reached the fifth kingdom, but they were few and you could count the number of demigods on that floor on two hands.


    These were powerful, as they managed to escape the decades-long persecution of several wizards from different kingdoms. Even some mages in the sixth or seventh realm have passed this floor, and even then, some remained alive.

 Chapter 327: The blue blood

    Some there had even lived hundreds of thousands of years, they were practically walking libraries of knowledge and power. The only problem was their difficulty passing the realm because of their main vulnerability.


    Kayden and Felix spent about 10 days doing their own thing before reuniting the guild. During all this time, they only managed to get two more members, which left the group with 9 people. It was the biggest group Kayden had ever been in before. The two mages who entered were support mages and were found lost in the city by Aqua. In direct recruitment, they have not had any success.


    From these two, Kayden felt threatening vibes even though they were supports. The two were brothers and had the characteristics of a lizard, with strong green legs, a slimmer face, and a large nose. Their race was strong and they had a great ability to perform physical and support spells. They both responded by the name Junior, there was no way to identify exactly who was who. Fortunately, Thomas came up with the idea of dressing each of them in a color and calling them by their colors in combat situations.


    "We won¡¯t be able to leave the next floor until we defeat one of the main dungeons. They are filled with undead from the fourth realm, at least a few thousand. We¡¯re leaving in three days, and first, we¡¯re going to get to know each other in remote areas with few monsters," Kayden just listened and didn¡¯t comment.


    He would probably have to take the lead and organize this guild. They could all be very talented and brilliant, but their lack of experience was clear to Kayden. Only the two newcomers, who should have climbed the tower the hard way, represented anything to Kayden. S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Three days later, everyone was ready in front of the house and flew to the city. On the way, Thomas stopped to buy food and tents. Kayden looked at these items with disgust but didn¡¯t let it show in his eyes.


    These were such mundane and common people¡¯s attitudes. Kayden didn¡¯t think those in higher realms would do things like this, but in the end, they were just ordinary beings with great talents, nothing more.


    "We have to go hand in hand to go to the same place," Thomas explained, and everyone joined. The portal in front of Kayden was immense and easily exceeded the 1-kilometer margin.


    The strange thing was that the number of people passing through it was very high, which made it seem like a huge interplanetary war was starting. The gate gave off a strange vibration the closer they got.


    As soon as Kayden¡¯s body passed by, he found himself in another environment. It was so fast that he couldn¡¯t assimilate the change in environment, but it became normal for him during these years.


    Kayden found himself in a cold world with low temperatures. It was a space with green grass and trees normal to planet Earth. It had been long since he had encountered something like this. Even the humidity and wind reminded him of Earth.


    The only difference was the humanoids with their bodies destroyed and dripping a blue liquid every few meters. The group was lucky to land in a place without many monsters, practically a perfect resting point.


    "Let¡¯s find a cave and set up a rest point. The construction task will fall to Malphite. Afterward, let¡¯s go hunt some monsters." Thomas took control of the situation quickly.


    It didn¡¯t take them long to find a good resting spot. It was relatively easy to dodge the undead. They didn¡¯t have a great spiritual sense nor a high sensitivity to mana, at least not those weaker ones.


    Malphite erected a temporary home inside a cave with several rooms and a social area in just a few minutes. Kayden had to admit that the rock man had a talent for this.


    "I think we should fight in groups of three to make organization easier. We have three support mages, two melee fighters, and two ranged mages. Kayden and I are mixed," Thomas took the lead again.


    Even though he was a flower in the greenhouse, Kayden had to admit that the boy had a good level of education and knew exactly what he was doing in terms of organizing a guild.


    "I¡¯m going to keep Kayden and Felix in a duo and add Aqua. You shouldn¡¯t have much difficulty working together. Me and Gnar will team up with the red Junior, while Malphite, blue Junior, and Shiva will be the last pair." Kayden was pleased with his arrangement. With just one more person in his circle, he would have more freedom to exercise his leadership, especially considering that Aqua¡¯s personality was not the strongest.


    "We will do a perimeter sweep where we will meet every few kilometers. Each trio will follow a diagonal path and report to the other when they meet. We will test these trios tomorrow in one of the low-level dungeons."


    Low-level dungeons only had monsters from the third realm and a few dozen from the fourth realm. They were perfect for a little training and for looting some treasures with some luck.


    The next day, they found some dungeons within a perimeter of hundreds of kilometers. To measure their strength, it was very easy: they just needed to find the guardian, who usually had a mana chain connecting him to the dungeon entrance. Guardians could be from different kingdoms, but most of the time, they represented the intermediate force of a dungeon. Each dungeon had a few floors that went down to a boss or just a straight boss.


    Kayden and his group found one with a difference in floors. The monster in front was only a fighter in the fourth realm and not even intermediate. It didn¡¯t even take a minute for Thomas to kill him.


    "Let¡¯s split up and meet at the end of this dungeon," Thomas gave simple orders and they split up. Kayden and Felix already had a ridiculously strong strength together and their rapport was pretty high because of the years they spent together. Aqua was left a little on the team. She was a mage specializing in area spells and at the same time rapid energy and wound healing. The only problem was that the monsters weren¡¯t strong enough to do anything to Kayden.


    "Felix, they have a weakness in their response time when faced with simultaneous attacks," Kayden was explaining to the cat, but his words were actually for the audience who were watching him. Any attempt to speak that came from the world of luck caused the system to beep warning of imminent death and Kayden didn¡¯t want to test his luck. The monsters had strength, but they didn¡¯t seem quite capable of applying it in the right way. This became less and less apparent as the monsters increased in strength. Kayden came across one that used a very special move.


    The blue liquid that dripped from his body disappeared upon touching the ground and was transformed into mana to boost his physique. It was a silly detail, but Kayden could sense the phenomenal secret behind it. First, it was the transformation of something physical into mana. Any information on this subject was very helpful to Kayden. After that, the beast could regenerate this mana and use it as fuel for its actions. Few beasts could do this decently, but just this detail doubled their attack strength. They were practically two different monsters with opposite strength levels.


    "There are two great benefits of killing these beasts. The first is for you to drink your blue blood and quickly recover mana and stamina. The second is a small glimpse of how to use that blue blood on yourself," Aqua¡¯s speech made Kayden interested. This was one of the best paths he could take to try to get closer to the same state he was in in his advancement to the fourth realm. A few seconds later, Kayden easily killed another monster.


    "Is it just drinking? Doesn¡¯t it need any purification?" Kayden asked as he took liters and liters out of the beast.


    "Yes, the problem is that you have to drink it all to have the effect. The rewards aren¡¯t worth the suffering," Aqua said those words, but she didn¡¯t expect Kayden to start swallowing it all like it was nothing.


    A few dozen liters went into Kayden¡¯s belly. The strength of his muscles meant that he did not appear to be full even after drinking dozens and dozens of liters. The boy sat on the ground and felt his inner strength and mana regenerate on their own. It was practically like using a good fourth-realm pill. Regarding knowledge about the blue liquid...


    It was little, Kayden only felt a small connection with the blue liquid that was in his stomach, he felt as if he could mold it to his will, but it was ridiculously small.

 Chapter 328: A disaster

    For it to have any decent effect, he would probably need to go through billions of liters of blue blood to actually learn this knowledge, a project that would take a few years to appear in Kayden¡¯s mind.


    "The effects are low, not worth the effort so far," Kayden commented to his viewers, but Aqua responded to him.


    "I told you it wasn¡¯t worth it," Kayden nodded. They just hunted and rotated around the place for the next few minutes. Kayden continued drinking the blood of each beast he encountered. His quest for power had no limits. Felix was already used to this, but for Aqua it was extraordinary to follow what Kayden was doing. Kayden decided only to drink the blood of those in the third and fourth realms.


    "What was the world you came from like, Kayden?" Aqua only talked to Kayden, as Felix was sleeping with occasional small snores on Kayden¡¯s shoulder. The question was specific and made Kayden think a little. His first world was very similar to the second, but as unbelievable as it seemed, in the second world, people had greater freedom and could reach the top as long as they had a little luck and dedicated themselves like crazy. In his first world, few would reach the top, a minuscule amount. Your birth would dictate 99% of your success. No matter how hard you tried and how lucky you were, you would probably die the same way as hundreds of thousands of others.


    "A sad world where the race itself condemns its existence out of lust and desire. The strongest feed on the weakest infinitely. You are practically a conscienceless slave who is trapped."


    No matter how dark Kayden¡¯s tone was, Aqua wouldn¡¯t truly understand his message as the world she came from was peaceful and everyone had a certain degree of similar opportunity. Not on Earth.


    "How did you get to your level of strength then? How many gods do you have in that place?" Aqua had little contact with foreigners, so she was interested in Kayden¡¯s life.


    "I died and got some luck," Kayden commented, leaving Aqua confused. "True gods? None, but false we had thousands," Kayden was referring to his first life. After some thought, he concluded that the first Earth was the place he truly considered home. The years with Nicolas were the best and happiest, despite their bad living conditions.


    "On mine, we have four gods who share the planet. Our society is based on the right that everyone is equal and capable of achieving their best states through cultivation. It¡¯s a very peaceful world without wars." Kayden automatically found the situation strange. Rational beings that don¡¯t have any conflicts? An egalitarian society without glaring inequalities? That didn¡¯t exist in Kayden¡¯s mind. Rational beings always try to prevail against others. In this case, there were two options: Aqua was very at the top of society and never had contact with the lower layers, or it was just a world held together by a huge illusion spell.


    "Isn¡¯t this very easy? It seems like those monsters can¡¯t even react," Aqua commented, and Kayden nodded. For her, who was being carried by Kayden, it was easy. It took them a few hours to get down the entire dungeon. Kayden killed a few hundred monsters and drank all the blood he could get. Unfortunately, he barely got a glimpse of what he could do with this knowledge.


    The three were the first to arrive and had to wait for the rest of the members. To go down the dungeon, there was a staircase that folded in on itself, similar to those found in towers. The final boss room was just a different floor, with a heavier feel and some additional details. It wasn¡¯t anything special in Kayden¡¯s eyes. The boy could feel a monster at the peak of the fourth realm inside.


    The next pair to arrive was Thomas. The boy was surprised to see Kayden and his trio intact, almost as if they had just taken a stroll through the mall. His team didn¡¯t have any major difficulties, but they still had several cuts on their clothes, where they probably should have suffered some attacks.


    "Did you guys take any shortcuts?" the leader asked Aqua after a few seconds of silence.


    "No, Kayden just killed everyone in his path." Thomas looked with new eyes at the boy sitting cultivating. He knew Kayden was strong from being able to hide his aura from his analysis, but not strong to that extent.


    The next group to arrive was the last one left. They were in a little better shape than Thomas. At least Junior and Shiva were. Malphite looked like he had just fought a big battle, with scratches all over his body and blue blood dripping everywhere.


    "Sorry for the delay," Malphite greeted everyone with a cheerful tone. He seemed to have enjoyed himself.


    Thomas gave everyone a few minutes to rest and regain their energy. Then he began to talk a little about the group¡¯s strategy. Kayden felt lost in old memories. It had been a long time since he had fought in a group.


    The strategy would be simple: Malphite would make the first attack with the support of support spells; Kayden, Gnar, and Thomas would follow, dealing as much damage as possible, while the rest would help as best they could. Kayden thought it was a lot of planning just to face a peak fourth-realm beast. At most, he would have to give his all to win in a one-on-one fight, but this was training for other, stronger dungeons.


    As soon as they started to enter, they felt the exit closing behind them. This was a definitive floor, only one side could emerge victorious. Kayden felt a small mana manipulation a few meters away. It was insignificant; none of his group felt anything. Only Kayden was able to notice this mana fluctuation.


    "Stay alert, he knows we¡¯re here," Kayden communicated to the group. Most thought he was paranoid; no one felt anything, and only Felix and Aqua took his words seriously. Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    A few seconds later, they began to enter a different area. The previous floors had tall, long trees with few side branches. The environment was decorated with small stone walls or metal fences that resembled a cemetery. Now, the environment was starting to turn bluer.


    "You visit again," a voice appeared amid everyone and nowhere at the same time. Kayden had a small shiver down his spine, something didn¡¯t feel quite right.


    Automatically, he extended his domain and pulled his way in, as well as setting up a few defensive hexagrams around him. Everyone prepared in their way, but it wasn¡¯t enough. One of the blue trees exploded into pieces, and the blue blood turned into a black and green mass. This mass rushed towards Malphite, who was the biggest target among them. The giant stone placed one of its body spells and raised its arm to defend itself.


    A smell of rot and death appeared as the stone melted completely and an arm fell to the ground. For the first time in a long time, Malphite screamed in pain and was surprised when his natural defense was ineffective. Other trees burst and came at them.


    Each received a similar attack with a black and green cloud. Some found it easier to defend themselves, while others suffered, losing part of their body.


    Kayden didn¡¯t even let the attack get within a few meters of him. The only ones who suffered were the hand-to-hand combatants. The attack was made with a kind of truth about death and its concepts, which made him able to overcome many physical barriers.


    "Felix, look for strange spots in the shadows," Kayden was scanning the entire area with his spiritual sense. He needed to find this being soon, there was no way he could hide infinitely.


    Every second, more different attacks came at them. Aqua was helping Malphite hold on and defend the attacks, while Shiva helped Gnar. The twins were holding their own, and Thomas didn¡¯t need help.


    The attacks were strong and were slowly sapping any resistance from the group. This was a much stronger boss than it should have been for this dungeon. Kayden felt this when he saw the other party¡¯s degree of learning the truth.


    The attacks soon turned into a huge green mist with small black flakes. Again, she smelled of death and despair. This mist started to enter everywhere and fill the entire space. Thomas, a wizard with a strong penchant for light spells, quickly raised a large circle around himself that burned with white fire.


    The mist was not able to penetrate his defense. The rest of the group also joined him. Only Kayden continued to depend on his dominance to protect himself. The mist was able to enter a few meters around him, but its effect was ridiculously low.


    Spitting was the second attack and it worked by throwing a wave of flames that weren¡¯t as concentrated, it was still terribly strong, but it wasn¡¯t capable of causing as strong damage as the bite, this was an area attack and weakened the barrier more slowly.

 Chapter 329: The lich is strong

    "He¡¯s not in the shadows, Kayden," Felix said after a few seconds. Kayden continued looking for the monster; the problem was that he needed the enemy to use mana from somewhere more often.


    Kayden just waited as he watched his guild members use elaborate techniques to defend themselves. Aqua used reactive water that swallowed the skulls and rendered them useless for a few seconds. Shiva launched fire attacks that consumed everything until nothing was left. The twins applied support and healing spells to their allies. The problem was that this felt like a battle against time; they weren¡¯t going anywhere with their defenses.


    "I¡¯m going to get rid of the fog for a few seconds, take advantage of this time," one of the twins began chanting a strange chant and manipulating the mana around him. The wind became restless. Within a few seconds, a huge gale began; a tornado came out of where the twin was and began to rotate everything toward its center. Not just material things; Kayden even felt his grip being tugged slightly by the attack. The fog gradually lifted, and soon they were left without any sign of it. The environment was destroyed, with trees and other things melting into a green liquid. Kayden was still intact from all of this and looking for any sign of the attacker.


    In the meantime, he felt some runes on the ground. His knowledge was limited, but he told Felix and asked for help. The feline focused on the runes and left the rest aside.


    "If you see the light, I see you," Thomas threw a ball of light into the air that lit up the entire place. Kayden, even so, found no sign of the attacker. Soon after, a spot began to become bright. A body made only of bones started to light up on the ground. With dozens of corpses lying around, no one paid much attention to them, but these seemed special. The bones were slightly different in appearance.


    "Finding my body won¡¯t help you kill me." Kayden finally understood that they were fighting a lich. How unlucky was he to encounter one of these monsters in his first dungeon?


    Kayden began searching everywhere for the lich¡¯s cursed item. If they could not break the object containing the lich¡¯s soul, this would be a losing battle. Shiva threw dozens of red goo at the skeleton. This goo was a fire in its solid form, a type of high-level spell. Anything that came into contact with it was melted to smithereens. The lich dodged everything just using mist attacks.


    Gnar began to transform from a small being to an immense Goliath almost 4 meters tall, with muscles on all sides. The creature materialized a huge rock and threw it at the lich. Again, the wizard disintegrated the stone with some flames.


    "Pathetic." The lich spread his green mist everywhere. Everyone managed to get back to the protection of Thomas¡¯s bubble. In fact, not all. Gnar was caught midway by hands made of bones. There were thousands of hands holding her body. Then, several skulls began to appear around Gnar. Instantly, several parts of the giant¡¯s body were eaten and destroyed into pieces.


    Gnar let out a howl of pain as he felt his body disappear with several bites. He couldn¡¯t even react before a large chunk ceased to exist. The pain came from the lack of meat and not from the bite; he couldn¡¯t feel the bite.


    Desperately, he used his strongest technique and his body shrank to just one meter tall. The flesh was compressed, and his strength tripled while maintaining his giant state in a smaller body. This bought him valuable seconds to run back to the bubble.


    "Don¡¯t get bitten by those things, Felix. And if so, expel all the mana from your body." Kayden watched as he saw the mana in Gnar¡¯s body begin to turn green and slowly turn into mist.


    "Thomas!" Kayden shouted, drawing attention to him. "Throw Gnar out of the bubble, he¡¯s infected." The group looked at Kayden with strange eyes; he was asking them to sentence one of his companions to death.


    "You should have listened to your friend," the lich¡¯s voice boomed as Gnar¡¯s body burst like a balloon, filling Thomas¡¯s bubble with mist. Everyone felt their bodies start to deteriorate.


    Most had defensive spells and quickly placed them on themselves. The weakest part of all this was still Malphite, who again received dozens of holes in his body. Fortunately, Aqua was by their side and raised a barrier over them.


    Even with some damage, none of them suffered to the point of facing any risk. The only problem was that his defenses were worn down. They were all geniuses capable of performing many complex and powerful spells. However, the lich was almost a ghost; without a target, your spells became useless. The skulls attacked again before anyone could enter Thomas¡¯ bubble. The floating skulls focused their blows on the twins, as one of them was visibly weakened.


    Kayden didn¡¯t move a muscle as he watched the skulls devour the barrier and subsequently eat the two twins alive. They even put up other defenses, but they were destroyed by the skulls. There were many and with a very strong attack. They even tried to put up a wind and water barrier that complemented each other perfectly. Its defense was perfect against physical attacks, but unfortunately, the skulls¡¯ attacks were on a completely different level and only destroyed the spells alone.


    The two twins died quickly without being able to do anything. The situation began to become desperate. Thomas¡¯ group was panicking. One of their friends was killed in front of them and they couldn¡¯t even help in the slightest. sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The fog was negatively affecting everyone¡¯s minds and further increasing the negative emotions in the group. Even though they had a real chance of winning this battle, their emotions were shaken.


    The next person to pull a card from his sleeve was Shiva. His eyes turned red and several of his veins began to bulge as if they were on fire. Then, red clouds appeared in this enclosed space. A kind of red water began to fall to the ground. It was hot and at the same time it did not release any heat to the outside; only when it touched something, the heat was released. Furthermore, it pulled all the heat from the environment into the spell, causing the outside to become cold.


    Mass destruction began to be wrought on all sides. Practically every corner of the room was melted. The trees and walls were completely liquefied by the temperature. This action provoked the lich enough for him to cast another spell, forcing everyone to go on the defensive again. The mana in the surroundings began to change and become mist-like. This was done subtly. Kayden was the only one who noticed again. This time, he just stayed quiet as he watched the situation unfold. It was better to just gather information. Thomas¡¯s team lacked any tactical capabilities; They looked like little ducks carrying big guns.


    The lich realized this and the first one he tried to kill when an opportunity arose was the twins, as they were the two who passed strong auras to experienced combatants. As for Kayden, he has not achieved any success with his attrition techniques. Kayden¡¯s domain was very well crafted; the skulls were met with dozens of small fake points and useless mana points. Ninety percent of the effort from his attacks was useless against Kayden.


    Thomas again performed his spell and highlighted the bones that this time were floating in the air a few dozen meters away from them. Aqua used a ball of compressed water that remained in a solid form that was not ice, another very high-level spell. The ball of water traveled dozens of meters almost instantly. As soon as it hit the ribcage made of bones, a small explosion happened, and the water spread throughout all the bones, then it began to shrink and compress the body of bones.


    The sound of bones being broken was heard for a few seconds, but soon after, everything returned to normal. Kayden saw that the lich¡¯s body was destroyed by more than 70% and yet the skull was still floating and regenerating its body in the air.


    Everyone spent a high amount of mana and began to regenerate mana using that of the environment. Thomas was the only one who could purify this mana perfectly before putting it into his body. This made him the only one who did not become contaminated.


    The first to succumb was Shiva; the woman was the one who drew the most mana for herself. As soon as she tried to use the contaminated mana, she felt her body begin to come apart from the inside out.


    "Don¡¯t use your mana! She is contaminated!" the woman shouted these words through clenched teeth. The remainder had already absorbed too much mana to stop, but they were still unique geniuses and were able to isolate this tainted mana. Unfortunately, this made his reserves even smaller.


    Author¡¯s note: I don¡¯t know when I¡¯ll be back with the bonus chapters, my life is in chaos right now, I completely understand if you prefer to donate to other works

 Chapter 330: The struggle of attrition

    Unfortunately, this made his reserves even smaller. The battle of attrition was increasingly fierce, and the skulls were in dozens outside Thomas¡¯s bubble, continuing to attack without any rest.


    Kayden searched every corner of this floor and, even so, could not find where the cursed object that bound the lich to eternal life was. Time was running out for his companions.


    "Thomas!" Kayden screamed and made everyone realize he was still there. "The main skull is the cursed object. Let¡¯s use a joint attack." This time, everyone took Kayden seriously.


    The boy proved that he understood the situation when he talked about Gnar. The regret of not taking his words seriously was still strong in everyone alive.


    "Light my way." Thomas detached the bones again and launched a giant flash at the lich. Its light burned to the immortal and destroyed the mist on the way like it was nothing. S§×ar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Aqua threw three balls of solid water, Shiva threw a tide of liquid fire, and Malphite threw a huge burning rock at the lich. Each of these attacks represented the pinnacle of his techniques and consumed a lot of his mana.


    Kayden unleashed three bolts of lightning backed by several hexagrams but kept much of his mana in stock for emergencies. The lich didn¡¯t have time to dodge and just raised a wall of green bones in front of him.


    The light attack destroyed it and decimated half of the bones in the lich¡¯s body. The water attack broke both of its legs easily, and the fire tide melted the rest. Malphite¡¯s stone buried and crushed any trace of remaining bones.


    For a few seconds, only silence remained. There was no sound or sign of life from the lich. Thomas¡¯ group looked expectantly for the floor to signal any sign of victory, but unfortunately, only silence remained in the air.


    "It was a good try," the lich¡¯s voice resounded to everyone. The bones were nowhere to be seen, but the skulls came back with a vengeance. The only one who managed to put up a defense was Thomas.


    The rest didn¡¯t have enough mana for that. The leader realized the situation he was in and the amount of mana he had, so his barrier was compressed just to stay around him.


    "You lied!" Aqua screamed at Kayden as a skull bit her ankle. Then several others came and started eating her alive. It was a pretty horrific scene to watch.


    "Let me in, Thomas, I¡¯m your wife!" Shiva started screaming when she saw Thomas¡¯s bubble just protecting his body. Thomas just looked at her with his heart pounding.


    Tears appeared in his eyes and increased as he saw the woman in his life being bitten to death in front of him. Malphite was free of skulls, but as soon as they both died, they went for him.


    The immense stone had already accepted its fate. He didn¡¯t have time to run to Kayden or Thomas, and even if he had, he knew neither of them would give him any support. The stone just stood there as it died.


    "I hope you¡¯re happy, Thomas," those were the last words of the huge stone, leaving only Kayden and Thomas from the original group.


    "What are we going to do now?" Thomas was visibly emotionally unbalanced. His words fell on less than sympathetic ears.


    "The skulls will probably eat through your stamina within a few minutes or hours. After this, you¡¯re going to be eaten alive like your friends," Kayden said in a neutral tone, making the situation even darker. "I just recommend that you kill yourself."


    His words were harsh and added to the situation and the influence of the fog in Thomas¡¯ mind, they made the young man accept his fate without putting up much of a fight. His mind became calm as he injected mana into his brain.


    Thomas knew Kayden wouldn¡¯t help him. Plus he lost all his friends, his morals were non-existent, and his emotions were a mess. All of these factors combined to leave only Kayden and Felix alive.


    The skulls began to advance on Kayden¡¯s domain, but the boy was easily able to keep them at bay. Against the lich, Kayden was one of the worst opponents he could have encountered.


    This was because Kayden¡¯s techniques made him a master of the battle of attrition. Whether it was his mana recovery, his dilation domain, or other factors, it all contributed to providing the ideal environment for him to prolong the situation.


    Kayden began throwing explosive spells at the ground around him, all with as much force as possible, and released every few minutes of each other. This break was so that Kayden could recover his mana and be in an ideal state.


    "What is the little mouse doing?" The lich was momentarily lost and began to increase the density of the mist. At this moment, even the air was being consumed by its mist.


    Kayden just continued his actions. He would glide the entire floor in search of the cursed object. If the lich made even the slightest movement of mana, it would be picked up by his spiritual sense, making the fight even easier.


    The lich knew this. He had been through enough battles to feel that every movement in the hundreds of meters around him was being analyzed by a pressure of mana. It was a mentally exhausting feat, but relatively easy to do.


    "Do you think you¡¯ll survive that long?" The lich understood Kayden¡¯s plans and laughed like crazy. He had lived thousands and thousands of years, time had worn out his mind.


    The fog began to condense and spread to all sides of the floor. Every inch was permeated with the mist and it began to melt everything within its reach. Kayden reflected for just a few seconds and took out a metal box from his earring.


    "Shut yourself in here and hibernate for a while." The cat found these orders strange.


    "We¡¯re in a fight now, Kayden." The cat purred without much concern.


    "Just sleep, furball." Kayden punched the cat into the box and placed it on the floor. This was a special box made to hold high-realm prisoners in their solar system. No man was able to enter or leave, even those backed by truths.


    Kayden sat on the box and began a cycle of destruction, maintaining his dominance, and destroying the environment. The fight, which seemed simple for the lich, began to last much longer than he anticipated.


    Within a week, the fog had already advanced strongly against Kayden and showed signs of the superiority of truths. Their ability to overcome the mundane and common was very strong.


    "Just give up." The lich was already getting upset. Even though he lived for millennia, he was not one of the most patient creatures in existence. Time continued to pass without any change in Kayden¡¯s expression.


    Within two months, the fog had fully penetrated Kayden¡¯s domain and was wearing down the boy¡¯s last barriers, but even so, Kayden continued his sporadic attacks.


    He had already used up 30% of all the surrounding space. The earth was turned over until the dungeon stone that supported the great floor appeared. Its rays were simply destroying all matter around it.


    The lich realized that Kayden was crazy and did everything he could to kill the boy. He used his strongest techniques and even special runes, capable of decimating entire countries over time, but even so, nothing had any effect.


    Kayden just put up more defenses or fought the attacks head-on. The lich specialized in killing, but not people like Kayden. He was facing one of his worst natural enemies.


    About four months later, the fog finally broke through any of Kayden¡¯s defenses. The lich could practically taste victory as he watched his mist burn away and leave Kayden with his flesh exposed to the outside world.


    "Victory is mine, you worthless mortal." The lich laughed like crazy, but with every minute that passed, he grew more apprehensive and suspected that something was wrong.


    His suspicion was proven correct when he saw Kayden just continue his actions without any expression of pain or emotion. Even as the flesh was torn to pieces, its lightning continued to fall.


    Kayden had already understood that this moment would come. He just needed to put together a plan that consisted of small barriers mounted inside his body and automatic regeneration cycles.


    This caused him to protect necessary parts at one time and regenerate others at the same time. When one was regenerated, he changed the position of the barriers and regenerated the other side.


    There were two big problems with this: dealing with the pain of having mana barriers moving around inside your own body and dealing with the pain of having your body torn apart. But for Kayden, it wasn¡¯t a big deal.


    His speed was slowed considerably by his new spells, and this caused the lich to feel a glimmer of weakness, but for the first time in many years, the ancient monster felt despair and anxiety about a situation.

 Chapter 331: Victory

    "Is the pain worth all this? Why don¡¯t you end your life already?" The lich spat words that fell on deaf ears; his fog had no psychological effect on Kayden.


    Four months later, only 10% of the material remained in the room, with just a few piles of dirt and random trees. The lich even tried to create more matter to fill the floor, but Kayden seemed like a perfect machine at differentiating real things from newly created matter.


    "I¡¯ll finish it in no time. If I find your object, you die. But first I will give you an offering: give me the piece of soul that remains in your object and submit to my will." The lich heard these words and almost let out a roar of rage.


    "I will never surrender to a pathetic mortal like you!" His words were of no value to Kayden. Liches were divided into two classes: those who pursued a greater goal and those who just ran from death. S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    This specific lich seemed just to be one who was afraid of death. He was in a shallow realm with powerful techniques, which meant he spent a lot of time refining them in the fourth realm. Probably his talent wasn¡¯t very high and he became a lich just out of fear of dying. Time has made him able to increase his strength to a ridiculous level, even though before he was useless.


    Kayden continued destroying everything in his reach. With each day that passed, he removed even more matter, which caused the lich to begin to become desperate. He couldn¡¯t believe how this situation was unfolding.


    His attacks were useless against Kayden and he was unable to change the boy¡¯s psychology. His fog was doing its best, but it still couldn¡¯t kill Kayden.


    When only 5% of the original material remained on the floor, the lich finally accepted the situation and began to slowly move his mana to change his object and hide it in his mist. The problem was that Kayden was tracking every inch of this place¡¯s mana with his path. As soon as the lich began to perform a different manipulation, Kayden felt it and just waited patiently.


    The lich proved to have a cunning mind. It took his mana an entire day to reach a fixed point and start moving something. In the meantime, he also increased the skulls and confusion in the environment. Kayden just pretended to throw lightning at that moment and remained alert. Within a few hours, he was able to see a perfectly smooth green ball with the appearance of a rare jewel.


    "Now that I have identified your cursed object, you have only one day to decide your answer." Kayden¡¯s voice startled the lich and caused him to almost drop the green jewel.


    The lich understood that it was now all or nothing definitively, it was even more evident when Kayden expanded his domain again and pushed the mist away. Furthermore, he woke Felix up and updated him on the situation.


    "You will die in this place!" The lich let out a hate-filled sentence and began to summon an army of skeletons with eyes burning green. Thousands were rising out of nowhere and charging towards Kayden.


    Kayden pulled mana from the entire floor into him, practically leaving a giant mana hole in the room. He utilized all of this to strengthen his domain with an immense density of mana. As soon as the first skeleton stepped into his domain, he was torn to pieces by the pressure.


    Some were stronger and managed to get through, but were quickly destroyed by Felix¡¯s attacks. Again, the lich¡¯s attack was designed to suppress the opponent with timing and quantity. There were dozens of skulls with a body of strength at the lowest level of the fourth realm and the ability to throw green flames.


    Kayden had no difficulty destroying large numbers of strong opponents using his domain and a few aura attacks from time to time. He also made no move to approach the lich.


    Time began to pass and the lich felt like a mortal with his heart beating again. He wouldn¡¯t hand anything over to Kayden, he knew that would make him a slave for the rest of this universe¡¯s existence.


    A day later, he hadn¡¯t even managed to advance a single step towards Kayden. This time, the boy¡¯s attacks were different. There were dozens of cuts and rays appearing, supported by several hexagrams.


    "Say goodbye to this universe, lich." Kayden began attacking the ancient monster with full force. Kayden was just distracting him so that Felix would show up at the best time and destroy the green ball.


    Kayden¡¯s attacks were strong, but the lich was also a monster that had lived for thousands of years. Kayden was unlikely to get the better of him. Layers and scars of bones were raised, and seas of green flames rose against their attacks.


    There was no winner on either side, it was practically a battle of absolute attrition. At least that would be it if Felix hadn¡¯t been on one side. The cat was just waiting for the opportune moment.


    The surprise factor of him being able to teleport through shadows could only be used once. After that, the lich would maintain even greater caution and would likely eliminate the shadows around him with a few simple light spells.


    The right moment took a long time to arrive. The fight went on for over an hour with no sign of advancement on either side, but it was obvious that Kayden and the lich were still holding their own. There was just one push left for them to start fighting so that their own lives would be burned like fuel.


    A day later, Kayden finally gave the signal to Felix. The lich had just summoned thousands more skeletons to face Kayden. The amount was frightening, many times greater than before, and the skeletons¡¯ eyes burned blue.


    "In 30 seconds, Felix, sacrifice something for our objective or we will die here," Kayden ordered, beginning to destroy his domain to form some ridiculously strong area attacks. He created several hexagrams to strengthen some reactive mana balls. As soon as Kayden threw them, they flew at high speed and, at the slightest contact with a hard surface, they exploded, destroying several meters around them. The skeletons were reduced to dust without being able to move forward.


    This was a simple spell that Kayden had been learning. It was much more destructive than his lightning, as it worked based on collapsing mana until it exploded. The problem was that it was extremely taxing on Kayden and used a ridiculous amount of mana, even for him.


    Instantly, Felix disappeared from Kayden¡¯s shadow and appeared next to the lich. One of its legs disappeared entirely from existence and its mouth enlarged to a bizarre size. The cat swallowed the lich¡¯s entire arm along with the green gem.


    There were no screams or any reaction from the lich. His bones just fell to the ground without any life. The moment the gem fell into Felix¡¯s throat, everything was destroyed and transformed into energy for the beast. The lich¡¯s soul somehow reacted with the cat¡¯s system, causing the missing leg to begin to grow at an accelerated rate, but not to the point of being completely restored. It would probably take some time yet.


    "How long did I sleep?" Felix asked as he looked at the completely strange surroundings and saw a visually destroyed Kayden.


    "I think it took a year or so," Kayden¡¯s estimate was almost spot on.


    "That was a long time," Felix commented as he stretched his paws. Before the two could say anything, the surroundings began to shake as if they were in an earthquake.


    A few seconds later, they saw the top of the floor being destroyed as if a god was taking everything away to reach them. The moonlight and the sky outside were visible to the two, who were miles away from dry land.


    What appeared was a being carrying two golden wings full of white feathers. Her skin was white as marble and her hair was blonde, practically a stereotypical perfect angel. Kayden couldn¡¯t even feel his level.


    What was even more ridiculous was that what was breaking through hundreds of meters was just his aura destroying everything around him. There was nothing else; it wasn¡¯t even a spell. Just the aura of that being was able to devastate everything around it.


    There was no noise as the matter was undone. The closer he got, the more Kayden and Felix were pressured physically and mentally. For the cat, it was complete torture; he couldn¡¯t even face the angel.


    When he arrived just a few dozen meters away and faced the two of them, it was as if Kayden had a planet on his back. Felix couldn¡¯t stand the pressure for more than two seconds and completely passed out.

 Chapter 332: A choice

    The angel continued to look Kayden straight in the eyes. Kayden didn¡¯t react as he waited for the loudest part of the conversation. The angel¡¯s eyes were golden and seemed like the purest thing in this universe, carrying truths unimaginable to a mortal.


    A small sign of disgust appeared in the angel¡¯s eyes when he saw that Kayden was not reacting to his presence, as if he were looking at some god.


    "Mortal, do you know who I am?" the god put his disgust aside and asked a question without any pretense this time.


    "Sorry, god, but I have no idea," Kayden responded neutrally. He felt that this question was a trap, but with his answer, the angel¡¯s aura became much more peaceful, probably because the god realized his sentence was true.


    "I am one of the archangels of the tower, the messengers of the one true god of knowledge. You did something that few have managed to do in the entire history of the tower: you killed a lich while in the same realm as him. Your action gives you the right to make a wish on the tower."


    Kayden had already heard that the 100-story tower was also known as the Tower of Wishes because in some specific cases, you could make a unique wish without any limit. What he didn¡¯t expect was that he would find himself in a situation like this.


    The god waited while Kayden thought. It was something very sudden and it would take a few minutes or hours for him to make a decision. Dozens of people had already been honored with these requests.


    Most asked for things they would never get in their entire lives, be it priceless treasures or completely absurd techniques. What is known is that everyone who left the tower with a request became absolute power.


    "Ask for a planet, a constellation, immortality techniques or to ascend to a god in just a few centuries, everything is within our reach," the angel made an introduction to Kayden.


    At this moment, Kayden¡¯s stream was growing viewers at a completely absurd speed. It was so fast that, in just a few minutes, his star rank grew by one letter of magnitude. The mark he needed was 1 trillion people, but with just these minutes of broadcast, he passed the 20 trillion mark and continued to grow at a ridiculously fast pace. Like it or not, this was a very rare event in the tower.


    "Archangel God, could I ask you a question before I place my order?" Kayden¡¯s question caught the archangel by surprise.


    He wasn¡¯t used to interacting with mortals, and when he did, he could never hold a decent conversation. Most died from their natural pressure or ended up fainting after a few minutes.


    "I can¡¯t offer you anything, that would be against the rules of the tower," the angel said after a slight delay, which for Kayden didn¡¯t even exist.


    "I wish I could have a safe place inside the tower and the right to an infinite amount of that blue liquid present in the monsters on this floor," Kayden¡¯s speech was a shock to the angel and all the viewers.


    "You can only choose to learn the truth behind this technique or ask for enough strength to overcome it. We can even raise him to the strength of a god," the angel offered an easier path for Kayden.


    "I still stand by my request, archangel god," Kayden knew the value of learning things for himself.


    "You can learn the secrets of the tower, the universe, practically any request is within our reach. Are you sure about your order?" the angel offered Kayden one last chance.


    The boy only took a second to respond again and prove to all his viewers that all the classes he taught were directly applicable to his life, regardless of the degree of difficulty of his decision.


    The angel communicated with someone unknown asking if the request was viable. He probably expected it to be denied, as safe places could not be offered within the tower. Here was a place where only the tower existed without any modifications.


    To the angel¡¯s surprise, he received some words that he probably never expected to hear in his entire life. A god-like him had lived for millions of years, perhaps even a few billion, but the order he received still took him by surprise.


    "Your request has been accepted. You will be given a space on one of our floors, but any recording is not allowed in that location," the angel managed to detect that Kayden was from the lucky world within seconds of the conversation.


    "All good. Felix can go with me, right?" Kayden didn¡¯t want to have to abandon his friend, but if he had to...


    "Yes, he also participated in the fight, even if on a smaller scale. Come with me," the angel said those words, and Kayden didn¡¯t even feel the environment changing. Suddenly, he found himself in a huge plain with white grass.


    It was completely immense and his spiritual sense could only find fluffy white grass everywhere. The density of mana here was completely surreal, not even space was close to this place. S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The angel decreased the density of the area to a level so that Kayden and Felix would not die from poisoning. The gravity of the environment was ridiculously high as well and made Kayden feel much weaker than normal.


    "This is your land. Do whatever you want with it. Whenever you want blue blood, just ask for it out loud," said the angel, and a huge pool that looked like a small lake appeared on the ground as if it had always been there. "We¡¯ll fill the pool for you."


    The angel began to adjust a few more things on the spot. Kayden felt the temperature becoming pleasant to his skin and a wind appearing. Furthermore, the severity has become less and more tolerable.


    "Archangel God, could you keep the gravity up, please?" Kayden would love to use this to train, like in the comics of his previous life. The archangel regulated it to a point that Kayden found ideal.


    "You have some neighbors, but they shouldn¡¯t bother you. Just don¡¯t be rude. See you later," said the angel before disappearing, leaving Kayden alone in this immense space.


    A few dozen eyes were above him, but he still didn¡¯t realize it. They were too different levels for him to be able to feel anything. The boy took an entire house out of his space earring and tidied up the room a bit.


    The house¡¯s porch was open to the pool and Kayden sat on it, starting to draw the liquid toward him. It was a gigantic amount and in the purest form. At no point did Kayden wonder how he got into this situation; he just accepted the situation.


    "Kayden?" Felix called the boy a few hours later, and Kayden explained the situation to the feline. The cat wasn¡¯t very interested in this blue liquid, but it still drank some and hibernated as well.


    Felix had also become a celebrity because he sacrificed one of his legs in the fight against the lich. This type of technique was only from a very special race that had few descendants, even in this immense universe.


    Kayden managed to spend a few hours studying the effect of the blue liquid, but a special visitor appeared in his space. A huge golden dragon was floating in the air as it waited for Kayden to notice its presence.


    " Hello, dragon god," Kayden greeted the enormous animal as soon as he noticed his presence. The dragon was very similar to the one that placed him in the world of luck.


    "Mortal, I represent the world of luck. His fight with the lich and conversation with the archangel were withheld by us and sold only to a few specific audiences. The management decided to give you compensation," the dragon seemed to be making a disgusted face as he spoke to Kayden. "From today onwards, you can receive anything that is in your realm of strength from the outside, but only for 10 years. As soon as transmissions resume, they will be counted."


    Kayden didn¡¯t have time to respond as the dragon moved out of his reach. The boy didn¡¯t care about the dragon¡¯s snobbish attitude; he just thought the compensation he received was good. This could open new doors for him.


    Many would not understand the size of this opportunity, but Kayden could understand perfectly that with this he could be able to build an empire. Resources to train troops, food, techniques, everything could come within reach.


    Kayden returned to his cultivation. He would spend a lot of time just on that. He could feel that this blue liquid was going to make a very drastic change in his path. It could take a long time, but it would be worth it in the end.


    Time started to pass and Kayden only stopped his training to give Felix food now and then. Other than that, he didn¡¯t take any other actions. The gods watching him were surprised by his attitude, but it wasn¡¯t something so anomalous for them.

 Chapter 333: A farewell

    To become a god, one needed to have a strong will, developed even in larger kingdoms. Still, it was not common, as each god was unique in the universe. There could be thousands, but this amount was tiny compared to the total number of living beings.


    It took Kayden ten long years to get his first glimpse of the technique behind the blue blood. At this time, he could also convert blood into mana, but it was still a slow process that required a lot of effort.


    On any given day, while cultivating normally, a different pressure arose around him. It was similar to that of the archangel Michael. Kayden¡¯s spiritual sense identified a black cat very similar to Felix, but this one had golden paws.


    "Hello, mortal. I am after Felix. He is a lost member of my race. I wonder when he will awaken from his sacred hibernation?" Kayden finally confirmed her suspicions about Felix¡¯s race.


    "One second," Kayden asked for a moment and reached down to pull Felix by the neck. After shaking him a bit and Felix almost biting Kayden¡¯s arm off, complaining for a few seconds, Kayden introduced the cat god to him.


    "Hello, ancestor, I¡¯m Felix," the cat demonstrated a politeness that Kayden didn¡¯t even recognize as his friend¡¯s.


    "Felix, I¡¯m ??????" Neither Kayden nor Felix could understand it, as it was a divine name. "Sorry about that. Felix, I would like to introduce you to the techniques originating from our race." Kayden felt a bad premonition and...


    "No, but I appreciate the offer," Kayden had his premonition complete. The cat god couldn¡¯t understand what was happening, as this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.


    "Do you happen to know who exactly you are?" The goddess was not used to beings of her race being lazy.


    "No, my goddess. I was born on an isolated planet in an isolated system," Felix and Kayden came from a place so small that probably no one would even recognize the name.


    "You are one of the void cats, one of the most special breeds in our universe," the goddess waited for any reaction from the two, but not even a raise of an eyebrow appeared.


    "One of the five strongest races in existence, holding 10 places on the council of the gods, the most feared and untouchable race to this day," the feline threw out several beautiful words and titles, but even so, it didn¡¯t catch anyone¡¯s attention from both.


    "I still prefer to continue with my peaceful life, I don¡¯t like to try too hard," The goddess was at a loss to understand, as cats of her breed were normally very hardworking. Laziness practically did not exist in their midst, all because of the occasional hibernation they took, which helped them to always stay energized and ready to work on their goals. But Felix was the total opposite.


    "Why are you so lazy?" the goddess was unable to express any other words than that and received a philosophical phrase from Felix.


    "Life is for enjoying, that¡¯s all," the cat was already getting annoyed at being woken from its sleep. Kayden would have jumped at that opportunity quickly, but he couldn¡¯t make Felix¡¯s choices.


    "Who do you think you are to give me a life lesson? I ..... " the goddess released her hold and simply disappeared. She didn¡¯t even get to finish her speech and found herself pressed into a random spot in the tower.


    "You broke the rules, your penalty is 100 years of imprisonment," a neutral voice rang in the goddess¡¯s ears. She shuddered and felt like a child, being easily subdued and punished without even seeing her punisher¡¯s face.


    Meanwhile, Kayden and Felix just continued with their lives as normal. The event only took a few minutes from his thoughts. Maybe they had made a great enemy, but at the moment that wasn¡¯t important.


    Time passed quickly, and about three years later, the two received another visit. This time, it was a colossal being over ten kilometers tall, a floating whale of an intense blue color, clearly a god.


    "Hello Neighbor!" his voice reverberated throughout the space and almost created cracks in reality. Kayden and Felix felt pressed to the ground, but a transparent bubble appeared before they suffered any damage. The same couldn¡¯t be said for Kayden¡¯s house, which simply turned to dust and disappeared in the wind. The whale shrank in size within seconds, becoming just 1 meter long, practically a stuffed animal.


    "Sorry about that, I thought you were gods too," the whale rebuilt Kayden¡¯s house identically to the previous one in a matter of the blink of an eye. His curiosity was aroused, as he practically never interacted with mortals.


    "I¡¯m called God???????, but you can just call me Orca," Kayden and Felix were still a little stunned by the speed of the situation, but as soon as they recovered, they greeted the whale.


    "I¡¯m Kayden Heart and this is Felix Heart." After Felix refused a god to stay with Kayden, the boy agreed to share his name with the beast.


    "Cool names! Let¡¯s have a feast to get to know each other better." The whale simply took thousands and thousands of tons of various food and spread it across Kayden¡¯s kingdom. The way the god ate was completely strange to both of them. He kept thousands of foods in his personal space and threw them directly anywhere, choosing what he wanted with his spiritual sense.


    "You can eat. I have a lot more in my stock," the whale laughed and started throwing questions at the two without letting them speak. They were simple questions about how they lived and other basic matters.


    The small meal was a happy one for Felix, as the cat could not remember when he had had so much food available to him without any restrictions. Many were of high realms, but he just swallowed them without any side effects. Kayden hated this meeting the most; he had to answer boring questions and waste his time when he could have been training or doing something else. He decided he would just pretend to be in a moment of revelation after that conversation.


    The conversation was excruciatingly long, lasting almost an entire day. The cat didn¡¯t stop eating even for a second. Kayden didn¡¯t understand how he could fit so much food inside him and the whale; they were practically two living black holes.


    "Felix, any visitors who come now, just tell them I¡¯m in a moment of discovery. If they wait, let them wait a year or two and then wake me up." The cat just nodded and Kayden went back to farming.


    He had a few more visitors over the next few years, but Felix was the only one who welcomed them and talked to them. Kayden was always in a moment of discovery and could not be hindered.


    Time began to pass, and in the blink of an eye, almost half a century had passed. Kayden finally reached a point where he could freely change the blue liquid into mana, but it was still very weak. He had speed, but not complete knowledge of the technique. Without any discouragement, he continued drinking the liquid and learning about the technique. With each passing day, he felt closer to his goal, although his progress was very slow, something that would discourage any living being.


    About half a century later, Kayden had fully mastered the handling of blue blood and could transform the entire pool into mana to be used at his will in seconds without much effort.


    "Kayden," Felix woke the boy up for the first time in a long time. Kayden almost had a problem seeing sunlight, as he had left all the food with Felix and hadn¡¯t opened his eyes in ages. The cat was just as Kayden remembered, but the difference was that he had reached the peak of the fourth realm during that period. Other than that, there were no visible changes in the feline.


    "I want to go out with the whale god to see the universe. We spent a lot of time in here and it is visible in your eyes that there is still a long way to go before you reach your goal." Kayden barely recognized the cat in his lines. He seemed independent and strong, but mainly he didn¡¯t have that usual childish air, probably because he was serious this time and it seemed like he took a long time to make this decision. sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    This was because they might never meet again if they separated. The universe was very large, to the point that even peak gods had difficulty finding specific people easily.


    "It¡¯s been great years by your side, Felix. If it¡¯s our destiny, we will meet again," Kayden said with a sincere smile on his face. The cat was much calmer with his friend¡¯s reaction.


    "I hope you don¡¯t die. You still have to bring me a lot of food," the two exchanged a few more words and Felix left. Kayden wasn¡¯t sad about the situation. At one time or another, they would separate, it was just a matter of time. Two paths couldn¡¯t always go together, and in the end, he was happy that Felix was going to do something of his own free will.

 Chapter 334: A small massacre

    For the first time in many years, Kayden found himself alone again. Your attitude or mindset has not changed; he just continued cultivating and studying the blue liquid. Loneliness didn¡¯t weigh on Kayden¡¯s mind. He could spend millennia in this place just doing the same things every minute of his life, as long as the slightest progress was made. He would have no discouragement in continuing. sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Loneliness didn¡¯t change Kayden¡¯s steps and, quickly, a few years passed. Much more than a few years ago: only five centuries later, Kayden achieved true mastery with the blue liquid. He had nothing more to learn from this liquid. During this period, he did something ridiculous: changing the base of his body to blue blood. It wasn¡¯t a very high amount of liquid, but it was still an emergency reserve.


    His mastery of mana increased by many, many folds. His path was getting closer and closer to becoming something superior and different from anything he had ever seen. His next step would be changing his path based on his learning. It was to adapt the knowledge of transforming something material into mana. What it did was nothing more than recognize the parts of mana in the blue blood and break them into smaller parts, which would fall apart into pieces. These small pieces were unsustainable on their own and ended up becoming pure mana.


    The problem with doing this with other material things was that they were much more complex; they were practically an indestructible web of mana. Kayden has learned to see things as mana, but nothing more. He could see how the grass and other things were made of a super complex tangle of mana intertwined into tens of millions of knots. He just needed to find a weak point in that part and it would be turned into mana.


    The problem was that this was extremely complex. Kayden was only in the fourth realm; his mind did not have enough cognitive capacity to be able to process all these factors. Probably, only in the next realms would he achieve some advancement on his own. At this time, he was completely dependent on treasures and special circumstances, but all this time was not wasted.


    Kayden has come a long way on his path. His strength was reaching its peak again, but without his concepts, he was still very weak. He would probably be able to fight head-on against someone with seven lightning, but the outcome of the battle would completely depend on the difference in experience between the two.


    His hexagrams were condensed into mana circles that did the task he wanted. It was a calmer and more constant flow of mana. Their casting speed was superior, and the best part was that they could be reused infinitely, as long as they were fed with mana. For Kayden to put the blue liquid into his body, he had to study the anatomy a lot. This made him able to further develop bodily change through the circles; his speed and all attributes were improved to a much higher level.


    All this progress meant that Kayden managed to reach the fictitious seven-ray level. He was on a fine threshold between six and seven rays. At this rate, he probably wouldn¡¯t be able to advance with seven lightning bolts to the fifth realm. To get seven rays, you needed to have something special, at least one attribute raised to a high level, and Kayden currently didn¡¯t have that. His path was strong and unique, but still not enough.


    "I would like to leave." Kayden just said that sentence and found himself outside the tower in the same space he entered many years ago. The difference is that this time, he was without Felix, just Kayden staring at the tower in the distance. He started to head back to the city. It had been many years since he had been there, but he could still get some information or, depending on the situation, organize one of his most far-fetched plans.


    After a while, Kayden found the city. She was visibly different. First, its size increased considerably and reached several thousand people. Second, the middle level had dropped to only the third realm.


    Furthermore, Kayden couldn¡¯t sense any people of seven rays or with great strength in the vicinity, only a few people in the fourth realm and a few rays. This change was very significant.


    Because of the number of people in this place, Kayden was able to sneak in undetected. He only needed a few minutes to discover that the leaders had abandoned the village because of a golden opportunity that appeared a few centuries ago.


    "Hello, village leader," Kayden said before knocking out the elder in front of him with just one surprise blow. What remained of this village was very weak in terms of combat, they only had high kingdoms and radii. Kayden drew some runes that he hadn¡¯t used in a long time. His memory was still fresh and he didn¡¯t even linger for a minute. Soon after, he began the enslavement ritual.


    As incredible as it may seem, it was more difficult than other times. It seemed that the elder¡¯s mind was more robust and it took Kayden a few minutes to break through his barrier and penetrate his mana into the elder.


    "Don¡¯t talk to me, you will gather the entire village in a week and take them to the village entrance. Afterward, we will gather at the Sea of Wisdom," Kayden left with some more guidance.


    He flew towards the wisdom storm and began to arrange dozens of runes and circles. The runes were not of high level, but they should be able to kill at least those in the second and first realms. Those in the third and fourth realms would be killed by their circles, which were already programmed. Kayden could probably kill thousands before they started running, after which he would just need to use his spiritual sense and kill the rest.


    Time passed quickly, and within a week, Kayden went to the front of the village and saw the leader with about 23 thousand people. This would be very useful; Kayden would probably achieve a high level of momentum.


    "He is my personal friend and he knows the right way to escape this calamity", the leader gave a strong speech about how they shouldn¡¯t be afraid and that it was necessary. Kayden had already given the order for him to kill everyone he could as well.


    It took a little longer than usual because of the amount of people Kayden was taking. In about an hour, thousands of people were in the Sea of Wisdom. Kayden waited until the last living thing entered the Sea of Wisdom. At this moment, he activated all of his preparations. Instantly, thousands died without even being able to react; the remainder suffered at least some degree of debilitating damage.


    Several people started blowing up on their own because of Kayden¡¯s orders. He had enslaved a few more people at that time. This only increased the damage and damage; within seconds, only a few lucky ones remained. There was no crying or screaming, it was too quick and deadly for them to react. Only the survivors were screaming. Kayden began to launch dozens of aura slashes at high speed and claim the lives of hundreds of people within seconds.


    The village leader prevented anyone from escaping. The massacre lasted only a few minutes and tens of thousands of people were dead. Kayden carried out one of the biggest massacres this region has ever seen. Kayden had turned off the broadcast for a few days and would only return after sorting out this whole mess. He saw the red rain begin to fall, but it was much thicker and more concentrated.


    "Kill yourself," he ordered the village leader and sat in the air to take advantage of all the momentum he could. It was a frighteningly large amount. In a few seconds, he understood why no one did this. A ridiculously bad headache assaulted Kayden. It was a pain that would make any wizard fall into the sea and be eaten by the beasts of this place, but Kayden just knocked himself out of balance in the air and quickly returned to normal.


    This pain was strong, but any mage above the fourth realm should be able to separate it from their mind. This action was probably prevented by the leaders of this region, but Kayden had no reason to worry, no one would notice his movement.


    Impulse began to work its magic and Kayden began to understand things more easily. The blue blood in his body became just a clump of pure mana in his vision. The state he was in was very different from when he passed the realm, it wasn¡¯t even a hundredth of what he experienced back then. Kayden was able to see the tangle of mana in the things around him more clearly.

 Chapter 335: Not everything goes right

    Everything was connected and, at the same time, disconnected. A small right touch would allow him to destroy the entire main chain and turn the matter into mana, but that wasn¡¯t easy. Kayden couldn¡¯t understand where exactly the right spot was, because they were all identical to him, with practically no difference. There were millions of points in his vision.


    He couldn¡¯t find the right amount in that quantity; it was simply too much for him to organize. As soon as he finished seeing a few thousand, others appeared, and he felt lost because again they all looked the same.


    The impulse lasted for an hour. At this moment, Kayden realized that he would not be able to learn how to unravel the mystery behind the mana tangle. It was simply too complex. It wasn¡¯t a lack of will or knowledge. He was incapable because of his kingdom. His kingdom was limiting his learning. It took him a while to understand this, but once he did, he switched his search to an alternative method.


    The impulse gave him two paths. The first was to increase his brain capacity through techniques and treasures. This path was difficult and only palliative, as it was difficult to find treasures and techniques focused on this area. Simply because it is extremely delicate to deal with anything focused on the mind. But Kayden didn¡¯t rule out that option directly and left it open in case any opportunity arose in the future.


    The second way was to create a kind of mana shock that would spread massive destruction throughout the tangle. The problem was that he would need to learn how to interact his mana with other mana in a material object. This small factor was very important and put the final obstacle in everyone who reached the same point as Kayden, which was trillions in the universe. Kayden spent a few more seconds inside the Sea of Wisdom and then flew in some direction.


    For the one who is lost, every direction is the right direction to follow. It took Kayden about three hours to get through the storm on the side he chose and then some more time to get to the beach. As soon as he stepped in, he felt several spiritual senses patrolling the area, all from mages in the fourth realm and strong. Instantly, he completely camouflaged himself and didn¡¯t let even a strand of mana leave his body.


    His next action was to return to the water and bury himself in the sand. He continued digging and descending. Only after a full day, he was more than 200 kilometers away from the surface. The pressure on his body was enormous, but he was able to sustain it with some protective spells. This was a distance that he considered safe even against opponents of the fifth realm, for two reasons: first, that no one would focus on such a low place and it would take a long time to reach Kayden, and second because he had encountered several and several stones that hindered the spiritual sense.


    Kayden didn¡¯t know who these people were, but he didn¡¯t want to risk getting caught up in something that wasn¡¯t his business. The other side¡¯s strength was too high for him to risk. Slowly, he continued to make his way forward. It was a slow and time-consuming process. Just a week later, he felt he had come far enough to go out and try to fly in the skies. He slowly made his way up. The boulders and mounds of earth were strong, but for a fourth-realm mage, they were no big deal.


    Kayden got out and managed to fly a few dozen kilometers until he felt another spiritual sense wash over him. But this time, it was much more intense and came directly focused on him. His spiritual sense automatically detected the source. A few miles away from Kayden was some sort of completely normal human teenager. Kayden was surprised, as these were rare to find in this place. He had red hair and ridiculously white skin.


    Furthermore, he was dressed entirely in black, in a kind of alien suit that looked very clean and expensive. Another striking detail was his red eyes and a black umbrella that he carried.


    "You were the one who made the mess in the Sea of Wisdom, right? The leaders of this place are looking for you. I can offer you a way out." At this moment, Kayden felt dozens of other spiritual senses arriving. The voice that spoke to him was that of the wizard who arrived first and was in the fifth realm. The rest of the spiritual senses were only of the fourth realm, and they would only take a few seconds to reach there.


    Kayden was faced with a difficult alternative. He didn¡¯t expect his actions to have such a quick consequence, but without thinking too much about it, he decided to go with the option that seemed most plausible: the man was telling the truth.


    "I¡¯ll go with you." Kayden felt his body being pulled and couldn¡¯t resist. It took a few hours with everything looking like a blur in his vision; those in the fifth realm were truly superior. The difference between the fourth and fifth realms was the same as the difference between the first and fourth realms, in fact, from the apprentice realm to the fourth. The fifth realm was the first step towards divinity. It was no wonder that most people ended up in the fourth kingdom, even in such distant places in the universe this was repeated.


    Kayden¡¯s vision stopped and he found himself in a huge desert with sand and giant dunes. The only difference was that this sand was blue and the sky in this place was yellow, a very strange mix of colors.


    "You made a mess there, you know?" The teen began to slowly fly in one direction and Kayden followed. He had already entered this situation and would go to the end.


    "I didn¡¯t think it was monitored," Kayden commented without any regret for his actions.


    "It isn¡¯t, but when a very large number of people are killed, the storm sends out signals that are detectable by runes, and they look for the perpetrator of the massacre." Kayden should have thought of this before, but... Regardless of the outcome, he would have done the same thing. He needed the answers he found and it would take centuries to find them through the conventional method.


    "What is my situation now?" Kayden asked neutrally.


    "You work for me under good conditions or I will hand you over to the kingdom." The teenager said this sentence as if he was just saying something random and without any emotion.


    "What¡¯s the job?" Kayden didn¡¯t react when asked. S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I am the leader of a people division in a service guild. We kill, steal, infiltrate, we are partners at balls and events, anything that high society needs to use." Kayden more or less understood what he was getting into.


    "What are the working conditions?" That was the main point.


    "Don¡¯t worry, you won¡¯t be enslaved. We only use unique people in our environment. You have to do a small job per year or a medium one per decade. It could also be a big one a century." The teenager stopped talking and remained quiet for a few seconds.


    The dune beneath the two began to open up and a tunnel was revealed. Kayden couldn¡¯t feel the tunnel with his spiritual sense; it just looked like a flat piece of sand in front of him.


    "Come, the path has to be done walking and it takes an hour regardless of how fast you walk." Kayden joined the man. The tunnel was three meters wide and sloped downwards. "I am Jhonatan Albu, who are you? How strong are you?"


    "I am Kayden Heart, a wizard of the fourth realm and seven rays. I¡¯m good at fighting and manipulating people." His presentation was short, but it made some of his abilities clear.


    "How good at fighting?" Jhonatan could feel Kayden¡¯s aura and knew he was someone dangerous.


    "For the middle level of this world, I should do well, but for the high level, I should be equal in chances. Against geniuses, I will probably be destroyed." Kayden gave an honest answer based on what he had experienced.


    "Manipulation?" The area that Kayden improved the most after learning to fight.


    "I can simulate any emotion, I have ease in influencing weaker kingdoms, I am a great conqueror of women and I am good at organizing subordinates." Kayden gave a basic explanation.


    "Good." The two were quiet for the next few minutes until they found a black and red door. As soon as they stepped onto the other side, Kayden felt completely exposed as over a hundred spiritual senses were thrown at him. As soon as they recognized Jhonatan, only a few dozen curious people remained.

 Chapter 336: A guild

    " Maldor! Come here" the teenager shouted and Kayden saw a body that had been sleeping in a hammock on the ceiling fall to the floor with a loud crash. He was a fat man with golden skin. He was only wearing long, baggy shorts. Furthermore, he carried a huge sword on his back. The sword was entirely black, contrasting with the man¡¯s bald head. The fat man didn¡¯t have any hair on his body and had an honest, toothy smile.


    "Fight with Kayden" Maldor didn¡¯t wait any longer to take the sword from his back. The mere action caused a wind that would have devastated the environment, but it was easily held by Jhonatan.


    Kayden took out his katana and spoke nothing as he conjured circles around him and expanded his domain. Maldor was a physical fighter; His talent was based on light and he began to have his entire body glowing and increasing his strength and speed to a much greater level.


    The moment Maldor took the first step, Kayden threw dozens of aura slashes supported by the circles. Furthermore, he placed several clones around him and simulated his mana into them. His mana dominance had reached such a high level that no one in the room could differentiate the clones with their spiritual sense. Only Jhonatan could do it and only because of the semi-divine sense he had.


    Kayden¡¯s attacks were extremely strong and launched without any gap between them. Maldor defended with his sword and was pushed back a few dozen meters. He looked at his shaking hands in surprise.


    While he was surprised at having his strength tested, Kayden was surprised by the strength of the fatty¡¯s sword. His attacks were really strong and he knew it, but they still didn¡¯t even scratch the sword.


    As the fat man began to get up to go against Kayden, the boy was launching dozens more cuts and lightning strikes. He wanted to keep his distance against this opponent and would do everything to make it work.


    Normally, a melee mage of equal level to a ranged mage would win, simply because the melee combatant only needed to defend and get closer, while the ranged mage couldn¡¯t even miss a move.


    At least that was the idea that Kayden developed in all his years of fighting, but he didn¡¯t have much contact with truly extraordinary people. Most of the time, he ended up surpassing the geniuses within a few years.


    The fat man defended everything perfectly with very high strength and speed. Kayden was inferior to himself using all of his body changes, but he was a mixed mage.


    He was constantly looking for an opening in Maldor, but the fat man seemed to have eyes in the back of his head and didn¡¯t even miss a movement from Kayden and his clones. Kayden tried to send a clone and it was cut in two by some kind of light.


    It was an extremely fast spell and Kayden couldn¡¯t find any hints about how it worked. It didn¡¯t matter how many times he threw his clones against Maldor. Fortunately, his dominance was enough for him to hold off these attacks, but it still took a good toll on his mana reserves.


    Area attacks seemed to not affect the fat man. Kayden only managed to draw a measly drop of blood as he overloaded hundreds of attacks and destroyed his circles with the pressure. This took a toll on him and wasn¡¯t very good to do as it left him without circles for quick use. The more time Kayden spent in this fight, the more he understood that he had no real chance of winning at this point.


    "I give up" Kayden surprised everyone who was watching, except for a few who were able to follow the fight as it unfolded. The fat man clapped for Kayden.


    "You would have lost a fight to the death, but I doubt I could have done that without a high cost, you could probably run." Kayden nodded. S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "He¡¯s Maldor the Fat," Jhonatan explained to Kayden.


    "A pleasure to meet you..." the fat man waited for Kayden to respond.


    "Kayden Heart."


    "Gordo is our fighting leader, a seven-rayed wizard, and considered the strongest in our battalion after me. You will respond to him in clear combat missions. I believe the boy has proven himself, don¡¯t you?" Jhonatan asked for some spiritual senses about them.


    "He¡¯s good," Gordo replied.


    "Evelyn is our spy and infiltration leader, come here." Kayden saw a woman with purple hair wearing sexy clothes and bright red lipstick appear. Her beauty was simply incomparable.


    "You will work with these two for now. They will explain the benefits of each quest and what you can achieve in the guild." With that, Jhonatan disappeared and left the three alone under the spiritual sense of other people.


    "Go to work, you idiots ." Fatty clapped his hands which sparkled and shattered any spiritual sense around him. "Kayden, come with me."


    The room they were in was a huge leisure space with tables and sofas scattered around, as well as some training points for the residents to have fun. It reminded Kayden a lot of the elite room at his first school.


    Gordo took them both to a different environment. They passed through a tunnel and arrived at an empty room, it only had a single huge painting measuring more than 100 meters on one wall. Dozens of papers were glued to this wall. Kayden read some out of the corner of his eye and realized they were missions. The papers were divided into colors and height, the higher the paper, the more intense the color, and the heavier and longer the paper.


    "Here is the mission wall. Weak colors are small missions, normal colors are medium missions, and intense colors are high-level missions. You can only take small quests for now. Combat color is red and spy color is purple," Kayden read a few missions.


    Most of them were simple and difficult things at the same time. For example, destroying an entire village of people in the fourth realm was a difficult mission, but the method used was free. Fighting a battle for a country¡¯s noble at social events was an easy mission.


    "As you can see, it¡¯s very easy to do some missions and just spend a few years here without any problems, but missions are done for the rewards. You are already stronger than the average we collected and have a much greater load of experiences. So you don¡¯t need to keep doing that." Fatty was explaining every detail to Kayden.


    "Our database of treasures and resources is in a book that will be delivered to your dorm today. Missions give you points that you can spend on resources. We have access to pretty much anything in this low-level area of the planet." Fatty explained a few other things and then took Kayden to his dorm.


    The sleeping area was in an open ravine where some people could be seen floating from one side to the other. In some places, there were closed doors and some were open.


    Kayden¡¯s spiritual sense entered and saw that it was just a room with some privacy and mana collection runes, as well as some aimed at productivity and mental relaxation.


    "We don¡¯t have any rules in the dorms. The walls are made of a special stone that won¡¯t break even with a strong attack from my sword. Choose one and read the book in a few hours." With that, Gordo and the woman next to him left without saying anything else.


    Kayden just went down to one of the doors and started furnishing his room. As much as he didn¡¯t care about the environment he lived in, he also didn¡¯t want to give a bad impression right from the start and a little comfort wouldn¡¯t hurt.


    It took about three hours for the book to appear on Kayden¡¯s doorstep. He didn¡¯t know who gave it to him with a knock on the door because when he went to check it was just the book sitting there.


    "The Miser¡¯s Way," Kayden muttered the title of the book and began reading it.


    "Welcome to the book in which I leave my memories. I am the Miser, the first leader of this guild. If you¡¯re getting this book, it¡¯s because the rules are the same: an exchange of favors in search of benefits, just that and..." By the time Kayden got past the next part he...


    He felt an oath being made in his conscience without him even being able to react. It took a few seconds for his heart to calm down. Luckily he was able to see that it was just a silent contract.


    "Now we can continue. Sorry about that." Kayden read these words and felt that the Miser was someone very strong and with a very high realm. "Do the missions and get stronger, keep climbing the ranks and when you think you¡¯re strong enough, go to the garden of the crazy and try your luck." That was the last sentence of the book.

 Chapter 337: The first mission

    Everything else was resources and techniques that could be purchased, their value was based on how many missions you did. A simple one was worth one point, a medium one was worth 10 and a difficult one was worth 100.


    There was a huge disparity between each mission. One of the resources was called divine stone. In its description, it promised to make anyone advance to the fifth realm without any difficulty. It cost an incredible 100 thousand points.


    Such a ridiculous amount of points made reaching it through small missions impossible. You would have to do large missions and constantly get performance and difficulty bonuses.


    Kayden continued looking for other items. The number of pages was over a thousand, but the book¡¯s weight was low and not very thick, a good spell of utility. He got lost in reading.


    What was supposed to be a few minutes turned into hours and then days. Kayden went through everything only a week later and chose what he would pursue. He found some treasures that would increase his brain capacity and an incomplete technique that would cause a chain reaction in mana.


    The problem was that this technique cost almost 10 thousand points because it was intended to be used in colossal rune attacks. It was very advanced and rare knowledge, unfortunately it had nothing to do with what Kayden wanted.


    The other problem was that the treasures cost a thousand points each. Most came with some positives and negatives. The most common was increasing brain capacity in exchange for severe pain, as they worked based on elevating your brain to the fifth realm in an incomplete way.


    Kayden spent years with a rune on his head that prevented him from sleeping. Pain and wear and tear were nothing to him. After seeing everything he needed, he went to the wall to look for some missions.


    "You took a long time to leave." Evelyn appeared next to Kayden as he looked at the mural. There were so many different missions that Kayden didn¡¯t know what to choose.


    "How about a big mission right from the start?" Evelyn pointed to one of the paintings.


    One of the leaders of one of the local kingdoms had immense disgust for his son and everything he was doing to the family name. The mission was to replace his son for the next fifty years.


    Kayden would have to do all of his son¡¯s social tasks, not only that but perform all of the functions well. After fifty years, the son¡¯s identity would be killed and he would be remembered as a belatedly awakened genius.


    The resources would be given by the leader and would be free for Kayden to choose, but the mission had two downsides. First, any mistake by Kayden would result in direct death for him. The second point was that he would have to learn all of his son¡¯s details and copy them perfectly.


    "How many points does this task give exactly?" Kayden didn¡¯t want to spend fifty years for just 100 points.


    "500 points plus bonuses. The bonuses are about your performance and can reach up to twice the amount of the task." Evelyn¡¯s lines enchanted Kayden.


    He could keep training and improving his way and his job wouldn¡¯t be ridiculously difficult, it would just be tedious. Kayden pulled that quest for him with his mana.


    "I¡¯ll take this one."


    "Good choice."


    *********


    "You have a talent for this, unlike my son." Kayden had been in a cave for the past six months. The person who spoke to him was Kelmor Gait, one of the senate leaders of the country of the Destined.


    A country with around nine people at the fifth peak realm and with seven rays that dominated the entire region freely. There were hundreds of people in the fifth realm in this place, but most of them were weak in a certain way.


    Those who were strong had already left that zone of the lucky planet and gone to a busier place with better prospects for the future. Those who remained were weak or cowardly.


    That was why Kayden didn¡¯t respect the advice about his life parameters. They were strong, terribly strong, but they would rather rule rats for the rest of their lives than try to reach a higher point.


    "Thanks, Dad." Kayden embodied the character. He just needed to learn to behave like the boy he was pretending to be.


    It took six months of observing and training. Furthermore, he could ask the teenager any question, all because he was under a spell and couldn¡¯t even reason the basics.


    Kelmor Gait had green hair and green fur, as well as dark, blue-toned skin. The elder had a strong and well-developed body, making it clear that he was a hand-to-hand fighter. His son followed the same path and...


    "I always wanted to do this," Kelmor commented as he blasted his son¡¯s body into thousands of pieces in front of Kayden. "You are free for the next six months. Afterwards, we will have a fighting event among the youngest."


    Kayden nodded and left the cave to a palace with dozens of ancient Chinese-style rooms, with thin walls made of light materials. The palace was a rectangle with the center being a huge garden with several chairs and waterfalls.


    In each room, there was a different and unique woman. They were all Kelmor¡¯s concubines, but any visitor could use their services freely. Kayden constantly had to be with one of them, but he would just go into the room and tell the woman to simulate the sounds.


    He didn¡¯t want to waste his time on something as useless as sex. Furthermore, the palace had a high density of mana and dozens of runes capable of improving concentration and aiding cultivation.


    During that time, Kayden received two medications that gave him a weaker sort of boost. They were useful, but he would need thousands of these medicines to get anything truly significant on his way.


    For the next six months, Kayden did absolutely nothing but develop his path and think of techniques to solve the two problems he had encountered. Kelmor gave some more treasures to Kayden. S§×ar?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The amount of treasures he was receiving was the same as what Kelmor¡¯s son received back in the day. It was a frightening amount, it would easily put someone disciplined into the fifth realm. One would reach the fourth realm in just a few decades and would have plenty of time to try and overcome the barrier of mortals.


    Kayden and Kelmor were flying towards the senate mansion. It was on top of a mountain, it was completely flat with a huge garden around a large building.


    "You can choose an award depending on your performance," Kelmor commented to Kayden as the two were given a thorough inspection by some Fifth Kingdom security guards.


    Kayden¡¯s image was remade using a unique spell that reshaped his flesh and other features perfectly. The only downside was that it caused a ridiculously high amount of pain to the user, but that wasn¡¯t a problem for Kayden.


    "Brain development techniques?" Kayden asked and received a nod from Kelmor. The two were quiet for the next few minutes as they entered the mansion.


    It was a huge house with almost seven floors. It had several party rooms, bedrooms, and leisure areas. It was big. Kayden couldn¡¯t put his spiritual sense beyond the walls, he felt blind as if he was at the apprentice level.


    They only needed to walk a little to enter a party room. There were dozens of people eating and drinking, but as soon as Kelmor entered everyone became quiet and knelt.


    This was one of the rooms with low-level nobility people. On each floor, there were several rooms like this with people partying. For each floor that increased, the level of the nobles increased.


    Kelmor walked through each room without looking at any living being. Everyone was seen as ants by him. Kayden just kept his face neutral and walked behind his fake father. It only took them a few minutes to reach the top floor.


    It was a very different environment. First, the food and drinks were overflowing with mana strangely and uniquely. Furthermore, the environment was richly decorated. The music that played was divine and driven by unique mana techniques.


    The people were richly dressed and they all had an aura superior to that of the lower nobility. Kayden encountered several people who he believed were stronger than him. Fortunately, of the generation he would face, there were still few.


    At most one or two would be able to destroy him, and another dozen or two had the same level of strength as him. It was strange to think that in the past he was the strongest fourth-realm mage within millions of miles.


    "Have some fun. In a few hours, we will have the competition of generations." Kelmor walked away from Kayden and left the boy alone. Kayden ran into some old friends of Kelmor¡¯s son.

 Chapter 338: The search

    He was like a chameleon. Kayden managed to integrate perfectly into the group and began to practice a little manipulation on everyone around him. Kelmor¡¯s former son, named Harry, wasn¡¯t exactly a central figure in the social group of his age.


    That was slowly changing with just a few words from Kayden. They were people so young and easy to manipulate that he even felt sorry, but compassion wouldn¡¯t stop Kayden from continuing his mission.


    As the hours passed, he began to expand his circle of friends. It wasn¡¯t too difficult, considering Harry wasn¡¯t someone who had harbored grudges or had a bad image in other people¡¯s minds.


    The situation was a blank canvas for Kayden to do as he pleased. It wasn¡¯t difficult to get some dances after some flirting and some proposals for joint training with some promising geniuses.


    Time passed quickly. Kayden felt extremely bored and annoyed the entire time, but like a great actor, he didn¡¯t show anything on his face. He looked like a different person on the outside.


    A drum roll began and silenced all conversation in the building. It was slow and demonstrated an emotion of overcoming and challenge that could be felt by the surrounding mana. It was an incredible feeling that Kayden had never felt before.


    "Only the strong have the right to a free and respectable life," a deep, thick voice began to spew out some universal truths. "Anyone can rise to the top, but only the worthy can remain. Everyone came here today to show that they deserve this place. All those under 200 years old can raise their hands and address the heavens."


    The roof of the house was completely removed and several people began to settle outside. Dozens of tents and chairs were erected in that garden that a few hours ago had absolutely nothing.


    Kayden was well over just 200 years old, but his contractor said no one would have the courage to do an age test on him. It would be very disrespectful to your family. Even other great leaders would not have this courage.


    The boy flew into the sky and saw several groups dividing. Everyone was given a color and a number. Each person would have to face the number directly higher than theirs, based on their last performance.


    Kayden had number 3,000 and some broken ones, a really low number. The fights took place inside a bubble for everyone to see, and the highest numbers were the first to face each other.


    In just a few minutes it was Kayden¡¯s turn. What he didn¡¯t expect was that it would be ridiculously easy. His opponent barely had battle experience. He was a wizard of the fourth realm and seven rays, but that was it.


    It was a lot of force for an inexperienced person, very similar to giving a firearm to a baby and expecting him to be able to use it perfectly. His feat went unnoticed by most.


    The first fights were only attended by family members, practically no one paid attention to such weak fights. With this single fight, Kayden managed to jump a large number of places.


    His next fight was against someone a thousand ranks lower than him, and yet nothing changed. His next fights were practically a repeat of the first. He finally found worthy opponents when he reached number 2,000, and even then, they weren¡¯t impressive.


    Only in the top thousand did he start to have difficulty and had to use his path together with his complete almanac of skills to be able to fight, but they weren¡¯t really difficult battles.


    Genius opened many paths and allowed many leaps in power, but they were not able to suppress the difference in experience against Kayden. Many factors made it impossible.


    Kayden continued to fight his way through relatively difficult fights, winning by what seemed like luck to the untrained eye, and to the true warriors it was a perfect move at the perfect time. S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    It didn¡¯t take long for him to reach a barrier that he was unable to overcome, even with his experience. Those in the top 100 were ridiculously strong and managed to suppress any difference between them with absurdly strong techniques.


    His performance was still very good considering the position he had left. In the distance, he could see his fictional father clapping his hands in satisfaction. It wasn¡¯t first place, but that was excellent so as not to raise any suspicions about him.


    After that, Kayden just watched and interacted with other people for the next few hours. His new strength opened a few more doors to the influential friends he was able to make. His image was slowly being polished.


    A few hours later, the event finally ended. It had lasted about three days, and Kayden hated every second he was wasting. Fortunately, Kelmor¡¯s satisfied smile as they walked away showed that his service was appreciated.


    "I have a pill that increases your brain capacity by a few percentages, but it causes immense constant pain when your brain uses something greater than it previously could," Kelmor explained to Kayden as they flew.


    "No problem. It won¡¯t affect my performance." Kelmor didn¡¯t doubt Kayden. He saw the boy¡¯s performance during training.


    "It will be delivered to your room. Your next role is a faction race in the desert." Kayden didn¡¯t ask for more information. When the time was right, they would come to him.


    Arriving at his new home, Kayden just sat down and started training. He needed to put his brain on the same level as someone in the fifth realm, but to do so he couldn¡¯t kill himself in the process.


    His skills were already practically honed to the maximum they could be. He had nowhere else to grow other than raising them to a new level, but that would take millennia to do.


    The only possibility was to be able to increase his brain to the fifth realm while he was still in the fourth. That would also be ridiculously difficult. In the end, he could just sit there while studying books about the human brain.


    There were thousands of books at his disposal. He felt again as if he only had a few units of life when he needed to study every nuance of the human and animal hearts, all so that he could reach a new level.


    It had been so many years that he ended up putting his heart aside during those years. In future millennia, he would have to change this situation. Kayden had neglected this point of his strength to the detriment of others.


    The truth is that he didn¡¯t have time to take all his skills to a higher level. It would take a long time for him to achieve perfection in everything, and he didn¡¯t have that long of a lifespan.


    Geniuses could do this more naturally. Kayden faced several people in the last fight who had a very strong main point but still managed to balance other small factors far superior to him.


    Kayden wasn¡¯t a genius. He had no talent; he had only determination, and this was clear throughout his life. Perhaps if he had received divine blessings of talent, he could have eight rays at this moment, but life was not based on guesswork.


    The pill reached Kayden the next day. It was just a blue pill, without any marking or factor that highlighted its use. Without any fear, he swallowed it. It took a few seconds for him to start feeling enormous pain in every nerve in his body.


    The effect of the pill was not on the entire body, but directly on the brain, and he was able to propagate pain in layers much higher than normal, as his mind-controlled practically everything in his body.


    This realization made Kayden realize two things as he felt his head heat up, and begin to grow and reshape. He was dependent on something physical; your mind was the main organ of your body.


    This was a weakness. He put one more thing on his to-do list: in the future, he should study the complete details of immaterial life forms. They were few in the universe and only mentioned in a few points in books.


    Ghosts were not easy beings to find and, unlike what a normal person from an ordinary world would think, ghosts were ridiculously strong beings when they were free.


    Some ghosts were tied to something physical, and if that was destroyed, their souls disappeared from existence. Those weren¡¯t rare. In some unique events involving mana, living beings could become trapped in this form.


    The free ghosts were ridiculously few and there wasn¡¯t even one that wasn¡¯t at least at the demigod level. This made something clear to Kayden: relying on his own body was not the final answer on the cultivation path.


    You could even be a body mage, but his body wasn¡¯t the answer, he was just a cocoon of his existence, Kayden didn¡¯t have much time to think about it, as the effect of the pill began to wear off.

 Chapter 339: The mind

    The pain didn¡¯t leave his head for long minutes. At a completely random moment, Kayden stopped feeling pain or any other discomfort. It seemed like nothing had changed in his mind.


    As soon as he focused on seeing all of existence as just mana, he felt his head start to hurt as if someone was putting a screw directly into his brain. It was a ridiculously strong pain, but it didn¡¯t stop Kayden from continuing to look for the weak points in the tangle of mana. Again, he experienced the same feeling of helplessness. His mind was capable of analyzing many more points than before, but even so, it was not enough.


    In the past, he was trying to get water from a river using a glass. At the moment, his container grew into a laundry basin, but even that was too little to empty an entire river.


    Since he had nothing better to do, Kayden just kept trying to figure out the tangles and their meanings. Some of the time he thought his way too.


    Quickly, time passed and he did another task for his fictional father. Again, he received a reward. For the next few years, he just stayed in that cycle. In a way, destiny helped him reach the best possible point.


    He also returned to broadcast his life and explain some things. His original audience was small, but thanks to his feats and recorded videos, he got a good name on the outside that has lasted through all these centuries.


    In just a few years, he had established himself as a C-Rank lucky planet player with a number of a few hundred trillion. He was a special case across the planet. Kayden didn¡¯t have many accomplishments, but he had two things that set him apart.


    A very useful course on how to follow a great path as a wizard and the feat of having killed a Lich, something that few people have done in the entire universe. This made him one of the people with the greatest future.


    The dragon god¡¯s promise was in effect, and Kayden was receiving thousands of techniques and gifts at every moment. It was such an absurdly large amount that he seemed to have assaulted an entire constellation.


    Techniques, resources, practically everything was offered to him in the amount of millions. Furthermore, many were ridiculously high-level and refined, but few were what he needed. But... little in millions was still a frighteningly large amount.


    Kayden managed to develop his brain to a ridiculous degree over the years, all thanks to a technique he received one random night. It was a strange encounter, as the papyrus appeared above his desk along with a letter.


    "The possibility of breaking a barrier without breaking a kingdom." It was pretty much what he needed, but... "This technique will cost you a favor in the future. Think carefully before using it."


    The letter only contained these words, but Kayden didn¡¯t care at all. Owing favors was not the end of the world and it would be better than dying talentless in the fourth realm. This technique was called "Sharp Mind."


    She worked on a very delicate point of increasing the electrical current and its speed inside the person¡¯s head. It was extremely painful to work with and could easily lead to death with any mistake.


    Kayden had no difficulty and adapted perfectly to the technique. He still wasn¡¯t able to elevate it to the best level, it was still halfway through the process and it would probably take a few more decades to fully perfect it.


    The sum of various techniques and treasures made him one of the best minds in the fourth realm. He could easily see the world as mana at this time and read various parts.


    The problem is that it still wasn¡¯t enough. Kayden would need something much stronger than that. He needed to truly transcend his mind and body. He could spend decades training to reach a new level, but...


    It wouldn¡¯t help. Kayden could clearly understand that his problem was a limitation that was impossible to overcome. His body could not elevate his mind to the point necessary.


    Kayden wasn¡¯t someone who gave up on his goals, but he also wasn¡¯t someone who pursued a goal with no chance of success. At that moment, he changed his plans completely.


    It took him 10 years of constant mental progress to realize this. Now, his goal was much simpler: just to break through to the fifth realm. He would invest a few more centuries just improving his path and trying to extract something beyond what he achieved.


    Once he believed he had reached a plateau, he would advance to the next level. With his current strength, getting six lightning bolts should be no problem for him, but seven lightning bolts would be out of his reach.


    Even though it was a situation where he was decreasing in power, Kayden just had to accept it. There was nothing to do. Furthermore, he didn¡¯t want to waste too much time in the fourth realm searching for something useless.


    Advancing with seven rays would greatly improve his body and strength, but... he was the master of his body and mind. It took him more than a millennium to understand that he was responsible for his strength and not a gift caused by lightning.


    At some point in his life, he would no longer be able to depend on lightning. It would have to be something that came entirely from him or Kayden would just become another generic wizard among billions.


    About 30 years later, Kayden had managed to establish a great reputation and was respected throughout the kingdom. He received thousands of resources from his father, and his mind reached an absolute plateau. There was nothing else to improve. Any slight advancement required decades and hardly increased his brain capacity, and Kayden understood that it was his kingdom that made it impossible for him to go further.


    "The kingdom is going to do a massive raid with all mages to the next zone of the lucky world. Since it¡¯s impossible to get back, we¡¯re going to have to finish your mission early," Kelmor dropped this bombshell to Kayden on a random day.


    "If I may ask, why this decision to change zones?" Kayden couldn¡¯t understand why cowardly kings would want to trade their sovereignty for uncertainty. Kelmor remained silent for a few seconds while breaking out in a cold sweat.


    "A demigod has emerged with enough strength to subjugate the entire zone, and once he emerges from his seclusion, we will all become his slaves until the dragons intervene to restore balance," Kelmor revealed. Kayden was surprised for the first time in decades.


    To achieve a feat of this size with just one person...


    "Does it have eight spokes?" Kayden asked and saw Kelmor¡¯s eyes twitch.


    "Yes, the first in a few millennia. The last one practically flattened half of this zone by testing his gravity spells." Kelmor and Kayden had developed a friendly relationship over the years, so Kayden was asking and being answered.


    "Seven rays are a possible future god, but what about wizards with eight rays?" sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I don¡¯t know, they¡¯re rare, ridiculously rare. In my life, this is the first one I¡¯ve seen," Kelmor admitted. Over the next few minutes, they talked about plans for Kayden to disappear.


    Over the next few days, everything went as planned and Kayden returned a decade early to the guild he was working for. His performance was rated as perfect by Kelmor and earned him all the bonuses he was entitled to.


    "Hello, Kayden Heart, your mission was very well executed. Enjoy a few years off and then come see me to talk about your next mission. There is no point in giving you small fish," Kayden thanked Evelyn and retired to his room.


    As his plans changed, he would have to look at the available items again. This time it was much faster, as he already had an idea of what was in the store. In the end, he got around 1000 points.


    It was a ridiculously high amount for just a mission lasting a few years. This value gave access to many useful things. In the end, Kayden chose the incomplete technique to improve his mind to the fifth realm.


    He would still try a few more things before actually giving up. To reach the fifth realm he would not have many difficulties. In the decade that his access to gifts was unrestricted, he received some manuals to advance.


    Each of the manuals Kayden had received was different and had unique features and methods. Some had you create a superior core with semi-divine capabilities; others made you destroy your core and put your body as the main factor.


    Even using an object or living being as a container was among the methods. Those were pretty rare, and Kayden thanked his viewers for the gifts many times, but only one caught his eye.

 Chapter 340: An endless search

    "The mind is the precursor, the way, and the end." That was the name of the technique he chose. It matched his thoughts perfectly and carried an air of mystery unique to Kayden. This technique was based on using your path as the sole basis for your advancement. Within your mind, you should be able to consolidate your path in an immaterial way.


    Their cores would continue to function normally and advance to the fifth realm with increased strength, but they would no longer be the main part of their structure; your mind would be. Everything would revolve around his path. It was perfect for Kayden, but the technique had some ridiculously bad downsides. Any insecurity about his path would eventually kill him, no matter if it was during the advancement or years later.


    Any strong mental imbalance that ended up altering his path in any way, even in the slightest, would kill him. This technique was made for people who had no doubts about what they would follow for the next millennia. Fortunately, Kayden was one of those people. Over the next few years, he only cemented the image of his path in his mind. It wasn¡¯t very difficult; he just had to put a black crown on his brain.


    It was a crown without many details, just black mana circulating inside his brain all the time, but it was a perfect choice, as its path symbolized the ability to govern his actions and feelings. Practically everything was within his will. This crown took about a century to make. Kayden placed an absolute level of perfection upon her. Any mistakes were erased and redone. It only took him a decade to reach the ideal level, but about eight decades to reach perfection.


    His strength underwent another great increase. His mana manipulation became even stronger. At this moment, he was able to sense the spiritual senses around him and accurately break them; In the past, he just messed up the mana in the region. Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t have time to level up his skills or learn the technique of incompletely elevating the brain to the next realm as he needed to go on another mission. He¡¯s spent a lot of time in isolation already.


    "I thought I¡¯d never leave that room. You¡¯re scary, Kayden," Evelyn commented as soon as she saw the boy appear in front of her. She hadn¡¯t seen many people capable of spending a century in isolation.


    "Do you have any special missions?" Kayden asked directly. His aura was more oppressive and cold because of the crown on his brain. This was something he didn¡¯t notice, but Evelyn instantly noticed the change in aura.


    He was at the true transition point. At any moment, he could become a demigod. At this moment, few people would be able to face him without being in that state as well.


    "Congratulations on your discovery." Kayden looked at the woman in surprise.


    "As?"


    "You are in a state of transition. Your aura exudes a certain degree of divinity. It¡¯s not something you can notice because of your realm. This aura makes any mage who doesn¡¯t have a bit of divinity feel pressured to kneel." instinctively."


    Kayden had never noticed this, but after thinking for just a few seconds, he realized it was true, as every god and demigod he encountered made his instincts scream for him to kneel.


    "How do I hide this?" Kayden didn¡¯t like the idea of having something out of his control.


    "There¡¯s no way. Only when you¡¯re in the fifth realm will you be able to, but don¡¯t worry. Few people can realize this easily and only those who have known it before." Kayden was a little more relieved and let it go.


    "I see. What is my mission?" Kayden came back to the same topic again.


    "The organization of this zone has changed a bit in recent years. A wizard named Eros Hol has appeared and brought everyone to their knees at his will. At the moment, all organizations must have a headquarters in the center of the zone, and their main members are in that place at service of Eros." Kayden already knew that a wizard had appeared out of nowhere.


    Eros Hol was dangerous and represented an absurd peak of strength. Kayden did not expect that he would destroy the political model that was in force in the past.


    "Right now, we have no countries. They are called states of the kingdom of Eros. Our organization also has a headquarters around the center of the zone. Its function will be to represent one of our branches at social events and garner favor for the kingdom of Eros." "


    Kayden understood that he was involved in something big this time. It was much more dangerous than his last event, simply because he would be dealing with a side that had all its wishes met without any restrictions. Any mistake on his part, he could be killed. His organization did not offer any protection for him. At the first opportunity, they would get rid of any ties between the two, and he knew it.


    "Reward?" Kayden has never turned down a challenge in his life and it wouldn¡¯t be this time.


    "100 points per year." Kayden almost dropped his jaw. It was a very high amount. In just a decade, he would score more points than in four of his previous missions.


    "Because I? What¡¯s the catch?" Kayden couldn¡¯t believe something so good would go smoothly.


    "We know a little about your past, there¡¯s no catch. The mission has a risk of life involved at all times, any mistake on your part and that¡¯s it." Evelyn said exactly what Kayden expected about the mission.


    "I accept."


    ************ S§×arch* The Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The center of the area was immense and, at the same time, empty. There was only a single city at the foot of a volcano, but it was a huge city hundreds of kilometers long. In each area of the city, there was a country with a few organizations dominating. There was little space for many groups, so the environment always seemed ready to explode into fights and occasionally deaths occurred.


    The city was made of a soft-colored black and yellow stone. There were few tall buildings; most grew toward the ground, which is why Kayden was in a mansion a mile underground. The guild headquarters was relatively discreet and operated like an ordinary hotel. Logically, the great powers knew what was there, but normal, uninfluenced people had no idea about it.


    Kayden was given a room very similar to his previous one. The place had a region with available missions, what was evident was that their level was much higher than that of its old headquarters, and there were practically no small missions. Kayden came along with Evelyn to the center of the zone. He had been here for about two months and at the moment he didn¡¯t have to do anything. Eros was in seclusion and, when he came out, a banquet would be held at the top of the volcano.


    Right now, Kayden had free time to do whatever he wanted. What he was doing was trying to improve his mind. It was a practically impossible mission, even using all the techniques and resources he had available. The city was no big deal in Kayden¡¯s view. It didn¡¯t take him long to memorize all the organizations and their specific areas, as well as their strongest members and what he should pay attention to in each of these groups.


    Just six months later, Eros woke up from his seclusion and called everyone to climb the volcano. In this case, they were just people with some power and influence. The top of the volcano was closed with glass and left the interior, which was bubbling with magma, visible. In some parts there was earth instead of glass and an exotic garden appeared on all sides. Kayden felt the presence of more than ten thousand people around him, settling into one of the thousands of seats.


    Food and drink were served on floating platters. The environment had runes that left the mind calm. Additionally, several men and women offered special services to everyone at no cost. The environment had a very high level of peace for Kayden. Something was wrong; his senses told him that he was entering a tiger¡¯s den and that he should run away from that place immediately.


    At his table, there was only Evelyn as his acquaintance. The rest he had no interest in meeting during these months. Most were there like him, just to gain a greater reputation. The middle level at the top of the volcano was of the fourth realm, with a large amount of mages in the fifth realm. Furthermore, most gave an experienced aura to Kayden. Some in the fourth realm even caused him fear.


    The stronger Kayden got, the more he felt like a frog at the bottom of the well. He was on a unique level, but there were still some monsters capable of surpassing him without any big difference.

 Chapter 341: An unexpected new phase

    The room fell silent and Kayden felt a powerful presence. The pressure was far greater than that of an ordinary god-like Merlin; it was not a question of strength or intensity but of quality. The person emanating this aura was a young man with red hair and eyes of the same intense color. His skin was completely white, he looked no older than twenty, and he wore a black military suit.


    The man just released his pressure and saw everyone kneel, unable to resist his influence in the slightest. Kayden couldn¡¯t resist with his body, but his mind remained calm. For a few minutes, Eros did absolutely nothing as he swept his eyes across the crowd, enjoying a feeling of omnipotence. His eyes stopped on a merchant group and...


    "Golden Edges, you tried to kill me three centuries ago." His voice came out neutral, and no one expected a wave of wind to come out of his hands and rush at a ridiculous speed over the group of over 100 people. Practically instantly, the wind destroyed any trace of them. Only the glass survived the attack, there was not even any blood. Kayden couldn¡¯t understand how the wind could be so deadly.


    Among the dead people, there were several wizards of the fifth realm and some with seven rays. It was an abyss of strength, unlike anything Kayden had ever felt. No one even lifted a finger while this situation was happening.


    "Are we going to the event? A question and a challenge." Eros sat on a throne floating in the heavens. "How strong do you think I am in the universe? Those who have courage, stand up."


    Kayden already had the answer on the tip of his tongue, but it would be a direct insult and he didn¡¯t want to lose his life. It was better to let the idiots try first. It didn¡¯t take a second for someone to raise their hands.


    "A future god of the highest levels, unique in the entire universe." It was flattery. Eros did not express any reaction. Over the next few minutes, dozens of compliments appeared, each one more elaborate than the last.


    Kayden heard so many different ways to flatter someone that it disgusted him. Fear changed people on a completely bizarre level. No matter how much they talked, Eros didn¡¯t even sway.


    "You are ordinary and have nothing really special." A voice stood out from the crowd. Everyone was silent Eros finally reacted when he looked at the woman.


    She was a tall blonde girl with all human characteristics. Its only difference was the presence of a cat¡¯s tail that made its race evident. She was in the fifth realm, and when Eros looked into her eyes...


    "Sorry! I just wanted your attention. You are the strongest man on this planet." She knelt on the ground and her mind shattered into pieces. Kayden saw the disgust in Eros¡¯s eyes for a second.


    This was the right path, but it was also the difficult path, as Eros seemed to be someone rational, but at the same time crazy. After a few seconds of silence, the woman stood up and stood still, lost in her thoughts. No one dared to speak for the next few minutes.


    "You are special, unique among trillions, but¡­" Everyone looked at Kayden. "Does not matter. Among those at your level, you are just one of the crowd and you know it. Your ego is a facade to hide the contempt for the mediocrity you see on each side." For every word Kayden said, the room grew colder.


    Evelyn wanted to get up and kill Kayden so he wouldn¡¯t keep talking. Eros¡¯ pressure on everyone increased several times, but on Kayden, it was even greater. It was as if a mountain appeared on his shoulders.


    Eros continued to press and look into Kayden¡¯s eyes, but there was no sign of fear or attempt to take back his words. The minutes passed quickly and no one said anything.


    "You are special. Your words seem to me like self-criticism." Eros commented, breaking the awkward silence. "But you are weak. I see that you have seven rays, but your strength hardly reaches that level."


    "Lord Eros, you must understand what it takes to be able to swim against the current. I¡¯m making a bet: either I become unique or I die like one more in this universe." Kayden¡¯s audacity made even elderly people who had lived thousands of years rethink their courage.


    Kayden wasn¡¯t crazy or stupid. He saw that Eros was not an irrational person driven by ego and other negative feelings, so he continued the conversation calmly. His attitude proved correct when Eros clapped his hands.


    Kayden¡¯s attitude proved correct when Eros clapped his hands.


    "I spent 1300 years chasing something pointless. At that time, I could barely stand up to someone with two lightning bolts below me. Your answer is the correct one." Eros clapped his hands again, and a red necklace appeared in front of Kayden. "Welcome to the Selected." sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Selected? This felt like something special. Kayden had no idea what exactly it was, but everyone around him understood the weight of it. It was a group chosen by Eros for some special purpose.


    "Now for the challenge. Anyone who can move one of my fingers will be selected." The challenge was very simple, but also very restricted. Only those in the fifth realm had any slight chance of achieving this. Over the next few minutes, Kayden saw attacks capable of leveling hundreds of kilometers in seconds.


    Each attack was at the level of a nuclear bomb on a much larger scale. A wizard of the fifth realm and seven rays was capable of exploding the ancient Earth from the inside out if his spells were aimed correctly. The most impressive thing was that Eros managed to nullify each attack with his wind; all the remnants disappeared around him and could not even lift the dust around him. It was a much higher level.


    "You are still weak." Eros released his pressure and everyone returned to the position of not even being able to lift a finger. "Enjoy the feast." The pressure disappeared and Eros also disappeared from the region.


    Kayden felt his vision go dark for a second, and then he found himself floating in the sky, with white clouds beneath his feet. A few hundred meters away, there was a huge castle made of stone and purple trees that had luminous flowers.


    "The Selected are those I have chosen to take with me to the next region of this world. I will need allies to build an empire in the next location. Do you have any ties on this side?" Eros was next to Kayden, watching the horizon.


    "Just my organization, but it shouldn¡¯t be a problem getting rid of it," Kayden said without any hesitation. It was a very good opportunity that was coming into his life.


    "Live in the castle and enjoy all the benefits of it. We will leave in a few centuries. You need to advance in the kingdom or you won¡¯t be able to even take a step to where we are going." Eros gave Kayden a few more instructions and then left.


    Kayden spent a few minutes just thinking while looking at the clouds. Minutes turned into hours and before he knew it, he had been there for a few days, all to make a decision. Days turned into weeks and quickly into months. No one came to bother him during that time. Kayden¡¯s decision was about his advancement, and it took a long time for him to accept it.


    Kayden had no hope of advancing with seven rays, nor even of conquering anything superior in his kingdom to reach a much higher level. The difficulty in making the decision was accepting this fact, but accepting it did not mean agreeing. He decided to keep trying for a while longer; when there were only a few years left, he would advance and go with Eros to the next region. This was a unique opportunity that should not be missed.


    A few seconds later, he entered the castle through the front gate. Inside, there was a pleasant atmosphere and a few dozen people. Of these dozens, only a few gave Kayden strong auras; the rest should just be employees.


    "Hello, Mr. Kayden Heart. I¡¯ve been waiting for you." An elf with black skin and white hair appeared to welcome Kayden. "We have a room available for your ladyship and any requests will be accommodated within a few hours."


    Kayden was taken to his room. It wasn¡¯t anything very elaborate, but it had all the resources needed for someone to live comfortably. He just thanked the woman and asked for some mental techniques.


    Again, he began another period of isolated cultivation in his life. Their only interactions were to ask for more techniques and books on different subjects. He hit another wall again.

 Chapter 342: A mediocre advance, but it doesn’t matter

    No matter how hard he tried, how much he studied, no path opened for him. Elevating his path was completely impossible because of his mind. The years ended up turning into decades. It was funny how time had lost its meaning for Kayden as his kingdom grew. When he was just an apprentice, a year represented a large amount of time to him, but now a decade or a century was barely valuable in his eyes.


    "I knew you were special, but I didn¡¯t think you were that crazy." Kayden heard Eros¡¯s voice and when he opened his eyes, he saw the man sitting on his bed. "You¡¯ve been in here for four centuries, you haven¡¯t even come out for a minute. What exactly are you looking for, Kayden?"


    The situation was very sudden. Kayden needed a few minutes in silence to get his ideas in order and be able to respond to Eros. It had been a long time since he had spoken to another living being.


    "I look for something unique, that¡¯s all." Eros felt Kayden¡¯s sincerity and began tapping his fingers on the bed.


    "What moves you? Power? Revenge?" Eros was restless. He never made a mistake when choosing one of those selected, but Kayden gave him a strange feeling.


    "The power." Kayden had asked himself this question thousands of times and the answer was always the same.


    "Power without purpose is useless. What do you seek?"


    "Nothing. Power is the beginning, the middle, and the end." Kayden¡¯s sincerity left Eros with a flea behind his ear. He had met a few people like that in his life, they were few and far between.


    "We will leave in four centuries. You have three to continue your quest, and then advance and get used to the fifth realm. With your current strength, you are one of the weakest in our retinue. Get better." With that, Eros disappeared.


    Kayden didn¡¯t feel any pressure from this conversation and just continued his cultivation normally. Time passed quickly. He could see the world as mana instantly and didn¡¯t even expend any will to do so. He was able to select and analyze thousands of parts instantly, but even then he was never able to break the mana chains, at least until one random day a few decades later. S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden was watching the sun slowly destroy vegetation from too much sunlight. It was a ridiculously slow process, he needed months to understand the change, but...


    The mana from the grass disappeared into thin air and turned into free mana. This small interaction was minuscule and even a fifth realm mage wouldn¡¯t be able to observe this if he hadn¡¯t spent months observing it. In that instant, Kayden understood that the sun did not break mana interactions. In fact, he changed them, using a small expenditure of energy and, in return, he received another part of slightly larger energy.


    At that moment, Kayden simulated the sun with his mana and was able to see the same interaction on a much larger scale. It took another long month for him to achieve it, but it was a success. Kayden made a six-foot area of grass disappear by a certain percentage and a minuscule amount of mana was released. It was very similar to what he had done previously, with just one crucial difference.


    The mana that was being released was much less, as what Kayden was doing was just destroying the entire tangle of mana to the point that it naturally collapsed and the rest was transformed into free mana. It was an exchange where he lost 80% of all the mana in the grass and only 20% was transformed into free mana. The time required was also terribly long, but this situation was a success as it opened a new path for Kayden.


    As the years went by, he got better and better and didn¡¯t need more than a few seconds to destroy the grass. The amount of mana he could release became a little higher, but not by much. It took him two decades to maximize this to a perfect point. He could destroy grass almost instantly and release 30% of the mana in it. It was little if done in isolation, but when he applied it to large areas, it was a different situation.


    This entire process made Kayden understand what he needed to do. Each material was unique and, as he could not break them down quickly, he needed to learn the small details just like he did with the sun.


    The problem was that everything had to be studied a lot before he could get anything useful. The light was a coincidence, and it took a long time. Kayden spent the next few decades searching for anything of the sort and was unsuccessful.


    Two centuries have passed since the encounter with Eros, and Kayden has finally arrived at a new clue. Instead of using sunlight or other things related to reality, he realized that he had to use what he had been ignoring all this time: his mana.


    It took him a while to come to this conclusion and even longer to understand what he needed to do. At the moment, he was pouring his mana directly onto other things and causing it to melt the tangle. It was easier said than done. It took him nine decades to have the first sign of success. His mana, at this moment, was capable of destroying anything around him, but it took a long time for this to have an effect.


    The winning percentage was only 20%. Kayden felt like he was getting close to the end of his life too. He would probably be the same age as a 70-year-old in his first life. He had gone through this process before and it was something he never got used to. The feeling of impending death and low vitality was one of the most unique things he had ever seen in his entire life.


    Kayden had understood that he no longer had time to develop his research. The moment for a breakthrough has finally arrived. As much as his mind and personality screamed at him to drop everything and continue on this path, he knew it wasn¡¯t right.


    Outside, Kayden was floating on clouds. The advancement process this time was a little different. His crown began to resonate and magnificent golden clouds appeared. It was strange as there were clouds below and above Kayden. The ones above had strong pressure. The first ray came, and Kayden was surprised by its shape. It was unlike anything he had ever seen, as it was golden and, at the same time, colorless. He didn¡¯t even need to use anything against this attack; just his grip was enough to easily hold him back.


    After that, he put up some defenses and some circles to defend himself. The mana around him was far superior to anything he had ever seen and the world was helping him through this situation. The situation caught the attention of the people in the castle. No one knew Kayden, but everyone called him crazy. Eros has changed many people over the years. He didn¡¯t make mistakes when choosing those selected, but people could make mistakes with him over time.


    Kayden was one of the oldest in this place and at the same time one of the most unknown. The second beam was easily defended by the aura slash attack. The third came soon after and suffered the same fate. There was no difficulty in these weak rays. Only in the fourth did Kayden have to pile up circles and attack directly. His strength had indeed fallen over the years, even though he was at the peak of his power.


    The fifth ray came with absurd force, tearing everything around it. Kayden saw how beautifully the mana around the lightning was shattered and destroyed. He had to use 90% of all his mana in several dozen circles and lightning and slashing attacks. His action took him several seconds. The shock wave was gigantic and reached the tip of the castle, causing it to shake slightly. Kayden sighed as he saw that his strength was not enough and saw his domain being torn apart.


    Fortunately, it had layers of wear and expansion and other factors that meant the lightning was not able to advance very far toward it. The problem was that only the fifth beam destroyed all of his defenses and went through all of his attacks. The clouds seemed sad to see a champion falling to the level Kayden was at at that moment. It was a tone of palpable sadness. Kayden was given mana and time to withstand the next beam.


    His defenses have fully recovered. He again raised his next attacks against the sixth ray. It was a huge attack and one of the most beautiful things Kayden had ever seen. His attacks were destroyed in just a few seconds. His dominance was even worse and lasted only a short time, but it was enough for him to launch a wave of attacks again.

 Chapter 343: A beautiful show

    He took turns defending and attacking until the mana around him no longer existed. His spiritual sense was terrifyingly great, and yet the mana ran out. The problem was not the quantity of mana, but the quality of his skills. In the end, it wasn¡¯t enough, and Kayden didn¡¯t show any reaction when the lightning destroyed half of his body. At this moment, golden drops began to rain. Kayden didn¡¯t understand what that meant, but...


    "The fall of a challenger," Eros muttered. The heavens understood that Kayden would not be able to face the next lightning and said goodbye to a possible god. Those who missed the seven-ray plateau could never reach it again.


    Kayden waited a few seconds and then the rays came to remake and improve his body. At this moment, he had to do something unique: the crown in his mind was elevated to a vital organ. She was more important than her core. She was his way into physical shape. It wasn¡¯t difficult; only a severe headache passed through Kayden at that moment, and then everything went dark. A few seconds later, he opened his eyes and found himself floating in the skies.


    He looked at his hands, and after a few seconds, he understood that he was in the fifth realm. This was the most mediocre and tedious advancement he had ever had. It seemed like everything was done in a hurry and left to fate. Kayden sighed and...


    "Finally," he felt all the mana around him and was able to read the tangle of mana. It wasn¡¯t a difficult process; Once his mind focused, he was able to separate the millions of parts. Kayden got lost in this feeling and it took him a few minutes to break the mana with his mana. It wasn¡¯t difficult, but the amount of mana that came out was low and barely reached 40%.


    "Kayden," Before he could continue his studies, he heard Eros¡¯s voice beside him. "Then you have failed. Your services will no longer be needed." Kayden felt his life at risk, but he didn¡¯t even tremble.


    "I didn¡¯t fail," Kayden¡¯s tone made his sincerity clear.


    "How not? You¡¯re only down to six lightning bolts. Even my employees are stronger than you," Eros asked doubtfully.


    "I achieved what I needed in the fourth realm. With more time, I will surpass everyone in the fifth realm." Kayden¡¯s sentence came out as if it were an insult to everyone; there was a lot of ego and arrogance.


    "Aren¡¯t you very arrogant?" Eros asked a question that Kayden had received other times in the past.


    "I have no ego," Kayden looked into Eros¡¯s eyes. On the one hand, a king with an established empire; on the other... nothing, not even any emotion.


    "In 100 years, you¡¯re going to have to impress me with something or you¡¯re going to end up dead." Eros floated away and left Kayden alone.


    Without caring about anything or anyone around him, Kayden returned to his room and began studying his body and everything he achieved with this advancement. The first thing he studied was his ability to convert material things into mana. At the moment, he only managed a low conversion percentage, but it was still significant and helped him have a large amount of mana at his disposal quickly.


    The conversion measure was more or less one meter of matter for one kilometer of natural mana in the environment. As he couldn¡¯t convert 100%, the measurement changed to around 400 meters. It was a large amount of mana. At the moment, he could only convert half a meter in a few seconds. It wasn¡¯t much, but... his spiritual sense was within 500 kilometers.


    If Kayden was able to convert all of these 500 kilometers into mana... he could probably leap a realm, even against people with seven lightning bolts. His strength would reach the highest level of his entire existence. At this moment, his body was at least 10 times faster and all of his functions improved to the same extent. It was a different world from the one he lived in before. Something else appeared to him as well.


    Kayden could feel a kind of special mana in the environment, quite different from anything he had ever seen before. This mana was around them and all people in the fifth realm, probably what made them demi-gods. It didn¡¯t take him even an hour to be able to put this mana into his attacks and... he saw an increase of more than ten times in the strength of his attacks. It was something ridiculously superior to anything he had ever seen.


    Divine Mana was capable of enhancing his attacks and spells to a completely different degree. This was why he was never able to beat someone from the fifth realm when he was in the fourth realm, even when fighting weak people of low lightning. The problem was that this man was in small quantity and took a long time to recover normally. Kayden could only boost a few spells before it ran out.


    It was a new mystery that he would have to learn to use, but at the moment that wasn¡¯t important. Kayden only had a century to go before he could become strong again, and he had two things to do. The first was to get your basic spells into the new realm. The second was to learn how to convert more mana with his mana and put that into his domain. In order of importance, raising his spells was the first thing.


    Kayden sat on the floor and began to think. His familiarity with his skills was extremely high. It took Kayden three decades to raise his aura slash and lightning to the fifth realm. His circles continued with the same functions, the only problem was that they were at a much weaker level about maximizing the strength of Kayden¡¯s attacks, but he knew this was predictable, as he only managed six rays.


    At this moment, Kayden began to study his domain and spiritual sense. After a full year, progress was excruciatingly slow. From half a meter, it rose to just an additional 0.5 meters. This wasn¡¯t something that bothered him, he just needed time. Twenty-four hours a day for decades, he just trained this increase. His speed didn¡¯t increase, nor did the amount of mana he got change.


    The decades began to pass quickly. In the blink of an eye, the century Eros promised Kayden passed. At this moment, Kayden could convert 35 meters into mana. These 35 meters were instantly converted into 7 kilometers of mana under Kayden¡¯s free control. It was a completely absurd amount. For the first time in a long time, Kayden felt afraid of himself. If he managed to transform all of his spiritual sense into a mana converter, he would reach a whopping 200,000 kilometers worth of mana. It was ridiculous, not even a mage in the sixth realm should have this ability, probably not even someone in the seventh realm could achieve something like that.


    Kayden, at that time, discovered another problem that he expected to face at some point. The amount of mana was free for him to use, but most of it was wasted, as his skills could not use so much mana. It was like using an entire river just to quench your thirst for a glass of water. Kayden had no desire in the matter. At some point, he would be able to solve this problem, at that point...


    "Kayden, come and change my mind." It was show time.


    Kayden went outside and saw Eros with hundreds of other people. Each of them was strong and gave off a unique aura. Not even a mage with less than seven lightning was present. Kayden was the only one. Without showing any emotion, Kayden rose into the sky and stood in the center of the castle. All eyes were on him. Most thought he was just a charlatan. He was only at the first level of the fifth realm after 100 years.


    "I ask that everyone delete their transmissions for a few minutes." Kayden¡¯s request seemed abusive and caused a stir among everyone, but after Eros nodded, everyone became quiet and accepted. Almost everyone. A few idiots just ignored orders and there was no way anyone could know that. This was probably one of the biggest mistakes they could have made in their lives.


    "I haven¡¯t managed to master it yet, but I believe it will be enough to show you." As soon as Kayden said that, he expanded his hold by a few meters. Anywhere his domain reached...


    Reality disappeared. The grass and trees were simply torn apart. No one could understand, as soon as their spiritual senses got close to Kayden, they were transformed into mana. S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "That¡¯s enough," Eros interrupted Kayden, his voice shaking. He wasn¡¯t just another idiot in this end of the world, he understood exactly what Kayden was doing and what the force behind it was. At this moment, they just remained silent. No one was speaking a word while Eros was thinking. The demigod was thinking exactly what he should do at that moment: kill Kayden or let him live.

 Chapter 344: A city

    At that moment, they were silent, no one was speaking a word as Eros thought. The demigod was pondering what he should do: kill Kayden or let him live. Eros¡¯s few interactions with Kayden were enough for him to understand a little of the boy¡¯s personality and... she was broken. Kayden wouldn¡¯t go against his promises but wasn¡¯t tied to anything.


    "I want a promise of divine mana that you will never turn against me," Eros said. Just as Kayden was about to respond...


    BOOM!


    The world seemed to collapse when a strong enough force was able to alter the lucky world¡¯s orbit. For the first time in millennia, a race turned against dragons and invaded one of their planets. In the area where Kayden was, only the castle survived.


    Everything else was planned and turned into pure mana. Trillions of people were killed instantly and converted into mana. Every structure was transformed into mana. Mountains were turned into mana. Rivers and seas were transformed into mana. Only the castle was in one piece in the middle of it all.


    The pressure from the being that was floating above everyone was unimaginable, and not even Kayden was able to stay on his feet. Everyone was on their knees on the floor. A being very similar to a human was floating in the skies.


    He was unique, and what made him even more unique was that his entire body was made of divine mana, which was constantly swaying around him. No matter how much everyone tried to look at him, it was impossible. They only saw a round, dense mass of divine mana, they couldn¡¯t even identify any signs of life or anything else. It was unique and special. He belonged to one of the most feared races in the universe.


    "Does one of the false gods think they have enough strength to invade my planet?" A huge dragon, in its true form, appeared above the false god. His body was larger than a solar system at this moment. If he didn¡¯t count his aura and other characteristics, his weight alone would be able to bend gravity like a black hole and destroy everything in several kilometers away. Its pressure released everyone who was on their knees on this surreally giant planet.


    "He¡¯s one of us. I¡¯m just here..." The false god stopped mid-sentence when he realized Kayden¡¯s true race. "I beg your forgiveness, god of dragons. My race will formally apologize for our mistake."


    This interaction did not last even a millisecond. Since Eros began his speech, no one was able to even blink before the situation ended. No one had any reaction as the dragon god¡¯s voice resounded to everyone.


    "Grow up, Kayden. Become much stronger than that or you will die as soon as you leave this planet." The dragon god¡¯s voice changed any thoughts of killing Kayden in Eros¡¯s mind.


    For the next few minutes, no one did anything at all. Their spiritual senses were free and everyone felt that there was nothing else around them. Everything disappeared with just a simple thought from a being far beyond his strength.


    The castle shook for a few seconds, and they found themselves in a completely different place. Life was flourishing beneath them. They were in a huge mountain range with yellow grass and large horses grazing.


    Any living being around was at least in the fifth realm. Only a few hatchlings and younger beings were in smaller kingdoms. The mana was also much denser and had something quite different: a huge amount of divine mana was present on all sides. This divine mana was what would make any mortal die in a few seconds.


    Only those born with a constitution prepared to withstand it were able to survive and quickly grow in power. Horses and other animals native to this area were capable of reaching the fifth realm within just a few decades of life, without any effort. Their bodies increased in level and realm by themselves.


    "Those with stealth capabilities, look for any traces of human civilization. The rest, just study the area and find a good place for us to put this castle." Eros quickly gave the orders when he saw that they were thrown into another zone. It wasn¡¯t perfect, but it was still a good starting plan. Everyone left in pairs so as not to have any chance of being caught by surprise. Only Kayden was ordered by Eros to go in and train his skills.


    Kayden didn¡¯t have any problem with that. He knew he was relatively weak at this point. He had to seize any opportunity to increase his strength. He was brought out of isolation about a year later. During this time, he tried to solve his problem of excess mana in his spells. He¡¯s made a lot of progress in that regard, but nothing really useful.


    What brought Kayden out of his seclusion was the presence of a wizard from the seventh kingdom, who pressured everyone to appear before him. During that year, the castle underwent major modifications and its membership was greatly reduced. The environment outside was much more hostile than they believed; Encountering beings in the sixth realm was ridiculously common, forcing them to live a life of scraps and advance little by little.


    A woman with black hair and yellow eyes was floating in the skies, watching the castle and all of its residents. It didn¡¯t take long for her to understand what exactly had happened.


    "How did you advance zones? Did a new portal open?" No one could face her because of the pressure. The one who responded was Eros.


    "Our zone was destroyed by a mysterious god. He put us here and we were trapped because of the amount of high-level beings around." The woman raised an eyebrow in surprise but understood that the man¡¯s words were true.


    "They are all great mages. Which of you would be willing to join our kingdom? We have techniques and resources, but mainly we have one of the few remaining civilizations in this zone." Incredible as it may seem, no one raised their hand. Everyone waited for Eros¡¯ orders.


    " We accept the offer." The woman nodded and everyone¡¯s vision flickered as they saw themselves floating over a huge mountain surrounded by walls.


    "You have come to the worst region possible. Animals multiply very quickly and grow in power many times faster than rational beings. There are few cities in the entire zone. Park your castle within the walls." Eros obeyed the woman and placed the castle in an open space.


    "We have many services that you can do. Just browse and choose the one that suits you best. In a few minutes, several organizations will come to recruit you. Good luck." With that, the woman disappeared, leaving them on the shores of the unknown.


    "Regardless of which place you choose, make this place your home. We have to trust only ourselves at this point." Eros just said that and waited. Within a few minutes, several sixth realm mages appeared.


    "Welcome to the city of refugees. I am the leader of the walls. Your service with me is very simple: you just have to defend the walls from monthly attacks without running away. The pay is low, but you are entitled to the spoils of defense." Kayden, without any fear, raised his hand and received a nod from the leader.


    "How frequent are the attacks and what is the mortality rate?" Kayden was direct with his questions.


    "We normally have two or three attacks a year. Mortality is low and only occurs when one of the defenders goes to an area that does not match their level of strength." Kayden just needed that to understand what he was going to do.


    He closed his ears to the next proposals and just waited. When it was time to vote, he joined the wall leader along with a few other people. Before disappearing completely, he released a message to Eros. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I will not forget the debt I owe you. When you need me, just find me." With that, he left. Eros didn¡¯t have any real power in there, at least at that moment. With his strength, he would rise to the top quickly.


    "We offer you room and board. Plus, we have some seniority bonuses. Most quit within a few years. It¡¯s exhausting work. Each of you will be assigned to one of the surrounding walls once we reach the command center." ." The leader was quiet for the rest of the trip.


    They arrived at a huge round structure with thousands of rooms and areas facing the defenders of the walls. The structure was made of a transparent and blue material, very similar to glass, but which did not allow anything to be seen through it. In front of the structure, three people were waiting for them. After a few words were exchanged, everyone was assigned to their respective places. Kayden was the only one who stayed with the woman with white hair and red eyes.

 Chapter 345: The wall

    Kayden was the only one assigned to stay with the white-haired, red-eyed woman. Her beauty was stunning, and she was in the sixth realm. Two fangs were evident in his dental arches, indicating his vampire race. Of what mixture or purity, Kayden had no idea, he just felt like she was constantly trying to influence him with those eyes.


    "Our division is the weakest. Our salary is the lowest and we have the least resources, but we are also the place for beginners, those at the low levels of the fifth kingdom. Your job is to stay on the walls ready to face any problem. You can cultivate or talk; attacks will be warned." After this explanation, the woman showed other places and their basic functions.


    The wall was mostly made up of people with strong fighting skills but had no real group organization. In case of attacks, everyone just had to do their best to defend the wall. Kayden quickly understood why. When someone reaches the fifth realm, they become unique in the entire universe, and finding people who can complement each other is extremely difficult. Only on the upper levels of the wall were there organized groups.


    They were offered a few days to familiarize themselves with the city and learn everything they could. Out of everyone, Kayden was the only one who refused and was placed directly on the wall. He met a few people and then completely isolated himself. Kayden just sat down and began studying his domain and expanding his abilities. He didn¡¯t even see time pass, only being woken up by a strong pulse of mana that passed through everyone on the wall.


    "An attack is on the way," a voice shouted. In a few seconds, Kayden saw thousands of horses appearing on the horizon. He stood up and stretched his body a little; It had been a long time since he fought. The horses were all in the fifth realm, with several different levels, but most were at the base of the fifth realm. Despite their high numbers, they had nothing to make Kayden fear.


    The horses had fire in their legs and their mouths constantly released waves of fire. As soon as they got closer, its nearly four-meter size was revealed. Kayden had to admit that the flaming white fur was impressive. He was one of the first to jump from the wall and start attacking. Kayden activated his domain and began to launch several aura circles, beams, and slashes, which passed through each of them.


    Kayden chose not to utilize his conversion skill and just pulled mana from nearly 500 kilometers around toward him. This range was far superior to anyone there, and so Kayden distributed the mana to those who needed it. His attacks were accurate, eliminating each opponent easily. Although his strength in a one-on-one fight might falter against one of these horses, he had room to move and choose the best moments to attack, which allowed him to make surgical strikes.


    His attention across the entire battlefield was impressive. Whenever someone was about to get hurt, he would step in and save the person from a major injury. At no point did he enter directly into the confrontation.


    That wasn¡¯t necessary either. Every person on that wall was terrifyingly strong. Only a few displaced people, who were likely to give up, were considered weak. The rest were carrying out a real massacre against animals.


    The battle seemed endless. Days passed, and Kayden finally understood why this was so exhausting. When the time reached two weeks, most had already left to rest and returned. Only Kayden continued without any hesitation.


    Finally, after a month of fighting, the battle ended. The field was destroyed, with thousands of carcasses. Some humans died, but they were all those who didn¡¯t measure their strength correctly. Kayden saved many of them over time, but eventually grew tired and let nature take its course. Kayden had never spent so long in a battle, and yet he didn¡¯t feel worn out at all.


    As soon as he stepped back onto the wall and tried to return to cultivation, he was stopped several times by dozens of people wanting to thank him for his help. This angered him, and he put up a sign saying he appreciated the thanks but was busy.


    A week after the attack, the division leader appeared in front of Kayden. He wasn¡¯t crazy enough to lose track of space in an unfamiliar environment and received her with a nod.


    "You did a great job. What do you think about leveling up and going to the next division?" Kayden expected to receive this proposal at some point. He didn¡¯t have great fighting capabilities in solo combat at the time, but in big battles, he was a huge help. S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "No thanks. I¡¯m still a few decades away from something I¡¯m studying," Kayden replied. The woman tried to convince him, but her words didn¡¯t change. He just thanked her and refused.


    After the fourth realm, the ranks decreased. In the fifth realm, there were only five levels. Laypeople could still go through nine levels, but newer methods demonstrated that they could compress the leaps in quality to five levels. At each level, he should condense and increase the density of divine mana in his body. The problem was that this would take a lot of time, and its focus was completely different. His path was a priority.


    Time began to pass quickly. Normally, anyone would leave this area of the wall in just a decade or two, either because they got a promotion or because they couldn¡¯t take the wear and tear. Kayden didn¡¯t leave. Slowly, he began to be recognized as a legend among defenders. The oldest wizard on the first wall was only three decades old, and Kayden was quickly approaching that level.


    The worst part was that he had no intention of leaving. It had been a few years since anyone had bothered him about it. His repeated refusals made something clear to everyone. Kayden was unable to solve the excess mana problem; its only success was to increase the conversion area. Almost a century later, he managed to achieve an average of 70 meters of conversion. His speed was not the same as before as he was focused on two things at once.


    This entire period made it considered one of the pillars of the first wall. Practically every defender knew about him or had already been saved by him. Kayden decreased the death rate on the first wall by a few folds. Furthermore, everyone understood that he was not to be disturbed. Kayden didn¡¯t respond or talk to anyone else. He was one of the most antisocial beings on the walls.


    He got up from where he was and began looking for anyone of authority on the wall. It didn¡¯t take long and he was facing the vampire who welcomed him years ago.


    "How can I help you, Kayden?" The woman was surprised by the appearance of this hermit; they hadn¡¯t exchanged a single word for centuries.


    "I wanted to use all the money I got over the years to buy some techniques on excess mana in spells and how to scale mana with strength," Kayden was blunt.


    He spent a lot of time on these walls and received a large amount of money from his salaries, but even more from the spoils he acquired over the years. There were dozens of battles.


    "Because of all the service you¡¯ve done for the wall, we¡¯ll arrange this for you. Just return to your position and wait until the end of the day," the woman replied. Kayden nodded his thanks and returned.


    Author¡¯s note: I never told you why I was in chaos, but it¡¯s very simple, I lost the love of my life, the person I loved most destroyed me completely, I lost 15kg by not eating, I haven¡¯t slept in weeks, if any One day you love someone more than you love yourself, you will understand what I went through and from the bottom of my heart I don¡¯t want any of you to go through this, I leave here my tribute to everyone who went through it and overcame it

 Chapter 346: As long as it takes

    A few hours later, several dozen scrolls appeared to Kayden. Each contained a good technique to use, and this moment reminded Kayden of his live broadcast. Their numbers fell to shallow values during these centuries. He left everything aside. Only a few people still accompanied Kayden, and only to see if anything impressive happened.


    His constant struggles in raids raised his numbers to more normal values, but they were still low, not even close to the peak he had in the past. Fortunately, it was not possible to drop in rank. Kayden received several techniques. Most were clear and very specific. He couldn¡¯t take anything directly from them, but he learned a little about the subject from each one. S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The process would be like many moments in his life: he would have to pave his path again and improve all his techniques with his knowledge. It was a much longer process, but in the end, it would result in a much greater power spike. Again, Kayden just sat back and repeated the cycle of the last few decades. His patience was infinite. As long as there was progress, he would continue doing the same thing. Even without progress, he would continue doing the same thing.


    It took Kayden about half a century to learn each of the techniques to an acceptable level. Time changed its value when he found himself in the fifth realm. Simple techniques from the fourth realm would only take a few months, while from the fifth realm, it took a few years.


    Each technique was specific to a type of spell. For example, one of them was about increasing the flames without any limit, using divine mana to burn other mana, and causing everything to be burned as fuel. Other techniques had similar or completely different methods. Kayden had two options at this point: improve his attacks and spells, or improve his circles so that they put the excess mana to work for him. He chose the second option, as his entire fighting style was based on this central point.


    Again, it took him a long time to achieve what he sought. It took about another century and a half before he managed to place his circles as something superior. At this time, Kayden placed his circles and mana passed through them before his attacks were launched. This created a disadvantage as he was no longer able to launch the attacks without the circles, at least not at full strength. Therefore, Kayden kept a few dozen circles on his body working at all times. Thus, when mana passed through them, his attacks were launched with strength corresponding to the amount of mana he put out.


    Kayden had to take a short leave of absence from his job to test his new skills. He flew a few kilometers away and placed some spells to break the spiritual senses reaching him. His attacks... became monstrous. When he utilized the full range of his spiritual sense and the conversion mana from his domain, he could launch an aura slash strong enough to split a mountain a few dozen kilometers long into two halves.


    This level of strength was completely bizarre. Kayden could probably stop one of the wall attacks alone with a well-used aura slash. His lightning also became immensely powerful. He managed to create a crater more than five kilometers long and some deep. He had two types of lightning attacks: a finely tuned one that caused more contained destruction, and another tangle of lightning that clashed in complete chaos and destroyed everything around.


    He also managed to increase his dominance to another level of quality. The circles left a few meters around him in total euphoria of mana and density. Any weak attack was automatically undone when they got close. Only attacks using divine mana were dangerous to Kayden; anything else couldn¡¯t even move an inch of its hold. Attacks were converted into mana and reused by him.


    Kayden did a few tests on her body. Most demonstrated that he was not able to just put in mana and expect there to be a corresponding increase; most of the time he only got a limited raise. He always used some techniques to camouflage his presence with fake mana that matched his body measurements. But with the circles, he just needed to place a few in an infinite cycle, and his entire domain would be transformed into a representation of him, at least in the first few hundred meters where he had greater control.


    Kayden was ready to go somewhere else and look for new things to do. But, again, he decided to be patient and hone his strength to a greater level. He would hope to reach a higher amount of meters that he was able to convert into mana. Perfection could not be rushed. Kayden had already become an icon in the city, and many knew him by name or because they had contact with him during the invasions. But the time he was going to spend now would make even the elders become novices in his eyes.


    Kayden spent an entire millennium in the same position, becoming the oldest man on the first and second walls. Only a few madmen from the third wall had spent more time in this place than him. The vampire who had been their leader a long time ago had already been changed twice. Every time a new leader arrived, he came to greet him. His long service created a certain invisible respect that everyone had for him.


    All of this happened unconsciously, as Kayden was just cultivating his skills and, at the same time, using attacks to train. It had been a few centuries since he had been able to get rid of more than half of his attackers by himself. Currently, he could instantly convert around 700 meters into mana, a very high number, equivalent to more than his entire spiritual sense in one attack.


    Kayden only performed one test with his full strength and was able to create a gash in the ground that went deeper than 30 kilometers and extended for almost 50 kilometers. The width of the cut was at least a kilometer. This monstrous attack caused a complete annihilation of the environment converted into mana: everything within a radius of 700 meters ceased to exist, from the air to living beings. His attack was so strong that it caught the attention of some hermits in the city, but Kayden managed to escape shortly after attacking. The leaders¡¯ hesitation, as they thought it was a trap, saved his life.


    Finally, Kayden became a true powerhouse of the fifth realm. He doubted that someone with seven lightning bolts would have a destructive ability as strong as his, and he wasn¡¯t even at his peak yet. Kayden still had a lot of points to grow in his mana conversion. Furthermore, he needed to learn how to utilize divine mana in his full-power attacks. When all of this was done, he would truly reach his peak in the fifth realm.


    "Are you resigning from the walls?" The current leader couldn¡¯t believe Kayden¡¯s words. The person in front of him had saved the image of all previous leaders with perfect results for centuries.


    "Yes, I want my full salary." Kayden didn¡¯t even know what the currency of this city was, but a few minutes later, dozens of gold coins containing an unknown man appeared to him. It was a mountain bigger than Kayden, practically a small fortune that most people wouldn¡¯t see in their lifetime, as they ended up spending their savings over time.


    After that, he walked around the city for a bit, and after a few questions, he found a huge library where all of the city¡¯s techniques were stored. Anyone could pay a fee and enter the library. The real price was hiring a librarian to help him, as the amount of books in this place was ridiculously large. A person could spend years in there and not know even 1% of everything.


    "Hello, dear customer, do you happen to need any help?" A woman appeared wearing the library uniform. Kayden asked for books about divine mana and paid the corresponding amount for the service.


    He made the right decision. It was placed on one of the library tables with around two hundred books in front of it, all extremely thick.


    "How many books are there in this library?" Kayden couldn¡¯t help but ask.

 Chapter 347: Big but not invincible

    Kayden thanked the woman and began reading the books in the library. Without rest, he read all 200 books and tested some of his theories with divine mana. This reading process took about two months, as the knowledge was scattered without any real connection.


    Upon testing the divine mana, Kayden realized how impressive it was. Easily, divine mana could make up for any deficiency in a technique, making its aura slashes incredibly powerful and fast. He was looking for a way to ascend to the sixth realm at a level much higher than his current one. To do this, he needed to do something different from everyone else. The normal method was to condense divine mana within his body and core, a balance between the two types of mana, with normal mana being the majority. However, Kayden had no difficulty manipulating divine mana, and within a few years, he mastered divine mana on the same level as normal mana.


    After finishing studying and learning everything he could at the library, Kayden searched for his next job. He knew he needed new opportunities and to feel his life threatened again to grow. Kayden looked for some hunting group outside the city, believing they existed somewhere. He was recognized in every corner of the city, and the news that he had abandoned the wall had already spread. In less than an hour, dozens of organizations reached out to him.


    Kayden refused all offers, including inner city defense, merchant groups, and even some gangs. Then, a woman dressed in animal skins that exuded terrifyingly strong auras appeared before him. She had brown hair, red eyes, and fox ears, features that made it clear that she was not human. His aura was at the sixth realm and seemed ready to face any challenge immediately.


    "Mister Kayden, I represent the hunters¡¯ guild. We are an organization that operates throughout the area. I would like to extend an invitation to you to meet our organization," said the woman.


    Kayden accepted the proposal immediately. The conversation was so quick that the woman remained silent for a few seconds before understanding Kayden¡¯s response. Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Good! My name is Minerva. You will be part of my team for now. We lost a member against the mountain horses," Minerva explained.


    Kayden was taken to an isolated area in the city. It was a three-story house with rune protection, privacy spells, and alarm, more protected than the walls where he had worked for years. By putting some divine mana into his spiritual sense, Kayden was able to see everything inside the house, a silly trick, but one that required very high control over the mana.


    Minerva noticed what Kayden did and was surprised. She was ordered to recruit him because he was special, but when she met him, she felt nothing that would put him on a pedestal. He found its six rays somewhat mediocre. Inside the house, Kayden noticed the presence of three other people, all identical to Minerva, but in the fifth realm. They dressed the same and looked the same.


    "They¡¯re my younger sisters. Don¡¯t get the wrong idea, none of them have had any prolonged contact with men," Minerva said, and Kayden just nodded. As soon as they entered, the three came to see what was happening.


    "Who is he, Minerva?" asked one of them.


    "The new member of our team for now," replied Minerva.


    The three were surprised by this sentence.


    "Hello, I¡¯m Kayden Heart," Kayden introduced himself politely.


    None of the three took him seriously, as they didn¡¯t know his fame or respect the strength of someone with six rays.


    "Luiza."


    "Maria."


    "Kamila."


    His greetings were curt, but Kayden didn¡¯t mind at all. He had already been through so many experiences that he didn¡¯t even care about such superfluous things.


    "Let¡¯s leave immediately and tackle some smaller beast spots so Kayden can get used to the team," Minerva ordered, and everyone flew out of the city.


    Kayden knew there was a high chance he would never return to this place again. Although he spent a lot of time there, the city meant nothing to him. He didn¡¯t even look back as they flew.


    It didn¡¯t take long for them to encounter a group of ten horses from the fifth realm and one horse from the sixth realm. Kayden has had little contact with opponents from this realm. Minerva immediately jumped the strongest horse and left the rest to them. All the women wore double daggers and fought using dark spells, their blades bathed in a ghastly black fire. Kayden just watched as they fought, understanding their strengths.


    The women were strong, making it clear that they had many experiences in their lives. They were not fighters unaccustomed to risking their lives. In just a few minutes, they cleaned all the horses without much difficulty. Kayden only helped in some moments with accurate attacks that prevented them from getting hurt or getting into a bad situation. Other than that, he did not directly enter the battle.


    "He makes good support even though he¡¯s so weak," Maria commented with a nod.


    "He supported tens of thousands on the walls. He has some experience," replied Minerva, commenting on the three as if Kayden didn¡¯t exist. The boy didn¡¯t care.


    Over the next few days, they continued at a rapid pace, only stopping for a few hours a day. This was perfect for Kayden to train using divine mana and everything he had learned over the years. The fights became increasingly fierce, and Kayden had to start giving everything he had to survive. Most opponents were already at the third level of the fifth realm, and yet he was still able to match up.


    His relationships with the four women were somewhat exotic. They treated Kayden as if he didn¡¯t even exist in the group. They tried to include him in the first few days, but the boy didn¡¯t care about social contact and didn¡¯t react to any provocation from them.


    Time passed quickly. Before Kayden knew it, they spent a year outside the cities, hunting animals everywhere. They flew thousands and thousands of kilometers without any sign of another rational being.


    "We¡¯re going to enter a city in the next few days. It has a huge coliseum for life-or-death fights worth all the opponent¡¯s wealth. Take advantage of this opportunity and don¡¯t die," explained Minerva, detailing a few more points of where they would go and what the situation was like. city organization.


    The only problem was that on the way they would pass through one of the craziest spots in this area, a place called False Mountains. This name was because mountains measuring dozens of kilometers were, in fact, turtles of the fifth kingdom. These were some of the greatest beings in the fifth realm. It didn¡¯t make sense for something this big to exist in a low realm, its energy consumption was ridiculously high, and this caused the thousands of kilometers around it to have a very low mana density.


    Another problem was that these beasts were more difficult to face than an opponent in the sixth realm. Their bodies were very large and capable of taking a ridiculous amount of damage. Furthermore, his attacks were corporal and carried the weight of a mountain.


    "Lots of divine mana!" shouted Maria as soon as they stepped into the False Mountains. For some reason, the lack of normal mana was suppressed with divine mana, and in a much higher quantity than normal.


    "Be careful, keep your spiritual sense collected." Minerva was visibly nervous; she knew that if they angered a mountain in the sixth kingdom, everyone would probably leave that place dead.


    The walk was peaceful for several hundred kilometers, practically nothing happened, but... in a moment, it was as if the sun had disappeared, as one of the mountains rose and grew a few kilometers just by standing.


    The beast¡¯s spiritual sense was crazy and it came directly towards Kayden¡¯s group. Everyone froze for a few seconds. Minerva reacted quickly and already knew what she had to do.


    "If I use any force, I will wake up some sixth-realm beast. You¡¯ll have to run in different directions and hope she doesn¡¯t go too far chasing one of you...."


    "Are they scared?" Kayden¡¯s voice interrupted Minerva, who remained silent for a few seconds without knowing what to do.


    "Yes, it¡¯s unlikely that one of them will get involved in a fight again. She must just be at a bad point in her life." Kayden gave a wave and began to take to the skies smiling.


    His domain expanded and began pulling all the normal mana from over 500 kilometers towards him. Divine mana also came in high quantity. Kayden had so much mana around him that he looked like a blue ball in the sky.


    His attitude took his group by surprise. He never did anything strange or disobeyed any orders, so everyone just watched Kayden pull mana like a vortex and, suddenly, they heard a sentence.


    "Your existence is no longer necessary." With Kayden¡¯s sentence, the surrounding matter began to fall apart, whether it was the air itself or the earth on the ground, everything was torn apart and turned into mana.

 Chapter 348: Benefits and women, a centuries-old habit

    The amount of mana that appeared to Kayden increased several times. A circle began to form with all the mana around it; It was an intense and impressive blue. All the divine mana went into the circle.


    Kayden released an aura slash that passed through the circle and... some points in space became sensitive and showed signs of rupture as the attack increased to tens of kilometers and crossed the entire distance of a few kilometers in less than 1 second.


    BOOOOM!


    An explosion sound came as the mountain was cut into two halves. It was so fast that there wasn¡¯t even time for the creature to scream. The beast¡¯s blood was iron in liquid form that began to flow everywhere.


    It was one of the most incredible sights anyone had ever seen. There were dozens of kilometers of pure rock and falling earth, it seemed like an omen of the end of the world. A huge wave of dust rose and flew everywhere.


    Silence prevailed in the area as everyone assessed what just happened. Kayden was pleased with the strength of his attack; he could throw one of these every 30 minutes. The main problem was getting the natural mana to recover, as the matter was calm for Kayden to continue forcing the mana conversion.


    The four women looked at Kayden with wide eyes. That quiet person who never expressed any annoyance just took down a giant like it was nothing. How many times did they have to save Kayden¡¯s ass?


    As Kayden descended, the silence became even more palpable. No one knew how to react to the boy who everyone considered weak in a certain way. They were sure they wouldn¡¯t be able to launch such a strong attack.


    "We can move on now," Kayden commented when no one spoke.


    "Why did you hide your strength?" Kamila asked the question that was on everyone¡¯s mind in this place.


    "I didn¡¯t hide it, I just didn¡¯t need to use it. This was just a great time to test my strength," Kayden said with sincerity that everyone felt.


    Kayden seemed to pique everyone¡¯s curiosity and received dozens of questions. His tone was neutral and his responses were monosyllabic. This did not dampen the women¡¯s interest and the entire way was full of questions.


    They were like all rational beings, captivated by power like flies are called to the light of a fire, a completely natural and pathetic reaction of ordinary people.


    A few hours later, they saw a city built on the coast of one of the false mountains. Huge walls made of bones rose, separating the inside from the outside. The city was about a few hundred kilometers long and had millions of people.


    "How long are we going to spend in there?" Kayden asked before entering. He hoped it would be something quick.


    "I will need ten years, as I will attempt a risky level advancement," Minerva said what Kayden feared most. It didn¡¯t even take him 5 seconds to understand everything he needed to do.


    "I¡¯ll stay outside. In a few years, we met," Kayden didn¡¯t give either of them time to respond and just floated toward the mountains.


    "Hey! You can¡¯t leave like that," Maria wanted to go after Kayden, but Minerva stopped her.


    "Just let him go. In ten years we will meet again."


    His main enemy at that time was other rational beings, which is why he floated thousands of kilometers in disconnected directions to avoid unwanted contact. He only left for one reason.


    The amount of divine mana that was around him was perfect for his plan to cultivate using only divine mana, it was too good an opportunity for him to pass up. Kayden found a nice clearing and sat above a lake.


    Normally, an ordinary person should take around 50 years for each level of the fifth realm; geniuses achieved this advancement in just 10 years, and very special ones were able to do so in less than five years. The fifth realm wasn¡¯t something very difficult to pass, it just depended on how easily familiar you were with divine mana. Kayden¡¯s former wife, for example, passed the fifth realm in just 10 years, but she was one of the biggest exceptions there was.


    Kayden was circulating divine mana in his body and frame and realized how strong divine mana truly was. It was capable of destroying many points of his foundation that were unable to withstand the pressure of divine mana. For every day he spent pouring divine mana into his body, he felt stronger. It was a completely bizarre progress that he had never felt before; it was intoxicating and addictive.


    Kayden¡¯s strategy had been the same for as long as he could remember: maximizing every little detail, not advancing until he reached true perfection at the level he was at. Using divine mana, this was a little more difficult. The divine mana was volatile and improved his structure very quickly. The problem was that the improvement was too crude and general; the small details were difficult to overcome. Kayden didn¡¯t have enough mastery for that.


    Yet...


    ************


    "Hey! It¡¯s me, don¡¯t attack." Kayden had already recognized Kamila a few minutes ago, but he still preferred to attack rather than be caught by surprise.


    "What you want?" The girl appeared in Kayden¡¯s vision and the two made eye contact, emotions on one side and complete emptiness on the other.


    The woman looked at Kayden for a few seconds, and her cheeks turned red. Her silence began to bother Kayden, who decided to start cultivating again and ignore her.


    "Hey! Do not ignore me." Kayden¡¯s attitude irritated her a little.


    "I¡¯m busy. What do you want?" Kayden asked the same question without opening his eyes or stopping his cultivation.


    "I want you to be my husband." The phrase caught Kayden by surprise, and Kamila shouted it with some embarrassment and additional blush on her face.


    "I¡¯m not interested. What can you offer me?" Kayden remembered his last marriage and being protected and supported was a very good thing.


    "I?" Kayden received this response and almost rolled his eyes.


    "It is not enough. Where I come from, the person making the offer must deliver something of equal value." Kayden spat out some lies as if they were the greatest truth in the world.


    "I am a princess from off this planet, I am only 50 years old and have the potential for eight rays." Kayden almost laughed. Potential for eight spokes? Is someone just fifty years old? This was almost a joke.


    "That¡¯s not enough. What resources can you offer me?" Kayden didn¡¯t want false promises.


    "Do you know what the title of princess is?" Kayden didn¡¯t know, but in the universe royalty were only those with the ability to command a few dozen solar systems.


    "I don¡¯t mind." Kayden opened his eyes and looked directly at her. "I am Kayden, I am over two millennia old and will probably spend over 10 millennia in the fifth realm. You are young and in a few centuries, you will already be in the seventh kingdom. We don¡¯t have any future together. What I can offer you are carnal relations and a fake husband for a few years."


    Kayden¡¯s sentence was like a bolt of lightning in the girl¡¯s head. She had no idea that Kayden was so old nor that he would stay that long in one of the easiest realms to overcome on the path of cultivation.


    Kayden¡¯s last sentence made her turn and run away. She was still very young and could not make rational decisions easily. In a way, she was going through the experience of having her first crush, the problem was that it was with Kayden.


    A few days later, Kayden was still cultivating in the same position. It was late at night, and his spiritual sense caught an attacker at one end. It didn¡¯t take long for him to identify who it was.


    "Have you made your decision?" Kayden asked before she could say any words.


    "I accept your proposal for a few years. I will offer you my family¡¯s unique divine mana techniques and how to use mana to temper your body." Kayden was interested in the proposal. S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I accept."


    "Prove your words. Unite our bodies tonight." Kayden smiled to himself when he saw Kamila¡¯s emotional eyes. He had done this before, and this time it would be no different.


    "Come into my arms, my love."


    ************


    The techniques Kayden received... were completely surreal. The way divine mana was handled was completely insane. The divine mana could be used to tidy up your base and...


    Create it.


    The divine mana was strong enough to fix all the defects in his base and create what he hadn¡¯t done yet. He just needed to compress the divine mana and let it destroy a few points; the remaining divine mana would do the rest.


    Author¡¯s note: I¡¯m relatively better, next month we¡¯ll be back with the bonus chapters, whoever can sign the privilege I¡¯ll be grateful, the price will be 125 stones.

 Chapter 349: A philosophy of life

    Another thing about the techniques was converting his body¡¯s natural mana absorption into a natural divine mana absorption. This was completely spectacular, as the divine mana was able to recover from injuries and psychological fatigue. The problem was that this was a very difficult thing to do. The method worked based on shock therapy and divine mana overload. It was a quick method, but the problem was that it needed someone else to do it, something Kayden didn¡¯t have at his disposal.


    Kayden found all the benefits of divine mana very impressive. He could easily understand the gulf between the fourth and fifth realms; divine mana was superior in every possible way. His structure received many benefits, but he felt like he was losing control in some ways. Many changes seemed to be better for him and directly increased his strength, but it was not comfortable for him.


    He has always been someone obsessed with control and following his path, opening up every little detail on his own. Each of his techniques was invented by him, all were developed over millennia for his use. So what did Kayden do? It destroyed anything in his foundation that he didn¡¯t like. Has your strength fallen? Yes, but his total control was there again. Maybe in the end the result would be the same, but he would arrive alone.


    Time began to pass quickly. Kayden continued seeing Kamila and saw the woman becoming more and more attached to him. Every few months, he would receive something of immeasurable value from the woman, and in return, he only had to give her fake attention and love.


    It took Kayden nine years of building and destroying his base to advance to the second level of the fifth realm. Right now, his heart was no longer his main core; he just was a mana nuke. The process of advancement was not at all similar to their other realms. This time, there was no pain or any negative sensation. His body just became filled with divine mana and all the veins in his body began to burst from the excess.


    When he chose the method of advancement to the fifth realm, Kayden also decided the entire path he would take in the next realm. He chose his path as the basis of his existence and not its core. This meant that the advances would not improve his core and body. This was something he had to do on his own and over the years. His cultivation base at the moment was the crown in his mind. She was responsible for all his strength.


    After circulating his mana for a long time and changing his crown little by little, Kayden managed to understand what needed to be done. It was a very smooth progress compared to everything he¡¯s been through. The divine mana came very close to killing his mind. As his path was the foundation, his mind was the structure of everything, so divine mana invaded his mentality and infected everything it could. At least that¡¯s what she tried, but Kayden just had to maintain more control, and, with a little time, he altered something on her crown.


    A jewel appeared at the end of the crown. It was an intense, shiny gold. The color was probably because he had only used divine mana in his advancement. His strength grew a lot with just one level. He gained an additional 300 meters in his mana conversion domain. At this point, Kayden reached a full 1 kilometer. This meant that he instantly got the equivalent of 400 kilometers of mana for his use.


    In some ways, Kayden was one of the oldest fifth-realm people who ever existed. Only those who were sacrificial mages or also pursued something greater spent so much time in this realm. All the time he invested was not wasted. He spent centuries searching for perfection, and when he advanced, he was at the perfect peak of the first level. This guaranteed him many advantages.


    His spiritual sense grew by around 100 kilometers and his control over divine mana grew even greater. He still wasn¡¯t able to use it over long distances, but it slightly increased the amount he could pull at once. The only problem was that his body was falling behind. He did not receive any increase in physical strength in this advancement. This was something he needed to change, but it wasn¡¯t his priority at the moment, as he knew he couldn¡¯t be perfect in all things.


    Kayden was returning to the city along with Kamila. Finally, the time has come for them to leave this place. He could spend centuries inside, but he knew that only flowers could grow in greenhouses.


    "Kayden, you¡¯ve been in seclusion for a few years now," Minerva commented when she saw that the boy had only advanced one level in all this time. She particularly expected a little more.


    All three girls were at the absolute peak of the fifth realm and barely needed ten years to do so. Minerva brushed that aside. No matter how genius Kayden was, he couldn¡¯t keep up with princesses from the real universe.


    "We are going to the glaciers to fight golden bears. Its flesh is useful for advancing from the fifth realm as it has large amounts of divine mana. Each of them is born in the fourth realm and reaches the fifth in just a few months. Furthermore, they are one of the strongest creatures in this zone," Minerva began to explain as they flew in one direction.


    All these years, Kayden thought about who exactly these girls were, and his answer came naturally. They were from some extremely strong organization on the outside, enough to influence this planet.


    Kayden didn¡¯t believe in coincidences. If he met these people at this point in his life, it was for a reason. He would probably never find out, but he would take advantage of this opportunity with all his might.


    The trip was relatively uneventful. It took them 3 years to reach the location. There were many battles in the meantime. Kayden was also able to continue cultivating and improving his base during this period.


    The group¡¯s strength was at its peak. Kayden was no longer able to face the girls directly, at least not without giving it his all, and even then, he could only kill one or two of them. In its normal state, it was surpassed by several folds.


    The relationship between Kayden and Kamila didn¡¯t stay hidden for long, especially with a mage from the sixth kingdom and centuries of experience between them. The women¡¯s reaction was first of shock and then of curiosity.


    "Since when?"


    "Who started it?"


    "What do you guys plan?"


    Unlike a male-based culture, these women came from a more egalitarian society that leaned toward women. This meant that they did not demand explanations from Kayden, but rather from Kamila.


    It was just a few awkward days and weeks, but after that, everyone accepted this couple. It became easier when they understood that it would be temporary, as Kayden didn¡¯t plan on keeping up with Kamila¡¯s speed of progress.


    They were all around a fire inside a house that Kayden took out of the space ring like it was no big deal. They had just faced a battle against electric eels. His flesh was capable of improving the body naturally.


    "You know that they will all advance to the sixth realm in the Arctic, right? What are your plans for later?" Minerva asked Kayden.


    "I would like to follow you to the next city, after that we can say goodbye", Kayden already knew that would happen.


    "Why don¡¯t you move forward? We can wait a few years," Minerva knew Kayden was weak, but the boy was special. He had something that made him unique, but no one could say exactly what it was.


    "What¡¯s the hurry? I still have millennia to reach another level. Perfection cannot be rushed," Kayden replied like an old man. sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "How old are you, Kayden?" Minerva was only a millennium old and she was someone who pursued perfection at every turn. In a way, she was quite old among the princesses and her punishment was to take care of her younger sisters.


    "I¡¯m not sure, two millennia and a few centuries," Kayden¡¯s response made all four women cough like mere mortals.


    "Your strength is that of a genius, even if right now you seem a little weaker than you should be. Why are you so old?" Maria asked the question everyone was thinking about and received a philosophical lecture from Kayden.


    Kayden smiled slightly, looking at the dancing fire before responding. "The search for perfection is a long and lonely path. Many seek power quickly, but few understand the depth of true cultivation. Every detail, every flaw, every small adjustment... it all takes time. Time that most are not willing to invest. I chose my path, and it is paved with patience and understanding. Perfection is not something that can be achieved in a hurry but with dedication and persistence. If it took me millennia to get to where I am, it¡¯s because I refused to accept anything less than the best of myself."

 Chapter 350: Time

    "You just want to advance quickly under pressure from your society. They want to be on the same level as all the other geniuses. You are in an invisible competition against other people," said Kayden, not knowing that this phrase would be the pillar of a new organization outside the universe. "But that¡¯s idiotic. In a tournament with a billion people, you only have one opponent. Against the entire universe, you have only one opponent. In the end, it¡¯s just you against you. If you have ten thousand years of longevity, take advantage of each day to reach your best."


    Kayden¡¯s sentence brought a deep silence to the group. Of the four girls, only Minerva understood what he said, as she was one of the only ones who tried to do what Kayden said.


    "It¡¯s a beautiful thought, but life isn¡¯t that beautiful," Maria commented, and the others agreed. Kayden just stayed quiet. Some things in life cannot be taught, only learned through experience.


    A few minutes later, they continued their journey, and time passed again. Kayden thought it was incredible how big this planet was, as they were able to travel for years and still not reach any type of barrier.


    "How big are the zones?" Kayden asked Minerva during one of their breaks. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Small planets," Minerva replied, without providing further details. Kayden didn¡¯t ask any more questions, as he had no idea how big a small planet was.


    The trip took a total of two full years to complete. Kayden learned a lot during this time and tried new things. It was one of the most tumultuous and peaceful periods of his life. It was chaos to live fighting, but it was also an overwhelming peace to always be improving and hunting for treasures, even more so while surrounded by beautifully created natural scenes.


    "Golden bears are not difficult to find, but they travel in large groups. I will deal with those in the sixth realm using an artifact. You have to survive and kill as many as you can in 10 minutes", explained Minerva. In just a few minutes, they encountered a group with three bears in the sixth realm and two dozen in the fifth realm. Each beast was about four or five meters long.


    They emanated a wild and primitive aura. Its claws were black and contrasted with its golden fur. It was a beautiful thing to see. His hair was smooth and well-groomed, appearing to have been woven by hand, one by one.


    "Get ready," said Minerva, taking a round metal ball without any accessories from her space ring and throwing it at the bears. Instantly, she and the other three sixth realm bears disappeared into thin air.


    Kayden immediately activated his domain and began pulling all the mana he could into it. At the moment, I hadn¡¯t used the conversion yet, as this was a final trick for times of need.


    The three women went towards the bears like crazy. They were strong and their egos were high. Kayden kept his distance and chose how he would fight. After seeing each of them being pushed away as if they were nothing by the strength of the bears, he decided to throw some specific cuts.


    Kayden condensed his attacks and increased divine mana in them. His speed and strength reached an absolute peak. The spell was thrown directly into the animals¡¯ eyes. Most managed to defend or dodge at a speed that didn¡¯t match their size.


    The remaining ones had their vision completely obstructed, and the snow desert kings felt one of the greatest pains of their lives. They were beings who were used to ruling and didn¡¯t have much contact with pain.


    The beasts¡¯ fur began to glow, and Kayden felt a foreboding, which only increased when he saw the bears¡¯ speed increase several folds. Fortunately, the girls in their group could keep up with this speed.


    Kayden had never really noticed how strong they were. His daggers were all a black shade. The bears weren¡¯t able to put them back, at least in the first few minutes. But for every minute that passed, Kayden saw the signs of fatigue.


    It was very similar to the spells he used in the past to bring his body to a greater level of strength. They were great, but they came at a cost over time. These bears were far superior to mages in the fifth realm. Kayden could feel a very high concentration of divine mana in his fur.


    Kayden began simulating hundreds of mana points identical to his and pitting them against the bears. This resulted in none of them being able to directly recognize where their opponents were. Only those with their vision intact were capable, and those were few after so many minutes of being bombarded.


    The problem with this fight is that it was obvious to Kayden that they had no chance of winning. Each bear was a unique powerhouse. It would take a long time for them to isolate one of the bears and kill them.


    The minutes began to pass. One of the first injuries appeared on Maria when one of her arms was completely crushed by a simple stomp from the bears. The other two women saved her from dying, but the damage was already done.


    "Stand back, I¡¯ll buy you some time," Kayden said, starting to convert everything around him into mana and using as much divine mana as he could. Instantly, the amount of mana around him reached an absurd value.


    When the three women retreated, he released dozens of aura attacks at a completely ridiculous level. Each attack was heavy enough to send the bears flying a few meters away.


    Along with his slashes, he released a sort of smoke made of pure mana. It was a simple trick, but it would confuse the senses of all animals as it destroyed any spiritual sense for a time.


    "It¡¯s time for you guys to pull your best techniques out of your hat," muttered Kayden as he saw that his efforts only bought a minute and a few seconds. The women nodded.


    The three had an increase in aggressiveness in their auras, and their body techniques were further expanded. Kayden could feel the surrounding divine mana being drawn into their bodies to a ridiculously high degree.


    This time, they managed to inflict several deep wounds on the bears and they didn¡¯t even seem to be trying very hard. Kayden only recovered during this period; He didn¡¯t have much to do.


    The scenery around them was destroyed. The snow and small trees were turned into mana by Kayden. At this moment, there was only black earth on the ground and no other signs of matter; not even air was available in the room.


    "You have done enough", Minerva¡¯s voice appeared in the room, and all the bears of the fifth kingdom fell to the ground lifeless, their bodies untouched. The woman appeared at a very anticlimactic moment, as the four were not yet at a point of despair.


    "Finally," Maria mumbled, sitting down on the floor to rest. The other two went to poke the bears to see if they were dead. Minerva was a very unique mage; It would be difficult for irrational beings to escape their spells.


    "Kayden, you can have two bears. Use one with us and save the other for the future." Kayden accepted as he had no direct role in the slaughter. Over the next few minutes, they organized a huge bonfire.


    "How are we going to eat it whole?" Kamila asked Minerva, unable to understand. Over the next few minutes, the meat was ready, and Minerva began to explain a little more about the bears.


    "The divine mana in your bodies is ridiculously abundant, enough for you to easily eat a few kilos of meat. It should only take a day for each bear." The smell of the meat was wonderful.


    Kayden remembered eating good things like this in the past but without divine mana. Together with his ex-wife, he tried the best delicacies that an entire solar system could offer.


    "You can start." At Minerva¡¯s words, Kayden was the only one who started cutting parts of the bear and eating it without any hesitation. Divine mana invaded his body instantly.


    She was a violent and active mana. In seconds, he changed dozens of things about Kayden¡¯s base and began to improve his body structure. Even his heart was improved. It had been so many years since Kayden had paid attention to the mana heart.


    Some changes Kayden didn¡¯t like and just removed them from his body. The divine mana was only there to assist him. This was a good time for him to correct the difference between his physical and ranged attacks.


    The divine mana lasted a few minutes in his body and he soon had to eat more meat, the girls ate at a much slower speed, they had much greater knowledge about divine mana than Kayden, but in terms of control, they were very far away.

 Chapter 351: A new phase

    The divine mana lasted a few minutes in his body and soon Kayden had to eat more meat. The girls ate much slower; they had much greater knowledge about divine mana than Kayden, but in terms of control, they were far behind.


    Every few pounds of meat saved Kayden years of isolated cultivation in a place with high amounts of divine mana. He finally understood why these bears were so special.


    "Kayden, take it easy or you could end up dying from poisoning", warned Minerva, receiving only silence in response. Kayden was focused entirely on his bear.


    His strength grew every few minutes. He left his aura completely open at that moment and Minerva felt one of the most frightening foundations she had ever witnessed, along with a deep aura.


    Kayden¡¯s base was immaculate and felt incredibly stable. Minerva couldn¡¯t find any mistakes, it was as if she had been polished millennia ago. After thinking for a while, he concluded that this was it.


    Kayden¡¯s aura was deep and clean, it seemed like the weight of a mountain without any feeling, without negative or positive emotion like that of most living beings; it was just a solid aura emanating in the surroundings.


    It took Kayden just nine hours to finish the huge bear and eat more than a ton of meat. It was enough for him to reach the peak of the second level of the fifth realm. Not only that, his body returned to a great level, still not the same as before, but enough for him to put on a few body modification circles without dying.


    "You¡¯re a little monster, Kayden", Minerva could only say these words while observing a being dozens of times weaker than him, but with absurd potential.


    "I¡¯m just another person in the universe," Kayden replied humbly, beginning the process of leveling up.


    Again, mana invaded his mind and body violently, attacking Kayden¡¯s mentality in every possible way. He just needed to keep circling and focusing on his crown.


    Progress was faster than on the first level, as he now knew what to do. A few minutes later, another jewel appeared at the opposite end of the first, also golden.


    "Congratulations on your advancement, Kayden. Get some rest now and¡­" Minerva was unable to continue speaking as Kayden interrupted her.


    "Don¡¯t worry, my foundation is already solid." Kayden went after another bear and started grooming it. That was one of the benefits of having perfect levelness; he didn¡¯t need to wait to continue advancing.


    The next bear brought Kayden back to the peak of the level he was at. Minerva watched in shock as Kayden ate part by part and grew in power at breakneck speed.


    This, in his view, was a monster, a true monster. All this time, she thought Kayden was just an unknown genius, but with every second, she became convinced that she was seeing someone who would shake this universe to its core if he could achieve his goals. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    It would take him a long time before he came into his own. Minerva would probably be able to ascend to the divine level before Kayden reached the eighth realm, and that was an absolute certainty considering her way of living.


    In just a few hours, Kayden was able to move forward again and place another jewel inside her crown. This time, the golden jewel was on the same side as the first. At that moment, Kayden sat down to understand what he had achieved.


    It was at this very moment that the three women¡¯s ascension process began, but Kayden was too focused to pay attention. He continued focusing on his spiritual sense and feeling its improvements.


    His body has improved tremendously. In the past, his magical strength was twice his physical strength. At this point, it was about 75%. It was a huge increase, still not enough for him to fight hand-to-hand, but at some point it would be useful.


    His spiritual sense grew by 200 kilometers, reaching the insane mark of 800 kilometers. Kayden was at a completely absurd level at that moment. Minerva, for example, was around 1500 kilometers, while the Fifth Kingdom girls were only 500 kilometers.


    Probably, his path and all his specializations made him have a much greater spiritual sense than usual. Kayden should reach 1500 if he does everything right for the entire fifth kingdom.


    Your conversion rate also grew to the same extent as before. His strength and amount of mana almost doubled in just a few hours. At this level, Kayden believed he could kill a bear alone with just one attack.


    The problem would be running from the rest and being able to get to the body, which made him give up on the idea of staying in that place alone. Kayden continued testing his improvements and let go of the entire situation around him.


    At least that¡¯s what he did for a few hours, but in a moment, he felt something unique. Their eyes opened in time to see the seventh ray of the ascension process falling and destroying absolutely everything around them.


    For hundreds of kilometers, everything was turned upside down. The strength of this attack showed signs of rupturing space itself, a gift that only those in the sixth realm could fully master. Messing with space was one of the hardest things there was.


    What attracted him was not the strength and incredible damage of the seventh ray, which didn¡¯t even hold two seconds of his thought. It was the clouds above Kayden. He had never been able to feel it before, but now...


    Everything was divine mana. Every inch of the clouds was made of divine mana. The pressure from the clouds was even greater than at any time in his life, as he was able to feel exactly what was above him.


    There was probably more divine mana in these clouds than on the entire planet. Kayden didn¡¯t know where this intuition came from, but he was sure he was right. This was incredible and, at the same time, scary.


    Kayden didn¡¯t even see the three women descending from the heavens with all the aura of someone in the sixth realm; he was lost in thought. It took him a while to come out of them and was only awakened by a touch of Minerva¡¯s mana.


    "Congratulations on your advancement, girls," Kayden said with a perfect smile, receiving congratulations on her advancements as well.


    "Let¡¯s go to the Arctic city, also known as the gate to this zone. Few people are in the seventh realm in this zone, as there is a crow that hunts any living being in the newly advanced seventh realm. So let¡¯s move on to the next zone." Kayden didn¡¯t know this information and mentally thanked Minerva.


    This time, the trip was much faster. Instead of lasting a few years, it was made in just three months. It only took so long because they stopped now and then to fight beasts in the sixth realm, something Kayden was not able to participate in. He could, but it wasn¡¯t good to reveal himself that much.


    They finally reached the city after a short while. The city was within a circle of mountains. In the snow-filled environment, a green city without any snow stood up, with trees and grass beautifully different from the norm.


    There was a much larger concentration of people in the sixth realm in this location; in fact, about 75% of people. The rest were in the fifth realm and Kayden was able to feel a ridiculously strong aura that made it clear that she was in the seventh realm.


    "I have some friends here, Kayden. Come with us and we¡¯ll find a place for you to stay for a while." Kayden was grateful for Minerva¡¯s offer and readily accepted.


    They flew over the trees after undergoing a small seventh realm sweep through their bodies. In just a few minutes, they arrived at some kind of large academy, at least that was what Kayden felt when he saw thousands of children and teenagers in the lower realms.


    Minerva led them directly into the huge rustic building made of redwood. The details were few and made mainly of flowers and redwood. The building was a few kilometers long and had a few dozen kilometers of territory.


    As soon as they entered, Kayden came across an elderly man at the peak of the sixth realm. His aura was lonely and gave off a depressive vibe, he looked like someone who was slowly dying from the effects of his mind.


    "One of the shadows, but a living shadow. What brings you to my gym?" The old man had his hands behind his back. He had no hair on his head, but a long, pointed, white beard on his chin. His small height and rumpled clothes gave him an air of wisdom.


    "Hello, Kay. My family pays their respects. I came to bring this person to be in your care for a while. Goodbye, Kayden!" Minerva said these words and magically disappeared from the environment.

 Chapter 352: A monster

    All the other girls did the same, except Kamila, who gave Kayden one last hug and shed a few tears on his straight, emotionless back. After that, it disappeared.


    "Hello, Mr. Kay. I¡¯m Kayden and I specialize in fighting and developing geniuses," Kayden made a short introduction and received an aura of pressure that didn¡¯t even make him sway.


    "What would happen if I tried to kill you right now?" Kay said in a neutral voice.


    "I don¡¯t know, I¡¯d probably be dead," Kayden said without any emotion in his voice.


    "Good, show me your aura." Kayden always kept his aura closed, it was instinctive.


    "Weird, but stable," Kay commented as she found herself faced with...nothing. It was a completely neutral aura without any emotion. Kay had never encountered anything like this before, at least not this stable from a living person.


    "Find an empty room. I¡¯ll assign you some weaker students and put them on the same level as the others. Your salary..." Kayden interrupted the man.


    "Just give me protection and access to divine mana. I don¡¯t need anything else, Mr. Kay."


    "Then welcome."


    ***************


    A few dozen people were standing in a cemetery, all wearing red out of respect for the dead. A rain fell while everyone watched the tomb being prepared, a culture very similar to that of Earth.


    "That¡¯s what makes my aura sad, seeing my students die after getting attached to them. But it¡¯s something I can¡¯t stop doing," Kay commented to Kayden.


    The student in the tomb lost his life while trying to pass to the fifth realm hurriedly. Kayden and Kay became great friends, their personalities were, in some ways, similar.


    At the moment, Kayden commanded one of the specific wings of the academy, where only geniuses were sent. It only took a few years for Kay to notice his talent and take him under her wing.


    "I know, you¡¯ve repeated that phrase dozens of times over the centuries," Kayden commented. At the moment, he was at the fourth level of the fifth realm and had gotten yet another jewel in his crown.


    Its advancement process was being done in a slow and controlled manner. He was also improving other areas of his strength during this time. At the moment, Kayden was one of the oldest fifth-realm mages in the city.


    "History repeats itself when we do the same thing over and over again."


    ************


    "Kayden, don¡¯t you plan to advance to the sixth realm?" Kay asked after almost a millennium at Kayden¡¯s side.


    "Not yet, I will enjoy every day of the fifth kingdom," Kayden replied sincerely, and the old man beside him was surprised. It was a long time.


    "How much longer do you have to live?"


    "Something close to 10 thousand years." With that amount, Kayden would become one of the oldest mages in this zone, even among those in the sixth realm.


    "You¡¯re strange. It only took me 30 years to break out of the fifth realm. I currently have about 12 thousand years of life left. When I was young, I suffered ridiculous damage to my base, and at the moment, I can¡¯t cultivate or mess with it without going through the feeling of almost dying."


    "Why don¡¯t you destroy it and just rebuild it from the beginning?" Kayden would have done it without even thinking twice.


    "Fear. It took me ages to realize that. That¡¯s a step I don¡¯t dare to take." Kayden understood perfectly. Someone who has already come this far should be very afraid of going back to the beginning.


    *******************


    Kayden¡¯s latest piece of jewelry was supposed to be something special. It would be placed in the center of the crown and had to be different from the others. Kayden knew this because even after two millennia in the city, he still hadn¡¯t reached the sweet spot.


    It always seemed like something was missing for Kayden. He could advance to the sixth realm right now if he wanted, and with the number of meters of conversion he achieved during these years, he could probably obtain seven rays.


    "Kay, from the fifth to the sixth realm, I only got six lightning bolts in the fifth realm. Can I get more than seven in the sixth?" That was one of Kayden¡¯s fears, having too much strength and being held back by something outside of his control.


    "It can. At the level of demigod, there is no such limitation, all thanks to divine mana," Kay reassured Kayden¡¯s fears.


    At the moment, Kayden had managed about two miles of turning. His attacks were on a completely different level. Kayden estimated that he could kill a sixth realm powerhouse in just one move.


    Logically, in a prolonged fight, he might end up getting the worst of it, but if he was able to launch just one attack with all his strength, he could do different things.


    Kayden was slowly growing to monstrous heights. His quest for perfection was becoming an obsession. Every second of his life was being focused on improving, even if it was 0.00001%. S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    *******************


    "Mister Kay, we need all the help we can get. It¡¯s going to be a war, a real bloodbath against the golden and white bears," one of the town leaders was talking to Kay and other teachers.


    According to some special information, one of the golden bears had managed to reach the seventh kingdom, which gave him the freedom to gather all the tribes under his rule. One of the first things he would do was clear the Arctic of other species.


    "We can just abandon the city. Give me some good reason to stay here." Everyone knew that Kay was in love with this city. He would never abandon her; in fact, I just wanted some benefits.


    "Everyone who helps will receive a share of the proceeds from the crossing forest." This forest was where everyone went to move on to the next zone. The wizard of the seventh kingdom in this city charged a toll.


    The movement of people was immense, easily exceeding tens of thousands per day. Even a small portion was still a large portion for any organization in this city. In some ways, it was a great deal.


    "We¡¯re in."


    *************


    "I want protection in a soul contract. You will defend me regardless of who comes after me," Kayden was in front of one of the strongest people in this zone.


    A wizard dressed in red and with all his body hair in the same color was sitting on a chair in front of him. His aura was deep and seemed to burn the things around him, his presence was heavy, worthy of a wizard of the seventh realm.


    "How big are your enemies?" Julian was trying to understand why Kayden didn¡¯t ask for treasures, but rather protection.


    In recent years, a war between bears and all races in this Arctic has broken out. After just a few months, Kayden was identified as one of the most valuable assets, not for his destructive ability, but rather for his reading and range in combat.


    Most of the time, the direction Kayden was in was the one with the least fatal injuries and death toll, almost double the second-best area of the city. It only took a few months for leaders to notice this anomaly.


    Fortunately, Kayden was under Kay¡¯s protection, and they couldn¡¯t just order him around like a doormat, and not that that would be helpful either. The higher you climbed, the more you understood that you couldn¡¯t control other people.


    "I have no enemies, but I want to use all my power and that may end up attracting attention," Lucian raised an eyebrow.


    "Okay, but in exchange for the position, I want to be able to freely manage which direction you will act in," Kayden nodded, and the two discussed some more details.


    This small conversation gave Kayden one of the most adrenaline-pumping moments of his life. He was floating in the skies, and in front of him were a few hundred white bears, all in the fifth realm and with great physical strength.


    "Your existence is no longer necessary." For a few miles around Kayden, everything ceased to exist. Immense trees disappeared into mana, and the ground itself was sunk a few dozen meters.


    The divine mana from the region went towards Kayden along with normal mana, it was a ridiculous amount that not even someone in the sixth realm should be able to handle easily, kayden felt invincible with all this mana around him.


    Kayden snapped his fingers and a shower of lightning began to come out of a blue circle, each bolt was ridiculously strong and had the same strength as an attack from someone with seven bolts of lightning and at the peak of the fifth realm.


    There was only one difference, there were thousands of rays falling without stopping, Kayden would not be able to do this without divine mana, because at the moment he changed his techniques a little, he used normal mana to give shape and divine mana to polish, this small change caused immense damage.

 Chapter 353: Improving

    The monarch of the fifth kingdom found himself laughing as he saw the potential destruction he was causing. The bears fell and died by the dozens as if they were flies. The attacks came from all sides and were still strong.


    "Is that a fifth realm wizard?" the leader of this area asked the second in command when she saw Kayden laughing while carrying out an immense massacre. Few people in this place had any influence on the outside, but...


    All those who knew the universe outside understood what Kayden had done to the surroundings, and at that moment, they prayed to all their gods that Kayden would not be their enemy.


    The lightning lasted only a few seconds and more than 50% of the bears were dead without being able to react. The rest had some injury or were in a stampede, running for their lives.


    On the wall, there were a few hundred mages in the fifth realm. All had at least six rays and still others had seven. They all wondered if this was a level of strength that could be reached.


    "Professor Kayden, how many lightning bolts did you get?" the division leader expressed one of the general doubts as Kayden began to float back towards the wall with a satisfied smile.


    "Six rays," Kayden replied truthfully. Not even the craziest inside believed his words, but that didn¡¯t matter to him.


    "That must be why you¡¯re trapped in the fifth realm," one of the men on the wall mocked. Everyone knew how old Kayden was in this place. He was here even before the oldest people on this wall arrived.


    "Quiet," Kayden released all his killing intent built up over thousands of years plus the mana pressure from all the hundreds of miles he could pull at this moment.


    No matter how strong one was on this wall, everyone felt like they were facing a living demon, a being that was born in death and lives in death. And they weren¡¯t even the targets of Kayden¡¯s attack.


    "You are very young, so I will spare your life. But recognize when you are in the presence of someone stronger." Time has made Kayden a relatively calmer person, but only because he didn¡¯t want to give a bad impression.


    Kayden sat on the wall and went back to cultivating the final jewel in his crown. This was a time-consuming process, but it would yield excellent results in the future. He expected a quiet moment but was interrupted several times by people he saw as children.


    "Professor Kayden, I am 700 years old and in the fifth realm. I have been struggling for centuries to grow in strength, but my age weighs heavily on my mind," the one who approached him was one of the soldiers on the wall, but he could feel a few dozen hearings around you.


    "I¡¯m over 3 millennia old at this point, almost 4 millennia old. Perfection can¡¯t be rushed," Kayden¡¯s motto resonated throughout the universe, one of the first to live by those words.


    "Why so long?"


    "So long for who?"


    "Genies reach the fifth realm in ..."


    "Geniuses are not my opponents."


    "Who are you?"


    "Just the person I was yesterday."


    *************


    "This war is finally over," Kay and Kayden were sitting inside the gym watching one of their classes¡¯ junior championships.


    "It lasted three centuries before the raven killed the bear for disturbing the peace," Kayden commented to his friend.


    These were bloody years for all sides. Millions of people died in this war, thousands of heroes rose and thousands fell. Kayden saw dozens ascend to the sixth realm easily during these tense years. Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "You¡¯ve earned some respect in this town, the strongest wizard in the fifth realm in history," Kay quoted Kayden¡¯s full title and received only a smile in response.


    ************


    "None of them have any potential for this mission," Kayden was sitting in front of Julian.


    "It¡¯s been three millennia and only two potential candidates?" Julian cited extremely low numbers for such a long period.


    Kayden was taken in by Julian after finding out how he was trying to advance on his path of cultivation and what that meant. Kayden was a future god with more than seven rays if everything went right, and after seeing his strength, Julian believed in that potential.


    Kay ended up dying while trying to force an advance into the seventh realm. Kayden was sad; He was a great friend in his life, he was practically the person he spent the most time with.


    Fortunately, his feelings were long dead and he just got on with his life. He left the academy to one of Kay¡¯s sons, who had some potential in this area. Even though he was someone in the fifth realm, Kayden had everyone¡¯s respect to make this decision.


    At this point in his life, he received Julian¡¯s proposal to train peak potentials. His goal was just to get mages to cultivate every year of their lives and reach their full potential.


    "Marcus and Kant are in the fifth realm at the moment and with seven rays. I believe they should be able to advance with seven spokes as well but with eight? No, it¡¯s a level of strength they won¡¯t be able to reach," Julian commented.


    Julian was a wizard with seven rays and he knew how difficult it was to reach eight rays. It was ridiculously rare. In his entire life, he only saw the crow that ruled this area at this level of strength.


    "What do you think they¡¯re missing?" Kayden didn¡¯t have to think long to respond.


    "They are unique, but among all the unique ones in the universe, they are common. In a way, they never managed to forge their paths. They just followed a path to perfection and elevated it, but they are following steps that other people have already taken."


    The two were silent in their thoughts. Julian had never thought about it that way. In a way, he was young, as his age was not advanced for his kingdom, something quite common for most mages.


    "You did it? Did you create your path?" Julian asked curiously. Talking to Kayden became a habit over the years.


    This was one of Kayden¡¯s social skills that he had developed over the years. It was based on listening more than talking. Even ancient magicians were uncomfortable with silence. Kayden just had to fill the conversation so that the other party would talk more and believe they had a bond with him.


    "Yes, since the apprentice realm and I have spent every possible day of every realm," Kayden replied calmly.


    "I discovered my path only in the sixth realm. I spent my advancements on special techniques and treasures. This, in a way, limited my future. I will never be able to reach the level of a god," Julian revealed to Kayden one of the most common things in this universe.


    Passing the realm was extremely easy. Unlike the idea that time ended up destroying the golden age of knowledge, the reality was different. The more time passed, the more knowledge was accumulated, and the more knowledge was withdrawn and stored.


    Wars and universal disasters were not capable of stopping this advance. This made it so that anyone was able to reach the ninth realm if they had the necessary resources. Just reaching the level of god was more difficult.


    "There is always a way. You just have to think about how far you¡¯re willing to go," Kayden responded.


    "Don¡¯t quote those dreamy lines to me, Kayden. The reality is not so beautiful."


    "I was born in a place where a fourth realm wizard was strong enough to rule an entire country. Reaching the fourth realm under 200 years old was considered a feat of absolute genius. So I can truly say that I know what I¡¯m talking about, Mr. Julian. It just depends on how willing you are."


    Neither of them said anything else for the next few minutes, each lost in their thoughts.


    "What was your home planet like?" Julian was interested.


    "My first planet was where the strong dominated. No matter how genius you were, you could never truly reach the top. My second world was a little more liberal, but still, few were able to have any real opportunities. In a way, they were sad worlds doomed to failure," It had been so many years, but Kayden still remembered perfectly his home world and his years in a coma.


    "I have never experienced real difficulties in my life. My father is a god," Julian had already mentioned this to Kayden before.


    "It seems to be lonely."


    *************


    Seven millennia. That was the amount of time it took Kayden to reach true perfection in the fifth realm. At this moment, he could say with all the certainty in the world that he was the oldest person in the fifth realm on this planet.


    The fact that he only used divine mana in his advances made it take a ridiculously longer time, but it also made his advances much better than normal.

 Chapter 354: Millennia and millennia

    Kayden estimated that he would only be at half the strength he had accumulated if he had let normal mana be part of his advancement. It was a huge difference in strength, even more so with the jewelry on his head. The jewel in the center of his head was different from the other four, as the one in the center was smaller and completely round. Furthermore, it was a unique color, it wasn¡¯t exactly black but rather a colorless color, an endless hole that carried Kayden¡¯s entire path and feelings.


    It took him a while to understand that he had to put his way and mind first in advance. That¡¯s why his jewel was an abyss, it was just like him and his mind: an endless hole of greed and the desire for power. The new jewel took Kayden¡¯s power to another level again. With his constant searches for improvements and increasing the conversion rate, he reached another frightening value during these years.


    Its area reached ten kilometers of conversion, a completely ridiculous level. At this moment, Kayden was confident of jumping a realm even against a dozen opponents with seven lightning bolts. It was crazy, surreal, a degree of strength he had never achieved before. He simply spat in the face of kingdom divisions and stomped. His full-force aura slash was capable of breaking Julian¡¯s barrier.


    He didn¡¯t have any ability to touch Julian¡¯s robes, but he had the full ability to break a seventh realm barrier. When he did this test with Julian, he saw his friend stay quiet for hours before opening his mouth and saying he was impressed. Seeing the strength that Kayden achieved reignited the flames inside Julian and got him back to training. It was an effect of admiration that Kayden ended up having on most people.


    His spiritual sense had reached the 1500-kilometer mark. It was such an extensive region that he had to learn to ignore much of the information that came to him, especially considering the quality of his spiritual sense. The amount of divine mana he attained also increased by several folds. Kayden sometimes found himself laughing like crazy alone. He failed in the fourth kingdom and it took him more than seven millennia to fix his mess.


    It¡¯s been seven long millennia with minuscule strength, being threatened by any idiot in the fifth realm with a little more strength. At this time, few people were able to even touch their feet.


    "Haven¡¯t you reached the peak of the fifth realm? What are you waiting for?" Julian asked when he found Kayden cultivating in his room. S§×ar?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I still have a lot of years left, I just have to keep cultivating and improving." Julian couldn¡¯t believe how ridiculous Kayden¡¯s quest for power was.


    *************


    "You have become strong, I can¡¯t tell the limit of your strength anymore." Eros and Kayden were strolling through a huge garden of purple trees.


    "It has been some time." Eros was in the sixth realm and continued with his eight rays.


    "I didn¡¯t expect to find you here, have you achieved the strength you were looking for?" Eros expected a positive answer.


    "Yes, actually much more than I expected." Eros raised an eyebrow.


    "How strong?" Kayden smiled.


    "I¡¯ll try eight rays." Eros was not surprised. There were millennia in the fifth kingdom, only those who sought something higher could spend that long.


    "How long will it take? I can wait a few decades for you to go with us to the next zone. Furthermore, there will be a universal challenge in a few millennia." Kayden raised an eyebrow.


    "It will take me a few millennia yet." Eros was surprised again. "What would be the universal challenge?" Again he was surprised that Kayden didn¡¯t know about this.


    "Your organization didn¡¯t tell you? Aren¡¯t you one of the false gods?" Eros was confused by the conversation.


    "No, I¡¯m from a distant, rural part of the universe." Kayden¡¯s speech made Eros rethink his genius values.


    "The universal challenge is something done by the greatest gods in this universe, those who are on a level above the highest level. Only those with seven rays above the fifth realm can participate."


    "How common are seven rays?" Kayden had no idea of this in-universe value.


    "As incredible as it may seem, it is something rare. But because of the number of worlds and solar systems, it has become common. That¡¯s why there¡¯s a first psychological screening test. It¡¯s very simple, you will face the biggest fear of your life and then psychological pressure to reduce the competition even further."


    They seemed like simple tests, but considering the level of this whole situation, it would probably be on a completely different level than any tests Kayden had ever done before.


    "Typically, 99% of participants fall to this level and only have a few thousand trillion left." Eros threw that number out like it was just a few dozen, but it was a ridiculous amount of people that Kayden couldn¡¯t even fathom.


    "The gods don¡¯t care about the weak, so normally the second stage is an open fight with about a thousand people, with only one wizard with eight rays. This is kind of an open invitation to the next step. This happens sometimes to reduce the number of people."


    It was in line with what Kayden expected. In the end, those with seven rays would just go for learning. They were special, but at the same time, they weren¡¯t even close.


    "Then the same thing happens, a thousand people are brought together to face each other. Most at this level have about eight spokes. A minority have around seven rays and normally there won¡¯t be anyone with nine rays at this stage."


    "How strong is nine lightning?" Kayden asked curiously. Eros just laughed at Kayden¡¯s question.


    "They are completely monsters. It is easier for someone with a single ray to win a fight against someone with eight rays than for thousands with eight rays to win a fight against someone with nine rays." Kayden was silent along with Eros for a few seconds.


    "That¡¯s scary," Kayden commented.


    "We will probably never find someone at that level. They are created from the first day they are born to be perfect gods. They are rare and, even in the universe, there are no more than a few hundred per kingdom."


    A few hundred in such a huge universe was frighteningly little. Kayden once again felt like a frog in a well. This feeling seemed like it would haunt him throughout his life. He knew he was strong at that moment, terribly strong, he could probably get eight lightning bolts without much difficulty. But in the matter of nine rays? Kayden believed something was still missing.


    "I don¡¯t know what the next steps are. Only those who have passed have this information."


    "What are the rewards?" Kayden didn¡¯t want to fight just for fame and honor.


    "You get one mana on your head. It¡¯s harmless, but whenever you put some of your mana into it, you¡¯ll see a golden number appear on your head, ranging from 1 to 100. This value will open many doors, depending on your value."


    "What¡¯s a good value?"


    "The average is from 1 to 25. Above that, you already represent a potential genius. From 25 to 50 are those of high level, it is very difficult to achieve anything beyond that. Any value above 50 is a new world, these are the ones that are sought after by all organizations."


    Kayden reflected a little and concluded that he knew nothing about the universe outside. These numbers were completely random and worthless to him, they had no meaning in his view. The two talked for a few more minutes and Kayden established a small connection with Eros. The two had a lot in common, in some ways, and Kayden gained a lot of knowledge in this story.


    ***************


    The millennia began to pass and Kayden became increasingly isolated. All of his acquaintances from his time at the academy were no longer in that area or ended up dying over time, only Julian was still in that place. Kayden currently had four disciples following the path of perfection. The only one who had succeeded was a weak and fearful boy, but his talent was far superior to anything Kayden had ever seen before.


    The boy had achieved a path and was in the fifth realm in just 200 years. All of this was done perfectly. The heavens did have their favorites. The rest were exceptional, but they were still missing something. Kayden didn¡¯t care much about them, it was just a favor he did for Julian during his stay there. It didn¡¯t cost him much time anyway, his only focus was improving himself.


    His control of divine mana was at the highest possible level of the fifth realm, he hit an invisible wall where his realm limited his manipulation, it was the second time in his life.


    He knew it was exactly that, because when he was in the fourth realm he suffered the same limitation, it was a wall that could be broken, but it would take many, many millennia of absolute focus, that was a time he didn¡¯t have at that moment.


    Author¡¯s note: I¡¯m better and at the same time having relapses that I never dreamed of, constantly with not very healthy effects, if you know what I mean, I¡¯ll try to keep the uploads constant, sorry if the quality drops or if I get a little too depressed lol

 Chapter 355: An insane event

    His control of divine mana was at the highest possible level of the fifth realm, but he had reached an invisible wall where his realm limited his manipulation. It was the second time he had faced this barrier in his life. He knew exactly what it was because when he was in the fourth realm he suffered the same limitation. While it was possible to break this wall, it would require many millennia of absolute focus, time he did not currently have.


    His spiritual sense grew to the 2,000-kilometer mark, a surreal value, greater than that of many mages of the sixth realm. His path and divine mana were able to do this. For every day Kayden spent utilizing divine mana, he was impressed. Divine mana opened doors automatically; Wrong spells could be fixed just by using a little divine mana, it increased the strength of attacks or defenses to another level.


    Kayden came to a bizarre conclusion about divine mana, something Julian called him crazy about and that was a ridiculous overcontrol problem: divine mana was great, but... a crutch. She was capable of fixing many mistakes and opening many paths impossible without her, but that was exactly the problem: you became a hostage to divine mana, and she began to perform functions that you didn¡¯t even know about.


    "How could you be a master of something if you didn¡¯t have a full understanding of all the factors?" he thought.


    Therefore, Kayden destroyed every single thing he didn¡¯t understand in his spells and their base that was created by divine mana. Half the time he advanced his strength, and the other half he had to study what he improved and how he improved. That¡¯s why Kayden took a long time all these years. At this moment, he was just waiting for the universal challenge.


    "Why won¡¯t you join?" Kayden asked Julian.


    "My time has passed," Julian replied, well in his current situation, without any ambition, something Kayden couldn¡¯t even understand.


    The two were sitting under a giant tree, drinking some special tea made from centuries-old herbs. Every day, the challenge got closer, but Kayden didn¡¯t understand why it happened in such a scattered period.


    "It¡¯s time," Julian commented.


    Kayden couldn¡¯t feel anything, at least for the first few minutes, but then something changed in the entire environment. The amount of divine mana changed slightly, but what changed was its quality; it was much more dense and complex, Kayden couldn¡¯t manipulate it or even understand what its difference was.


    "Who dares to prove himself to the heavens?" It wasn¡¯t a voice or even words, it was like a meaning placed in the mind of every person on this planet and the entire universe. Kayden only had to express any positive wish and found himself somewhere else. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    His new environment was an immense plain with golden grass that extended to a range greater than his spiritual sense. There were no other living beings or life in the environment, Kayden was impressed. Everything was too real to be some kind of illusion, which meant that every person had such an environment at their disposal or that it was an illusion so advanced that it fooled all of Kayden¡¯s senses, both physical and spiritual. Both options were scary.


    The density of divine mana and normal mana in this place was nil; Kayden could not feel any presence of mana, a situation he had never experienced in his more than 10 millennia of life.


    "A soul without any fear, this is very rare, signs of serious problems in their personality," the same voice from the beginning said these words, and then Kayden was left alone in silence.


    Kayden was just enjoying the atmosphere without knowing what to do. It was very strange to have only his body¡¯s mana across thousands of kilometers. This feeling reminded him of when he was trapped in a hospital bed.


    He found himself thinking about the lack of fear the voice attributed to him. Many centuries ago, his fear could have been mediocrity or dying like anyone else, but slowly the years of isolation took that fear away from him, as he truly put it into his bones to have no competition.


    "The pressure is going to start," as soon as the voice finished, Kayden felt like he was in hell. Thousands of mouths and fingers began to pass over his body and an unimaginable weight began to climb onto his back.


    The grass began to disappear, and his vision, as everything was burned to a ground littered with bones, appeared. In just a few seconds, Kayden saw all the thousands of kilometers turned into a huge plain of bones.


    Kayden felt the muscles in his body being slowly devoured along with other parts of his body, but everything was being done slowly, at a snail¡¯s pace. No matter how much he tried to move, nothing changed.


    With each second, the pressure grew greater. Kayden found himself lying down and being swallowed by the bones. In just a few seconds, he no longer had access to sunlight in his body and his spiritual sense was destroyed.


    For the first time in millennia, Kayden felt completely isolated from the world around him. He was completely blind, a unique sensation. Anyone would be feeling immense anxiety and negative emotions, but Kayden was just enjoying this rare opportunity to feel like a mere mortal again.


    His body was sinking more and more and the weight was increasing. His entire skin was eaten by small teeth, an unbearable pain, being torn apart piece by piece. Still, Kayden was using this moment to reflect on what he was going through.


    After a few minutes, Kayden grew tired of the painful sensations in his body. It was just physical pain without any purpose, logically painful, but that¡¯s it. There was no magic behind this pain. At that moment, Kayden turned off any sensation from his mind and focused only on the pressure. It was quite different from anything he had ever seen in his life; It made any movement impossible and...


    His thoughts were somehow weighing on his mind as if he were under the influence of a drug where it was difficult to articulate long and complex thoughts, but he was very weak. Therefore, he was able to continue studying this pressure and his body. Emotions like loneliness and sadness assaulted Kayden¡¯s mind uncontrollably. For the first time in millennia, Kayden recognized the weight of not having even a helping hand within reach; not even the worst of the worst friends were available to him.


    Kayden had no one.


    The sadness of living a lifetime searching for something that wouldn¡¯t make any difference in the end assaulted him. What purpose did all this searching have? What was the point of reaching the level of a god? In the end, everyone would die the same way. Unlike any normal person, Kayden embraced these feelings, accepted them as his own, and put them front and center in his mind. Was your search futile? Was power the end? Or was he the way? All these doubts appeared in his mind.


    What was the point of being the most powerful man alive? Being able to shape reality and time to your own will without any consequences? All of this would drive a weak man to seek simple pleasures, but Kayden wouldn¡¯t settle for that. So what would he look for? Escaping mediocrity was the answer Kayden had always given himself for years, but as the millennia passed, he felt less and less attached to that idea. Mediocrity did not exist.


    All these things were the fruits of his head and his mentality. Mediocrity required that he have competitors or people to compare himself to and inspire, but the time in isolation showed him something else: the true meaning of facing only oneself. Kayden just had to be better than himself. It didn¡¯t matter if he died right now; he had overcome mediocrity by trying to be better than the day before.


    In the end, Kayden found the answer he was looking for, which forced him to cultivate day after day without any hesitation. It was something that moved many and at the same time no one. It wasn¡¯t the power, it wasn¡¯t the journey, it wasn¡¯t the treasures. In truth...


    It was nothing. Kayden didn¡¯t have any goal or motivation for what he did. This was his life. His life was based on cultivating; there was no correct answer and it didn¡¯t even matter. Kayden didn¡¯t seek answers, he just cultivated them.


    "Congratulations, Kayden Heart. Your principles are nebulous and don¡¯t even exist solidly, but you¡¯re right about them. What you just experienced is called ¡¯The Questions of Destiny¡¯," the mystical voice appeared to Kayden again.


    In the blink of an eye, he found himself floating in the same place as before, but this time some golden trees looked like they were carved by hand. Their trunks were perfect, without any signs of wear. Its leaves seemed softer than velvet and perfectly innervated.

 Chapter 356: The true demigods

    Some rivers appeared in the environment. The water had completely abnormal transparency and demonstrated a bottom made of small golden tiles that were not natural at all. Furthermore, the rivers flowed at high speed without any purpose.


    Mana surged into the environment at a ridiculously high density. Not only that but the divine mana was opened to everyone; she was unrestrained in a great amount that was not at all normal. Also, one small factor that Kayden instantly noticed was that there were hundreds of people around him. They all had strong auras of mages of the fifth realm and seven rays. Furthermore, Kayden managed to extend all of his spiritual sense.


    This meant that he had 2 thousand kilometers under his sight, a value far higher than most ordinary fifth-realm mages, and even among the special ones, it was still a very high value. Kayden quickly counted about six hundred people, which meant that there were many more hidden or that the environment was greater than Kayden¡¯s spiritual sense. The truth was probably a mixture of these two alternatives.


    "The last one standing wins" was all the organizers said. For a few seconds, no one reacted, but dozens of surreally strong attacks exploded everywhere. Kayden just dodged a few and closed himself into the skies. His control over mana allowed him to be invisible to most spiritual senses; only someone looking directly at him would be able to see his presence. As the seconds passed, Kayden witnessed several unique spells.


    It was such a frightening amount of variety that it made Kayden, once again, feel like he was in a well. They were spells and ways of manipulating mana that he had never seen before. Spectacular races were fighting all around him. One of them caught Kayden¡¯s attention: they were some small beings with white fur and a long tail. They had two large round ears and three-fingered hands. What caught Kayden¡¯s attention was how old they appeared to be.


    The years had made him familiar with measuring people¡¯s ages by the mana around them. Whether they wanted to or not, magicians ended up having contact with the same mana for a longer period. In a way, you carried a piece of mana with you your entire life. It wasn¡¯t difficult to remove from your body, but it was annoying, as this mana came directly from your core and went out to the outside. Masking this required strong control or a specific technique for this purpose.


    The little beings that Kayden observed were only a few years old, not even a decade. This was completely ridiculous considering they were destroying dozens of people around them with their bare hands.


    "They are Yordles, a very special breed. Most are born at advanced levels. There are reports where some were born in the ninth kingdom." Kayden heard a voice next to him and turned around, seeing a teenager with yellow hair and a simple smile, but... his eyes seemed to carry all the forbidden and nefarious knowledge of the universe. It was a weight that no teenager could carry with just a few centuries to live. Kayden immediately retreated and placed some defenses around him.


    "I¡¯m Thoth, don¡¯t worry, I just came to greet an old friend. Your path is fine, Kayden, but it will lead to the destruction of thousands of worlds and trillions of living beings, perhaps even some parts of the universe. Are you okay with this?" It only took Kayden a second to understand the situation.


    "It¡¯s not my intention, but if I have to, I will end the cycle of trillions," Kayden replied, his mind completely cleared of guilty thoughts. He already knew himself enough to not care about things like that.


    "Take my friend to your race¡¯s castle. I will consider it a favor." Kayden wasn¡¯t going to miss the opportunity this time.


    "Who exactly are you? Why are you appearing in my life so often?" Every time Thoth appeared, Kayden felt like he was being manipulated in a certain direction, but nothing too direct. They were just subtle sweeps.


    "I¡¯m just someone who has lived too long, that¡¯s all," the boy exploded in a shower of blood after those words. As soon as his blood reached other people, it directly knocked them out of the competition.


    Only Kayden was unaffected by the blood. At this point, only a few hundred people remained and the fighting had decreased in intensity. Everyone was taking a few breaths before continuing. The space began to close and some people who were hiding had their hiding places revealed by a kind of purple cloud. Kayden was one of the few who remained camouflaged, perhaps because he wasn¡¯t hiding.


    The shrinking area only made people more violent. The hairy beings were destroying everything around them. They were strong, ridiculously strong, but they were still missing some things that only time could give them. One of them was the ability to have a balanced emotional state. These beings have gotten into fights against some of their kind, just for a few tiny disagreements in their attacks that have spilled over. Furthermore, they put too much force into useless movements. These were all obvious traits for someone as old as Kayden.


    At this point, Kayden began to knock some unsuspecting people out of the competition with well-timed attacks. Everyone there was strong and special, but they lacked real experience. Most were geniuses with just a few centuries to live.


    The oldest had barely reached a millennium of life. This seemed silly, but it also meant that they didn¡¯t have many opportunities to have real combat experience against people at their level. They probably spent most of their lives cultivating and fighting the same people day after day. Any different technique was capable of making them hesitate in their movements and become cautious. Not only that, but they couldn¡¯t deal with dozens of people around them.


    Almost everyone there was a hothouse flower. Only a few grew up on their own, and they were an absolute minority. This meant that few had experience of war with hundreds of opponents. This was the perfect opening for Kayden to kill everyone who didn¡¯t have much attention.


    This was a relatively easy match. Everyone there was strong and could probably keep Kayden occupied for a few seconds, but nothing more than that. There were no people with eight rays. It only took a few hours of calmly fighting and saving his strength for Kayden to kill everyone in this region. He knew that no one died in this place, but the scene around him seemed to contradict that statement.


    There was practically blood every inch of that place. The fire was burning in many parts, and the rivers turned a different color. It was a scene of mass destruction, leaving only Kayden floating in the sky without any expression.


    This scene was repeated a few dozen times. Kayden felt a small lapse in his ability to see time. It seemed that his last years of life would be spent on those battlefields. Fortunately, his psychology was strong enough that he didn¡¯t even flinch after killing thousands of people. He has faced some good battles, but still, no one with eight lightning has appeared. Not even an opponent who would force him to pull out his trick, at least until that moment. S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden was once again in an area with around a thousand opponents. But this time, as soon as he entered her, he felt something was different. The surrounding clouds were completely red, and a wizard stood in the center. As soon as the voice began the event, this wizard began to sing in a low tone. But his voice reached every inch of this enormous space. Furthermore, red rain with small drops began to drizzle constantly.


    Kayden, like most magicians who managed to reach that level, was not an idiot and immediately stopped that rain from reaching him. At least, most tried. But no matter what defense people put up, the drops passed. Kayden¡¯s domain converted these drops into mana. He was the only one capable of accomplishing this feat. The rest of the people were incapable of doing something like that. Their defenses ranged from complex runic circles capable of stopping a sixth realm attack easily to boulders with a density exceeding millions of kg.


    No matter the situation, everyone felt the raindrops on their bodies. For a few seconds, no one suffered any damage or felt any difference. This rain was not made of normal mana, it was entirely made of divine mana diluted into so many folds that it became something immaterial.


    It was incredible. Kayden had never seen such great and magnificent control over something so small. It was even more incredible when everyone started exploding with their bodies. Only Kayden was alive after a few minutes.


    "You don¡¯t have eight lightning bolts, but you still managed to survive," Kayden understood this from the amount of mana his opponent threw at him. His only response was to launch a few dozen aura slashes at his opponent. His strength was at a very high level. The image in the center raised a siege of red water. His attacks split them apart like butter.

 Chapter 357: Nine rays

    "Using only divine mana? Impressive", the wizard had to erect other barriers to stop the attack and almost lost the match due to a slight oversight. He had already reached a point where real opponents were rare.


    Kayden was nothing more than a point of interest to him. As soon as he started singing, the rain intensified, and the mana in the region began to become explosive and difficult to control, but for Kayden, this was not a problem. S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    His domain extended and made all the confusion calm down instantly. Not even an inch around him was disorganized, all the mana went towards him, just like a servant goes towards his master.


    "Good," the wizard continued treating Kayden like a child putting on a little show with cute tricks. At least he did that until he felt a few kilometers of this small space magically disappear.


    "Its existence is no longer necessary." The entire environment was unique and made completely of divine mana. Kayden received such an absurd amount of mana in his hands that he stopped for a second.


    He probably had more divine mana around him than he had on his home planet and that wasn¡¯t even a guess, it was practically a certainty. His first attack was an aura slash.


    This time the wizard took it completely seriously, the clouds went from weak red to a solid red, and the rain that before was just a few drops thickened to the point of becoming a river falling from the sky.


    The barrier became a huge wall of water that exceeded a kilometer in length, and yet Kayden¡¯s aura slash passed through it like it was nothing but butter, it was simply a very high amount of divine mana.


    Kayden had millennia to perfect his techniques, as long as he had enough mana he could split a planet in half, but logically this would be ridiculously difficult due to several other factors, the main one being his control over the spell.


    With each kingdom Kayden gained some knowledge that was superior to the previous one, they were small things, but when added together they made an absurd difference. For example, Kayden of the third realm could use the same spells as him at that moment, but he would not have even half the ability because of his mental limitation.


    "The blood burns", with the mage¡¯s plague the entire wall swallowed Kayden¡¯s attack and simply destroyed it by exploding in a huge explosion of divine mana.


    The environment of hundreds of kilometers was unrecognizable, this level of damage was completely surreal and represented a true battle of demigods. Kayden didn¡¯t even blink to launch another aura slash.


    The attack was again monstrous and this time the barrier swallowed him directly and exploded. The environment was becoming a huge destroyed battlefield, not that it was looking very good previously, but at this moment it seemed to be becoming flattened.


    The divine mana around Kayden was still mostly intact, it was a very large amount, he began to launch dozens of aura slashes without any worry, not even a mage of the sixth realm should have this ability.


    Perhaps those in the seventh realm had some difficulty in reproducing his actions, there was a lot of divine mana being used generically, and it seemed like he was just using normal mana in his attacks.


    Every attack from Kayden was capable of putting a mage of the first level of the fifth realm into the peak of the fifth level, this was completely absurd and the most impressive thing was that his opponent could defend against this and throw attacks at Kayden.


    His attacks consisted of altering the humidity of the environment for his mana, in a way he would be suffocating and killing Kayden in seconds if he succeeded, but unfortunately for him, the region of a few kilometers near Kayden was immutable.


    The mana there was static and submissive, not even a wizard of the sixth realm would be able to touch Kayden¡¯s domain, a domain of millennia, a domain more polished than the age of some empires in this universe.


    "The flood is an inevitable path", the wizard¡¯s sentence changed the entire environment, the red water appeared for hundreds of kilometers, and in just a few seconds it filled practically the entire area around.


    It easily reached more than a few thousand kilometers, everything that touched this water was being destroyed and exploded, but the weight of the water was so great that it held back any trace of strength.


    Kayden had to levitate as much as he could, his domain was undone and at the same time it wasn¡¯t, he was able to use all the mana in the region with ease, but the water caused it to get a little stuck.


    The clouds were just a few dozen meters away from the two wizards, below them was a huge red world, there was nothing left in this region, everything was destroyed, there was only water and clouds, a true end-of-the-world scene.


    "Congratulations on making me take this seriously," Kayden continued ignoring the wizard as he thought about what to do, it didn¡¯t take long for the answer to come to him, just keep attacking.


    Here is the text with the spelling errors corrected:


    ---


    His attacks were still ridiculously strong, the amount of water made him a little weaker, but they were still ridiculously strong. His opponent seemed to receive a boost to all of his attributes while inside the water.


    Something surreal was his ability to manipulate mana from a distance without any delay. Even Kayden was not able to use a spell at the tip of his spiritual sense instantly, the distance still caused a certain delay, but in this water there was none.


    Immense waves rose against Kayden and crashed into dozens of layers of protection, whether simple mana barriers or his spell attrition and nullification system, it all added up to a perfect defense.


    Each attack from Kayden opened up a space of tens of kilometers in the sea, it was a surreal destruction, at this point they were truly demigods fighting, and the degree of destruction they achieved was bizarre.


    "This water... shouldn¡¯t exist", Kayden muttered and only needed to use dozens of times more effort, but... the sea began to crumble into divine mana that was put back into his attacks.


    He didn¡¯t necessarily need more mana he was just doing a little test, he wouldn¡¯t need to pull out his biggest card at this point, but it was always good to be smart.


    "Let¡¯s get this over with," Kayden thought and put all the divine mana in the region into just one circle. The attack that came out even caused the space to shake, just a little more, and the space would shatter.


    The aura cut was at an unbelievable speed and divided the sea into two halves hundreds of kilometers in length and another dozens in width, the wizard just looked at Kayden in disbelief at what was happening.


    He still had a few tricks up his sleeve, but the attack was too direct, he didn¡¯t have time to manipulate enough mana to defend himself. In the end, he lost due to lack of experience, something Kayden had already guessed.


    This time Kayden was placed in an area very similar to the previous ones, but it was empty. He understood that it was a resting point, he just needed a few minutes to regain his strength.


    His fighting style meant that he was rarely exhausted, as the mana never passed directly into his body, this meant that he didn¡¯t have any real overload, at most he needed to replenish some divine mana.


    A few minutes later he was placed back in an environment with hundreds of other people, but... something was wrong, terribly wrong, the environment was too quiet, and the mana seemed dead and lifeless.


    There was a skeleton sitting on a log on the ground, he was wearing a black tunic and had a green jewel on his head, this jewel was fixed on a crown, his aura was surreal, not even a god made Kayden feel that threatened.


    "Oh, you have a strong mentality." The Lich¡¯s eyes were two small purple fires and stared directly at Kayden, this caused the boy to react immediately without any hesitation.


    He was in the most dangerous moment of his life and he knew it, the person in front of him could kill him in the blink of an eye. Kayden only had one opportunity, his path extended to all sides, and the mana in his spiritual sense began to become hot and crazy.


    It seemed like everything was combusting, a chain reaction started everywhere in the entire two thousand kilometers of Kayden¡¯s spiritual sense, this whole process only took a few seconds, and then...


    The world seemed to flicker as everything within a radius of two thousand kilometers disappeared, all the air, all forms of matter, the rivers, the grass, the trees, everything disappeared, and not even the slightest hint of matter was present.

 Chapter 358: Uncle Kayden

    Only the black ground was visible to everyone, meanwhile a ridiculous amount of divine mana appeared to Kayden. It was more mana than existed in all the zones he had already passed through. The boy maintained ridiculous control, but he couldn¡¯t hold it all together.


    Most of it disappeared into the environment naturally, but Kayden held on to enough to form one of the most frightening attacks a fifth realm wizard has ever wielded.


    Everything was going perfectly. Kayden had never attempted to use this ability. It only worked once and required a mental overload that would make it impossible for him to fight for months. Not only that, but his spiritual sense would cease to exist for a few weeks.


    This technique made him truly believe that he was on a higher level than everyone else. The eight beams he faced in the last test were not very difficult; he didn¡¯t even need to use this technique.


    A loud sound appeared throughout the room as Kayden¡¯s aura slash was released. The entire space was destroyed wherever he passed. A starry space became visible to everyone.


    Some force prevented the void monsters from entering this environment or the void mana from infiltrating the entire environment. Meanwhile, Kayden¡¯s attack arrived in front of the Lich who had stood up.


    "That was pretty cool." The Lich laughed as he clapped his hands and black mist came out of his body. Kayden¡¯s attack... disappeared into thin air as if it had never been launched. A silence appeared in the room.


    For the first time in millennia, Kayden was surprised and unresponsive. He froze in the air as if he were a mere ordinary wizard found on any corner. His shock was so great that he only uttered one word.


    "As?" The Lich looked at him and seemed to be amused by the situation.


    "Child, you are quite old for the fifth realm, but I have been in that realm for at least 100 times your lifetime." Kayden finally understood what Eros had told him.


    "Do you have nine lightning bolts, Lich lord?" Kayden already knew the answer to that.


    "Yeah, kid, don¡¯t beat yourself up too much, it¡¯s a different level." Kayden finally paid attention to his surroundings. All the people were dead and just floating in the air as if they were still alive.


    "It had been a long time since a living being could handle my aura. What have you been through in just a few millennia that made you capable of this?" The Lich¡¯s eyes seemed to shine with curiosity and Kayden couldn¡¯t find an answer for him. Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "One question after another," Kayden responded with a sass that the Lich hadn¡¯t expected. The undead chuckled at Kayden¡¯s bold action.


    "I¡¯ll give you a bonus question for your boldness, child."


    "What made you able to overcome eight lightning bolts? What is the path you sought?" The Lich didn¡¯t even blink to respond.


    "I was a wizard who controlled dark elements and death indirectly. I just had to kill myself." Kayden knew it wasn¡¯t that simple, but it revealed something he already thought was correct.


    Regardless of what you are looking for, you must be willing to go all the way with the same thing. Don¡¯t change your strategy or look for something else. Only a true master was capable of making that leap.


    "What is your strength limit?" Kayden wanted to understand more about the famous nine rays.


    "I should probably be able to kill someone at the eighth realm with a bit of luck, but if an opponent at the eighth or ninth realm falters in the slightest, I should probably be able to kill them. But in a straight fight, I can only slaughter those in the seventh realm."


    The answers were far beyond Kayden¡¯s wildest dreams. The creature in front of him simply admitted to having the ability to jump and bypass any realm. This was a completely unreasonable level of strength.


    "You are a baptized monarch, aren¡¯t you?" Kayden didn¡¯t quite understand the question and saw the Lich laugh at the situation. "A lost monarch, that¡¯s going to be incredible. Furthermore, you are not part of the false gods." The Lich laughed to himself for a few seconds. "When you are stronger, look for the end disciples. We will have an offer for you."


    Kayden felt like he had made giant leaps with just one conversation, even more so when he saw Lich¡¯s offer.


    "What is a monarch?" Kayden didn¡¯t get the answer to that question, as he didn¡¯t even have time to blink before he found himself outside the event in the same city where he spent the last millennia.


    "Holy crap." He swore under his breath. He couldn¡¯t even realize that he would be killed, nor did he even feel the mana being manipulated. One moment he was alive, and the next, only on this side.


    This degree of strength was frightening, completely surreal. He didn¡¯t even remember the last time he was destroyed by someone in the same realm of strength. This wasn¡¯t even a fight. Kayden stood there trying to find the answer.


    Anything. Absolutely nothing. All the alternatives in his mind required him to have minimal information about the situation to try to learn from it, but in this case, he didn¡¯t even understand how he lost.


    "Kayden?" Julian¡¯s voice brought the boy out of his reverie. "You¡¯ve been standing there for a few hours." Kayden hadn¡¯t noticed the passage of time. This has become a habit over these millennia.


    Here is the text with the spelling errors corrected:


    ---


    "I found a nine-ray mage, Julian," Kayden commented, and the city leader¡¯s eyes showed understanding.


    "My older brother also had nine rays, they are..."


    "Monsters?" Kayden expected this response from Julian.


    "Titable, there¡¯s no way to give titles or comparisons." Kayden agreed with his friend, this was the most memorable experience of his entire cultivation life.


    "What¡¯s your score?" Kayden didn¡¯t even remember that factor. It wasn¡¯t difficult to find the strange piece of mana in his body. As soon as he focused on it, a number came to his mind.


    "61.5." Julian froze for a moment as he watched Kayden. He knew his friend was special, but not to this extent.


    "How many rays do you have, Kayden?" Kayden raised an eyebrow, he had already answered that to Julian.


    "6 spokes only." Julian sighed, he knew the answer, but he couldn¡¯t believe the result Kayden got.


    "I only got 36. Your result is good enough to place you in any organization in the universe right now. The number being in decimal means that you are weaker than the vast majority at that level, but you have the potential for something great."


    Kayden had probably received this amount because of his low lightning count and what he was able to achieve with it. Beating eight-ray mages was not simple, especially considering that he was weaker in terms of the amount of lightning.


    "I should advance to the sixth realm in a few years, what do you recommend me to do?" Kayden was in the last years of his life and yet he would continue to hone his skills.


    "Advance and go to the next zone. There are probably already mages in higher realms and intergalactic organizations there. Join one and continue cultivating." Julian didn¡¯t have anything very defined, in a way his knowledge was limited.


    Kayden thanked his friend and headed in another direction. He still needed to think about his actions a little more, it didn¡¯t take long for him to just put it aside and continue improving himself.


    ************


    "Are you Uncle Kayden? Kamila spoke highly of you, she still calls you her first love at family dinners." Before Kayden were three teenagers who were only fifty years old and in the fifth realm.


    Each of them had red eyes and fox ears. These were very striking characteristics of the girls who brought Kayden to this city. They were very similar and cost around 1.50 each.


    Kayden didn¡¯t know what to say and just smiled. The three girls arrived in the morning calling for him and were surprised to find him there. After a few words, he understood that his name had become a fairy tale in this family.


    "What can I do for you?" Kayden had no real regard for these people.


    "We lost our big sister and we need someone to help us with the passing." Kayden was just a few years away from advancing to the sixth realm, this was a great opportunity.


    "What do I gain from helping you?" At Kayden¡¯s words, the three foxes turned red in the face and a seductive voice appeared from the woman in the middle as the three approached him.


    "Us." A naughty laugh came out of the woman and...


    Author¡¯s note: I have released a second book, it has a lighter theme and a simpler character than Kayden, the book will be a plot of jokes with a big psychological game behind it, if you are curious

 Chapter 359: The past haunts the present

    "That¡¯s not enough, what resources do you have? Information?" Kayden¡¯s cold eyes were like an abyss staring at the three of them.


    "You annoying, Aunt Kamila warned you you wouldn¡¯t fall for my tricks." It was obvious that the woman in the middle, Hanna, was responsible for the idea. The other two were Lu¨ªsa and Fabiana.


    "A pretty face is found around every corner," Kayden murmured. This woman could be his new target if he took care of his ego.


    "I am more than just that." Kayden chuckled to himself, people had the same reactions and personalities after he met thousands of people. "We have information about the next zone and some sixth realm techniques."


    "Show me the information first and then we can discuss it." Kayden wasn¡¯t an idiot and always hoped to win something first.


    "We have a map of the next zone with some specific treasure spots. Furthermore, we have details of all intergalactic organizations in that zone." Kayden was automatically interested.


    "I accept, but I want an explanation about these organizations and what their strengths are." This was a simple request really.


    "Fine, but we want proof of your strength. Aunt Kamila just said you were terribly strong, nothing more." Kayden could have knocked them over or something, but there was a much easier way.


    "Sign an oath of silence first." In just a few seconds, everyone signed a contract and Kayden just cast the number he received in the universal tournament.


    "Gods, what are you doing in this end of the world with such a high number?" Lu¨ªsa couldn¡¯t contain her words.


    "What is the challenge for the next zone?" Kayden had never asked about it and everyone just assumed he knew.


    "A labyrinth with some monsters from the sixth realm. It¡¯s nothing out of this world, but a few mistakes in it can easily cost you your life." Kayden wasn¡¯t expecting anything too difficult anyway. "We don¡¯t want to make any mistakes, so we want your protection."


    "I will need a few days to advance to the sixth realm, after that we can go smoothly." Kayden spent the next few hours getting access to the information.


    These were things he had no idea about. There were so many organizations with different purposes and different strengths that, even with a brain in the fifth realm, he became lost. There were even organizations to manage other organizations outsourced.


    *********


    "KAYDEN HEART! SKIRT!" It had been two days since Kayden had talked to the girls and this strangely familiar voice appeared to him. It belonged to a wizard of the sixth kingdom and with incredible seven rays, something very common these days, but...


    "Hello, Athena." A middle-aged woman stood in front of Kayden, her hair was black and her eyes were green. Kayden didn¡¯t quite remember if the woman looked like this, but he remembered her mana signature perfectly.


    Neither of them said anything else as they stared at each other. Athena was visibly disappointed with Kayden¡¯s strength, just six lightning bolts into the fifth realm? This wouldn¡¯t even be a fight.


    Kayden looked at her without any negative feelings, there wasn¡¯t even curiosity in his eyes, while Athena seemed to have encountered the most hateful being who had ever lived, the only person who deserved all the hatred in her heart. sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "DO YOU KNOW THE REASON FOR MY HATE? DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU DID?" Kayden had no idea what happened.


    "No." His neutral and indifferent response was even more humiliating for Athena. The only reason he hadn¡¯t contacted Julian was still a bubble around his housing that was at a much higher level than his.


    "You still don¡¯t understand your situation, do you?" Kayden already understood, but he didn¡¯t see any major threat in front of him.


    "What happened to Earth?" Kayden preferred to clear up their doubts before they started fighting, something that would have been inevitable.


    "Plundered by some pirates, some people like me were made slaves and taken to the true universe, luckily this helped me find you." Kayden was starting to get curious about the reason for the hate.


    "What exactly did I do?" Athena almost screamed, her eyes burning.


    "There are soulmates in this universe, Kayden. We are all born with a half and only that half will complete you and that¡¯s not some stupid fallacy," Kayden thought it was. "A soulmate goes far beyond sex or race, it¡¯s a piece of you somewhere else. Your son was my soulmate."


    Kayden remembered killing Athena¡¯s husband at the time, but it had been so many years that he barely remembered the name of his offspring. It made him realize how time passed.


    "How do you know I killed him?" Kayden remembered using the slave marking, his actions were supposed to be completely anonymous.


    "I studied the situation for centuries and looked for divine treasures capable of helping me with this, I spent millennia looking for the person who destroyed my life." Athena had truly been through a lot.


    She had been taken as a slave in one of the pirates¡¯ raids and spent centuries working in mana mines on unknown planets, her strength and intelligence made her survive all these years, but what motivated her was hatred.


    At one point, his planet was attacked by one of the local forces that dominated that solar system. It was at that moment that she managed to be released, actually not exactly, as she had to work for another organization again to buy her life.


    "Your existence is no longer necessary." Kayden activated his surprise domain and all material things within a radius of several kilometers completely ceased to exist, it was just the blink of an eye.


    A ridiculous amount of mana appeared for Kayden, using this technique in real life was much weaker than in the tournament, simply because out here the amount of divine mana was much smaller for Kayden to use.


    Athena reacted quickly and erected a huge white barrier with thousands of unique symbols, the strength of this barrier seemed far superior to normal things in the sixth realm, but that didn¡¯t matter to Kayden.


    All the common and divine mana were suppressed in a single attack, a completely monstrous aura slash came out of a circle and slashed towards Athena, it arrived in less than 1 second against the woman¡¯s bubble and...


    "You¡¯re the only soulmate you need," Kayden muttered as he saw the bubble being cut in two and the woman being separated in two vertically. The body fell lifeless to the ground and Kayden only looked at it for a few seconds.


    He felt nothing about this situation, there was no dopamine from skipping a realm like it was no big deal, not even sadness from killing someone from his past, it meant nothing to him.


    The only emotion was contempt for Athena making him weak for a few months, his plans to advance quickly were nullified because of this situation, but it wasn¡¯t exactly a priority either, the girls were still hunting the bears.


    As they did not have a sixth realm wizard to assist them, the situation became much more difficult. They had to hunt bears that were isolated and had to work as a team to kill the creature.


    "Who was she?" Julian appeared at Kayden¡¯s side after a loud bang that broke the bubble.


    "A small problem from the past can plunder the body and take everything." Kayden didn¡¯t offer much explanation.


    "What happened to the surrounding land?" Julian looked like he was on a battlefield that had spent weeks of fighting.


    Everything was planned, the only thing that existed in this place was the dirt floor, other than that there was no other sign of matter or anything like that, not even air was present in the environment.


    "Nothing else." Julian understood that Kayden wouldn¡¯t talk, they already knew each other well enough for that.


    "Destiny is a funny thing, no matter the distance or the difficulty, our past will show up at one time or another." Kayden was impressed when he thought about it.


    When he killed David, it was at a very random and meaningless moment. The amount of coincidences that had to happen for them to meet at that moment was completely surreal.


    "At one time or another, you sit down to a dinner of consequences."


    ************


    The skies were completely closed with golden clouds that stretched for thousands of kilometers, there was a grandeur and pressure on all living beings in the region, it seemed as if the gods were descending to earth.


    "I have never seen such a big cloud in the fifth realm," Julian commented to himself.


    "It¡¯s bigger than my spiritual sense." Hanna thought she had successfully passed into the sixth realm, but Kayden¡¯s mere cloud was superior to her spiritual sense.


    Meanwhile, Kayden was on the ground waiting for the rays, the first ones would practically be a joke considering all the stoning he did over the years, and it was.


    Boom!

 Chapter 360: The sixth kingdom

    A low explosion sound sounded as one of Kayden¡¯s beams completely swallowed the other beam. It felt like one snake swallowing another, and he didn¡¯t even have to sweat for it to happen. It was ridiculously easy.


    **Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!* *


    Four lightning strikes fell in sequence, with only a few seconds apart. Kayden again swallowed them with his attacks easily, without any difficulty. He didn¡¯t even need to use mana conversion.


    In less than a minute, he crushed five lightning bolts like they were nothing. The environment around him was completely normal, not even a single inch suffered any damage. The strength of the lightning was immense and could make space tremble slightly, but as Kayden destroyed any force that came at him instantly, the lightning was not able to propagate its damage. But at that moment, things started to get serious.


    Kayden has set up his domain and all its barriers. He had accumulated great defensive spells over the years, from attrition spells to mana nullification spells. Most were ineffective alone and would not be able to hold off a single attack from the fifth kingdom in equal forces. But this was where the ideal situation was: Kayden was able to pile them by the dozens into his domain.


    ** BOOOOM!* *


    The sixth ray fell with ridiculous force. The space shook a little around Kayden, but nothing major. Since he was just a six-ray mage trying to advance to the sixth realm, the challenge wasn¡¯t that heavy. Kayden launched a lightning attack of the same intensity. Since he wasn¡¯t giving his all in this attack, the lightning from the heavens was only slightly delayed. The attack hit his domain and a fight began to overtake him.


    The expanded mana reduced the strength of the lightning by a few times. All spells in Kayden¡¯s domain were made solely of divine mana. Kayden couldn¡¯t pull divine mana at any time for this; the solution he found was to walk with divine mana compacted around him.


    This practically made it a sign of giant divine mana in other people¡¯s spiritual sense, but it didn¡¯t matter much either. He just needed a simple spell so he could mask it. The wear bubbles were constantly rotating in Kayden¡¯s domain, making his defense even more robust. The sixth beam opened its way, destroying everything with ridiculous force, but it was unable to reach even 100 meters from Kayden.


    The girls were looking at Kayden the same way they looked at a monster in sheep¡¯s clothing. The sixth ray was very difficult for them, but Kayden didn¡¯t even lift a finger from his hand.


    The seventh ray was preparing to come. The clouds parted, revealing the same landscape as when Kayden first got seven rays. It was an insanely heavy environment on the conscience of everyone who saw it.


    Kayden was given a few minutes to recover. He quickly remade all of his defensive spells that had been destroyed in the meantime. Mana was abundant because of the challenge, and the opening of the clouds caused something to change in the environment.


    The amount of divine mana increased by dozens of times. The heavens were constantly releasing a frightening amount of divine mana. Kayden laughed when he saw this happening.


    "Come to me." With his orders, the environment was almost empty of mana. Practically everything was around Kayden. This was not an amount of mana that a fifth-realm mage should be able to handle.


    For about 10 meters around Kayden, the divine mana became liquid because of its density. It was a completely frightening sight to see a fifth-realm wizard manipulating. A circle was made with all this divine mana.


    The circle was perfectly symmetrical and golden. Not even a hint of divine mana came out of the circle, but its aura was frightening. The seventh ray fell against Kayden at the same time he cast his spell.


    The clash between the two attacks shattered all the surrounding space. Several cracks appeared, and a black void behind these cracks seemed to hide an entire world within its curves. The strange man from the cracks was unable to begin entering the world, as the remnants of the clash of the two lightning bolts were pushing everything aside. In the skies, an intense battle between two electric dragons was unfolding.


    It was obvious to Kayden that he was going to lose, but not without taking away most of the strength of the seventh ray. It took about a minute for his attack to be completely consumed and the attack continued to descend towards him.


    ** BOOOM!* *


    The beam hit several protective barriers and Kayden¡¯s expanded mana. The attack destroyed several things as if they were just butter, but there was always one more behind, and they were always fulfilling their objective of wearing down the lightning. Kayden saw it approaching him a few meters per second. Before long, he was less than a meter away from Kayden. The boy didn¡¯t even blink as he stood there waiting; his confidence was absolute.


    The lightning stopped at the tip of his clothes and didn¡¯t even cause a small shock. It was destroyed without any major difficulty for Kayden. This was completely impressive considering he was facing a seventh lightning bolt.


    The heavens poured a ridiculous amount of mana onto Kayden. It was obvious from his smile that he was ready to face the next bolt of lightning. Divine mana began to flood the entire environment, and Kayden rebuilt his defenses. This time, he had a good amount of rest, although he didn¡¯t know exactly how much. He took advantage of every second to fortify his domains. At this moment, the heavens began to thunder with loud sounds.


    Something scary was coming toward Kayden. He just watched as a sort of man-made of golden lightning appeared floating in the skies and stared at him. The figure raised its hand, and a golden beam appeared above it.


    "Your existence is no longer necessary," said the figure. All two thousand kilometers of Kayden¡¯s spiritual sense flickered for a millisecond and then dissolved into pure mana. It was an immense and frightening amount. Julian and the three girls stared at Kayden without knowing how to react. Shock? It was too light to describe the situation. Surprise? It was much more than that. In the end, only two emotions could be attributed to the situation:


    Fear.


    Admiration.


    The man came at Kayden at high speed. His control was absurdly bizarre. Not even a small bit of mana escaped its clutches. Kayden¡¯s surroundings turned slightly blue because of the amount of mana. He began to prepare one of the strongest attacks of his existence with all this normal and divine mana. It wasn¡¯t like the tournament where he got everything in divine mana, but it would still be terrifyingly strong.


    The circle was a mixture of blue and intense gold, the two colors rotating incessantly. The pressure from the circle caused the space to tremble slightly. This spell carried an insanely heavy and deadly aura. The figure made of lightning raised its hand, and the lightning above it trembled slightly. The movement of his arm descending seemed to have taken an eternity in everyone¡¯s eyes, but it was almost instantaneous.


    **Crash! Crash! Crash!* *


    The sound of space breaking as if it were made of glass was frightening. Fortunately, the heavens held back any beings from the rifts and their mana. Kayden launched his attack as well, and once again...


    **Crash! Crash!* * S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 361: High

    Space tore apart beside Kayden with the same intensity. His attack carried all the strength he was capable of utilizing, even his domain and defensive spells were consumed along the way and used in the attack. Kayden didn¡¯t want to do this, but the aura of that figure made it clear that this was his only option. It didn¡¯t even take a second for the two attacks to meet. The remnants of the attacks were opening huge cracks on all sides.


    Scary eyes passed between the slits, beings that the universe should have forgotten about their existence peered into the void, but that didn¡¯t matter, only the two rays confronting each other were important. The seconds began to pass without a clear winner among them. Only the remnants of strength were spreading everywhere. The environment did not have any mana or air, which meant that the sound did not propagate normally, only mana was capable of propagating these sounds.


    "What are those eyes?" Hanna asked and got no response from anyone. Everyone was focused on watching the battle, and the only one who knew the answer was Julian, but he would never reveal this secret. The seconds continued to pass and the space became increasingly fragile around the attacks. Even so, only cracks opened. They were strong attacks, but not enough to open a complete passage into the void.


    This was a degree of strength that only those at the peak of the sixth realm and with spatial knowledge could achieve. Few had this ability and even fewer could enter the void. At least get in without dying. The eyes and the type of mana that escaped from this place made something obvious to everyone: it was dangerous. Seconds became minutes, and the two attacks remained a confusion of lights in the skies.


    The golden lightning against Kayden¡¯s black lightning looked like two dragons fighting for survival. It was a fierce fight that caused the surrounding environment to shake slightly even from dozens of kilometers away.


    "So that¡¯s it," Kayden muttered as he saw his attack destroyed. He accumulated enough mana in that time to erect a weak barrier around himself, but the golden beam immediately consumed it. Kayden¡¯s sadness opened into a huge, crazy smile dripping with blood as his entire body was charred, leaving only part of his shoulder and his head. It seemed crazy to be close to death and smile, but...


    "He did it," Julian saw Kayden¡¯s eyes that held no emotion other than emptiness but were still alive. In the fifth realm, you needed nothing but your mind to stay alive for weeks. It was painful and chaos of sensation from lost nerves and phantom muscles, but that didn¡¯t matter to Kayden.


    He saw the figure put another bolt of lightning into his hands, and this time, he felt that it wasn¡¯t an attack on his life, which made him relax. The figure made the same slow movement that was instantaneous at the same time. The lightning consumed Kayden whole and destroyed any trace of his existence. Not even a hair was present. While the lightning was still descending like a punishment from the heavens, Kayden¡¯s new body began to be remodeled.


    The first thing that appeared was her crown with five jewels. The jewels and the crown changed slightly: the jewels became red and the crown became completely black with some red dots at the ends. Then Kayden¡¯s brain was rebuilt inside the crown: his eyes, mouth, ears, hair, everything was instantly remade. His body began to take shape and almost instantly returned to its peak.


    The sight of a person being shaped in milliseconds was impressive. All the details of a normal body were placed on Kayden, from nails to hair, everything was redone perfectly. Kayden¡¯s soul was trapped by an invisible force. The world of souls was a ridiculously complex matter. Even manipulating space was easier. This was an area that only gods or special wizards had any mastery over.


    Once the soul was placed in the body, Kayden fully regained consciousness. As soon as he opened his eyes, the heavens closed and the world returned to its normal appearance. Actually, not so normal, since for two thousand kilometers everything became¡­ nothing.


    "HAHAHAHA," Kayden opened his arms and started laughing. The strength that was in his body was ridiculous. His physical strength had risen to a completely bizarre level. He could probably face a Seven Rays Sixth Realm mage who specialized in physical strength.


    His new body was perfect on so many levels he didn¡¯t even know where to start. But the most impressive thing wasn¡¯t even that, it was his path and...


    "10 thousand kilometers." Kayden¡¯s spiritual sense range was completely ridiculous. This was five times greater than that of a seven-ray strong mage at the sixth realm. It was completely bizarre.


    He felt like a god observing everything around him. It was a completely immense area of land. To be more exact, it had more than twice the area in its spiritual sense than the entirety of Asia. Finally, Kayden was feeling closer and closer to a god. The fifth realm was just the first step. This time, he truly felt like something more than a mere mortal. Its low-quantity conversion area has also increased by about ten times.


    His strength was raised to a ridiculous level. Kayden had full confidence in fighting a seventh-realm mage right away. Eight rays took his strength to another level. He just needed to level up his spells as well. S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Another priority was to get his ultimate technique to reach all ten thousand kilometers. This would take a while as it was a very large increase, but once he achieved it, his strength would receive another significant upgrade.


    The pressure that Kayden caused everyone at that moment was on another level. Julian was even feeling threatened by his friend. His instincts screamed that he could die at any moment if he faced Kayden. This sensation only lasted a few seconds, until Kayden hid his aura completely.


    Author¡¯s note: sorry for the short chapter, it was either this or no chapters today

 Chapter 362: Deaths

    Then he returned to being just an ordinary and dull sixth realm wizard. As soon as he flew to his friends, he fell silent. Nobody said anything for a few seconds; The situation was surprising and left everyone thinking.


    "Let¡¯s go?" Julian took the initiative for them to return to the city. It only took a few minutes at full speed.


    "I want to go to the challenge today, are you ready?" Kayden had nothing else to do in this area, because of the seventh kingdom beast, almost nothing of quality grew easily in this place.


    "We are, we can go now." The situation surprised Julian, he had been attached to Kayden during these millennia. The leader accompanied them to the entrance of the challenge, which was just a mana lake.


    "Goodbye, Kayden, I expect great things from you."


    "Goodbye, Julian, think about leaving this place one day."


    Their farewell was short and without many interactions. Kayden didn¡¯t waste even a second thinking about Julian; he didn¡¯t have any feelings for the leader, he was just one of the dozens of acquaintances he made during his life.


    Kayden and the three girls only had to put a finger in the lake to be transported to another environment. It was a huge room with walls made of green leaves. Kayden could easily infiltrate his spiritual sense and sense the monsters in the other rooms.


    "I can¡¯t feel anything," Hanna murmured, and Kayden raised an eyebrow. This would be much easier than he expected in the end. His path, once again, was opening doors that were impossible for others. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Follow me." Kayden didn¡¯t wait for answers and began to quickly float through the maze. As Hanna had explained earlier, there were lots and lots of sixth realm monsters of different levels.


    They needed to kill a few to proceed through some rooms, but they were ridiculously simple things. Kayden was strong to the point that he didn¡¯t even need to blink to kill sixth-realm beasts with less than seven lightning bolts, and even those with seven were not able to last long.


    In just a few minutes, they quickly flew through the maze. Without a doubt, this was one of the fastest attempts this maze has ever seen. Outside, there were several names with their times; the fastest had done it in about an hour.


    And people much stronger than Kayden have passed through this place over the millions of years. The difference was that none of them had the strength and ability to force their spiritual sense through walls easily.


    "Are we there yet?" Hanna was surprised to find herself in the boss¡¯s room, who was a minotaur with flames on his feet and shiny metal hooves. He looked pretty strong... for ordinary people. Kayden didn¡¯t even need three aura slashes to kill him.


    He had never noticed the stark difference between the seven rays and the eight rays, probably because he didn¡¯t have contact with eight ray people constantly. He only knew Eros with eight rays.


    In the center of the place, there was a small pool made of red liquid. Everyone just had to dive into it to be placed in the next zone. Everyone¡¯s vision just flickered and they were in a huge pit full of bodies.


    Kayden¡¯s spiritual sense only extended about 100 kilometers, but that was quite a large amount for a huge pit. He knew it was a well by the bricks on the walls and the remnants of water.


    There were thousands of bodies and rivers of blood in this place; This was completely terrifying to see. Kayden began to float upwards like it was nothing, at least he tried until he felt the presence of three seventh realm mages descending towards them.


    "Only one can come out of the well." There was a sad expression on this wizard¡¯s face. This didn¡¯t seem like your decision, but...


    "Kayden!!" Hanna screamed as she saw one of her sisters cut in half without anyone even being able to blink. Then Kayden¡¯s hold pressed down on the other two girls like a handcuff.


    "What are you doing?!!!" Hanna continued screaming, but Kayden didn¡¯t care at all. He knew that the wizards were telling the truth and that this was a matter of survival.


    His domain was extremely oppressive to people with weaker mana control than his. In a way, it forced its opponents to fight only with the mana in their bodies, and this was extremely bad for them.


    Hanna and Luisa immediately put all their strength into their family¡¯s secret techniques. Divine mana exploded in their bodies and gave them enough strength that they managed to move away from Kayden¡¯s domain by a few dozen meters.


    Unfortunately, his domain was much greater than that. Kayden pulled all the mana he could towards him instantly, this caused the well to practically become a complete mana vacuum.


    With just one move, he made an aura slash and launched it at Luisa. This small gesture carried all the mana he could pull out. That was a ridiculous amount, and considering the surprise of the situation...


    " Luisa !" Hanna screamed with tears in her eyes as she saw her sister being split into two halves. She didn¡¯t know how the situation had gotten to this point; Kayden should be the uncle who would take care of them according to Kamila, not this cold monster.


    "Kayden! I promise to kill you ..." She couldn¡¯t continue speaking when she saw all the matter in the kingdom disappear and go towards Kayden easily, This time the boy was just using the simple conversion, but that already represented an absurd amount of mana.


    "Call the boss, this wizard scares me " one of the seventh kingdom wizards ordered the other two, this was completely bizarre in his view, only one wizard did this and it was many, many years ago.


    Author¡¯s note: I know the chapters are short and we probably won¡¯t have an update tomorrow, but don¡¯t worry, each chapter I owe will be paid at the end of the month.

 Chapter 363: An invitation

    Now the situation became clearer to Kayden: it was training disguised as work. Not only that, but it was also a test to assess their capabilities. Probably, the bosses stayed here for a few decades and were promoted to other places.


    "I accept."


    ************


    "Boss, a special wizard has appeared." Kayden heard a voice in his head and left his cultivation to help with the emergency.


    It didn¡¯t take him more than a few seconds to reach the well. It was quite simple to identify the special person: a wizard from the seventh realm had appeared. Not only that, but he was strong. Kayden couldn¡¯t face him without using his special technique and...


    "Call in special cavalry, grade 2 threat." Grade 1 was for threats Kayden couldn¡¯t resolve, but they were just ordinary seventh-realm mages. He never used this code.


    Ranks 2 and 3 were for mages he could not face under any circumstances. He could, but he didn¡¯t want to have to waste his precious secrets and techniques for futile reasons.


    Within a few minutes, two seventh-realm mages with strong auras appeared. They easily suppressed the mage in the well, they didn¡¯t even need to use any spells; their auras made it clear who would die.


    It had been about 30 years since Kayden had been in this place. He spent most of his time cultivating, only being bothered a few times a year for something. In the meantime, he killed some seventh-realm magicians.


    It was incredible how strong he was in the sixth realm; the wizards in the seventh realm were like toys to him, at least the average wizard in the seventh realm. This included his soldiers, who developed a strong fear of their quiet, deadly aura boss.


    He received dozens of techniques during this time. Not only that but skills and knowledge of how to cultivate in the sixth realm. This time, it was only four levels in the sixth realm; It was funny how everything was shrinking with the kingdoms.


    In contrast, each level represented a greater difference in power. An ordinary wizard wouldn¡¯t be able to jump two levels against someone at the same level of strength. Kayden already had a path for how he should follow.


    The answer was the same as in all the other kingdoms: their path was the answer to all their problems. Kayden should continue polishing his crown, continuing to put divine mana into his base, and improving his path.


    Understand yourself. S§×ar?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    This was his path and, at the moment, he divided his attention by increasing his mana conversion rate, which was already at a level completely superior to anything he had ever had. It was enough to face mages in the seventh realm.


    "Mister Kayden?" a voice appeared as Kayden watched the special cavalry deal with the wizard. As soon as he turned around, he saw a sort of werewolf wearing a suit. He had white fur and black eyes, moreover, he was in the seventh realm.


    "Yes?" His tone was neutral and respectful at the same time.


    "I represent the House of the Moon. We want to invite you to the Moon Event. We have already obtained permission from the Emperor to take you and the Dragon God." Kayden was taking the approach normally until he heard the last part.


    An organization capable of moving the penultimate name was impressive, but it could still be overlooked. The problem was that he cited the Dragon God; Kayden knew it was the same thing that put him in this place.


    "Who exactly are you?" Kayden looked suspiciously at the butler in front of him.


    "The Moon Sect is a neutral organization in this universe. We recruit talents and people with the potential to become high-level gods. The event, which takes place every decade, is attended by False Gods and dozens of other top-level organizations. There are several lectures and open fights." Kayden was interested, but still needed a few more questions.


    "How do you know me?"


    "The False Gods have a personal interest in you. We don¡¯t know why." Kayden raised an eyebrow.


    "What is the guarantee of my safety? I have no god behind my back." This was one of Kayden¡¯s biggest fears; All it took was one wrong look and he could die.


    "We guarantee your safety. Not even a god will be able to touch a strand of your hair." The butler tossed a bracelet to Kayden, which automatically stuck to his arm.


    The boy didn¡¯t even have time to react before a golden liquid covered him completely. After a few seconds, he regained his vision and all his senses. It seemed like nothing had happened.


    "This will hold off any god¡¯s attack and immediately summon our gods."


    "This is enough. When is the event?"


    "Today. It¡¯s in an hour. We will start with a fight between a first-tier god against a False God." Kayden exchanged just a few more words with the butler and the two began to soar into the skies.


    As soon as they passed a certain point, his vision flickered and he found himself in outer space. The stars on the horizon were beautiful to look at; in fact, they were in all directions. A few suns shone brightly and cast their rays onto the structure in front of Kayden.


    A huge city thousands of kilometers long stretched out in front of Kayden. His spiritual sense could not reach the end; it was a completely ridiculously big place.


    "I say goodbye here, Mr. Kayden." Kayden didn¡¯t even have time to respond before he found himself alone in space. This only lasted a second before he saw a man with deep blue hair in front of him.


    The pressure this person was putting on Kayden was surreal. Not even the dragon god who placed him in this world was capable of doing something like that. All the hairs on the man¡¯s body were blue, but... They seemed to be concentrated mana. It only took Kayden a blink of an eye to see that the entire person in front of him was made of mana concentrated at a completely ridiculous level.


    "My compliments to God." Kayden bowed respectfully.


    "I am not a god." Kayden looked into the two blue eyes and saw that his words were sincere. What exactly was the person in front of him then? As the power tag dictated, Kayden waited for the man to continue.


    For a few minutes, neither of them said anything. The man¡¯s aura was neutral and at the same time oppressive, but it was not able to bend his will. It didn¡¯t even tickle his conscience.


    "I am a false god, more precisely the Father." The man saw Kayden¡¯s face not showing even the slightest reaction and understood that the boy had no idea who exactly he was.

 Chapter 364: Scary

    "Do you know who the false gods are?" Kayden shook his head. "This is going to be a long story, but we have time." The man was about to float away with Kayden when thousands of divine auras rose up.


    "KAYDEN HEART!" a voice shouted and spread throughout the thousands of miles. Kayden could feel the divine aura in each of the fox people who stood up. "Do you think you can kill our princesses and get away with it?" sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    It seemed like there was no way to escape the past; One time or another, the consequences would knock on his door. Kayden didn¡¯t think the other side would have such strong people. Fortunately, he was protected by the bracelet, he hoped.


    Father was just waiting to see Kayden¡¯s reaction. None of the gods were able to identify him there; his presence at Kayden¡¯s side would have been able to bring either of them to their knees immediately.


    "I had no choice, that¡¯s all." Kayden responded calmly to the voice. Not even the craziest of gods would have that courage.


    An elderly man with fox ears and wearing a purple and white robe appeared a few dozen meters away from Kayden instantly. His divine aura was completely oppressive and was open for everyone to see.


    The aura was so complex that Kayden couldn¡¯t even understand what was in front of him. She forced him to kneel, but it was only mentally. His head felt heavy for a few seconds, but he soon recovered. If it wasn¡¯t physical... Kayden wouldn¡¯t bow down to anything.


    "We always have a choice. You killed our princesses and you must pay for it." The old man wanted to throw his aura at Kayden and kill him there, but the rules of this event prevented him. Therefore, he should just break Kayden¡¯s will today.


    "I chose my life, that¡¯s all." Kayden continued to look into the god¡¯s eyes. It was incredible to see how thousands of black foxes seemed to run around there. His response made the god... laugh .


    "It¡¯s a great answer. Kamila still likes you a lot, boy, but her attitude was unacceptable. For the honor of our family, we will have to kill him one day." Kayden could understand and it was also clear to him that the old man had nothing against him.


    "I understand perfectly," Kayden responded neutrally. At that moment, the blonde man next to him appeared smiling.


    It was as if the world had stopped for a few seconds. Not even the sound of breathing appeared. None of the gods within a radius of thousands of kilometers dared to move even one of their internal organs.


    Father looked at the old man in front of him and then swept his eyes across the multitudes of gods in that family. They were terrifyingly strong and ruled over a large swath of land in the universe, but compared to the false gods?


    "He¡¯s out of bounds," Father said in a neutral tone, this made every god shudder in this environment.


    "Sorry, Father, we didn¡¯t know he was one of your prot¨¦g¨¦s. We take any offense to Mr. Kayden and are willing to pay anything to apologize." The old man withdrew all his aura and looked like a mere mortal.


    Father didn¡¯t respond and just observed the environment with a hand on his chin. The minutes began to pass, but not even one of the gods dared to stand up against him. It was a primal fear and...


    "I want sis." The old man¡¯s eyes widened, but then acceptance came to him.


    "?????? It is ????? please make your final sacrifice to the house." All the gods changed their auras to mourn; a completely gloomy atmosphere appeared around everyone.


    "Perfect," Father commented as Kayden saw two explosions of divine mana come out from where the two gods were. It was an absurd amount that far surpassed anything he had ever seen before.


    All this mana was swallowed by Father directly and settled into his body. For a few seconds, new golden strands grew in his hair, but then it returned to its normal blue.


    Then, everyone began to disperse and avoid any visual contact or with their spiritual sense of the Father. It was a primitive fear, even more so after seeing two gods being transformed into mana as if they were absolutely nothing.


    "Come with me." The two floated for a few hundred kilometers and arrived at two chairs floating in space, along with them there was a table with tea in a transparent jar.


    After the two sat down, Father gave each of them some tea and began to sip his drink. Kayden did the same and...


    "Holy crap." He expressed his thoughts in a rare slip of personality. Kayden was drinking pure divine mana and at the same time the most delicious drink he had ever tasted.


    Just by putting this tea in his mouth, he felt his body improving and being improved. His mind felt lighter and more agile than before. Not only that, but a state of peace and pleasure began to assault his body. Kayden directly cut off these effects, he hated emotions that didn¡¯t come from himself.


    "The false gods are all my children. We are one of the most special races in this universe." Father ignored Kayden¡¯s words. "As you may have noticed, I am made entirely of mana. My race has the ability to convert reality into mana, and over time, we become mana."


    Kayden was surprised. This was an ability he also possessed, but at no point did he feel his body changing into mana. Not even the slightest hint of it appeared about him.


    "Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯re not one of us. That¡¯s what makes your ability so special." Father looked directly at Kayden. "I want to propose a fair exchange between both parties. I will give you access to a time room at this event, but in exchange, you will enter with a false god and exchange knowledge during these years."

 Chapter 365: Fight of the gods

    Kayden didn¡¯t expect something like this, he needed to think about the proposal first, but mainly understand what he would gain in this situation.


    "Tell me a little more", Father was surprised by Kayden¡¯s courage, not even a genius god would have the courage to look directly at him and demand more.


    "The room will compress time in exchange for your life, you will spend 50% of your life inside it and pay with another 50%." Kayden frowned, this wasn¡¯t a good idea at all. "But if you agree to teach all your techniques to one of my chosen ones, we will make sure you don¡¯t have to pay that 50%."


    Kayden this time thought the proposal was perfect and in the end, he just needed to give up his biggest secrets, he almost laughed to himself when he called the secrets of his technique, he would even sell his soul if it didn¡¯t hurt him.


    "I accept", this time the one who was surprised was Father, he expected Kayden to try to negotiate his price, whether he wanted to or not, his technique was powerful and unique in this universe.


    "Aren¡¯t you afraid of giving in to your greatest fears for just a few thousand years?" Kayden felt like he had had this conversation in the past before.


    "Time is the greatest treasure you could give me."


    "Aren¡¯t you afraid that thousands will start using your technique?" Kayden just smiled.


    "I am her master, if someone is better than me at what I created myself... it just meant that I don¡¯t deserve to hold the title of master." Kayden doubted anyone could do what he did.


    How many years did he have to spend to reach this level? Kayden has not rested for even a minute in the last thousands of years, not only that, but he has also honed his path to an absurd level.


    "Beautiful words, wait for the initial event to continue this conversation", Kayden didn¡¯t have time to respond when he felt two extremely aggressive auras floating in the skies.


    The problem was that... his spiritual sense shouldn¡¯t be able to reach that point, at this moment Kayden noticed that his spiritual sense was greater than a few tens of million kilometers.


    This... it was ridiculous, Kayden was lost in space for a few seconds, he felt one with the universe, everything was within his reach, the city had disappeared from his reach he was just a big nothing and... S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Two gods floating in the skies.


    One of them was a white tiger with eyes glowing blue, its body was immense and easily spanned a few tens of kilometers, divine aura exuded from its body without any pause.


    The other was a... false god, Kayden could feel that the person in front of him was very similar to Pai, he just had a more aggressive and uncontrolled aura, he seemed much stronger than Pai, but Kayden knew that this was what made him weaker.


    The void began to shatter around the false god, Kayden saw reality split as if it were made of glass, it was an incredibly frightening sight, of the various broken parts of reality...


    Mana, an inexplicable amount of mana began to appear that wasn¡¯t the correct word to describe the amount, Kayden had no way to explain it in words, he probably didn¡¯t have that much mana even in the entire world of luck.


    It was ridiculous... the mana didn¡¯t stop coming out, it was a little different from normal mana, but it was still a very large amount, all this mana was entering the false god¡¯s body easily.


    The tiger just watched as it sharpened its golden claws on its skin, the incredible thing was that its nails were not capable of piercing its own body and Kayden was sure that this god was capable of dividing a planet in two easily.


    The tiger started running towards the false god, Kayden didn¡¯t think that a god would be so weak that he could follow its movements with his spiritual sense, this was probably because of the tea.


    The movement of the tiger¡¯s body was capable of breaking the space around it, each step caused hundreds of kilometers of space to be broken, and the environment that was already broken was destroyed when the two exchanged the first blow.


    The tiger used its claws to cut and the false god used a kind of wave of divine mana, in seconds the entire environment shattered, and Kayden saw reality itself shatter like glass for thousands of kilometers.


    The black outer space was exchanged for a new universe of purple and blue, not only that but Kayden was able to see some beings made of eyes for a moment, but soon after everything disappeared and only the two were left facing each other.


    The amount of mana in the environment was... null, there was no mana in this place, Kayden didn¡¯t understand how this was possible, it was obvious to him where they were, this was the void, reality was broken and they were swallowed by the void.


    "This is the illusory void when strong magicians fight are placed inside, all universal laws follow the same rules here", Father¡¯s voice explained to Kayden and he thanked him with a nod.


    The two gods started fighting in a crazy way, whenever the false god needed mana he just broke the space around him and pulled out as much as he needed, Kayden immediately recognized what he needed to do to get new lightning.


    This would prevent his strength from falling when he fought in places without matter, for example when he fought in the heavens, this was one of the defects that Kayden had found in his conversion technique.


    The problem was that this mana that came from the void was ridiculously strange, it seemed dead and cold, Kayden wasn¡¯t sure if he could use it easily as if it were normal mana and the answer would probably be no. If this skill were something easy that everyone could learn, it would lose its meaning, and it became evident to Kayden as the fight progressed, as the tiger never managed to do the same.

 Chapter 366: A true ancient monster

    Each attack seemed to be able to shake the entire existence, without a doubt, any one of them was capable of splitting a planet into two easily, this was the true level of divinity that Kayden aimed for.


    "HOAR" the tiger roared and from its body began to fall millions and millions of hairs, each one of them was as hard as the strongest metal of the ninth realm, the sum of millions heading towards the false god was an incredible sight.


    For thousands of kilometers, the only thing that appeared was this hair, the tiger was still completely covered in hair, and not even this large amount was able to remove much from it.


    "The world of mana", the false god also played his final card, and¡­ the space shattered again into thousands and thousands of pieces, if Kayden thought that before the amount of mana was absurd¡­


    At this moment it was billions of times taller, all this mana was condensed around the false god into a huge circle tens of thousands of kilometers long, it was a world of mana made out of nothing.


    "Burn" and then the entire mana caught fire and consumed everything around, every hair was destroyed dozens of kilometers away, and they couldn¡¯t even get closer before being converted into mana. Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The world of mana was not on fire, it was something completely different, it was fire and at the same time it was not, as it was mana in a state of boiling and madness, it had no heat, and it was very similar to fire, in fact it was Kayden who did not I knew how to describe this state.


    The world slowly went towards the tiger and consumed everything around it, even space was being broken and thrown into mana, it was something completely ridiculous, Kayden believed he was the master of mana, but he was very far from that level.


    "That was a high-ranking false god", Father commented and Kayden found himself back in the same place as before, and without any sign of the two combatants, it seemed that everything had been just a delusion in his head.


    "What happened?" Kayden was still a little confused, his spiritual sense returned to normal.


    "A fight of gods, the tea you drank allowed you to see a little of the movements of this fight, but you probably couldn¡¯t see even 1% of the exchange of blows between them."


    Kayden believed this as it was only two or three attacks from each side before the battle was decided, that was probably all he could see with his current realm.


    "What is the kingdom of a false god?" Kayden asked the question that had been in his throat this entire time.


    "Ninth realm, we can¡¯t get past this," a mortal fighting a god, that was completely ridiculous in its conception.


    "Why?"


    "We don¡¯t know, I¡¯ve been asking myself this question for trillions of years", that number didn¡¯t seem like a metaphor considering the strength of the person in front of him, that was probably why such a strong wizard was talking to Kayden.


    For the simple fact that he had already tried everything he could and was unsuccessful, but he still kept trying regardless of how small the chance was and Kayden was a new path for him.


    "I¡¯m a try, right?" Kayden saw the gleam of confirmation in the eyes of the wizard in front of him only because that was the emotion Pai wanted to convey.


    "Yes, another one of my quadrillion attempts", Kayden once again did not doubt this number.


    "I want the technique of utilizing void mana and various techniques on space manipulation, I believe it is something small for your strength," Kayden placed new requests, but none of them were too heavy.


    "Of course, the event will start again in a day, want to hear a story in the meantime?" Kayden had nothing else to do he could cultivate, but it would be rude of him.


    "Yes."


    "You¡¯re not very nice, are you? That was the fakest yes I¡¯ve heard in millennia," Kayden just shrugged.


    "I come from an ancient time, much older than most of these gods today, only a few ancient monsters are still alive with me." Kayden was finally meeting one of the first bosses in the universe. "Magic already existed at that time and it was advanced in the same way. After living for many ages, you realize that everything starts from the bottom and reaches a peak. After that, it ends and starts again, the universe started over only once while I was alive."


    Kayden was trying to keep up with the information, restarting the universe was too strong a term for him to keep up with.


    "I am stronger than most of the current gods and even among the ancients there should not be more than a few capable of rivaling me and yet I continue trying to ascend to divinity."


    " Why? I can sense that it is not power you seek." Kayden recognized someone who sought something higher just like him in just a few seconds.


    "In the ancient universe, I achieved the strength of a god by worshiping mana as the reason for my existence and slowly becoming mana, all of this was done alongside the love of my existence." Kayden frowned, his expression seen by Pai. "Everyone has that reaction," the wizard laughed. "I lost her when the universe started again, everything I did was driven to find her again, every second in this life was dedicated to her. I learned all the secrets about time and... I wasn¡¯t able to find her, because the timeline ends at the beginning of this universe."


    Kayden couldn¡¯t understand how someone would go so far for another person, love was something ridiculous capable of moving universes, literally. The most impressive thing was that time did not change this for Pai, his words were sincere.


    For a few seconds, Kayden found himself thinking about how little people accepted the universe. Most were able to accept crumbs of affection or even a few bits of true love, but how many were able to offer something like Father? Few, ridiculously few.


    "You didn¡¯t judge me as an idiot, that¡¯s the normal reaction," Kayden looked directly into Pai¡¯s eyes.


    "Your reasons are completely idiotic to me," Father raised an eyebrow. "But I understand your obsession with her, it¡¯s the same obsession I have with elevating myself to a higher stage so I will never be able to judge you." Kayden¡¯s response was understood by Father.

 Chapter 367: An opportunity

    "I¡¯ve met some... abnormal beings," Kayden thought. What would make one of the strongest wizards in existence call someone abnormal? "I need to become a god to have access to more mana and be able to manipulate time one step above time itself. Don¡¯t think about it too much, it¡¯s not something you¡¯ll understand."


    "The problem is that you are made of mana and there is no way to do that¡­"


    "Yes, I am currently made of divine mana and there is no way to elevate it to divinity, at least not yet. And the freaks won¡¯t tell me about it, because¡­"


    "You¡¯re going to consume the universe, aren¡¯t you?" Kayden knew how his ability worked and only needed to put two and two together to understand exactly what Father would do when he became a god.


    "Only 50% of it. The problem is that this will cost an unfathomable amount of souls, and souls are not as easily remade as matter is." Love is willing to kill half of all existence...


    A villain will always sacrifice the world for you, a hero will sacrifice himself for you for the world. As sinister as Pai¡¯s phrases were...


    "Again, you didn¡¯t judge me. Only psychopaths who have lost their emotions react like this, but you don¡¯t fall into that category." S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I understand your reasons, I would do the same for mine, that¡¯s all." Kayden would do much more, he would swallow the entire universe if he had to.


    "Great answer." The two stayed quiet for the next few hours. Kayden could ask a thousand things, but... Father was no longer present in this conversation and it became clear to Kayden when he tried to talk to the wizard.


    In just a few hours, Kayden had many aspects of his life reevaluated. First, he came to believe in true love, the greatest living proof was in front of him at that moment. Second, he saw that kingdoms and gods were relative forces, a false god could easily equal a true god.


    Another thing was that... he would probably be hunted after he left this place. Kayden finally realized what exactly his strength was in this universe: he had the power of false gods and the ability to achieve divinity.


    This made him dangerous to a ridiculous degree. Now, Thoth¡¯s interest made sense to him, but the point was that Thoth was probably one of the abnormalities that Father spoke of, as that was the only explanation for him accompanying Kayden since his early years.


    Observing the future should be possible for the gods, and Kayden was thinking about actually observing the future, not predicting it like Merlin was able to do. When he was born, he was just one wizard among millions. At that moment, he shouldn¡¯t have had the ability to attract someone like Thoth.


    "It seems like the right time has come." Father came back to consciousness, he snapped his fingers and a few thousand books appeared to Kayden. "Take it, they answer all the questions about space in the mortal realm. Consider it a gift for your cooperation."


    Wealth was something measured and normally capable of being exchanged, but what he was receiving was much more than that: it was knowledge, and that was not something easy to find. It was priceless. Kayden¡¯s sixth sense started screaming that something was wrong.


    There was no free lunch. He was getting a lot of good things in a short time. It shouldn¡¯t be like this. In the end, what reassured him was Father¡¯s strength. He certainly didn¡¯t need to scheme to take things away from Kayden.


    "Here." Kayden didn¡¯t even manage to blink before the two were inside a small rock island above a lake. Within the lake, there was a white gate rotating with a terrifyingly oppressive aura.


    Near the portal, there was a false blue-haired female goddess very similar to Pai. She was about 3 meters tall and all proportions were enlarged. Furthermore, she appeared to have three nipples. His skin was white and bluish.


    Kayden felt a strong pressure from her, one of the greatest he had ever experienced in his life. The woman was also in the sixth realm and Kayden wasn¡¯t sure how many lightning bolts she had. His bet was eight, but his race could give that superior impression even with fewer rays.


    "In the sixth realm, you should have a life expectancy of 100 to 200 thousand years. She will pay for 100,000 years of her life and in return, you will teach her everything you can in that period," Father explained to Kayden quickly.


    "What¡¯s the guarantee that I won¡¯t lose half my life?" Kayden spoke these words and witnessed one of the most incredible scenes of his entire life.


    "I promise by heaven." And then, a golden ray fell on Father and disappeared into his body. Father smiled when he saw Kayden surprised. "When you become worthy, you will be able to swear by the heavens."


    Kayden was able to feel that lightning and it was the same as the ascension processes. This meant that either he was being tricked into the biggest lie of his life, or it was true.


    "We come?" Kayden didn¡¯t want to waste too much time. He received a nod from Father and saw the woman slip into the portal. Then it was your turn. As soon as he got within two meters of the portal, his vision flickered and...


    He was inside a world completely without the presence of rational beings. His spiritual sense extended throughout the thousands of kilometers that surrounded him and he felt the intense nature and diversity of the region.


    Dozens of trees with black stems and white leaves stood in the area. The grass was entirely white and the surrounding mana moved, creating wind pressure to move. The lakes were made entirely of mana.


    Kayden was unable to notice the presence of any being below the fifth realm, not even babies. This was completely insane: beings who had just been born possessed strength greater than that of most ordinary people in the universe.


    While Kayden explored his new surroundings, Father stood still, receiving fury from the heavens. Tens of thousands of green and black rays fell on him and everything around him, destroying the city where the event took place.

 Chapter 368: Thoth

    Father was pulling mana from the void and converted all of reality for thousands and thousands of kilometers around him. Entire planets were converted into mana for him to defend himself, and trillions of lives were lost instantly.


    "I just killed a little mortal, he wasn¡¯t that important, was he?" he muttered to the heavens but didn¡¯t get any response. His strength was great, but... not enough to challenge these beings.


    The divine punishment of black and green lightning only lasted a few minutes, but it left completely ridiculous devastation across millions and millions of miles. It was an unparalleled level of strength. Father had to sacrifice himself to defend himself.


    "A few lost millennia," he muttered as he saw that he had to use a lot of his strength. Bearing the power of a god while being a mortal was incredible, but it had a huge price to pay most of the time.


    "Father of false gods! Explain yourself now!" A huge golden wolf appeared near Pai. A few thousand gods were also around, trying to understand everything that was happening.


    Most of them there had a lot of life experience. No one became a god just by relying on talent. Everyone understood that this was retaliation for altering fate, and it was no small thing.


    "I made a mistake. I will pay for all the damages." Father could buy half the universe with all his treasures. Living longer than the universe itself was not something that could be done without gaining great wealth.


    "What did you do?" The wolf god expressed everyone¡¯s curiosity. Events at this level were ridiculously rare.


    "I don¡¯t think you have the strength to ask that question." Father¡¯s tone was neutral, but it sent a shiver to everyone in the room. Often, the gods at the top forgot who the real monsters were.


    "I think you¡¯ve studied the environment enough, haven¡¯t you, Kayden?" The female voice brought Kayden out of his thoughts. He was slightly irritated. They had so much time and he couldn¡¯t even waste a few seconds?


    "That¡¯s not the best way to greet an old friend, Kayden." The instant Kayden cursed the woman in his mind, he received this response.


    "We don¡¯t know each other and how did you read my thoughts?" At that moment, Kayden realized something was wrong.


    "It¡¯s me," Kayden raised an eyebrow. "Thoth." Kayden raised both eyebrows in surprise. "Long story, but what you need to know is that you got yourself into trouble, Kayden. In this place, death does not exist. This is a divine plan where resurrection is automatic. The false gods planned to kill you for thousands of years and learn their techniques. At some point, his mind would break and that would put an end to the cycle. So this woman would not pay with her life."


    Thoth¡¯s words confirmed all of Kayden¡¯s fears. In the end, free lunch was an urban myth. Not even a false god at the top of the universe had the ethics to make fair deals.


    "Father promised by heaven..." Kayden stopped mid-sentence as he understood what would happen. He would not lose his life. His mind would be broken to a point where he would still be alive, but without actually living.


    "It seems like you noticed, but don¡¯t worry too much. This girl has a strong will and is much stronger than you. But... in a few thousand years, you should be able to match her strength and subsequently surpass her. You must break her will to pieces." Thoth became someone more impressive every second of Kayden¡¯s life.


    "Why are you helping me?"


    Thoth laughed. "I manage trillions of bets, Kayden. You are just one of them." This was true. Kayden would probably take a lifetime if he were to count the number of Thoth¡¯s plans.


    "Anything else?" Kayden should make the most of this moment.


    "This world is a miniature universe from one of the ?????? " Kayden didn¡¯t understand the word, but his body shivered when he heard it. "All laws work here. Train your way and study the space very diligently."


    "What will happen when I leave? What stops the false gods from killing me?" Kayden knew that, in the grand schemes of the universe, he was insignificant, regardless of his talent or potential.


    "Train space manipulation, and when you get out of here, enter a vortex and disappear. Pass the next realm into the void, and I will make sure no one can catch you on the way out. But it will depend on your ability to stay alive in the void."


    Kayden didn¡¯t have any negative thoughts. Was it a radical change in what he was experiencing? Yes, but he had no problem with that. Life was constantly changing and he just needed to adapt.


    "In the end, that¡¯s it. Good luck." Kayden saw the woman¡¯s eyes close and open again. He knew she was no longer Thoth in this place.


    The void shattered around the woman on a scale dozens of times smaller than that of a peak false god, but it was still a frightening amount of mana that Kayden didn¡¯t think he could pull out, even utilizing his conversion to its fullest.


    "Not even a few words?" Kayden smiled as he began to convert matter from hundreds of kilometers into pure mana and fortify his domain. He would probably die in a few seconds ... but not without giving it his all.


    "I heard the whole conversation. We have no reason to be friendly." Here came Kayden¡¯s big sick psychological game. Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Of course we do. We will spend a few thousand years killing each other, the least is to be friendly." The woman raised an eyebrow as if she were facing a madman.


    "Converting mana into matter is one of the first steps for our race. This will open doors for you to convert other things into mana." Kayden was interested.


    "Why are you telling me this?"


    "I swore a mana oath that I would teach him" Kayden didn¡¯t have time to respond as a beam of light came out of the woman and came towards him burning everything around, the very air was being melted into absolutely nothing.

 Chapter 369: Tireless

    The mana around the beam dissolved into a spaced-out, liquid mana. The potential of this attack was completely surreal. Kayden¡¯s hold went over like it was made of butter.


    An aura slash utilizing a large percentage of all the mana he had shot out of his arms toward the beam of light. An explosion that caused some small cracks in space appeared in the surroundings.


    The two attacks were almost completely nullified, almost... The beam of light continued towards Kayden and passed through his shoulder, leaving a small, thin hole in it. There was not even a sign of pain. He felt his flesh being turned into mana.


    It was a bizarre feeling to think that in the end he was also made of mana. The next beam of light followed from the first and destroyed everything in its path easily. Kayden this time launched an attack with more mana.


    The beam was destroyed by Kayden¡¯s attack, but... that was it. The woman threw another beam and this time Kayden had nothing to do. The beam destroyed half of his body instantly.


    "You¡¯re not going to show any reaction..." the woman started to speak, but...


    BOOM! Kayden¡¯s body exploded into pieces as he tried to use his mana conversion technique on himself. It was a completely ridiculous attitude and it cost him his life. The good thing was that...


    "That was quick." Kayden found himself reappearing without even a few seconds having passed. Not only that, but everything around returned to normal and even living beings were alive again.


    From the look of surprise on his opponent¡¯s face, it probably hadn¡¯t been that long. Kayden this time didn¡¯t try to be friendly. He just used his conversion technique and tried to force his reach a little more. And the fight began again.


    "You¡¯ve gotten stronger, Kayden."


    "How many centuries were there? That was the minimum, Amanda." Kayden responded to his opponent in a friendly manner. He didn¡¯t stop fighting for a second. Many times, Amanda ended up experiencing psychological distress.


    She didn¡¯t expect Kayden to have such a hardened will. She easily realized that she would lose her life at this rate. Kayden didn¡¯t stop for decades and centuries. He would just die and keep attacking.


    With each fight, Kayden became stronger. His technique of converting his spiritual sense into mana was being honed stronger and stronger. It only gained a few more meters at first, but over time it began to gain dozens of meters and then hundreds of meters.


    He was utilizing the fastest development method possible, which was to push his body and mind to the limit at every opportunity. Since he didn¡¯t need to worry about death in this place...


    "Dying so many times can affect your mind. Slowly, the truths of death will be revealed to you, and at some point, you will succumb to the voices. That¡¯s why no one trains like that and why it¡¯s extremely bad to come back to life." Amanda had told Kayden that phrase in one of her thousands of fights.


    Every time Kayden died and was reborn, he felt his head being reshaped and his soul entering his body again. It was very strange and unique, but it was also a huge pain every time. Kayden just learned to ignore this pain.


    Truths were something Kayden ignored in his realms. Most people were forced to learn the truths to elevate their concepts, but Kayden forced his way to be his truth and only that.


    After dying millions of times, Kayden began to feel the claws of death around him. A certain sixth sense appeared in his mind when he was about to die. It wasn¡¯t very useful, it just warned him that he was going to die. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Your mood and thoughts became more negative. In many moments, Kayden found himself thinking about giving up everything or just killing himself and entering eternal darkness. It was funny to feel these feelings for Kayden.


    Even the greatest monsters in this universe would shudder if they felt how ridiculous Kayden¡¯s obsession with achieving his goals was. That¡¯s why he just saw these thoughts as a joke in his head.


    They were clear signs that something or someone was manipulating something inside him. This was a pretty ridiculous thing to think about, as Kayden couldn¡¯t feel even the slightest hint of intrusion. What was happening to him was something his abilities couldn¡¯t recognize.


    The feeling of being able to push yourself to the limit without any consequences was completely ridiculous. Kayden loved being able to use 100% of his power every second. It was a unique opportunity.


    Two thousand years later, Kayden achieved his full spiritual sense with his conversion technique. He called it the Absolute Domain. It was something very clich¨¦, but there were no better words for when he put ten thousand kilometers of pure mana around him and at his disposal.


    It was two thousand years old that he managed to match Amanda¡¯s strength. The woman could convert about half of Kayden¡¯s range, but her spells were far superior and she could use void mana.


    Equalizing strength was too strong a word. Kayden managed, using all her strength, to fight on equal terms for a few seconds, but there was still a long way to go, considering that she had not shown any difficulty so far.


    Kayden was capable of doing some light damage and things like that, but he still didn¡¯t have any chance in this fight, just in the initial seconds where he had a large amount of mana at his disposal.


    "I want to propose a deal." Kayden stopped attacking when he heard this. He had even forgotten to be friendly with Amanda. He entered a trance-like state where he only cared about fighting.


    He had nothing else on his mind or actions. He just opened his eyes and fought until he died, every day, every week, every month, every year, every decade, every century, every millennium.


    It was a completely abnormal obsession with improving. The false god in front of her was someone who had lived a few tens of thousands of years, but that didn¡¯t mean it was easy for her to spend that much time-fighting. She expected Kayden to break in just a few centuries.


    "Which?"

 Chapter 370: Time has lost its meaning

    "I will truly teach you and stop attacking so you have time to cultivate and train other subjects, in return, we will each pay with..."


    "I won¡¯t pay with my life," Kayden responded directly.


    "This is the best for both of us, I will teach you ancient knowledge unknown to most of the universe and at the same time neither of us will suffer any psychological damage." Kayden almost laughed in response.


    Psychological damage? He was in the best phase of his life, his evolution was made every day, every minute he was learning something by pushing himself to the limit, he had practically maximized his knowledge of the sixth kingdom and maximized the two states of his conversion.


    In normal mode, he could reach a thousand kilometers without any retaliation on his body. Still, when using his absolute dominance he reached ten thousand kilometers and had ridiculous strength.


    When he concentrated all this mana in a single attack... he was able to make Amanda use all the mana that was possible around her and put up a huge barrier of light that would be destroyed into pieces and even after that she would launch a beam of giant light to defend yourself.


    Amanda would be weak and unable to draw mana for a few seconds, in a high-level fight this would be enough for someone to die thousands of times, but Kayden no longer had any strength after using this attack.


    He managed to make the reprisals of using absolute dominance much smaller, at the moment he believed that he would only spend a few days without being able to use mana, unfortunately, he did not have the opportunity to do so.


    "Hang on!" Amanda screamed at Kayden about another thousand years later. "I accept paying with the entire % of my life, but I want us to reduce the frequency of fights." That was the phrase she said after dying for the first time.


    Kayden managed to consume half of his body to add mana from the environment, this greatly increased his strength, his aura cut was completely polished to the sixth realm and even raised to a much higher degree.


    He only needed a second in which she lost attention to be able to kill her, Amanda¡¯s moments of inattention were not rare, but it was rare for Kayden to have the strength to take advantage of this opportunity. Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    In almost three thousand years, only one opportunity was taken by Kayden, but it was enough to put a plausible fear in Amanda¡¯s mind, all false gods were taught from an early age to understand their limits and...


    Death was a powerful experience for her, it was one of the worst moments of her life, Amanda couldn¡¯t understand how Kayden went through this millions of times and remained normal in her head.


    Normal, was a bit of a wrong word, Kayden was constantly being tormented by negative thoughts and suicidal ideas, not only that but at times he could swear he heard some voices in his mind.


    In the end, this was just a way for him to strengthen himself, his will was always above all these factors and he was not shaken, for a weak person this would be torture, for Kayden it was free mental training.


    "I¡¯ll accept the deal if you teach me all my doubts," Amanda¡¯s face turned sour, she had her pride anyway. "I can also fight for thousands of years and slowly kill you enough that your mind breaks."


    Kayden¡¯s tone was neutral, this wasn¡¯t a threat and he didn¡¯t even have any leak of killing intent, this was what made his sentence scary as it put his intentions as a promise and after spending so much time with him, Amanda understood that he was telling the truth.


    "I can accept that, but I still want you to teach me your technique and all the details for it", Kayden had no problem with that, in the end, the result was already defined.


    ************


    "Space can be broken with high mana density attacks or with great knowledge of space you can open it without even using mana, in your case it¡¯s easier to use big attacks", Amanda was explaining some things to Kayden a few years later.


    "If I use some big technique to open the space, I¡¯ll end up getting more tired and weaker," Kayden knew that by using simple mana conversion he was already able to break the space into multiple layers, but the problem was losing strength.


    "Normal people have to spend years learning how to deal with space, we false gods, and you, because of your abilities, can choose a different path", Amanda materialized a shapeless ball in her hands. "We call it return mana, it¡¯s just condensed mana, it¡¯s made to explode the surrounding space and then return to the environment in the form of air, and then we just convert that air into mana."


    It seemed like a very simple and practical idea, but Kayden understood its difficulty in just a few tries, condensing mana wasn¡¯t difficult, not even exploding it and opening the void, Kayden was amazed at how sinister the void was.


    The void was a great endless space, he placed his spiritual sense and felt nothing for thousands and thousands of kilometers, only the infinite and endless mana, cold and neutral, it was not a mana he saw himself capable of manipulating.


    The problem with the false god technique was that it couldn¡¯t quickly convert air to mana again. According to Amanda, this shouldn¡¯t be difficult for him, as for false gods it was something they did easily.


    "Just train and you should make it", seemed simple and... it took Kayden about 100 years to convert air into high speed. His biggest problem was that the amount of mana that returned to him had to be trapped in his domain.


    Kayden did not have a body like that of false gods, this meant that he was not able to immediately reabsorb it into his body, but this problem was easily solved by adding a sticky space to his domain that froze the mana at his disposal.

 Chapter 371: A plan, a big plan

    The millennia began to pass quickly, Kayden continued fighting and dying against Amanda every month, he didn¡¯t kill the woman again, this was his way of respecting the agreement.


    Kayden had no difficulty in explaining the step-by-step process he used to manipulate mana in microscopic proportions, the first step was to have his path to the monarch and...


    "Are you a monarch? In the name of all monarchs," Amanda sat on the ground in a rare action by ordinary people without any cultivation, her body pressure had dropped and her vision had blurred.


    "That¡¯s impressive?" Kayden didn¡¯t expect a simple path to be so surreal.


    "I¡¯m not allowed to explain it to you but know that you would be hunted by every being in this universe if this were revealed. Father will directly offer you an invitation when we leave," Kayden smiled as he saw a future that was not going to happen.


    "Of course," his response was dry.


    After that conversation, Kayden only needed a few more years to explain all the details of his abilities, Amanda just wrote them down and asked a few questions, most things were based on Kayden¡¯s path and the way he developed it through the kingdoms.


    Giving up on all concepts was not something entirely new, but... it was rare, even among the greatest geniuses this was considered rare, as most had the talent to cultivate truths at a very high level and those who did not have this talent... . did not have a strong enough path to be significant.


    All of Kayden¡¯s moves throughout his life were to culminate in a semi-perfect path with very few defects and that mostly added up to a success, this was completely ridiculous in Amanda¡¯s eyes.


    She dedicated a good part of her life to the path of cultivation, a much larger part than most people, but Kayden? He devoted every second of his life to cultivation, it was ridiculous in his eyes.


    Amanda spent centuries in isolated cultivation but still had good times with her friends and family, but Kayden had none of that, he didn¡¯t have any bond, he didn¡¯t have any morals or ethics, and Kayden was... a monster.


    Kayden could only break the space, but that was it, the mana that came out of it was still unusable by him, it was very difficult to move and seemed to be completely dead, Kayden just had to keep trying to impose his way on this mana.


    He divided his time into three main tasks, increasing his level in the sixth realm, this was easy and was just being done in a perfect and time-consuming way, but the really difficult thing was his other two tasks, learning to manipulate space and use mana. of the void.


    Thanks to thousands of years of fighting and dying, his abilities had already reached the maximum he could in the sixth realm, the small increases in strength he got from cultivation weren¡¯t significant anymore.


    Kayden had reached the point where his path surpassed his realm, this meant that even an increase of three levels of the sixth realm was less significant than a slight increase of his path.


    This time it only took him a thousand years to climb each level, his strength gain wasn¡¯t considerable, but it still increased his overall stats, advancing in levels was a basic thing these days.


    The real problem was rising to the seventh kingdom, this was a very big division break, normal magicians raised their truths to another level at this point, they had to put them at the level of incomplete law.


    This was perhaps the most difficult leap among all nine realms, turning a truth into an incomplete law was a ridiculous thing to do, and the power of an incomplete law was stronger than all the truths stacked together.


    Even the weakest being of the seventh realm was terrifyingly strong and could devastate hundreds of thousands of kilometers with spells based on its incomplete laws, normally only a single law was needed to advance through the realm.


    Again Kayden was going to do something crazy, learning laws was a question of the right methods and resources or just pure and raw talent, Kayden had neither at his disposal, he was going to make a bet...


    Elevate your path to an incomplete law.


    This was something quite ridiculous, but with the size of the universe it shouldn¡¯t be something unheard of, but it would be even rarer than climbing the realms without a concept, there probably wouldn¡¯t even be 100 gods who chose this path.


    Kayden would have to use every second of the sixth realm on this goal, that¡¯s why he was using this time in this space to maximize everything else, as soon as he left he would have half of his life to elevate his path and...


    That wouldn¡¯t be enough, Kayden didn¡¯t think that a little over a hundred thousand years would be enough for him to achieve this goal, so he would have to leave that aside.


    "The immortality of mortals," Amanda murmured to Kayden¡¯s question about how she had been alive for so long.


    "It¡¯s a secret known to only a few organizations in this universe, I can¡¯t reveal it to you, but it¡¯s something incredible that is based on the ability of rational beings to regenerate their own body at the cost of divine mana," Kayden had a clue, but ...


    He couldn¡¯t get it easily, dealing with any of these organizations meant he would have to choose to lose his freedom or something worse, he didn¡¯t have the strength or someone at his back to protect him.


    As soon as he left that place, Kayden would have to enter the void and fight for his life, this was his only opportunity to remain free, if he made a mistake in even the slightest detail he would be arrested and used as test material.


    It took Kayden ten thousand years to learn the slightest bit about space decently, Amanda had never seen someone with such low talent before, it was almost as if Kayden was one of the biggest idiots in the universe. S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "How are you so strong and have such bad talent?" This question was repeated thousands of times in the woman¡¯s head, Kayden could only accept the criticism, learning about space was ridiculously difficult for him.

 Chapter 372: The void

    Talent was never his trademark; he always put more effort than everyone else in one direction and, fortunately, took the right direction. Otherwise, he might have gotten stuck at various stages of his cultivation.


    It took Kayden all this time to easily break the space using condensed mana and still manage to recover the mana. He has fully mastered the return mana. It seemed like a simple task, but it took 5% of his time in the sixth realm.


    Amanda gave Kayden a lot of tips during this period, there were thousands, in fact. The theoretical part of spacetime was completely mastered by Kayden. It was incredible how mana broke the laws of physics and separated these two laws.


    It was completely contrary to the laws of the land. Kayden did not have any in-depth knowledge, but he was sure that on Earth space-time was considered something unique and inseparable, and it was unlikely that mathematicians on Earth would prove it in so many ways and be wrong in general.


    Kayden knew how obsessive geniuses really were in a world where mana didn¡¯t exist. What would drive someone to sit for hours and years in front of a paper just to prove a theory that didn¡¯t change anything in their life? It was the purest form of obsession that existed.


    They didn¡¯t make a mistake, Kayden was sure of that. In fact, the mana caused a separation or, in this case, someone. The last hypothesis was frightening, as it meant that there was a creator in general for everything.


    How strong and unique did someone have to be to have the ability to separate space from time itself and make everyone think that was normal? It was ridiculous, completely insane to think about, and in the end, Kayden let it go because it wasn¡¯t something he had control over.


    Breaking down the space and keeping it open started to become easy for Kayden. Manipulating space was like moving jelly. It took a while for Kayden to begin to understand that space was made of solidified divine mana.


    He had never seen anything like this before. It was something unique and his mind didn¡¯t have the slightest ability to understand how it worked. Handling gelatin was difficult and time-consuming and could only be done little by little.


    The dense mana was capable of converting gelatinous divine mana into normal divine mana that was pushed into the void. It was incredible and scary at the same time. That mana didn¡¯t come back in any way, but...


    The void regenerated. The mana coming out of him was just normal mana in a dead, neutral form, but it was still able to condense to a point where it was transformed into divine mana.


    This was completely surreal. Kayden understood perhaps one of the best-kept secrets in the universe. It wasn¡¯t a secret since everyone could easily reach it with a little... abnormal effort.


    Spending ten thousand years watching space being destroyed and reshaped made him able to identify this small turning point. It was incredibly subtle, as the hole was fixed in a matter of milliseconds, and as soon as it returned to normal space, all the mana that could be felt disappeared. S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The lesson Kayden learned was a little deeper. The entire universe was made of divine mana; all existence, in fact, was mana, for divine mana and normal mana were the same things in different forms.


    One analogy Kayden thought of was water in solid and liquid form. In both forms she was water, but in one she was just water and in the other she was ice. This was exactly what happened with divine mana and normal mana.


    "This is the question that all mortals have been asking themselves since forever. When we become a god, we are able to perform this conversion within ourselves, but even then few gods have any idea what they do. Perhaps this is the greatest secret in the universe."


    Kayden revealed his thoughts to Amanda, who was left open-mouthed when she saw how far Kayden¡¯s reasoning went. What he discovered was something that few had even a basic understanding of. Each year, Kayden became more frightening to her.


    "How can we live in emptiness?" Kayden asked after he had mastered opening a space large enough for him to pass through. Seeing the surroundings on the other side was like looking directly into an abyss.


    Putting your spiritual sense into this abyss and not being able to feel an end or the existence of anything else was completely frightening. It was very similar to walking in outer space, but from what Kayden learned, the void was about 100 times larger than the normal universe.


    Here is the corrected text:


    It was a number so ridiculously large that he wasn¡¯t even aware of it. In one of the passages in a book, he read the story of a wizard from the ninth kingdom who was thrown inside with a curse that prevented him from manipulating space... He spent his entire existence inside the void, running away from beings and creatures. situations there. There were millions of years without being able to escape or ascend to divinity. In the end, he suffered the fate that most magicians at this level reached: natural death.


    Only 0.000001% or less of ninth-realm mages achieved divinity in their lifetimes. This value was just a metaphor, the number of zeros on these pages would not fit if they were written literally.


    Reaching the ninth realm with the amount of techniques and opportunities the universe offered was not ridiculously difficult. Even people without a path could reach this level, but in the end, it was a dead end.


    The void was great; its name came from the fact that the distance between things was ridiculously large. A person could travel their entire life and not reach more than a few planets.


    To live in the void, you had to have strength far above normal. First, the mana was impossible to use in the conventional way. Most mages, in fact all, were unable to use this mana. Not even the greatest of the greatest geniuses could do this. Only a select group of people had this ability, and of course...

 Chapter 373: A twist in the universe

    The abominations, a special race with no defined physical form or any organization, were born in the void irrationally, the weakest of them was in the sixth realm and had all the standard characteristics of the race. His main strength was his ability to swallow anything and turn it into mana, his body normally had small purple veins in the smaller realms and they later became unrecognizable.


    Because these beings were irrational until they reached the seventh realm, there were few organizations or planets in their domains, and the chances of passing into the seventh realm while being irrational were lower than passing into divinity, only in cases where the race was already born in that realm. level at which it was common to see irrational beings in the seventh kingdom and above. Abominations practically entirely dominated the void in the sixth realm, they existed in the trillions and trillions to the trillions, no number could quantify something like this, at least not for mortals.


    The abominations were ridiculously strong, not only because they moved in large groups of dozens to hundreds of beings, but mainly because of their ability to use void mana in an unlimited way.


    . Most of the time they fought using mana to strengthen their bodies and then jumped against their opponents trying to eat them, in rare cases they were able to use ranged attacks with a type of purple fire.


    The further they advanced in the realms, the stronger they became, but the problem was that this was quite disproportionate, while a common seventh kingdom wizard was worth around a hundred thousand ordinary sixth realm wizards, this was because it was a very large jump in realms, since the abominations were easily worth millions.


    Rationality gave them the ability to manipulate mana intelligently, this small difference added to an absurd amount of available mana and a body with transcendental genes made them unstoppable in the void. For some unknown reason, there were no abominations in the common universe and whenever someone tried to bring one out...


    they both died by a black and green-ray very similar to that the consequences of changing destiny


    . That was the greatest happiness for this universe if these creatures came to this environment... everything would be destroyed, there were many, even the sum of all forces would be at the mercy of defending only a percentage of the territory, at least if you don¡¯t consider the effective participation of the gods.


    Most of the time the gods could not interfere in mortal matters easily, with exceptions where there was a direct link to them, but in any other case, their lives were taken by the green and black rays.


    "It¡¯s the third time", Amanda complained as she looked at Kayden who was lost in thought, he had finally learned to manipulate void mana, the conversion rate was quite low, but...


    His real gain was in converting matter into mana, he reached the 100% conversion range, and all matter was transformed into mana, this meant a 2.5 times jump in his strength, at least in raw numbers, in reality, it was a little closer to 4 times.


    Meanwhile, his rate of converting void mana didn¡¯t even reach 5%, it was ridiculously low compared to other false gods that started with something close to 50% and reached 100% in a short time of training.


    They had been inside there for about 50 thousand years, at that moment Kayden had spent most of his life inside this place, but it was a funny feeling in a way, because those 50 thousand years were as fast as the 200 years he spent. passed into the abyss of his home planet.


    In a way, his notion of time was altered about how long he had to live, it was directly proportional to his vital force, Kayden was not able to explain it, but he could feel it decreasing as the years passed. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    What led to the drain on his life was an unknown that would probably answer his question of how to become immortal as a mere mortal, but it wasn¡¯t something he could achieve in just a few years. Your focus had to be specific to just your path and your strength, to stray into any other area would be a complete waste of time and disregard for all the other years of your life.


    "You¡¯ve grown a lot", Kayden was sitting cultivating and when he got up he came across Amanda, but...


    Here is the corrected text:


    ---


    "Who exactly are you?" Her eyes were cloudy and didn¡¯t match the person Kayden knew.


    "It is me." A smile like someone who had said this a thousand times appeared on the woman¡¯s face and Kayden...


    "Thoth," the only person who accompanied him from an early age.


    "That¡¯s right, Kayden." The god seemed to be praising a monkey who had learned to speak human language. "I wouldn¡¯t pry, but... Father has managed to break the curse of the false gods and is in the process of ascension." Kayden was surprised and...


    "And? Since when is this his problem? Father had already planned to kill him, but his strength didn¡¯t need to change for him to be able to do it. Kayden was just counting on luck at the time."


    "This won¡¯t impact you much, but as soon as you leave here, the conventional universe has undergone some changes. First, time outside is passing a little faster and it must have been a few centuries since you entered here."


    "It¡¯s not a problem for me."


    "Great, the second thing is that the war of the gods has started and the lines of fate are in a mess. Father will be able to advance in about a few million years and the entire hierarchy will be remade, but... " The part Kayden had been waiting for had finally arrived.


    "But?"


    "You kind of became a target for the entire universe..." Kayden raised an eyebrow without much of a reaction. "It¡¯s kind of annoying, but luckily no god is going to hunt him. Amanda was a puppet and all her information allowed Father to understand the next level of her existence, it was just a small part, I helped with the majority."


    Who the hell was Thoth? Kayden just heard him saying that he was able to influence one of the greatest existences in this universe as if he were dealing with a child. Perhaps Thoth was the true god of this existence?

 Chapter 374: Hunted by the entire universe

    "I¡¯m not," Kayden found himself having his thoughts read and didn¡¯t even respond; He knew not much would change.


    "That¡¯s right, well, continuing where I was, the universe fell into a great chaos of death of constellations and gods. Mortals are dying by the trillions per second, but that¡¯s not important. The point is that the Lich dynasty has retreated into the void and... that is your next move: you must find them."


    Again, Kayden found himself frightened by Thoth. Seeking the lichs was just so he could free himself from mortality, and this plan should be something only he knew about. Scary, that was the only word Kayden could think of.


    "What do I really represent to the universe?" Kayden wanted to know how dangerous he really was.


    "We have two large groups running after you. Those who want his abilities, which have been made public, and his position as monarch, and the other faction just wants to kill him so that the balance of the universe does not change."


    Kayden raised an eyebrow. He always liked a certain amount of pressure, but... S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Yes, you will be sought out in every corner of this universe by the strongest beings that exist. There are trillions and trillions of wizards chasing you, and getting caught by none of the organizations is going to be good for you."


    Thoth answered Kayden¡¯s thoughts and confirmed the boy¡¯s fears. This was completely disproportionate to everything he had already been through. Kayden felt like a protagonist in a slutty soap opera where he only challenged stronger beings and gained the power of protagonism.


    "When I leave here, who will be there?" Kayden wanted to be prepared.


    "Well¡­ at least a few thousand ninth realm mages and a few leaders with eight or nine rays. Everyone will give you friendly offers. You can receive everything that any being in this universe wants just by accepting any deal, but...."


    "Freedom," Kayden uttered the word that was the pillar of his entire existence and governed every action he had ever taken in his life.


    "Exactly. I will give you two treasures." Thoth took two common stones from his pocket. "This one," he tossed one of the two to Kayden, "will give you a bubble capable of holding off any attack for a few hours. Use it to listen to proposals." Thoth threw the other. "This one will break the void and throw you to safety."


    Kayden never tired of being surprised by Thoth¡¯s actions. It seemed that this god always had a plan ready...


    "It¡¯s not that I always have a plan, it¡¯s that I¡¯m always following the same plan," Thoth answered Kayden¡¯s thoughts. "You will be about 100 years old and you will be kicked out of here by a device outside. Good luck."


    Kayden didn¡¯t have time to respond, as he found Amanda¡¯s eyes staring at him. There was no exchange of words between them; the woman seemed to have a guilty gleam in her eyes.


    "Kayden¡­" Amanda was interrupted when Kayden attacked her by surprise with a maximum strength attack, his aura slash backed by thousands of kilometers converted into mana¡­


    It tore up the space and destroyed the poor defense that Amanda put up. In fact, it was not a weak or poorly made defense ; the woman just didn¡¯t have time to lift anything decent to face a full-force attack from Kayden.


    The woman¡¯s body was divided into two halves and fell a few meters into the air without any sign of life. The surrounding environment looked like it had gone through a nuclear war; it had no sign of life or matter.


    "Why!!!?" Amanda screamed as she came back to life. This time, she quickly broke through the void and pulled out mana to defend herself. A bubble of light appeared around him; she hadn¡¯t attacked yet, as she was waiting for a response from Kayden and...


    CRASH!


    The void shattered as a slash of Kayden¡¯s aura ripped through the air, destroying everything around him. There was no warning or fluctuation of the surrounding mana; in one millisecond everything was normal and in the next nothing existed.


    Amanda¡¯s defense held off the attack in almost its entirety, but unfortunately for her, a large portion of the force still got through and split one of her arms into two halves. It was so quick and...


    "Kayden!" The woman screamed as she found herself going through pain that she was not used to. Unfortunately for her, her words fell on deaf ears. Kayden used all the mana in the region in one attack, but he could still draw a lot of mana from the void, pulling in everything he could.


    Void mana was difficult for Kayden to access. Spending all his mana on one move wasn¡¯t a very ideal move. Fortunately, Kayden¡¯s goal was just to get as much experience from void mana and space.


    "Can you stop now?" Amanda asked after Kayden was reborn after dying in one of her pure mana attacks. Unfortunately, Kayden didn¡¯t care one bit and just kept fighting.


    Slowly, the days began to pass. He killed Amanda a few dozen times; with each death, the woman seemed more lost and her movements became a little more strange and predictable.


    For every death she went through... Kayden went through ten times more. The difference is that dying didn¡¯t affect her mind at all, while Amanda was slowly being broken and losing her sanity.


    In just a few months, Kayden was able to utilize the space well enough to swallow some of Amanda¡¯s attacks. This wasn¡¯t something he should be able to do, as not even Amanda had that ability.


    "As?" The woman was still trying to talk to him. There were dozens of attempts at agreements and offers of rewards, but it was no use. Kayden only told all his secrets to Amanda, as he thought he would kill her in the end.


    At first, he was going to honor his side of the deal, but after talking to Thoth and discovering that he was tricked twice¡ªonce when he was going to be killed by Amanda and once when he discovered that she was already passing all the information to Pai¡ªKayden changed his mind. idea. He was just going to kill Amanda.


    In the end, he was already a target throughout the universe. Every inch he went, he would be chased. All gods and mortals would search for him without any finesse, so killing Amanda would send a message.


    CRASH!


    Author¡¯s note: sorry for not posting yesterday, I owe three chapters, and I believe I will pay them all tomorrow if nothing goes wrong.

 Chapter 375: Your mind is unique.

    Space shattered in front of Kayden and his attack shot out towards space, instantly a hole appeared directly next to Amanda and split her body into two halves, it was so fast that she couldn¡¯t even blink.


    All of this happened because Kayden had an epiphany a few months ago, he developed something he called spatial sense... it was very similar to spiritual sense, the difference was that for about 10 kilometers he could perfectly control space.


    The question that remained in Amanda¡¯s head was how Kayden was able to do this, the boy was one of the most talentless beings she had ever seen in her entire life, even the worst wizards she had ever come into contact with were quicker to master the space, but... none of them could do what he does.


    It was an unsolved unknown in Amanda¡¯s mind, but for Kayden, it was a straightforward question, while everyone learned to manipulate space and enter the void... Kayden spent thousands of years understanding space.


    He first learned what space was and everything he could to use it, only then did he know how to open space to the void correctly, it might seem stupid, but it took Kayden about 50 thousand years to do this.


    It was a very subtle difference, but in the end, it gave him a completely different power, Kayden understood space, and Kayden knew what space was and how to use it, in a way he developed what only a few people were lucky enough to have. to be born.


    Manipulating space at the moment was like manipulating mana for Kayden, it was only done on a scale dozens of times more difficult, he didn¡¯t need to use a technique or spell to open space, he just needed to send it and it would be done.


    It took Kayden about 5 years of fighting to completely dominate space and integrate it into his fighting style, his attacks were now all launched directly from his body and passed through the void, and appeared in front of the opponent, Amanda could not react.


    It was not something that the woman could control, throughout her life, she was taught to manipulate mana and then space, she had no spatial control, and it took a few hundred deaths for her to learn something that would help her.


    The false god began to destroy the space around her, high mana density spells were thrown by her every second and kept the space unstable around her, this prevented Kayden from casting his spells directly on her skin, but it also prevented her from launching major attacks on Kayden.


    The mana from the void was difficult for the woman to access, as she spent most of it to maintain the broken space around her, any slip-up was immediately taken advantage of by Kayden, and Amanda was killed.


    The constant deaths were slowly breaking his mind, his spells were no longer 100% accurate, his mana manipulation was no longer so firm, and practically all his skills began to be denigrated.


    For each year that passed, Amanda became mentally weaker and closer to breaking, her every failure was taken advantage of by Kayden and she was killed without any mercy, slowly and steadily she would break.


    "70 years only?" Kayden commented when he saw Amanda reborn in front of him with looks of irrational fear and without any kind of organized thought, as soon as he manipulated the mana...


    The woman killed herself.


    Her body automatically exploded in mana from a light attack, Kayden didn¡¯t expect it to be so fast, he felt these desires constantly as he died for thousands of years, but why was Amanda¡¯s willpower so weak?


    "Stop killing yourself," Kayden said when the woman was going for the fourth time in this situation and her words were ignored.


    Kayden¡¯s thought was that Amanda was pathetic and was present at all times, the truth was that Kayden was really exceptional and not Amanda was weak, he was still around 30 years old.


    The next thirty years were something strange, Kayden just cultivated and tried to improve his strength, the strange thing was the environment around him, and Amanda, the woman killed herself every few milliseconds.


    The non-stop deaths for years and decades began to alter the environment in a horrible way, Kayden slowly saw the trees and animals being turned into the undead, and the mana began to take on a dead and depressed look.


    The last ten years were spent observing these changes and learning to read the signs of death, Kayden was witnessing one of the most incredible things in the universe that at the moment he could not even understand. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The law of death was overcoming the space-time barrier, no matter how many times the environment was remade, death was present and being propagated at every moment without any pause, for each day the environment became more depressive.


    With five years left before Thoth¡¯s deadline, the environment changed completely, the trees no longer had life and were completely black, and the animals were made only of bones and dead meat, not only that but their habits and actions changed completely.


    Kayden felt like an intruder in this environment, it was very strange to be the only living thing within thousands of kilometers, it was a very short time for Kayden to learn the Law of death, but it was enough for him to be able to ignore her mental pressure.


    The death of the environment incited thoughts for Kayden to kill himself or end his life, his life force was never something that Kayden felt very well, but in this environment, it was illuminated like a torch on a dark night.


    His life force was directly above his head and went against one of the things most believed by humanity, that vitality came from the heart and body and confirmed one of the things that Kayden thought about most in his life...


    Your mind is unique.

 Chapter 376: The void

    The rest doesn¡¯t matter, your body is perishable, and, over the years, it may end up becoming useless. Once again, his idea of abandoning his physical strength and focusing on being a true combat mage turned out to be correct.


    In this sense, Kayden also thought about how to achieve immortality. He had, in fact, already discovered a way to convert his body into mana, but this would end up causing problems in the future. Kayden would reach the same predilection that all false gods achieved.


    Thoth was not wrong at any point in Kayden¡¯s life, not only was he the person behind many events in the universe. So, Kayden would take a leap of faith and chase the Lichs into the void. In the end, this was his best proposal.


    "Finally," space, in all of Kayden¡¯s spiritual sense, began to shake. It was slowly closing in and shrinking. This was a clear sign that they would be expelled within a few minutes.


    Kayden approached Amanda and, with just a few movements, cut off any chance for the woman to move and use mana. It wasn¡¯t too difficult, considering she was nothing more than a suicide doll at that point.


    In the blink of an eye, Kayden found himself on the outside of the universe. What should await him was a huge black horizon with thousands of stars, something typical of outer space. But what was really in front of him...


    There were millions and millions of mages from different organizations, entire retinues made up of dragons and battle mages of the ninth realm were in front of him. Wizards who seemed to have seen more battles than days Kayden had lived.


    Some groups exuded fearful strength, with peak mages in the ninth realm putting all their aura out without any respect for the weaker ones. But the weakest magician in that environment was in the seventh realm.


    Fortunately, Kayden had already put the ring on his finger before leaving, as immediately a huge knife at least 100 meters long appeared slamming into the barrier. The attack was unable to make even her glow.


    Kayden didn¡¯t say anything as he looked at some sort of Minotaur carrying a huge chain. This knife came out of one of these chains and crossed thousands of kilometers to the barrier. It was an attack capable of splitting a planet into two easily. All the space around the chain was broken.


    His next actions caused everyone who was about to attack or make contact with him to freeze. Amanda, who was easily recognized as one of the false gods, had her head decapitated.


    "You are crazy?" one of the countless mortals shouted at Kayden. Messing with false gods was one of the craziest things in the entire universe.


    "This is a warning to the entire universe. If you want to come after me, come, be free to do what you want. But I would overthrow every empire or god that dared persecute me." Kayden let Amanda¡¯s body fall and float in space.


    Under the eyes of millions of beings, Kayden imposed himself above all. Under the pressure of millions, Kayden rose above them all. Among the best in the universe, Kayden stood out above all. Over the greatest kingdoms, Kayden imposed himself.


    Any wizard in that place was considered a genius and the target of trillions of people. Those in the ninth realm even had a planet over their domain, and yet none of them dared to kill a false god in the eyes of the entire universe.


    "Those who want to have friendly relations leave your name here", Kayden said and saw the looks of people seeing him as crazy.


    Incredible as it seemed, no one raised their voice and asked who he was or if he knew his place. That didn¡¯t make sense, considering how many people Kayden moved to see him.


    Over the next few hours, Kayden listened to hundreds of organizations present. Each had just a few minutes to talk about themselves and their proposal. Kayden cut out many who didn¡¯t seem strong or honest with him.


    These assessments lasted about three days and Kayden heard from thousands of people. There were hundreds of races and organizations with the craziest proposals he had ever heard. Unfortunately, they all had a clause that interfered with their freedom.


    In fact, not all. Kayden signed some friendship contracts where the organization proposed not to interfere in his business and add him as a VIP customer in most of its establishments. In return, Kayden should not have hostile intentions against them or interfere in their business.


    It was obvious to everyone that Kayden¡¯s strength at the moment couldn¡¯t even tickle any of these organizations, but they all recognized the boy¡¯s potential. To be even clearer... S~ea??h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The moment he demonstrated that he had defeated a false god in a situation where only the two of them existed, Kayden automatically became someone with nine rays in the eyes of these organizations. A false god usually symbolized a ridiculously abnormal force.


    It was the organization with the smallest number of participants in the universe and easily entered the top 10 strongest. This was unbelievable, considering the size of most organizations at that level.


    "Very well, I thank everyone who extended the hand of friendship. I will not forget your actions. As for the rest¡­ do your best to kill me," Kayden put on the other ring and the space around him shattered and swallowed him.


    Kayden found himself floating in a completely foreign space. The mana around him embraced his body completely and gently invited him to close his eyes and rest eternally. It was a sensation very similar to sleep.


    Everything around him was dark in color with small shades of purple. Kayden couldn¡¯t even see the light of a star. There was only a black infinity and the mana of the void around it and...


    It was a lot of mana, a completely surreal amount of mana was at his disposal, it was at least a thousand times more than outside and outside already had a lot of mana for Kayden to use.

 Chapter 377: Life

    If he managed to convert void mana at a rate of 100%, his attacks would reach a completely new level. Mages in the seventh realm would be ridiculously easy for him to kill.


    Without thinking much, Kayden put it aside and began to float through the void. He knew that he would probably spend a long time alone in this environment until he encountered any other form of life.


    While floating, he continued training his ability to convert mana. Even at a rate of 1%, he was still able to retain a good part of his abilities, even more so than when he used his absolute dominance he was able to reach 10%.


    The time in that space hole together with Amanda bore fruit that Kayden would never achieve alone, mainly because he could kill himself as many times as he wanted to test his theories, one of which was about the consequences of using his absolute dominance.


    At that moment, his most powerful spell did not have any direct consequences on his body, only in cases where he used it more than once in a single day, when this happened all his veins were burst by the pressure of the mana.


    Slowly, Kayden was getting rid of this too, as with each small advancement he transformed his techniques and skills into less dependent on his body and more done outside being dependent only on his mind.


    Time had no way of being measured in a vacuum. Kayden had no idea how long he had been floating and cultivating at the same time. He would be amazed to know that a year has passed in the blink of an eye.


    Kayden in that time found nothing relevant. Sometimes he came across some pieces of land floating in space, but that was it. Any form of life was not identified by him.


    Messing around in space became one of his hobbies too. In this place, the space was relatively looser and formless. Kayden could expand his sense to about 100 kilometers easily. The funny thing is that he didn¡¯t know exactly where the space was passing through.


    It didn¡¯t seem to be in the real universe, it seemed to be another layer without a defined shape, something even more primordial than anything he had ever seen. What exactly was unknown to him and not even after hundreds of tests was he able to achieve anything relevant.


    To access the normal universe, Kayden needed to break this second space. It was much more difficult than it seemed and required at least a hundred times more effort and concentration than entering the void through the normal universe.


    Kayden was able to break this barrier, but only after concentrating and spending a good part of his mana. At first, he could only open a few centimeters, but at the moment he could easily reach a few dozen of them.


    The main point was how long Kayden could keep it. If he could hold it for more than a few seconds, he would be able to utilize his absolute dominance outside. Unfortunately, space is contorted in many spiritual senses.


    The maximum he could reach would be around 2 thousand kilometers or a fifth of his full potential. And that¡¯s only because he understood how space worked. Kayden estimated that if he had learned to manipulate space using the normal method, he would barely reach 500 kilometers.


    "A lonely abomination," Kayden muttered as he came face to face with the first living being in a long time.


    In front of him was a lanternfish with purple accents all over its body. Its teeth were huge and it had a mouth larger than half its body. On his forehead, a sort of mana lantern that functioned as an irrational spiritual sense radiated mana in all directions.


    It was not difficult for Kayden to convert these waves of mana and return it as if there was no one in that location. It was extremely simple for him. The abomination¡¯s methods were relatively simple. She threw mana for a few thousand kilometers and then ate whatever resonated with that mana.


    Kayden saw the beast swallow massive chunks of dozens of kilometers of land with great ease. In just a few days, the animal found much more matter than Kayden had in months.


    This situation motivated Kayden to just chase the animal and not attack it. At some point, he would end up coming across other living beings. Something about the abominations led them to great centers of mana and...


    "Lonely beast!" A scream resounded through the mana and conveyed the message to everyone. In front of Kayden, a huge ship with mages in the sixth realm stretched out for a few kilometers.


    From the shape of the ship and its crew, it was clear to Kayden that they were merchants and warriors, but neither of them was especially strong. Most had only five spokes, with only the captain having six spokes. This was incredibly weak considering what he was used to.


    Taking into account that the average in the universe was not very strong and talented, this boat was with a strong escort. The average level of the universe in centers of developed civilizations was the fifth kingdom, being reached at the end of the citizens ¡¯ lives and with a good portion in the sixth kingdom.


    The number of rays was quite relative, but the common one was still between five and seven. Above that, they were ridiculously rare cases, and below that they were considered people with very low talent or just too mediocre.


    Kayden saw a small battle unfold in front of him. It wasn¡¯t anything too incredible. They were just simple attacks without any major effect between them. What set them apart was their ability to organize their attacks together to make something stronger.


    The abomination seemed to have an infinite supply of purple fire in its stomach. She continued to throw flames at the crew. His attacks caused enormous pain and quickly consumed his opponent¡¯s entire body.


    After some of the crew were killed, Kayden appeared over the beast using a small rupture in space and delivered a large aura attack that cut it into two halves instantly.


    Author¡¯s note: I owe a chapter for tomorrow or Tuesday, but I will pay, I promise.


    S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 378: First city in the void

    When he looked up, he saw the looks of fear on the crew members. A wizard who magically appeared and killed a beast at this level in just one move was not just anyone. Fortunately, Kayden didn¡¯t have any hostile aura.


    "Hello, Stranger. I am Captain Yuma. To whom do I owe the honor of meeting?" The captain, who was the strongest wizard on the boat, stood out.


    "I¡¯m known as the Unknown, that¡¯s all." Kayden didn¡¯t want to share his name and risk losing this opportunity.


    "I understand. Thanks for the help. If you want, we can show you the way to the next habitable planet." Kayden readily accepted the offer and was placed in a room on the ship.


    It was a very luxurious room that met all your needs. There were even maids of different races at his disposal. He only needed a little probing to see that this entire ship offered accommodations like this.


    He was on a real slave ship ... but this detail wasn¡¯t very important to him and was automatically disregarded in his mind. Other people¡¯s problems weren¡¯t real problems for him.


    "The journey should take about another half a year and you are free to roam the upper floors. Just don¡¯t go down to the lower one, Mr. Unknown." One of the women informed Kayden.


    The boy just nodded and sat down on the bed. He set up some protective and warning runes after expelling the maids. It wasn¡¯t anything too elaborate, but it would buy him at least 1 second, and that was enough time for him to run away from any attack from mere six-ray weaklings.


    Time passed in the blink of an eye; There were no other abnormalities on the trip. Kayden woke up when he felt the plane start to stop. Instantly, he threw his spiritual sense everywhere discreetly and...


    They were on a huge rock tens of millions of kilometers long. Kayden could only feel a very strange city around him; the buildings and houses were just big empty spaces without any kind of bathroom or sleeping space.


    This was normal considering that most of the beings in this place were in the sixth realm. Their bodies no longer needed to perform these basic physiological activities; They could easily go their entire lives without sleeping, but Kayden didn¡¯t think that was the reason.


    In his books about the Void, it was made very clear that, regardless of the strength of a city or organization... in the Void, it was temporary and could easily be swallowed by a random attack of abominations.


    Mages of higher realms could easily kill tens or hundreds of thousands of abominations, but what about when that number reached billions or trillions? At that moment, the easiest thing was to abandon everything and try to follow another path.


    "Sir?" One of the maids tried to talk to Kayden but found an empty room. Kayden disappeared from the ship within seconds, leaving no trace; he didn¡¯t want to be linked to that group.


    The city showed strong signs of mages in the eighth and ninth realms. Kayden could feel a few hundred of them; this was unbelievable in a way, but at the same time, he felt that the majority in this place were just ordinary people.


    Reaching high realms was possible with a little talent and opportunity in the universe. The hardest part of it all was overcoming the huge barriers between some kingdoms; It was at this level that most were trapped for the rest of their lives.


    "It has always been like that? Pretty busy around here?" Kayden was sitting in some sort of bar, drinking a purple-style drink made from pure mana. It was deliciously cheap and tasty.


    "No, since the confusion began in the universe, mages began to move into the Void. Those with great strength can survive here much better than out there at the moment." Kayden was surprised by the bartender¡¯s response. sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "What can you tell me about the Void?" Kayden pushed out a small sixth realm mana stone. Their spatial compartments were filled to the brim with these little treasures, but to the inhabitants of the Void, they were an extremely rare delicacy.


    The sixth realm mana stone was valuable enough for the bartender not to tell anyone for fear of losing his treasure. In the Void, any source of pure mana was rare and valued to the extreme.


    In this environment, most used a kind of stained mana stone, where only a percentage of less than 40% could be used; the rest was Void mana and became useless in most people¡¯s hands.


    "Most planets are ruled by an abomination, but almost all of them answer to a specific god. It is difficult to obtain this information for each planet, so you must be careful if you have any enemies." Kayden already expected something along those lines. "But there is no law in that place; Only on developed planets will you find this type of organization."


    "How can I find them?"


    "You will have to buy maps in one of the markets on this planet, but doing so openly while in the sixth kingdom is suicide. The best option is to be part of a crew and fight for them until you reach the location."


    Kayden truly understood that it would be suicidal for him to display any sign of wealth openly. Probably all the merchants were under the direct control of the abomination responsible for this place.


    "Do you have any news on the Lichs ?" Kayden got straight to the point and...


    "No, actually, I¡¯ve never seen one in my entire life." The answer was a bucket of cold water for him. Kayden asked a few more questions without any other clear intention and, after a few minutes, left the bar towards the ship entry and exit control point.


    A huge structure with dozens of metal bubbles and robots programmed to load and unload items was located in this environment. The metal bubbles surrounded the ships and functioned as both a protection and a prison.


    In this environment, there were several different levels, from mages in the sixth realm to mages in the ninth realm. Each recruited different people and also sold different items. The higher the wizard¡¯s level, the more dangerous his journey.


    Author¡¯s note: I apologize for failing to send another chapter, I will owe you.

 Chapter 379: The kidnap

    In fact, it was relative, as a journey of magicians in the ninth kingdom involved shorter and faster passages, consequently they could suffer from more attacks from abominations and void pirates. It was all a matter of perspective; a journey of mages from the sixth kingdom would be considered the greatest adventure in the life of a mage from the fourth kingdom, for example, it all depended on who was behind each opinion. S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Can you reveal your identity? We don¡¯t accept criminals and wanted people," Kayden heard this phrase a few dozen times while wearing a mask and camouflaging any mana fluctuations in his body. Unfortunately, he had to move on; his identity should not be revealed easily. This meant he would not go on respected ships. After a few hours of searching, he found a slave transport ship.


    "Strength?"


    "High, peak sixth realm combat mage." Kayden wouldn¡¯t give too many details, but he didn¡¯t need to either. This was a ship that recruited any person; it was a ship over two dozen kilometers long.


    Kayden got a room and had to sign an oath of silence about anything he saw on the ship. Furthermore, he was obliged to participate in any combat that appeared; Your only payment would be shipping. It was practically a perfect deal for Kayden. On the ship, there were some social establishments for the crew, but these were ignored by Kayden; he didn¡¯t want to make friends or entertain himself to pass the time.


    The journey would take around five years, a relatively long time. Considering the speed of the ship, they would traverse a ridiculous amount of space in that time without any pause. Time passed quickly; Kayden was studying space and emptiness at every moment. He had already abandoned the idea of learning about his path without being able to increase his life expectancy first.


    His goal was not something he could do in just a few tens of thousands of years, so his focus was on gaining strength and taking a little time to understand his life force. "The captain is calling everyone to a social event," Kayden received this message inside his room. He could ignore it, but he also didn¡¯t want to risk the wrath of his employers.


    The party was being held on top of the ship. The environment was decorated with several food and drink stalls, in addition to the infinite space of emptiness that stretched on all sides, but there was something strange... The number of slaves seemed greater since Kayden¡¯s last count. He didn¡¯t know how long he had stayed inside the room, but it wasn¡¯t that long. After listening to some conversations with his spiritual sense, he understood.


    The captain found a ship wrecked in the void completely filled with women and men with slave chains. They still had many guards from the sixth kingdom, but they were such a small minority that they were easily surrendered. This find was ridiculously rare, much like finding a needle in a desert thousands of miles away. Kayden sat in a random spot camouflaging his presence, just listening and studying the environment.


    The men and women seemed increasingly intoxicated and let their carnal desires run wild in a pathetic manner. Kayden long ago abandoned the idea that living things became better with increasing kingdoms; in the end, they were pathetic in any realm.


    "Teacher! Wouldn¡¯t you like a drink? Or¡­" An elf with white skin and blonde hair appeared in front of Kayden, "use me?" his proposal was made with a beautiful and inviting smile. His words were filled with mana and would take down even the strongest of men, especially considering that they would be off guard. Hundreds of such cases were happening around.


    The majority of the crew were falling for these tricks like ducklings; even women were being won over. In the end, sex meant nothing; rationality was destined for mediocrity. The captain was one of the only ones who still seemed completely sane. He was also the only seventh realm mage in this environment; the rest would not be a problem for the plans of these intruders.


    "Take me to your leader, I have a proposal for him." The elf¡¯s eyes flickered, but before she could move...


    "Or I can kill every one of you in this environment." Kayden removed any camouflage from his aura and let only the elf feel the weight of an abyss over her existence. His eyes seemed to have a hypnotic effect where only death was visible. The elf felt every inch of her body being bitten by small teeth. Kayden looked like a god in front of him; In his aura, giants and dead monsters appeared, spinning and screaming.


    "Come with me," the elf replied a few seconds after Kayden withdrew his aura. His mind wasn¡¯t even thinking properly anymore. The woman was just an ordinary mage from the sixth realm. Kayden was taken through some tables and ended up in one of the cells. Inside it, there were some guards from the sunken ship. It didn¡¯t take much effort for Kayden to identify the leader.


    "Hello," Kayden greeted directly the woman with red hair and bunny ears sitting in the far corner. His attitude made everyone around him startle in surprise. Your boss should be unrecognizable at this point.


    "As?" Kayden only felt the auras in front of his presence, nothing more than the basic observation of an ancient fighter.


    "Does not matter. I¡¯m here to make a deal." Kayden responded and felt the guards tense around him.


    "Unfortunately, we don¡¯t plan to leave any potential gains..." the woman couldn¡¯t finish speaking. Kayden released all of his aura and killing intent on the group.


    It seemed as if a god of death had descended among them. The time Kayden spent watching Amanda kill herself increased his killing intent thousands of times; he practically exuded the feeling of being dead. The environment around him became distorted, and the image of giants and gods screaming in agony appeared, all buried under suffering and death. Kayden stood in the center like a pillar that made all of this seem insignificant when compared to his eyes.

 Chapter 380: Unequaled

    The only one who was intact was the leader of the group, who stared at Kayden with a frown. This was definitely not in his plans. Kayden shouldn¡¯t be here. They already had the details of all the crew members; he was just supposed to be a strong mage of the sixth realm and not a freak of the sixth realm.


    "I don¡¯t mind killing everyone and wandering in the void for a few more years," Kayden¡¯s tone was flat and lifeless.


    "We can make a deal," the woman made the decision quickly and Kayden withdrew his aura.


    "Where are you going to go after hijacking this ship?" Kayden didn¡¯t want to go too far from his primary objective.


    "Same place as them, the difference is we¡¯re going to a slightly more lawless planet and sell them all and the ship," Kayden nodded.


    "I help you kill the captain and then you take me to this planet without any ulterior motive." The woman in front of Kayden was a seventh-realm mage, but she felt an irrational fear of Kayden and understood that this was more than enough to prove her strength.


    "Don¡¯t you want profit sharing or something?" Kayden¡¯s proposal was so ungreedy that she couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    "No," Kayden had more wealth than this entire ship in its space compartments. Even more so considering that the lucky world space was still functioning. This probably had to do with Thoth, as as soon as he left the lucky planet it had stopped working, but when he left the time room it started working again.


    "We can do this." Kayden signed some oaths with the woman. He guaranteed that there would be no chance of his life being at risk in this negotiation. There were dozens of oaths to make him safer.


    "What¡¯s the plan?" Kayden asked the woman at the end of it all.


    "A two-pronged attack. I will throw something that stops him from paying attention, and at that moment every one of my race will attack him. Enter this second part." Kayden thought it was simple, but it was effective in a way.


    "Alright, I¡¯ll wait for your signal." The boy walked away and everyone around let out a sigh while muttering words like "scary."


    Time passed quickly and in just 4 hours everything changed. Almost 90% of the ship was surrendered to the charm of the invaders and finally, the captain and his allies noticed that something was wrong, but it was too late.


    "Who are you!?" The captain shouted as he saw a seventh realm mage rising into the skies in front of him. The woman appeared to be carrying a crescent on her back. That moon came out towards the captain.


    Space was destroyed in several spots at high speed. The captain barely had time to react and raised a barrier based on his incomplete wind law. It was enough to hold off the attack at the cost of much of his resistance.


    The woman¡¯s attack, in truth, was desperate, as it represented 70% of her entire force and took half of the captain¡¯s strength to be defended. It was clear to both fighters that they were at slightly different levels of strength.


    ** SWISH! **


    ** CRASH! **


    The captain¡¯s body was split into two halves and the sound was like paper being cut at high speed. The space broke into a continuous line between the captain and a meter in front of him.


    Meanwhile, Kayden was closing a small hole that he used to pull mana from the normal universe. The hole was open for only a few seconds, but it was enough for him to use his absolute dominance.


    It had been a while since Kayden had had so much mana at his disposal, but it was like breathing. Once learned, he would never forget. Instantly, he formed an aura cut and hid any trace of mana.


    Kayden used the space in the void to place his attack within 1 meter of the captain as soon as his defense fell. The wizard of the seventh kingdom would have the ability to sense space and react minimally from a distance, but, unfortunately, the space was destroyed by the attack of the leader of the invaders.


    This situation made Kayden¡¯s distortion appear to be just another broken point without any meaning, apart from the fact that the captain¡¯s entire focus was on the leader of the invaders. This caused his body to fall to the ground in two halves.


    No one was able to react to the speed with which the situation changed. Kayden was the only one to go to the body and burn it to the ground. This was a small action that could save him a headache if the man got up again.


    Nothing was impossible for mages of high realms. Kayden had already faced wizards from the seventh kingdom who were capable of regenerating their entire body from the smallest piece of skin possible. It was a headache and they had to be killed completely.


    Meanwhile, everyone around Kayden looked at him as if they saw a monster, a ridiculously rare species. They looked like ordinary humans when they went to a zoo, but the difference was that the main emotion was fear and not curiosity.


    Kayden took down someone a realm above him in just a single move and didn¡¯t even seem to be tired from that action. He also casually burned a seventh-realm mage as if he were ordinary trash.


    "I¡¯m going to my room, please let me know a few months before we reach our destination." Kayden disappeared after leaving those words in the air.


    He would logically not get off the ship with these people, he would probably have to answer questions he didn¡¯t want to or he would have a chance of being persecuted, it was much easier to jump off the ship a few months before and fly the rest of the way.


    Considering that they were areas close to developed planets, Kayden was safe from the abominations, and as long as he camouflaged his aura perfectly he wouldn¡¯t have any problems with other mages.


    Author¡¯s note: I paid everything I owed this month, sorry for the delays.


    S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 381: Toxic mana

    While Kayden only cultivated on the lower floor, dozens of plans were made above him. Most developed an irrational fear of Kayden; even the craziest of the group didn¡¯t want to fight him.


    "We can kill him outside the ship, this is in accordance with the rules of the oath."


    "He put a 6-month clause without any attack," the leader replied. "Let¡¯s just let him go, that man is too dangerous to mess with without any precautions."


    In the end, Kayden didn¡¯t care either. As crazy as it was, he had full confidence in killing everyone on that ship and still killing the leader. Maybe it would be a little taxing on your body and taxing it, but it could still be done. He just wouldn¡¯t do it for two reasons: first, that he didn¡¯t care enough, and second, that he didn¡¯t want to expend unnecessary strength. Time passed quickly without any intrusion into Kayden¡¯s room.


    "Exactly 1 month until we arrive, sir." A voice sounded from outside and caused Kayden to wake up from his cultivation. He only addressed the ship¡¯s leader, as his agreement also covered a map for the rest of the route.


    The leader easily agreed to this request, as she thought Kayden just wanted some of the wealth of knowledge reserved for void sailors. Never in his wildest dreams did he expect Kayden to leave the ship.


    "The map, please," Kayden asked without another word. His neutral tone didn¡¯t sound disrespectful and the request at the end made his aura strange. He was so strong and at the same time, he acted like he was just an ordinary person.


    "Here." The woman threw Kayden a huge painting with dozens of mana runes. This was a really special map made by a rune painter.


    Spatial maps contain thousands of pieces of information. Each rune revealed a large part of the path and all possible information about it. Each ship captain had his personnel, but could easily generate copies without his personal experiences.


    "Thank you," Kayden thanked and disappeared to his room. He didn¡¯t blindly trust an oath, but he trusted his instincts a lot. Just releasing a bit of his aura was enough for everyone in the room to feel fear but not nervousness.


    He waited for about two weeks to pass and then left in a random part of the ship, hiding his presence. He planned to leave longer ago, but after reading the map he changed his mind. In these two weeks, they made it 70% of the way to the city.


    The reason the other 30% had the same crossing time was because that part was infested with toxic mana, a type of void mana in the form of gas that attacked both physically and mentally all living beings.


    It was extremely strong, but as long as you had strong mana control you would be able to easily overcome that distance in about 2 months. It would take much longer than the ship, but it would still be much safer.


    Kayden also left a rune covering his room from any invading spiritual sense and, on top, placed an explosive to activate as soon as the ship stopped. That should be enough to fool anyone.


    As soon as he left, he saw the purple-colored mana looking like a huge gas. His spiritual sense was a little distorted, almost as if it was being refracted in water from all sides, but it was still possible to use.


    The toxic mana tried to corrode Kayden¡¯s body as soon as he touched it. The boy quickly converted it into pure mana and placed a barrier around him. Toxic mana could be converted at a rate of 50%. Kayden was dazzled by this.


    The psychological attacks were not even felt by him. Any normal person would be a little discouraged in this environment, but Kayden couldn¡¯t even feel any difference in his mentality.


    The fact that he could convert this toxic mana, which was nothing more than void mana into gaseous form, revealed many details to Kayden. Maybe he would spend a little more time than just two months in this fog.


    Kayden learned to enjoy traveling through space through several space jumps. His spatial sense made him able to travel several tens of kilometers at once. This was the first time he was doing this.


    Traversing space was ridiculously dangerous, as any change to the space tunnel that Kayden created could cause it to be split into two or thousands of pieces. Fortunately, the fog hardened the space.


    It was a bit of hypocrisy, as the mana from the void left the space more open and elastic most of the time, but in this place, the mana was in a gaseous state and made the space tighter.


    These coincidences meant that Kayden was able to train a little more in space with his spatial sense. This was something he couldn¡¯t do in that space room, as the space there was quite strange.


    After a month of converting mist mana and studying it in every possible way, Kayden managed to increase his conversion rate by an incredible 5%. It seemed like a small number, but considering the size of his spiritual sense, this was a terrifyingly large thing. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden considered this gain monumental. He has become accustomed to spending decades or even centuries to see even a 1% improvement. So when he gained strength that quickly, he became drunk.


    In the blink of an eye, Kayden spent a decade there and reached an incredible 70% conversion rate. At this moment, he was like a god within this mist. The amount of mana he could utilize was completely absurd.


    Kayden had full confidence in facing several people from the seventh realm in this environment without major difficulties and, regarding eight-ray magicians in the sixth realm, complete confidence in the same way.


    Kayden spent another decade in that environment training in every way he could, but there came a point where he hit a real plateau, he easily identified that he was not capable of increasing conversion by even 1%.

 Chapter 382: The planet

    With enough time, Kayden could hone every skill in his collection. 99% of people end up hitting a wall during their lives and leaving important points aside, even when they have enough time to overcome this barrier. Without wasting another second in this place, Kayden continued towards the planet. Using the space map and his understanding of space, he managed to overcome the distance in just two weeks. By blinking several times, he was able to move quickly.


    Kayden felt dozens of ships around him as he neared the end of the fog. Fortunately, his control over mana made him seem like a stone to the spiritual sense of high-realm beings, undetected by the weaker ones.


    The planet was an immense mass of flat land with buildings on both sides. It was something very unique and incredible. It stretched for millions of kilometers in each direction and probably had an area exceeding trillions of square meters. The boy felt a strong spiritual sense sweep through his body as he descended to the planet, but that was it. There was no other attempt at contact, probably from some guardian in the ninth kingdom who upheld the laws in that environment.


    Not that it exactly had many laws, Kayden went down and felt things with his spiritual sense. Most of the ships were left floating in the air, wrapped in a metal bubble. The funny thing is that this metal was transparent and did not pollute the vision. Considering that there were thousands of ships in that location, it was the most correct. It would be a ridiculously ugly sight if everything was exposed to the open air, as well as leaving the skies with a very ugly image for a developed city.


    The buildings more or less followed the rules of the other city Kayden had been to. Dozens of buildings did not have great luxuries or accommodations, just empty spaces with runes of protection and privacy. The entire city had a real-life with safe zones of normal mana for weaker beings. Kayden even saw the presence of some mundane schools and institutions, it had been millennia since he had seen anything like them. S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Normal mana was supported by a few dozen runes that opened space and maintained a low but constant flow of normal mana. It was enough for any living being below the fifth realm to survive. The city had two sides. One where everything was perfect and tidy, with normal mana zones and a society. The other side... was simply an open sewer. There were no laws and Kayden managed to sense several deaths in just a few minutes on that side.


    The buildings and constructions were also made of poorer materials and without any intention of being durable. There were no families or worldly institutions on that side. There were brothels and betting houses. A very important small detail was that, on the normal side, Kayden felt a spiritual sense sweeping over him at all times, especially over him, who was camouflaged at all times. On the dark side, this did not exist.


    Kayden spent just a few days studying the environment to understand some of the city¡¯s dynamics. The beautiful side was intended for registered citizens born on the planet. Furthermore, everyone there had different rights to resources and opportunities. The dark side was where people from outside who could not gain citizenship lived. This side represented about 70% of the entire planet and most of the people.


    There was a strong rivalry between the two sides, mainly because the owner of the planet favored his side every time. There were several massacres that he carried out to avenge crimes that occurred on the beautiful side. Kayden also felt that the people on both sides were a little strange. Their psyches were very stereotypical, almost like a game of good and evil. It was obvious that the owner of this planet was playing with the people in this place.


    "What is your purpose here?" An eighth-realm wizard, dressed entirely in black, was talking to Kayden on the dark side.


    "Information," Kayden replied.


    "What do you have to offer?"


    "Some things." Kayden only needed to interrogate the right people to get underground and discover the black market. The rules were simple: a negotiation between two entities that had to be respected. The leaders of this place were magicians from the ninth kingdom who functioned independently from the owner of the planet. They were an organization of abominations that operated throughout the abyss. Kayden¡¯s safety seemed to be guaranteed by the honor of this group.


    He just couldn¡¯t show many signs of wealth in this environment, because the group itself might want to rob him. But as long as it was accepted on the market, its safety would be guaranteed.


    "Take the oath." Kayden received some requests for silence, but only about the group, and a few more requests. "Be free to do whatever you want here, but respect the rules."


    The wizard released Kayden to get out of his sight and into the market. There were hundreds of kilometers with just stalls and people offering their products. Some shouted to get attention, while others just left a book with all their products in front of them.


    Some groups were also large and had tents in this location with large expanses of space. Kayden found a real slave market at one of these points, with thousands of chained beings being displayed as merchandise.


    Kayden found practically everything in this place. A large part was intended to sell common products from the normal universe, such as food and other things that did not exist in the void. But... there was also a bad side.


    People were sold in pieces; you could just buy the head of a living, rational being, you just had to ask. This was a huge butcher shop. Kayden had never seen anything so ghastly before, but he didn¡¯t pay much attention. Slavery was something common in the universe and didn¡¯t human beings live using other beings as food? Placing the blame on rationality was a pretty stupid thing to point out, as a ninth-realm wizard could see a third-realm wizard as irrational compared to the two intelligences.

 Chapter 383: A long trip

    In the end, Kayden didn¡¯t care and just let it go. It took him a while to find groups that sold information, but he soon went to the biggest one without any hesitation. Kayden was safe in this environment, so I needed to ensure only the best of the best for him.


    The group¡¯s headquarters was a huge hotel with thousands of rooms. You just needed to enter one of them and sit in one of the two chairs in the place. In a few seconds, a person appeared in the room.


    It was a mage of the sixth realm dressed only in a blue robe. Kayden was not able to pass his spiritual sense through this fabric and only had the rank of the person in front of him as information, and this could still be false information.


    "What are you looking for?" Even the voice didn¡¯t have any gender characteristics or anything specific.


    "Information about Liches in the void." Kayden received silence for a few seconds and... Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Grade 3 Seventh Realm Treasures." Kayden was a little scared by the price; he had many treasures, but few above the fifth and sixth realms. He probably only had a few hundred.


    Kayden searched his space ring a little and took out a purple-colored fruit with small balls. This would be a grape if it weren¡¯t for the fact that it had several eyes and mouths on these little balls.


    "This is a seventh realm vision fruit." Kayden presented and saw the person in front of him not showing any reaction. Then the fruit was pulled with some mana and Kayden released it.


    "We accept." The person in front of him stored the treasure in his spatial ring. "The Lich organization is on one of the planets furthest from this location. They founded a headquarters in one of the planes with a high concentration of death laws. Currently, the entire Lich race is living in this place and they do not accept outsiders."


    Kayden asked a few more questions and got his answers. First, he wanted the location and it wasn¡¯t difficult to buy it for a few more sixth realm treasures. Afterward, the Lichs ¡¯ strength and lifestyle were something very unique and special.


    Liches were beings who gave up their flesh and bodies in exchange for living with their souls hanging from some object of their choosing. Most of them were at the seventh realm or above; only a few madmen stirred their souls before that.


    The technique to become a Lich was a secret kept under lock and key by the race. Anyone who managed to become such an entity without the organization¡¯s approval was mercilessly persecuted and killed.


    This situation lasted for a very long time and slowly meant that only Liches linked to the disciples of the end survived with the technique for immortality in exchange for a normal body and soul.


    Each Lich was unique and carried a completely abnormal lifespan. Most of the time, they were dozens of times stronger than their realm and lightning. Passing the realm as a Lich was much more complex than normal, as it was necessary to improve your soul.


    Messing with souls was ridiculously difficult. Even for the gods, it was a complicated matter. Most people could manipulate it in a dirty way, but understanding its secrets and modifying it was something that only a few beings could manage.


    Some Liches achieved godhood in their lives, but they were terribly few. Most had a very similar lifespan without being able to overcome one of the thousands of cultivation barriers. This situation made it common to see a Lich jumping multiple realms.


    Knowledge, in the end, was more powerful than any accumulated strength or power. Nine rays meant nothing to someone who had billions of years to hone their skills. But it wasn¡¯t always like that either. Sometimes brute force was too much for even knowledge to handle.


    Kayden left the place deep in thought. He had a long way to go, which would probably take a few centuries to finish. The distance was great. Why had Thoth placed him there? This was a mystery he would probably never know.


    "Sixth peak realm, high-level fighter." Kayden gave the same details dozens of times throughout the day. He was looking for a ship that would take him to the next point; his life would be like this for the next few years.


    He was looking for the best ship that would cover the greatest distance possible in the shortest amount of time. Most of the time, Sixth Kingdom ships didn¡¯t go very far and only made direct connections between planets.


    Only ships of mages of the seventh realm and above were capable of traveling more than just one planet. All this is because of the difference in the wealth of the ships. Strength was not as important as the enemies were about the route they chose, but fuel and the time the ship lasted without repair were directly proportional to its quality.


    After nearly two weeks of searching, Kayden found a ship that would cover more than three planets in a single trip. It was a ship of mages from the seventh realm, but they were hiring mages from the sixth realm to assist in other functions.


    Kayden wasn¡¯t going to do these floor cleaning duties. Once they ascended into space, he would challenge someone for the position. It wouldn¡¯t be too difficult to eliminate a weak seventh-realm mage in just one move.


    Here is the text with the spelling errors corrected:


    The ship was completely immense and exceeded two dozen kilometers. It was filled with thousands and thousands of people of different races and specialties. It was a ship that transported materials from large organizations at an affordable price. This meant that there were dozens of different treasures, from slaves to house furniture, practically everything in this environment. Kayden had to sign some oaths that prevented him from telling anything he saw and hindering the ship¡¯s objectives. In return, he received free accommodation and transportation, he just needed to complete some routes and check out some treasures.

 Chapter 384: Gaining a better position

    The problem is that Kayden¡¯s role took around 6 hours a day to fulfill, as thousands of treasures had to be checked and photographed using the organization¡¯s special mana technique. Kayden had to wait a week for the ship to start flying, in that time he had to fulfill all the duties of his position, it had been many years since he had done something boring and unrelated to cultivation like that.


    "Are you challenging me to a duel?" A fat wizard from the seventh kingdom was drinking and laughing with his friends at a bar table when he heard Kayden¡¯s challenge. "A wizard of the sixth realm?" He burst out laughing. This reaction was so clich¨¦, it seemed like the fat man was working directly to make the situation as predictable as possible, how could it not cross his mind that someone a kingdom below challenging someone a kingdom above wasn¡¯t normal?


    "Yes, you dishonored my family centuries ago and..."


    "Are you part of those peasants? I¡¯ll finally be able to kill the last one." Kayden had just made up something random and the fat guy bought his words. At this moment he was feeling trapped. There was no way the fat guy could be that stupid, something was wrong, at least that¡¯s what Kayden would think if he hadn¡¯t been following every person on this ship with the potential to be his victim for the last two weeks.


    The fat man was the weakest combat mage he encountered, his fighting style was fully exposed when training with his friends in one of the ship¡¯s public bubbles, he was a mage focused only on physique and more specifically on brute strength, he was a perfect target for Kayden. His incomplete law was nothing unusual and seemed to have been used only to ascend to the seventh realm quickly, this was obvious when seeing that he was having a good time in this realm with stagnant strength.


    "When do you want to fight, you peasant?" The fat man wiped the drunken look from his face and unleashed all his killing intent on Kayden, like a great actor, Kayden shivered and showed clear signs of fear and regret.


    "Will the baby give up?"


    "Someone help the maiden."


    "What a coward."


    Words like these came out from all sides, the small commotion had already attracted a much larger audience than just the circle around the fat man, it reached everyone on the ship quickly because of the spiritual sense.


    "Right now, I¡¯m going to avenge my¡­" Kayden pretended to tremble, he didn¡¯t know who the peasants were, the fat man just laughed and got up.


    "Let¡¯s go!" The two of them, along with a few dozen people and thousands of other spiritual senses, went to one of the huge bubbles intended for training mages in the seventh realm. The situation soon reached the attention of the contractors who did nothing, this was quite common in this place, a fight for positions and privileges, the only difference was that a wizard from the sixth kingdom was challenging someone from the seventh.


    "Start!" Several screams like that came out from the crowd, mages of such high realms in the end were just rational beings looking for momentary fun at this moment. Kayden broke the space on his back and only hid it from the fat man and most of the low-talent people, about 99% of everyone on the ship in fact, only those in the eighth realm could see his manipulation of space.


    In just a few senses Kayden pulled out all the mana he was capable of with his spiritual sense and formed a completely monstrous attack, coupled with his perfect circles and a small spatial distraction...


    "Come on kid!" The fat man shouted in provocation and...


    POOFT!


    The man¡¯s body broke into two and fell to the ground with a dull sound, a seventh realm mage who a second ago was laughing and screaming lay lifeless on the ground divided into two completely bloody halves. The noises around were still happening, but they slowly stopped, no one said anything for long seconds, and the situation was too unrealistic for even comments to be made.


    All of the ship¡¯s spiritual senses were upon Kayden at this moment, his small manipulation of space coupled with the amount of mana he moved was like a flame in the dark for those with great strength. The silence was broken by Kayden burning the fat man¡¯s body in the same way he did many times in his past, under the frightened eyes of thousands of people. Kayden took down a giant without even receiving a single scratch.


    "HEY! Get away from his body!" One of the men who was with the fat man tried to scream and advance, but when he was stared at by Kayden¡¯s eyes and his aura released in an unrestrained manner, he gave up any action.


    "He lost, I¡¯m making sure he stays dead." Kayden¡¯s emotionless voice gave everyone a shiver. The situation was not normal and Kayden made everything even more terrifying by doing these actions without any emotion, in a few seconds everyone saw the body of a seventh kingdom wizard cease to exist.


    "Who are you?" This time the one who asked this question was the captain of the ship, an authentic wizard of the eighth kingdom, he was not responsible for hiring and he wondered where his team went wrong to leave Kayden out of sight.


    "I¡¯m nobody, just someone looking for a ride," Kayden responded without any sign of being uncomfortable with the eighth realm mage¡¯s aura and he wasn¡¯t either. Kayden was targeted by tens of millions of spiritual senses from ninth-realm mages, and with more than six rays, some even eight rays, a mere eighth-realm mage at this end of the world would never be able to cause any pressure on him.


    "Very well, if you have any problems, please let me know immediately." The captain understood that Kayden was not someone he was able to move freely, Kayden probably came from some large group. sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 385: Sleep

    Several people tried to approach Kayden, but the boy just blinked and disappeared into space. Kayden didn¡¯t want to develop any friendship in this place, it didn¡¯t make any difference to his cultivation. His new job was much simpler, he just needed to fight when called upon, and luckily the captain of this ship was a good navigator and managed to avoid most of the dangerous areas with abominations. S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Normally, he had to face one battle a week. Most of the time, it was just sixth-realm abominations in a ridiculously high quantity. Kayden had an easy time dealing with groups like that, he just needed to throw thousands of aura slashes without stopping.


    There were millennia of fighting on the walls with an abnormally large number of opponents, perhaps he was the most calm person about thousands of abominations, all the magicians of the seventh kingdom around him were in his shadow in the number of dead. For every second that passed, Kayden took down dozens of abominations during fights. It didn¡¯t even take him three battles to achieve a new record on the ship that would probably be insurmountable.


    Kayden killed 47 thousand abominations in one of these fights, he only spent a minimum amount of mana on each attack and managed to kill his opponents, this was mainly due to his ability to manipulate space. The aura slashes appeared directly on their opponents at a distance of less than one meter, most of the time the abominations were killed in a single move. The other wizards of the seventh realm had large-area damage spells, but in these cases, the abominations overwhelmed the attacks with their numbers.


    A single simple fireball from a seventh realm mage was capable of burning a few dozen if they were caught off guard, but in this situation, they faced the attack directly in a suicidal manner. Their rationality was no longer the highest and, when they got together in groups like that, it practically ceased to exist. For some reason, eating their opponents¡¯ attacks seemed like a very good idea to them.


    "Hey, genius, let¡¯s get something to eat, I¡¯ll pay." Kayden received another of countless invitations after a battle. At first, they were a little scared of Kayden turning on them aggressively, but after all attempts at conversation were ignored, they lost their fear.


    At the moment there were three big bets on the ship: the first was whoever managed to insert Kayden into a group, the second was whoever managed to sleep with Kayden and the third was whoever managed to beat him in a body count in battle.


    Time began to pass quickly and these three bets were never won. In the blink of an eye, the five years passed, and Kayden never once talked to other people or formed a social circle.


    The captain of the ship didn¡¯t bother him with any requests about his identity, not only that he allowed Kayden to get off the ship before everyone else and disappear into the crowd of people on the last planet.


    "HEY! Wait!" Kayden heard a voice behind his back after camouflaging himself for a few hours, the person who shouted at him was only in the sixth realm, but... the rest might not be. With a perfect degree of manipulation, Kayden blinked and appeared two hundred kilometers away, immediately he camouflaged his aura and blinked again, every time he blinked he attracted the attention of the strong mages in the region.


    His spiritual sense went out in search of strong presences and, the moment he found them, he blinked again, a few dozen times, leaving the mages in the region with a flea behind their ears. Kayden still waited at least a month before starting to look for another ship to continue his journey, this safe approach was his best bet to remain 100% untraceable.


    There were millions of organizations looking for him, Kayden would be crazy if he didn¡¯t take all the necessary precautions. Within that month he found a new way to browse in a slightly safer way.


    The mercenary organization, Kayden only needed to demonstrate his eight-ray strength and a little of his skills to get a good position in the organization, logically it was no big deal, as mercenaries value service above strength.


    His rank was enough for him to get a list of ships leaving and returning from thousands of planets, he only needed a few days to organize a mission route that would take him directly to his objective. The estimated time was around 930 years, a ridiculously long time for Kayden to cross, but in the end, it was his best opportunity. He had already given up on elevating his path to an incomplete law without the necessary time.


    Kayden would not stop trying in every way anyway, he continued trying to study his life force and all its facets, with each passing day he understood a little more and, at the same time, he found himself even more lost. It would take hundreds and thousands of years for him to understand the life force, this was one of the greatest secrets in the universe, something that few could manipulate, it was even rarer than manipulating space.


    True immortality was directly linked to two factors: the life force and the soul, Kayden could only perceive his life force, the soul was nothing in his eyes, and he had no idea how it worked or any other information.


    Time began to pass quickly, Kayden took hundreds of ships in just a few decades, they were all cargo ships and he received a reward commensurate with the distance, his rewards were never used to buy useful things.


    They were used to buy the one thing he couldn¡¯t make, which was time. The rest he already possessed, be it treasures or incredible techniques, of them were always at his disposal. Furthermore, their function was the least important in the entire mercenary federation, their rewards were almost worthless in monetary value.


    Kayden had been traveling for about three centuries when something strange happened. He had saved enough to buy a trip where he wouldn¡¯t be disturbed to work for ten years, this meant he had been in his room without moving for a long time.

 Chapter 386: Sleep[2]

    A feeling he hadn¡¯t felt in literally tens of thousands of years was assaulting his body. Kayden was sleepy... he didn¡¯t understand exactly why, but he knew it wasn¡¯t natural, something was terribly wrong in this situation.


    "Shit" Kayden couldn¡¯t concentrate enough to feel things in detail with his spiritual sense. He didn¡¯t know if this was a pirate attack or if he was being targeted alone and...


    POOFT!


    Kayden¡¯s body hit the ground with him unconscious. It had been a long time since Kayden had lost consciousness, literally thousands of years since he last had anything like this. The reshaping in advances didn¡¯t count, as he didn¡¯t feel the shift in consciousness.


    *************


    Kayden was floating above a huge sea of crystal-clear water. The bottom of this sea could not be seen, as the water was in such a perfect state that it reflected the clouds in the sky, making it appear like he was walking on clouds.


    His spiritual sense could not leave even an inch of his body. The mana in this place was completely unlike anything Kayden had ever seen, he was not able to utilize it even when he forced his absolute dominance over it.


    It was heavy, yellow mana with white lines. This mana had a feeling of being solid and illusory, not only that but it was also completely different from every type of mana Kayden had ever seen in his life.


    There was nothing in this place, no matter how much Kayden walked or flew, time didn¡¯t seem to pass and he found nothing for hours... nothing for days ... nothing for weeks. The boy had no way of calculating time in this place.


    Years or centuries could have passed and Kayden would have nothing but his mind to calculate time. His brain capacity allowed him to count seconds and have an estimated idea of time, but this was a flawed method and he knew it.


    At one point, Kayden simply gave up and sat down to cultivate. He could do two things in this environment, the first was to study this strange mana and the second was to study its path to elevate it to an incomplete law.


    By eliminating advantages and disadvantages, Kayden decided to study the mana of this environment first, he didn¡¯t know how long he would spend here, but it probably wouldn¡¯t be long, that¡¯s what he expected...


    A thousand years later, Kayden was in the same environment without any advancement in his study, he was lost in absolute concentration, time no longer made sense to him again and just understanding this mana was his goal.


    "Anything?" Kayden muttered after the 1 million 300 thousand test, a perfect round number of failures. At that moment he finally turned to himself and made a mental note of his body.


    "Nothing again?" This time it was something else that Kayden focused his attention on, his life force hadn¡¯t changed even a millimeter in the entire time he¡¯d been there.


    This meant that he was immortal in this place. Kayden was surprised for just a few seconds, but soon after he turned back to his path, since he had precious time that he wouldn¡¯t waste his life, he decided to make the most of it.


    Kayden avoided losing himself in a state of absolute concentration now, as he wanted to keep up with his life force to get a better idea of what was going on. It didn¡¯t take many years for him to make a discovery.


    "Decreased" Kayden couldn¡¯t explain what was different, but it was clear to him that his useful life was spent when he began to study his path, why this difference existed Kayden didn¡¯t know.


    In the following years, he did the verification test by studying the abnormal mana again and found that its lifespan did not decrease at all. Whatever his reason for being here, it was obvious that whoever put him there wanted him to study this mana.


    The environment remained the same without any change, it seemed as if Kayden had not even spent 1 minute in that environment. The water was the same as always, the skies were the same, and nothing changed.


    The amount of mana available to Kayden was only what was in his body, it was relatively little considering that his techniques focused on using mana from outside and not storing it in his body like most people.


    Kayden probably had less mana in his body than a fifth realm mage and that was something quite peculiar. Fortunately, he was able to recover the mana he lost as time passed. This natural regeneration was another unknown for him, as this mana came from somewhere unknown to him.


    Time began to pass, and understanding this mana proved to be the most difficult task of Kayden¡¯s entire life. He didn¡¯t even have the slightest sign of advancement even after thousands of years, not even 1%, his understanding was the same as the first day.


    Anyone else would go crazy in this environment without any signs of life, it almost felt like they were frozen in time. Kayden just continued studying the mana, he didn¡¯t have anything else to do. S§×ar?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Even if he managed to raise his way to an incomplete law in this place... that didn¡¯t mean he would be able to get out of there. Trying to fly upwards was one of his first actions and he discovered in just a few seconds that the space between the sea and the sky was infinite.


    Space was dilated by a ratio of trillions of times, practically making the distance infinite for his strength. It was a high-level spatial spell that he couldn¡¯t even understand in the slightest.


    Swimming downwards also led to the same end, there were no exits, there were no living beings, there were no changes, it was the same environment for thousands of years without any changes, and there wasn¡¯t even an air current in that place.


    As the years passed, Kayden lost connection to any thought beyond the mana he was studying. Thinking about leaving this place was useless, thinking about what was happening in the universe was useless and didn¡¯t even matter.

 Chapter 387: The iron mind

    Kayden slowly forgot even the environment he was in before. In his memory, only important events were mentioned, the rest were completely unimportant to him. The names of the captains of the ships he took or the planets he passed through disappeared from his memory.


    The thousands of years quickly turned into tens of thousands of years, and Kayden continued with the same level of understanding, it was practically an impossible task he was trying to accomplish.


    "Primordial mana", Kayden baptized this mana with that name, this was the only explanation for it to be so superior to everything he had ever seen. Not even divine mana was that complex.


    Kayden spent his first 100,000 years in this place in the blink of an eye. At this point, he had spent more time in this environment than living his life and yet he didn¡¯t seem to be close to achieving anything.


    No matter what he tried or what test he took, everything was always the same and he got nowhere. This was the hardest task Kayden had ever done in his life. He spent more time in this environment than any other.


    In a way, Kayden spent 100,000 years focused on just one task, his perception of time and willpower were completely broken. Any other wizard would have freaked out in this environment.


    Probably only a few mages above the seventh realm could do something like that. In the universe, it was quite common for mages to level up quickly with a lot of resources. A ninth realm wizard could be less than a thousand years old, for example, and his expectation would easily reach 1 billion years. S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The years passed as if they were seconds, Kayden had no progress, at least until a certain day when he accidentally caused a serious injury to his body and saw the mana from the environment entering him at high speed.


    His injury was an explosion in his base and his path, it was not a physical injury but something spiritual, it was a small mistake that had happened a few times in the past and resulted in him having to recover for a few months to be able to continue moving forward.


    Its base hasn¡¯t been completely fixed it hasn¡¯t even been modified. Kayden couldn¡¯t understand exactly what happened, but the pain disappeared and his mind was completely clear.


    "A healing mana?" That was his thought, but in the end, he got nowhere. Over the next few years, Kayden abandoned any rationality and messed with his base, causing damage dozens of times.


    It just created small tears that repaired itself in just a few days. Every time, mana would come in and cure him of something he didn¡¯t even know existed and then return to normal. The stronger the injury, the more mana entered.


    His vital force did not undergo any change during this period, but Kayden noticed that during his tests it was this mana that entered him that made him capable of maintaining his vital energy at the same level.


    Large injuries to his structure changed his life force until he was healed, it was as if the injuries were stones in a pond, until the stone was removed the pond was left with a smaller amount of life force.


    The vital mana was like a springboard for this situation, as it caused the stones to be easily removed in just a few seconds. The problem was that the water did not return naturally to the lagoon, it still took a few days for it to return.


    It took Kayden another 100,000 years to begin to notice the small changes in his life force and even then he didn¡¯t understand much, but he was able to remove the stones alone without having to fix his base, this was completely ridiculous.


    This small action meant that he could test thousands of things without fear of permanently injuring himself, as in the end he just needed to remove this stone and wait for his body to heal itself over time.


    Time passed much more quickly this time, in fact at a completely insane speed. Kayden spent more than 1 million years in this place. At that moment he lived almost 20 times longer in this environment than in any other environment in his life.


    His gains again were minimal, he just started to learn how to shape his life force, and he could expand it slightly and also compress it. When his life force was compressed he would gain an increase in all of his body¡¯s stats.


    It was almost like burning his life force in exchange for strength. The difference was that within a few days, she would go back to normal unless Kayden converted her and that...let¡¯s just say it was a great test when he tried.


    An infernal pain assaulted his body when he converted his life force into mana, but that wasn¡¯t the main problem but rather his instincts telling him that he would die every second. These small uses took millennia to be recovered, it was as if he took away a part of the lake.


    The lake was just a giant living space that could be changed with a little effort, but most of the time its changes were minimal and inconsequential. Only when he utilized conversion was he able to elevate himself to real change.


    This knowledge was discovered by Kayden several tens of thousands of years ago. He spent practically his entire time in a circle with no way out, understanding this mana became impossible and it had always been impossible for him.


    His gains were minimal about the time he spent in this place, but luckily he didn¡¯t have his life changed, so in a way his gains were huge. He gained new knowledge and strength for free.


    The time he spent in this place was ridiculously long. Kayden spent more than 20 times his entire previous existence in this location alone. His mind did not suffer even the slightest sign of wear.


    Kayden already had a willpower bordering on perfection, it would probably take tens or hundreds of millions of years for his mind to suffer the slightest sign of rupture and...


    Author¡¯s note: I owe a chapter /:

 Chapter 388: Hypnos

    In the end, his head was already broken. There were no other problems he could acquire, perhaps he would start talking to himself, but nothing too surreal, and that was just the boy¡¯s hypothesis.


    "You are one of the least naturally talented people I have ever seen in my entire life, and I have lived longer than entire universes." Kayden turned at the sound of a thin voice and came across a cat with black eyes and white fur.


    They were the craziest eyes he had ever seen in his entire existence, they seemed to hide thousands of... dreams. Kayden couldn¡¯t understand exactly what this sensation was, but he saw several dreams of children and adults in these eyes.


    Kayden saw himself having a healthy and happy family, he saw himself having great financial success in a structured world, he saw himself conquering planets, he saw himself fighting intergalactic battles, practically a little bit of everything.


    The dreams were in the left eye, but the nightmares were in the right. Kayden saw thousands of deaths and terrible scenes happening. It was practically like living several lives in just one second. A cold shiver ran down his spine and Kayden fell to the ground in a cold sweat like a pathetic mortal.


    His mind was racing abnormally, his memories were jumbled because of a few dozen to hundreds of different experiences that had been forcibly incorporated into his mind. Again, the surrounding mana poured in and the healing process began.


    It would have taken months if not for a small movement from the cat, and Kayden found himself well again, with those memories buried in the depths of his mind. He still couldn¡¯t understand exactly what happened.


    "Who are you?" Kayden asked the classic question that any living being would probably ask.


    "I am Hypnos ." The cat said this and remained silent. Kayden also remained quiet for a few minutes.


    "Can you explain to me what¡¯s going on?" Kayden broke the silence.


    "Of course, but first I need you to answer two questions: what is your biggest dream and what is your biggest nightmare? Take as long as you need, your life will not decline, but if you answer wrong I will kill you." The cat disappeared.


    Kayden took a few seconds to understand exactly what was happening and concluded that he had no idea, but at least it changed something in this monotonous world he was in.


    The days began to pass, Kayden would take this matter seriously, he was sure that the cat had the strength to kill him easily. These two questions were much more difficult to answer than he expected.


    Quickly, a few years passed and still, he could not find a satisfactory answer. He had never thought about dreams; he just cultivated day after day to become a god, but it wasn¡¯t for power or any other reason.


    Kayden didn¡¯t have any greed or avarice in his mind, he just cultivated it. Power was the motive and the end, he didn¡¯t have anything else in his way, but that also meant he didn¡¯t have any dreams in his life. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Saying that his dream was to become the strongest being in the universe was a joke because he didn¡¯t compare himself to anyone, it was never a competition. For him to be the strongest, he should have had opponents, but he didn¡¯t.


    And your fears? Kayden killed them a long time ago, he spent hundreds of thousands of years alone, he knew every inch of his mind and at the same time was unaware of many facets of his emotions.


    This was because he simply didn¡¯t have any attachment to his emotions, he had been suppressing them for millennia to a point where his brain barely put them in front of strong stimuli. Dreams and nightmares were directly linked to them.


    " Hypnos," Kayden called, and immediately the same cat with those strange eyes appeared in front of him. "I don¡¯t have any dreams or nightmares."


    That was the answer that took Kayden decades to come up with, and it didn¡¯t make much sense in his view, but it was completely right in his heart. He wasn¡¯t afraid of anything to make it a nightmare and he didn¡¯t even want something to make it a dream.


    "Congratulations!" The cat clapped his hands. "That is the correct answer in your case, I cannot detect any dreams or nightmares in you." Kayden at least got the answer right, even if it was a little depressing. "This is quite incredible, only a very small portion of the universe is like this, not even irrational beings are included in this percentage."


    Kayden raised his eyebrows and had new information added to his life. In his head, irrational beings should be incapable of thinking beyond their basic instincts, at least that¡¯s what he thought.


    "What does that mean?"


    "That you are a dead being walking in a living body." The cat responded, and Kayden was startled by the response. In the end, he just set it aside after a few seconds.


    "Can the god Hypnos explain the situation to me at this moment?" Kayden got straight to the point.


    "I am the god of dreams, the holder of the truth of soul mana." Kayden had no idea who he was, and that was no doubt clear to Hypnos. "You don¡¯t need to know much either, but I¡¯m on the same level as Thoth." A name Kayden knew and knew the strength of. "This entire world is your dream universe, an infinite place that exists for all beings in the universe."


    Kayden froze for a second. All this space and mana was completely gigantic, and yet Hypnos was saying that there was one of them for every being in the universe? This was completely ridiculous.


    He was putting himself on the same level as the true creator, capable of carrying out any action or thought, it was completely surreal and powerful, and he was saying that Thoth was on the same level.

 Chapter 389: The soul

    "We are not the creator," Hypnos seemed to be able to read Kayden¡¯s mind as well. "All living things dream, Kayden, and have their nightmares. The two are nothing more than the same thing presented in different ways: dreams, the mana of the soul, the soul itself, and the life force... they are all the same thing presented in different ways."


    This revelation opened Kayden¡¯s mind to frightening levels. This meant that all this time, he had been consuming his soul and using it as strength, but fortunately, the mana from this place was able to regenerate it.


    "It wasn¡¯t the soul you were moving, but rather its reduced version in the form of life force. I had hoped that you would at least be able to mold it freely after so long, but even that you were not able to do."


    Kayden had no way to defend himself, he tried with all his might for thousands of years and, even so, he had practically illusory progress in this area. His talent was ridiculously low and he always knew it.


    "But why am I in this place?" Kayden finally asked the question that had sparked doubt in his head for the longest time.


    "Since Thoth delivered some secrets that will lead Father to advance to divinity, the space-time cycle has been closed from the eyes of the gods by the true god of time. This means we can now only make predictions."


    Hypnos threw out the information as if he were reading a newspaper. Revealing that there was a time god capable of preventing everyone else from seeing into the timeline was a completely frightening secret.


    "Before, we could easily look a few millennia into the life of every living being in this universe. Even the gods were not free from our predictive abilities, but now we can only rely on our minds."


    If even gods were below the ability to guard against the prediction of these two entities, did that mean that they were indirectly above the divine level? At that moment, Hipnos opened an enigmatic smile and Kayden understood that he knew about his doubt and was not going to answer it.


    "Our mental capacity is more than enough to predict every action of every atom in this universe for the next thousands of years." Ridiculous! It was a capacity far beyond any of Kayden¡¯s wild estimates. "But the problem is that some beings like me and Thoth are in the mix, making everything unpredictable."


    The only thing these beings were unable to calculate was each other, as in a way they were on the same level of strength and their impacts on the universe were too great to be easily measured.


    "All of Thoth¡¯s plans have a reason. Father is, at the moment, the one who is getting closest, you and the other trillions represent just one more attempt. The problem is that with all this confusion in the universe¡­" Hypnos stopped talking. "I had forgotten that you spent a little time trapped here."


    Kayden and Hipnos disappeared from that place and found themselves flying over one of the ends of the universe. Kayden was seeing perhaps one of the craziest and most meaningless things in his entire life: the complete and perfect lack of existence.


    "Father has managed to advance and is slowly gathering mana for his plans. This is called the mana of nonexistence, true and complete lack, a law in its purest and most primordial state." Hypnos finished his sentence and the two returned to the dream world.


    "Right now, no one knows exactly what will happen in the universe and how far Pai will consume mana. We¡¯re just watching to see if anything interesting comes out of this situation. This means that Thoth had to choose which plans he would keep and which ones would be set aside." S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I¡¯ve been left out, haven¡¯t I?" Kayden quickly understood his situation.


    "Yes, you are strong and have great potential for a nine-ray mage, but... that¡¯s it. You will never be able to beat Father in the future in the eyes of Thoth and all the other great players in this universe."


    Kayden suffered a small blow to his pride, at least if he had any feelings of ego, he just accepted this criticism and thought about how he could overcome this barrier, this detail of something missing was what he said to thousands of people throughout your life.


    "But you think differently, don¡¯t you?" Kayden saw no other reason for him to be there.


    "Not really, I¡¯m just lazy and don¡¯t want to participate in big fights, and at this moment, where I can¡¯t watch the time... everything has become an interesting bet, that¡¯s why we¡¯re here."


    When you reach the top of the universe... you have absolutely nothing left to accomplish, there must be some barrier impossible for these entities to break. Thoth probably seeks a solution to this, but the others just have as much fun as they can.


    "Did I fail?" Kayden understood that his time here was both a test and a gift.


    "Yes, but there are no problems either, I just don¡¯t think you will evolve much staying in that environment. The soul is a delicate subject, Kayden, even though I am the greatest master of it, I don¡¯t know all the details, there are only two truths about it: the soul cannot be consumed and there are no beings without a soul."


    Kayden raised an eyebrow at the last remark. The soul not being consumed was something he could understand in a certain way because it was something special and beyond the ordinary, but the fact that there were no beings without a soul was unknown according to his life information.


    "The soul is eternal, Kayden. You are unable to consume it in any way to generate mana and there are beings like the undead, for example, that hold dead souls, but they are still souls, even the strangest and deadest being in this universe has a soul, be it pure. or modified."


    This was very high-level information being delivered into Kayden¡¯s hands. Probably not even a thousand people in the entire universe know necessary to discover it.

 Chapter 390: The Licht

    "Are you telling me that my goal is to be able to convert the soul into mana?" Kayden thought about this frightening possibility but was like a frog in a well.


    "Not only that, Kayden, but I am giving you a path that has never been done before in all of existence. You must be able to be a soulless existence." The cat said this and purred as if saying the impossible.


    "Why?"


    "This is one of the thousands of ways that exist for you to reach a completely new level, but there are an infinite number of paths you can follow. The chance of you finding someone capable of elevating you to this level is illusory, which is why you have been left aside all this time."


    "What is the strength level of one of these candidates?" Kayden asked with genuine doubt.


    "Nine rays from the first realm." This was downright scary, but Kayden had already expected something like this. They were beings of another level.


    "What should I do next, in your view?" Kayden was humble enough to recognize when he was in the presence of someone who knew more than he did.


    "I don¡¯t know, I kicked you off, now it¡¯s up to you." That was an answer he didn¡¯t expect, but it made perfect sense.


    Reaching divinity was not something that could be taught, much less at a level of strength capable of rivaling nine rays, it had to come from him. Kayden had to build his own story and he knew it.


    "I¡¯d like to get out of this place, then," Kayden asked. He could spend an infinite amount of time here and learn everything he needed, but that would be like growing up in a greenhouse, it wouldn¡¯t make any sense.


    "Any preference for a place for me to put it?" The cat asked Kayden.


    "If you could place me near the Lichs, I would be grateful." Kayden didn¡¯t have time to respond as he found himself standing in the middle of an ordinary market on a random void planet.


    Hypnos didn¡¯t even respond to him before sending him into the void again. Kayden had no idea where he was, but he only needed a few minutes to understand that it was an ordinary trading planet like all the others.


    Even though 1 million years had passed, nothing had really changed in the void. To change the void, you had to have very high-level mages, and for them, 1 million years was just a blink of an eye. It took very little time for anything to change.


    "It¡¯s been a while, hasn¡¯t it, sir?" a rock-skinned, aqua-haired attendant commented to Kayden as he asked for a room in her guild.


    "A little." Kayden only needed to confirm his identity using a personal mana test. This was a bit funny to him, as he did not have personal mana and his techniques were based on having little mana in his body and using that of the environment.


    He had a ridiculously large mana pool, but it was usually not full and ran on a very small amount. This meant that he had little pressure on his body to use his techniques quickly in an emergency.


    Kayden only stayed in the room for a day to organize everything he learned in his mind from the last conversation and also think about what he was going to do. It only took a few questions from certain people for him to discover that he was in a territory that paid taxes to the Lichs. S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    As this small window of time passed that Kayden was away, some things changed with the organization of the Disciples of the End. The first was that they began to expand their domains by enslaving owners of planets around them.


    They also began to develop their organization in a vacuum, both on the commercial and political sides. Additionally, they began recruiting people with the potential to become Lichs.


    As much as Kayden could end up being killed and enslaved, he had no other options. His lifespan was still relatively long, but with all the certainty in the world, it was not enough for him to take his strength to another level.


    It was a risk he would have to take or he would spend the rest of his life trapped by something he could have done differently. Just moving forward with a generic incomplete law was not difficult, but it would greatly hinder their future gains.


    "Hello! How can I help you today?" Kayden was at one of the recruitment points in front of a fifth-realm wizard.


    The strength of this rank was relatively low and there was only a single Lich in the entire environment, and he was at the eighth realm, but just this being was already someone to be feared and respected. He could probably jump a realm of strength against ninth-realm mages without much difficulty.


    "I would like to speak with Mister Lich," Kayden said looking directly at the wizard sitting in one of the armchairs. It was obvious that he was hiding his presence, but Kayden could easily identify an identity of that level.


    The Lich was always paying attention to everything and looked at Kayden sizing him up. His spiritual sense passed through Kayden¡¯s entire body and made it clear that he considered him inferior, but he was also not aggressive.


    "Come." The Lich pointed to the chair in front of him. Someone capable of recognizing his presence should receive the least amount of respect from him. "What brings you here?" The undead was direct with his words.


    "A few thousand years ago, I received an invitation from a nine-rayed Lich. I¡¯m here to accept it." Kayden¡¯s sentence caused the surrounding environment to change; Lich isolated everything with his mana.


    He was not someone weak and would hardly fear even an eight-ray mage even though he only had seven lightning bolts. This was common in Liches; their age made up for their lack of strength in most cases, but Liches with nine lightning were few and far between. The organization didn¡¯t even have five of them, and that was still a lot.

 Chapter 391: NYC

    "What is your name?" Those who received an invitation from the specials were noted at all checkpoints if they showed up.


    "I¡¯m Kayden Heart." Kayden¡¯s speech made the Lich in front of him completely reevaluate him; the arrogance and arrogance had practically disappeared. The Lich had a long lifespan, which made him special, but Kayden? He...


    "The lost monarch? It¡¯s an honor to meet you. I ask you to wait a few minutes and one of our representatives will take you to NYC ." Kayden didn¡¯t have time to respond as the wizard before he disappeared.


    It took exactly three minutes for Kayden to receive a huge pressure of mana on his shoulders. This pressure was on the entire planet. A Lich of the ninth realm was floating in the skies and pulled Kayden¡¯s body without the boy even being able to react.


    "Hello, monarch Kayden. I¡¯m Jayden, the Lich in charge of specials. We are going to take a small space trip, please prepare yourself." Kayden didn¡¯t have time to respond before he found himself hurtling through space.


    Fortunately, he was already quite used to traversing space. He took this opportunity to see the Lich¡¯s techniques in front of him. They were unique; Instead of destroying space, he was making thousands of cuts that caused it to collapse for a few microseconds.


    It was an impressive display of control and strength, especially considering that space in the void was even more difficult to control with such precision.


    "We¡¯re here." Kayden found himself in a completely surreal space in the void.


    Around it, there were a few hundred small planets. Each of them was a few thousand kilometers long; they weren¡¯t really big, but they were all perfectly harmonious with some style.


    In one of them, there was only death and skeletons walking; Some old cemeteries and ruins could be seen. In another, there were just flowers everywhere, there was absolutely nothing else but flowers.


    The world Kayden was in was one of the largest and stretched across almost his entire spiritual sense. He was a huge ball of green flowers of the purest color; there was no other living being or building.


    Kayden was able to sense the same Lich as before in his spiritual sense, at one end of the planet. The wizard was at the sixth realm and his aura seemed even deeper and more impressive.


    "Hello, monarch, it¡¯s been a while." Kayden heard this phrase in his spiritual sense. There were only him and the Lich on this planet.


    "Indeed, Mister Lich." A polite and short answer.


    "You haven¡¯t discovered the secret of the immortals and spent more than 1 million years in the sixth realm. This is quite curious." The Lich noticed this little detail quickly.


    "I had a good brush with luck, but unfortunately I just spent more time alive." Kayden even had a strength increase in a few folds, but he wouldn¡¯t comment on that.


    "What brings you looking for me, Kayden?" Nyc got straight to the point as she looked at Kayden curiously.


    "I would like to buy the immortality technique that large organizations have." Kayden was also direct.


    "What do you have to offer?" Nothing in this world was free.


    "Information about the soul coming directly from one of the greatest gods in this universe." The Lich¡¯s eyes that were burning seemed to have come to life.


    "Tell me a little more about them." At that moment, Kayden smiled.


    "Only through an oath and a gesture of good faith, Mr. Nyc," Kayden revealed that he was not a helpless lamb at that moment.


    "You know there¡¯s no protection in this place, right? I could just torture him for all eternity." Nyc said those words without any emotion in a frightening way.


    "And still nothing would come out of my mouth." Kayden looked directly into Lich¡¯s eyes, and Nyc saw the same insanity that permeated his thoughts.


    The Lich was faced with a madman, a complete and twisted being who would not have his will bent, regardless of the time and methods he employed, especially considering that Kayden was a monarch.


    The mana around the Lich started to become restless, it was a good amount of divine mana circulating and closing in his body. In the blink of an eye, all that mana disappeared along with Nyc¡¯s next words.


    "I make this promise upon the eyes of heaven. I will give the technique to Kayden considering his information is useful and will be completely impartial in my judgment."


    It was impressive how much power Nyc had in his organization, even though he wasn¡¯t in one of the largest kingdoms, but that was predictable, considering that his potential overshadowed practically everyone.


    Kayden still had his sixth sense screaming at him that something was wrong. Everything had been too easy until this moment, and he knew that wasn¡¯t a good sign. The heavens threw a golden beam that fell upon the Lich.


    "This is a promise above the heavens, the highest possible level of a promise and unbreakable by all parameters. Only those deemed worthy can swear to the heavens." Kayden was grateful for the free information.


    "I cannot reveal the name of the god who taught me this." Nyc nodded; the information was always more important than the source.


    "Just tell me everything." And then Kayden began. He didn¡¯t even take an hour to explain everything he learned from the god of souls.


    It wasn¡¯t really deep or even extensive knowledge, but it was extremely precise and unique. They were small details that only a few beings in the entire universe had access to.


    "Take an oath that everything you told me is true." Nyc was visibly shaken at the end. He was a wizard focused on souls; His entire existence was based on the manipulation of souls.


    These little pieces of information were extremely significant to him, they would practically change the course of his studies for the next millennia, he taught Kayden to swear by the heavens and...


    Author¡¯s note: tomorrow I will release two chapters and I will owe one /:


    Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 392: A small error in the calculations

    "I swear to the heavens that I told the truth," Kayden swore, and a bolt of lightning struck his head. He felt absolutely nothing and couldn¡¯t even do so, because this bolt of lightning was made entirely of perfect laws.


    The perfect laws were a domain unknown to mortals, even the gods were not capable of having complete mastery of the rules, this was reserved only for old monsters of this universe.


    This was the last sentence Kayden said before having his consciousness erased by a simple attack from the Licht in front of him. He couldn¡¯t even react, because it was a direct attack on his soul.


    Kayden wasn¡¯t an idiot and would never have come to this place and handed over the information without at least asking for protection for his life. Nyc wasn¡¯t an idiot either and knew this was all setup.


    Some being was manipulating them both, and he knew Nyc would put Kayden¡¯s soul in her puppet chain from the beginning. The question was: Why would Kayden hand over such important information and then be taken out of the picture?


    ***************


    Cold, very cold. It felt like the universe had frozen. Kayden couldn¡¯t feel any part of his body. The only sensation was the constant, unshakable cold; his thoughts were a little slow.


    The only thing he could think about was this cold. Nothing else mattered for his existence. This cold consumed him and made him unable to even think straight. He wasn¡¯t succeeding.


    His spiritual sense ceased to exist; he couldn¡¯t even remember exactly what this spiritual sense was or any sensation other than the cold. Kayden still had access to his memories, but...


    Slowly, they were being swallowed by the eternal, unrelenting cold. His only memories were of being cold and... of not feeling anything. He no longer had touch or other sensations that a body should have.


    The cold was the only thing that existed, he lost the ability to recognize the passage of time, time did not exist in the face of infinite cold, yesterday, today and tomorrow would be cold, so what is the difference between them?


    ***********


    Some time ago, where this all started, were Nyc and Kayden¡¯s bodies on the floor. The Licht began to burn Kayden¡¯s physical body and pull his soul into his consciousness. S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    It was an incredible technique for a mere mortal, a level of control and knowledge that even gods would have difficulty achieving. The worst part was that Nyc did all of this easily.


    After a few weeks, Kayden¡¯s body was no more. It was all slowly destroyed by multi-colored fire. It was meticulous work so as not to touch Kayden¡¯s soul. At this moment, she was floating.


    "Impressive." Nyc was in front of the strangest soul he had ever seen in his life. Normally, souls acquire a shape that matches the experiences the person had in their life.


    It was almost like a mirror of his existence. A wizard who has dealt with animals his entire life would have his soul shaped like an animal of his choice, and the details would be shaped by his personality. For example, if he was very proud, he would have a crown.


    The soul would pick up every detail of people, from small emotions to big feelings. Everything would be visible at that moment. Vanity would become beautiful feathers on the animal; Fear would become a small, fragile-looking animal. Sometimes the soul even carried the appearance of other people who passed through its life.


    "A true anomaly." The Licht spent a few months observing Kayden¡¯s soul, trying to understand it, and all of this was useless.


    Kayden¡¯s soul was just a soul ball, without any adornments. Even newborns still had characteristics inherited from their ancestors, a kind of collective unconscious that every race possessed.


    **Author¡¯s Note:** Yes, I copied Jung at this point, lol.


    Kayden had absolutely nothing. It was the first time Licht had seen this in his entire life. He was faced with an existence that denied the inherited genes of his race. Kayden was in the process of forming a new species and had no idea about it.


    It was a shame that he was caught by Nyc. This boy would probably have a very important role in the universe. He was unique and had immense potential, but in the end, it was every man for himself in this immense jungle.


    "Come." The Licht called the soul, and it obediently entered his consciousness and was attached to his soul. This was his craziest technique, one that challenged everything people took for granted.


    Nyc was able to attach souls to his soul and grow in strength after assimilating them. It was a very long and laborious process; he had to spend millennia and millennia consuming all of that soul¡¯s characteristics until he could attach it.


    He did not consume them directly, as the original owners were still there at all times, regardless of how much time passed. But the difference was that they were so buried by the Licht¡¯s soul that they lost the ability to reason and lived as if they were asleep.


    It was against natural laws and one of the biggest secrets of the Licht organization. Nyc¡¯s existence could cause a war between mortals, but that was normal; almost all nine ray mages could do something abnormal.


    "This is going to make my friend Hypnos very angry," Thoth appeared next to Nyc and commented.


    "He should have seen this coming, Lord Thoth. There was no other way; the soul of a monarch is too good for me to ignore," Nyc commented without any fear. If this was an action he couldn¡¯t do, he would already be dead.


    "Take good care of that soul. It will take you much longer than usual to break a monarch, but your strength should explode when you do."


    "I know, he was special. Why did you give up on him so easily?" Nyc could sense Kayden¡¯s soul quirk within just a few seconds of absorbing him.


    "Probability."

 Chapter 393: Agreements

    The cold was very intense. Kayden didn¡¯t remember anything other than the cold, which enveloped him every moment, without stopping. The only thing that kept him "hot" was his will, something he couldn¡¯t even formulate rationally.


    Time did not exist in this place. In the same way that a trillion years could have passed, it could only have been a few seconds, as there was practically no time stamp.


    After who knows how long, Kayden was able to feel the first thing in his body, or rather, in his shape. He was something round and warm, without any other features. He had nothing more than that.


    He had no matter. It was at the same time made up of something and, at the same time, of nothing. The truth was that Kayden couldn¡¯t feel his soul, so he had this strange sensation in his body.


    It was a never-ending battle between his hot body and the cold environment. For some reason, his will didn¡¯t waver. Regardless of the weather and how cold it was, it kept his body warm.


    The more time passed, the more Kayden learned, and the colder the cold became. But it was a ridiculously low advance. At that moment, he was starting to remember the things in his mind: his life and everything that led him there.


    With each passage of time, he returned to his old self. His willpower surpassed the existence of his memories, but this was still a slow process. It would take a long time for him to get it.


    ***************


    "Child, you are at a point where you shouldn¡¯t be able to rise," Thoth appeared above Father. The two were on an isolated planet made of pure, formless divine mana.


    Father was startled for the first time in a long time but relaxed after recognizing who it was. He had contact with Thoth and knew that he was one of the beings behind everything in this universe.


    "I¡¯m not able to utilize souls as energy yet." Thoth raised his eyebrows. This was quite different from what he was seeing on outlying planets.


    "I just learned how to destroy them, and consequently, I¡¯m decreasing the mana density in spacetime." This was almost as troublesome as learning to utilize the soul as energy.


    It was a small difference, but it put Pai dozens of levels lower. A soul could give more energy than a planet, at least in hypothesis. Every soul that Father destroyed ended up returning to the universe in the form of energy.


    "That won¡¯t work." Father raised an eyebrow. It seemed to be working for him.


    "There are two primordial laws: the law of return and the law of the soul. You cannot nullify them. All of these souls will return as mana, and after a few trillion years, they will be condensed into souls again."


    Thoth seemed to possess infinite knowledge. Pai was fully convinced that discovering Kayden was not random, but rather a plan of the person in front of him. It was difficult to admit that one of the strongest beings in the universe was being manipulated.


    "And why are we having this conversation, Lord Thoth? What is your request?" Father was able to recognize that the presence of this entity was both a threat and an invitation.


    "Continue with what you¡¯re doing. I¡¯ll teach you how to consume space itself, but in exchange, I want you to put all that mana into a concentrated region. Not only that, I want you to start investing in the universe. high in mana will produce new geniuses. Create a universe conducive to their development."


    Everything had a price. In this case, it was an extremely small price for Pai to pay. He would trade much more for the ability to convert space, a terrain virtually unknown to him at deep levels.


    "Consider it done, sir Thoth."


    *****************


    "You are destroying the universe! It¡¯s not just one territory, it¡¯s countless lives and lands that will never come back into existence!" Father had managed to bring together most of the large groups in the universe on a single planet.


    The universe was simply too big, and even asking only the strongest gods from each organization to come, it still brought together a few million people, a completely gigantic number.


    Most had lost at least some territories or planets to Father¡¯s hunger. Everyone knew what was happening. The war of the gods greatly reduced the numbers of gods, but once it became clear that Father had managed to advance...


    Author¡¯s note: I know I promised to pay for the chapters, but once again my life has been turned upside down and I apologize for that.


    Everything was over. The side that opposed Pai¡¯s advance returned to their territories and armed themselves to the teeth, elevating several people to the divine level through techniques that should not exist in the universe. If faith moves mountains, fear moves constellations. Everyone feared Father¡¯s possible reprisals, but in the end, he did nothing. Not even his allies received his congratulations; only a few powerful figures were given some information.


    " Idai ?" Father looked tiredly at the side where those words were coming from. One of their oaths was that no one would be killed in that place and would be free for the next few centuries. "The universe is a jungle where the strongest prevail, and I am stronger than them."


    Pai¡¯s phrase was cruel, but it made clear one of the most basic laws of all living beings: only the strong command; the weak must hope to stay out of sight.


    "I¡¯m going to get straight to the point. I¡¯m going to consume most of the universe..." Father couldn¡¯t finish speaking, as several voices were raised against him. Maybe a little show of strength was missing.


    "Blasphemy!"


    "What about our territories?"


    "And my people?" S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Father looked at the infinite mass of gods in front of him and just smiled. All the mana he was storing within his body was released, burying 99% of all the gods in that place. Only the old monsters still had full combat capabilities under this pressure.


    "I don¡¯t think I was clear enough. I¡¯m communicating what I¡¯m going to do, and if there¡¯s one more bout of disrespect, I¡¯ll break my promise," Father laughed. "I¡¯m strong enough to deal with the consequences."

 Chapter 394: A new universe

    Claiming that he could escape the punishments of the heavens was completely surreal. Formerly, he was a mortal, and his punishment was not as strong as his strength, as he possessed the power of a god in a mortal body. But at this moment, the situation was different.


    "That¡¯s enough, Father," said an old man alone in the crowd, more than a mile away from any other god. His simple voice reached every being on that planet.


    He was the personification of a wise old man. He used a wooden staff that exuded the purest embodiment of the laws of wood. His white beard flew in the wind perfectly, and he was bald only on the top of his head. Any god could change his appearance freely, and even if he didn¡¯t want to change his physical appearance, reaching this state of old age was completely absurd. It was clear, from the old man¡¯s aura, that all his characteristics came from the time he lived.


    "Hey, old man! Who do you think you are..." a random god began to say, like in a clich¨¦ scene. It was incredible how history repeated itself most of the time, regardless of the degree of strength. The old man¡¯s eyes...


    They did not have any type of color and, at the same time, they had all possible colors. It was something completely incredible and unnatural. With further analysis, they could see that his eyes were made of laws.


    "Boom," said the old man, and...


    BOOOM!


    The god exploded into pieces, and each of those pieces exploded again. Every atom in his body was disintegrated into thousands of fragments, removed from existence.


    No other god opened his mouth at that moment. The organization that suffered this attack was small, and the one who died was one of their biggest leaders, so logically they wouldn¡¯t oppose the old man easily.


    "The Librarian," that name resonated with everyone in various directions. The old man in front of them was a true living legend.


    The entire history of the universe was present in his books. Any event was extensively detailed on thousands of pages and attached to its main book. No one knew how old this man was, but as soon as you became a god, you were presented with one of his books. Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The book was titled "The Story" and could be remotely augmented by seasonal upgrades from the old man. The number of pages exceeded billions and described an immense degree of knowledge.


    He was one of the oldest men in the universe, and he was even older than people imagined. Only a few monsters knew this. One of them was Father, but how did he know that?


    The answer was simple: Father owned two books. One of them was titled "The History" and the other... "The Dead History of the Universe of Hades," more specifically, his old universe, and it was even bigger than the first book.


    "What can I do for you, my old acquaintance?" Father knew he was strong and probably could face the Librarian, but...


    Knowledge should never be underestimated. He was facing someone who was already a god when he was still a fetus. It would be a very difficult fight and would profoundly disrupt his plans.


    "Make your intentions clear. As long as you don¡¯t alter the universal cycle, I won¡¯t meddle," said the old man, with frightening calm, considering he was receiving the gazes of the most powerful entities in the universe.


    "I will consume a good part of the universe. It is not yet decided how much, but the space that will be left will be thousands of times richer in mana and laws. I plan to form a new order."


    Pai¡¯s words fell like lightning on the heads of everyone present. It was a new opportunity, but it also meant a radical shift in the power dynamics of the universe.


    Even if they had much greater wealth, there would not be room for so many organizations and people. Inevitably, most of the universe would also be wiped out, and that included some gods.


    Everyone there was smart enough to make the connection quickly. The atmosphere turned dark with these thoughts. No one had any idea what exactly Father was proposing, but it would be a complete disruption of order.


    "I am proposing the death of all living beings with less than five rays and also the death of all gods who ascended to godhood without merit," Father¡¯s next sentence shocked everyone.


    "Ridiculous!"


    "We won¡¯t accept it!"


    "Never!"


    Dozens of screams echoed everywhere. Pai¡¯s proposal was simply too ridiculous. This meant the death of at least 40% of all gods in the organizations and over 90% of all life in the universe.


    Would it be the biggest genocide ever practiced in the entire universe, and all this for some gains in the quality and density of mana? For most of those present, who had reached a definitive plateau in their power, it simply wasn¡¯t worth it.


    Father laughed and began to eliminate some of the gods who shouted the loudest, inciting rebellion in the crowd. With only a few deaths, everyone was silent. Not because of the gods who died, but because no one there cared about the lives of others outside of their circles.


    "I already have the collaboration of the 10 great organizations," Father declared, and that was the reason he killed so many gods without any of the ancients rising to challenge him or the promised curse being activated. All of this was false. "This is just a statement."


    At that moment, true affliction fell upon most of the gods. The majority of some gods ascended to divinity and remained at the base of the divine, without ever being able to progress.


    The gods possessed an incredibly quick mind and quickly made the connection: the first to be eliminated would be those who rose dishonestly, and then slowly the weakest would be exterminated.


    It was a simple matter of logic. What Father was proposing was to raise the quality of mages in the universe by many levels. As time went by, new, much stronger gods would emerge. At least, that was what the natural course of things should follow.


    A few beings, with a lot of accumulated experience, knew that only the number of lightning and mortals in higher realms would be increased. Divinity was not something that resources could easily achieve.


    Father snapped his fingers, and a huge divine rune began to shine over the planet, trapping most of the weaker gods in its grasp. In less than a second, Father turned all of them into mana.

 Chapter 395: Kayden

    It was a unilateral massacre unprecedented in history. An absurd amount of gods were eliminated in just a few seconds. The rest couldn¡¯t even move, feeling like mortals before a god. They hadn¡¯t felt this pathetic in hundreds of millions of years.


    "The big ones will notify the remaining small organizations about how space and resources will be partitioned in the new universe," declared Pai, ending the meeting with that sentence.


    ************


    The cold was the only thing that existed, at least for a long and infinite time. But then, something new emerged: heat. The sphere felt heat coming from its center, which spread throughout its shape.


    This heat made him feel alive. He just needed to try to breathe. The sphere didn¡¯t know exactly what it was like to breathe, but its shape tried to imitate that, and with each cycle, it warmed up a little more.


    "Kayden" ¨C that was the name of the sphere. He was sure of that after warming up for so long. Some memories were beginning to return but at an absurdly slow pace. It was all about heat.


    Breathe. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Heat.


    Breathe.


    Heat.


    Breathe.


    Heat.


    Breathe.


    This was a never-ending cycle, where Kayden didn¡¯t hesitate for a moment. For some reason, he couldn¡¯t get enough. His mind did not harbor any thoughts of giving up in the face of the cold. Every moment was the same.


    His mind was tireless, his will greater than the cold and time. What moved him? Kayden didn¡¯t know. He had no memories, no knowledge, just a strange, meaningless will.


    The cold remained constant, its intensity unchanged, always present. At that moment, Kayden began to remember some actions and things whose origin he did not know.


    Words that he didn¡¯t know where they came from appeared in his mind. He did not know the origin of any words in his mind, nor how his thoughts were being organized.


    What exactly was a name? Kayden had no idea. What was it for? His name generated no heat, and only heat mattered in his life. What was the point of words if they didn¡¯t generate heat?


    The only thing Kayden understood at that moment was the heat. Anything else was of no value in his view. But he also didn¡¯t know exactly why heat was his goal or represented something valuable.


    ************


    "Right now, we only have 50% of the universe; the rest has been broken down into mana for Father to use," said one of the remaining gods at a council organized to decide the fate of the universe.


    On this council, each large organization had an equal seat and vote. Small organizations were slowly incorporated into large ones through agreements or veiled threats. In the end, only the big ten remained.


    The universe was being purified of many life forms and existences. Some insane gods tried to enter directly into the area that Pai consumed, but there was never any news of them again.


    "How much left?" asked one of the representatives. None of the great gods personally attended these meetings.


    Even with the universe changing rapidly, most of them had no desire to leave their cultivation and private worlds to make decisions for their organizations.


    The truth is that they hadn¡¯t participated in them for a long time. They had reached a level where they no longer had a social circle other than people of their level, nor even the resources that were necessary for their existence.


    They had reached a level of strength where there was nowhere else to go, and they just tried to advance beyond divinity, day after day, without success. It was an infinite search of an infinite will.


    Family and friends were something elusive at this level of strength, at least with people who weren¡¯t on the same level. Four of the great gods were couples with each other, and a trio also seemed to be in a union of sorts.


    While on the surface all organizations were hostile and fought wars over the minimum amount of resources, on the inside, their leaders treated each other as equals and ate at the same table if the opportunity arose.


    "Between 10% to 20%, according to the false gods. The mana in the universe has already increased to a large extent, and we have seen many new geniuses emerging in these centuries." In just a short period, dozens of people with eight rays appeared on all sides.


    "The lands are already perfectly divided, with a central region remaining with the false gods at its center. We are expecting a great increase in the overall strength of all members and the birth of many natural treasures."


    Each god was commenting on what had been studied by their organization and how much they had learned during this period about increasing mana density. There seemed to be a direct relationship with the number of geniuses being born.


    "We are not going to build many planets. We are thinking of creating just a hundred, each with a few trillion people, classified by strength and capacity," revealed one of the organizations, presenting a simple and practical system.


    "And how are you dealing with those with less than five rays?"


    "We left out the weaker planets and only rescued the high-level ones. It will take a little longer, but in a few millennia we will have all these densely populated planets."


    ****************


    "Collective psyche." This was the name Kayden gave to his thoughts and knowledge that did not come directly from him.


    There was still not enough time for him to recover his memories, but he was able to develop more critical thinking and recognize all this knowledge that seemed to be innate in his mind.


    He dubbed it "unconscious knowledge." All his actions were governed by him. His unconscious was his true self, but it was also a shadow in his conscious, which was still cloudy to Kayden.


    This knowledge seemed to be something innate to their race, something that transcended their own life and existence, almost behaving like primitive instincts. Where exactly they came from was something he couldn¡¯t yet recognize.


    Author¡¯s note: If you enjoy psychology and have read the classics, you will understand the references.

 Chapter 396: A challenge of nine rays

    As he took in more things and felt closer and closer to recovering his memories, he felt this collective psyche being pushed to the back of his mind and losing its power over his body. sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    *********************


    "Han and Max"¡ªthe two figures that permeated both of Kayden¡¯s childhoods¡ªappeared in his mind randomly. Thousands of memories appeared in his mind from one second to the next. Kayden¡¯s round form could not recognize the body in his memories, nor relate the actions and movements in an organized way. It took him practically the same time as the memories to relearn everything. These memories entered his life and changed his way of thinking. This time, his unconscious was no longer something animalistic and instinctive.


    Your conscious was shaping your unconscious. Some traumas and things were hidden and placed in your unconscious, but the latter was reactive and, at the slightest trigger, appeared in your conscious. It was crazy to see all this happening within his being. Kayden, in soul form, something he didn¡¯t know he was in, was able to see two divides in his existence: things that were visible and things that were hidden.


    It was not difficult for him to recognize the unconscious and the conscious. They were two very similar and, at the same time, different things. Kayden had several traumas rooted in both sides, but as he recovered more memories, they became smaller. The moment he was betrayed and lost his father represented one of the decisive days for the loss of his unconscious. He practically assimilated the two into just one entity; everything he should hide was placed in front of him by the unconscious.


    There was no longer a clear division between the two. It was just a jumble of disorganized thoughts and feelings. In fact, that last one was kind of non-existent. Kayden saw his feelings fade as the years passed. Slowly, he stopped expressing basic things about his race, such as simple and complex emotions. In his mind, there was only an endless quest for power. There were no reasons, no motivation, or anything that led him to cultivate one day after the next.


    Everything was broken and without any meaning. It was just power for power¡¯s sake. His emotions about other human beings have ceased to appear, in fact, for any other living being. He simply didn¡¯t care whether they lived or died. Even back then, Kayden would probably trade Han¡¯s life for a little more power. This was a realization that he had never clearly thought about, but at this moment, it was easily seen by him.


    ***********


    "From today onwards, all beings with eight rays and above must come to the central council to make their breakthrough." All the gods were before a huge crowd of people. There were even more watching this broadcast. The environment was a huge coliseum with thousands of statues of gods. Everyone who proved themselves worthy and contributed to the new universe got a statue.


    The time for everything to be populated was not very long. Father was still consuming the universe, but there was practically no life left in it that would be spared. Every one who would be saved was already at the new limits. At this moment, they were seeing one of the goblins advance to the seventh realm with nine lightning. The creature fought using elements of nature. It was incredible to see his ability to generate a high-level world tree.


    The goblin simply created a golden world tree with strength equivalent to the ninth realm, being only in the sixth realm. This elf was a being from the new universe, he came from a branch of one of the worlds. His genius was absurdly superior to much of what everyone had seen before, as he reached this level of strength after just 1 million years. It was a long time, but for a being with nine rays, it was ridiculously short.


    Even the Licht Nyc, who was one of the strongest beings, was a few million years old. This elf broke all previous publicly known time records.


    The lightning began to fall without stopping, and the tree just swallowed them without any difficulty. They hit his huge stem and disappeared all over his body without leaving any trace of damage. Just the eighth beam was able to destroy half of the entire tree and make the entire surroundings shake. It was such a great force that it shook the minds of the surrounding people.


    An operatic sound began to resonate in the background, and the heavens opened up splendidly, revealing an entire world with about nine chairs. It was strange to be able to see an entire world in the skies. This world gave off a completely frightening feeling. It was a world full of divine mana and at the same time desolate, with nothing around it. An expanse of millions of kilometers stretched out in everyone¡¯s vision, but only nine chairs existed in this environment.


    Each of them was richly decorated with characteristics that were completely different from anything else in the universe. Every seat in this place seemed to be some sort of living, ancient entity. These chairs were older than most of the gods present there.


    "You dare stand up against the nine?" That wasn¡¯t a voice; It was a message that echoed in the minds of every person in that place. Even the gods couldn¡¯t help but tremble at this.


    "Dare to know" is the entry phrase for the nine rays challenge, all participants could use one of them, they were free to choose and.....


    "Pathetic" the goblin received this response and his honor fell to the lowest level possible, receiving an insult directly from the heavens was something that few managed to do, but considering his arrogance... it was something expected.


    In just a few seconds, lightning emerged from the nine chairs and concentrated into a ball in the center, this was the strangest challenge of all lightning. This ball was extremely dense and made purely of superior mana.


    It wasn¡¯t divine mana or even normal mana, it was something far beyond those things, not even the gods could understand exactly what that thing was, the most accepted theory was that it was a much more detailed and well-made divine mana .

 Chapter 397: The ten rays

    She began to descend towards the goblin slowly. Its strength was ridiculously high and could convert the entire surrounding space into nothing, but the spell was perfect to such a high degree that there was no energy leakage. The ball looked like a planet descending upon mere mortals; even the gods could feel the pressure of that attack, not because it was strong, but because it was perfect. The time needed to raise a technique to this level was invaluable.


    Probably, in the entire universe, only a few hundred gods could claim to have such perfect techniques, and that was a ridiculously low amount considering that there were millions of gods at that time. Even before touching the tree, the ball was already taking effect. The spell was simply destroying the surrounding matter and taking the tree with it. The most impressive thing was that the space remained intact.


    It was a tree more than a hundred kilometers long; she was ridiculously big. Each leaf of it could easily house a city of mortals, and yet it was melting into thin air as if it were nothing. All the leaves turned upward and began to shoot out a wave of pollen. This pollen was a kind of radioactive mana that worked on the principle of imbalance. They were practically densely packed charged particles.


    These small particles were capable of opening tears in space, and, as there were hundreds of millions of them, they made space look like a fishing net. It was something very unique. The ball continued to descend and destroy the tree without any mercy. Even with the pollen attack, it was still slowly descending at the same speed, without any sign of stopping.


    In just a few seconds, more than 30% of the tree had already been completely destroyed. It was a ridiculous amount of mass being eliminated, but the world tree was also strong. Even though the ball was descending at the same speed, its force was decreasing. Only after 70% of the tree was gone did the ball stop descending. Then it exploded, throwing lightning everywhere, but it was just an automatic reaction to losing its strength; the test had already ended.


    Seeing a nine-ray ascension was exciting for everyone. Ordinary mortals screamed and cheered. The elf already had a large follower base before, and even more so now. Even the gods clapped.


    At this moment, everything should have been over, but the ascension baptism ray hadn¡¯t fallen yet. Not only that, but the heavens were still looking down on the goblin, it felt like something was missing and...


    "I would like to face the tenth ray." His speech took a while to reach everyone¡¯s ears. Most continued to celebrate as the shock of what the goblin had said began to spread.


    Tenth ray? Nobody had ever seen this. Only a few gods read about it in ancient books and treasures. Not even the big ones had much information and didn¡¯t know anyone who had managed to reach him. It was a myth that no one fully believed because until that moment no one had ever had the power to overcome the nine rays easily and still dare to call on the ten rays. Courage wasn¡¯t the right word; the most correct thing would be stupidity.


    Of the nine chairs... nine entities appeared.


    "Holy shit..." All the gods in that place fell to their knees. Not even the big ones were able to stand. Father was one of those who tried to resist and ended up finding himself with his face glued to the ground.


    This was a unique event in the entire universe. It was the first time this universe was witnessing these beings. Each of them had unique characteristics. The pressure they put on was just unbelievable. The density of mana in the region increased by billions of times. There was so much that the space was beginning to collapse with the density. It was simply unbelievable. It was about 10% of all the mana Father had been accumulating, and that was ridiculously high.


    Father could not use all the mana he accumulated in combat, and it was simply too large an amount for him to be able to quickly manipulate to formulate spells, and even 10% was a lot. No one could recognize or point out any characteristic of the nine. Everyone could see its shape and all its features, but as soon as they tried to put it into words, they felt their minds go blank. Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "You are worthy." One of the nine spoke. He was perhaps the strangest one there. He didn¡¯t have a face or a race; every millisecond, it changed. There were millions of combinations passing quickly. Even the aura of a false god was emanated by him, or ancient gods. It didn¡¯t matter the race, they were all simulated by him in just a few seconds. Some races that appeared were not even known to the librarian.


    This was unbelievable considering the only thing he had done his entire life was document the universe. Documenting two universes, and yet he found himself unable to describe what he was seeing.


    The goblin found himself returning to his prime with a simple wave from this entity. All of his strength and mental health were instantly recovered. He didn¡¯t have time to thank him, as he saw a small lightning bolt forming on the entity¡¯s finger. That lightning... it was hideous. Even Father was really scared. His instincts, which hadn¡¯t appeared in billions of years, were screaming that he would die if he faced this, and it wasn¡¯t a warning, it was a certainty, the same one we have when we put a gun to our head and pull the trigger.


    No one could feel the mana in that spell, it simply didn¡¯t exist. It was a higher divine level spell, something even rarer than all nine ray challengers. That was made entirely of laws. Most gods knew how to wield a law at the level of a master and used mana to support it. All the gods fought like this. Those capable of utilizing only laws were at most two dozen in the entire universe.

 Chapter 398: Failure

    A ray formed only by perfect laws, any idiot could feel that there was much more than just one law. There were dozens or hundreds, perfectly aligned, causing ridiculously high mental pressure. Ignorance was bliss at certain times; mortals who had no contact with laws weren¡¯t feeling so cornered, it just seemed like that lightning was strong. Did it cause strong pressure that brought them to their knees? Yes, but that was it. As for the gods? It seemed like they were facing their creators. Even Father was feeling extremely cornered, and he was one of the strongest beings in this universe. This situation opened the eyes of many gods.


    Most believed that they were at the peak of the universe and didn¡¯t even have anything left to evolve, but this situation opened the eyes of all the gods in a much deeper way than any other situation. Just as the universe began to demonstrate new geniuses, stronger gods would emerge. The same people who had already been in divinity for years would regain their strength, even more so with the constant cuts that organizations were making. In the past, a god was something precious, even in organizational battles, the death of other gods was not allowed and was frowned upon by everyone. But at this moment? Gods were killed at the slightest sign of uselessness.


    A huge number of gods were killed by the Father, and others were also slowly killed by organizations. The universe was no longer accepting useless gods; it felt like everyone was progressing to something bigger. There were millions of small details that were being implemented in all societies, small changes that made their focus on producing superior geniuses. Cultivation and combat techniques began to appear in remote places and provide opportunities for everyone. All of this was being done without large organizations being able to identify who was responsible; Even after centuries of study, they couldn¡¯t say where or why these changes were happening.


    The goblin closed his palms and took a deep breath. Divine mana entered his body at an absurd speed, he began to inflate after a few seconds and soon looked like a giant ball of air. As he exhaled, all the divine mana left his body and disappeared into his world tree. Its color began to change, the leaves turned golden and the bark had dozens of runes shining in gold. The tree¡¯s strength grew by several folds, at this moment not even the strongest magician of the ninth realm could face it; the world tree would simply destroy the opponent in seconds.


    Space itself was shaking with the presence of the tree, it was impressive to see, a mere mortal capable of causing such great damage to things. The tree quickly grew in size to at least a thousand kilometers. The lightning started to descend and...


    ** SWISH! **


    The sound of the goblin being cut into two halves along with the tree went unnoticed by everyone, as the entire world began to shake as the lightning passed through it as if it were just butter. There wasn¡¯t even time to react, in the blink of an eye the tree was destroyed in two halves, being consumed by infinite fire. The elf¡¯s body had already been consumed, and Father was the first god to react and stabilize the planet. It wasn¡¯t difficult considering his strength but putting out the flames was something he didn¡¯t have the capacity for at the moment. In the next few minutes, all the gods desperately tried to put out the divine fire.


    Slowly, panic began to assault everyone, the fire was consuming everything and wouldn¡¯t go out for anything, no matter what law was used or the strength of the spells, it simply wouldn¡¯t go out. In just a few minutes, everyone saw the planet go up in flames. All living beings were rescued by the gods and were left floating in space without knowing what to do. Father opened a completely surreal tear in space and threw the planet inside.


    "Have you seen this before?" Father asked the only person who could have such profound knowledge.


    "I wasn¡¯t able to witness it, but I know that this fire won¡¯t go out for millions of years," the librarian replied, unable to stop staring into space.


    "Do you know anyone who got ten lightning bolts?"


    "Just one person, but he wasn¡¯t from this universe," Father felt like a frog stuck in a well.


    "How strong?"


    "I don¡¯t know, there is no comparison or even a way to measure your strength."


    "The strangers?"


    "I don¡¯t know."


    ---


    "I don¡¯t have unconsciousness," Kayden came to this conclusion after millennia of thinking and rummaging through the memories he managed to unlock. At some point in your life, your unconscious was added to your conscious. He had the full ability to recognize every little mental slip in his mind and know where it came from and why. It was something completely unnatural, every living being should have its unconscious closed. Could someone access it more easily? Yes, but that was just it, they weren¡¯t supposed to be the same.


    In a way, we have many things that are repressed because of the society in which we grow up. Our thoughts are trained to follow a certain moral and ethical order that does not cause embarrassment. Actions that deviate from the standard are harshly repressed so as not to cause harm. Different people are treated as crazy, but what defines a crazy person? Anyone who deviates even slightly from the standards of the society in which they live will be treated as crazy.


    Some geniuses will never be recognized in their generation, at least those who are more focused on the mental part than fighters, it will take centuries for someone to review their work and think that it is a masterpiece.


    One of the effects of not having a separation in his conscience was that he could not recognize the morals and ethics of society, he lived based on his principles solely, and he was not able to express regret for his heinous actions.


    Author¡¯s note: next month we will have two chapters per day, I got a scholarship at college and I will have more free time now, finally


    S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 399: Yan

    External influences no longer had any weight in his actions, criticism and related things could no longer reach him in any way, as he did not have an unconscious mind to hold these criticisms.


    **************


    "Are you still unable to assimilate it?" Thoth asked Nyc for the first time in hundreds of thousands of years.


    "No, he doesn¡¯t have any form for me to appropriate or any trauma for me to break his soul, she is simply a white lump, without any purpose or dream."


    NYC had never dealt with such a difficult soul. His technique worked based on breaking a soul into several pieces without any rationality and then putting them together inside his sea of souls, but with Kayden, this wasn¡¯t working. He didn¡¯t have any trauma or dreams, he was simply a big blank space, without any purpose or meaning. But luckily, that was all; Kayden would never make it out of there.


    The Licht could not destroy this soul or any other, but he was certainly capable of keeping it trapped for eternity, and that was the attitude he would take, because perhaps in the future he would be able to use it.


    "What is this war of the 100 planets?" Each organization had the right to own 100 planets in its territory.


    Furthermore, the number of living beings was also fixed and could not be increased, only decreased. The number of gods was also fixed. At the moment, no gods have appeared yet, but in the future, a coliseum will be created; to maintain divinity, he has to kill another god.


    All of this was being done so that the quantity and quality of mana in the universe remained extremely constant, and the fruits were visible. The number of mages with 7 rays increased by several folds, but with eight and nine it was somewhat weaker, but there was still an increase.


    The average strength in the universe has grown frighteningly. Nowadays, the most mediocre being was with five rays in the fifth realm; it was a small change of just one kingdom, but it was very significant, as the jump from the fourth to the fifth was surreally difficult.


    "Every ten thousand years, planets will compete in a series of team and individual battles. The one with the worst rating will be destroyed and reformed again," Thoth commented.


    "Why?" Nyc didn¡¯t see much sense in this, but he also didn¡¯t give his opinion, as he didn¡¯t have any knowledge in the area of civilization development. S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "So that planets don¡¯t grow in a greenhouse. This is the biggest event that the universe will carry out during these years; It will be battles from the first to the ninth realm and¡­ 1 divine level." Divine-level battles were incredibly rare.


    At the moment, each planet had a few gods on its soil, but only one of them was the leader of the planet. For beings who were used to each commanding a constellation... this lack of space was suffocating, but also tolerable. The gods were beings capable of quickly adapting to new things.


    This new order also meant that planets began to be ranked on their strength. Those stronger had greater rights to space and resources, and considering that the gods were the leaders of the planets, everything fell to their shoulders.


    Fighting between gods has become much more common than before. Practically every millennium, one of them died due to fights over territory and resources. It was a completely new phase of the universe.


    "Why are you doing all this, Thoth? Who exactly are you?" Nyc asked the question that Thoth received from virtually all of his planes at least once.


    "I¡¯m just bored and trying different things that have already been done." Thoth would never answer a question honestly.


    "Have they been done yet?" Nyc repeated, unable to remember any mention of it in the history of the universe. "How old are you?"


    "Older than time."


    ***********


    All the gods were gathered at a specific point in the universe, not just the gods but all those with some social status on the planets. Everyone there had at least eight rays.


    The number of gods was much smaller than in the last encounters, practically half were killed over time, and only the strongest were left alive; the chaff was separated from the wheat.


    At the moment, it had been around five million years since Father began consuming the universe. At the moment, there was still only 32% of what he once was left, a surreally large number had been consumed.


    What few knew was that he also consumed a good part of the void, around 50% of it. This was much larger than the ordinary universe, at least a few dozen times larger. This was only possible because of the technique he received from Thoth.


    At that moment, Father was the living being with the most mana that had ever existed in this entire universe; it was a simply incalculable amount. There has never been anything like it in the entire history of the universe.


    He could compress mana into solid form and that form would be trillions and trillions of kilometers long. It was something surreal. Everyone was gathered at that moment by a summons from the Father, the reason had not been revealed.


    "Welcome everyone " the father¡¯s voice reached all sides and all the gods. "many of you recognize me, but you don¡¯t know my story, my real name is Yan and I am a being that transcended two universes, every person has a reason that leads them to continue fighting for more strength, mine is love, I I lost my wife when the universe was remodeled in the past, every day I looked for techniques to reach divinity and be able to manipulate space-time to the point of being able to bring her back."


    The revelations that Father was making were incredibly frightening to most people in this place, even low-level gods did not know of them.

 Chapter 400: A god against the natural order

    The knowledge that this wasn¡¯t the first universe was scary for most people, and yet understanding that Father was a being who lived the age of two universes was even scarier.


    "I achieved godhood thanks to a human I will be forever grateful to, Kayden Heart. Wherever you are in the universe, you can look for me, my debt to you is eternal." Father regretted trying to kill the boy; the happiness of getting his wife back caused good feelings to well up in him in a strange way. "The shrinking of the universe is my work, I am consuming everything in search of mana and the moment has finally come. You will be able to see the timeline break."


    Father smiled and opened his arms. A frightening amount of mana started to come out; There was so much mana that it began to break the space around it. The density was increasing more and more, and it slowly started to become a black hole where reality was bending over it.


    Think of a huge table made of cloth and a stone is thrown into the center; this causes the cloth to curve towards the stone. It was very similar. Everyone was feeling a huge pull towards the Father.


    Fortunately, there were thousands of gods holding back mortals and preventing one of the largest unintentional genocides in history. The mana continued to flow out of Pai for about a week; After this period, something started to change.


    Anyone who was in a lower realm would start doing things extremely slowly, to the point where they were almost at a standstill. There was a baby in the middle who was at the apprentice level, and he simply froze in time.


    There was so much mana that time began to be drastically affected. It was incredible considering that spacetime was completely separate from this universe. As the days passed, the effect of time spread throughout the kingdoms.


    After about a month, only those who were at the fifth realm onwards were able to resist the effects of time; the rest simply did not have the strength or ability to resist and froze.


    "Finally." In a moment, Father felt the river of time opening to his will. The enormous endless current, which only gods and those with rare talent were able to see, was wide open to Father.


    "Who dares to peer into the secrets of time?" A voice that seemed older than anything in existence, that conveyed the wisdom of entire eons, was heard by all. She brought all the gods to their knees, including Father.


    Slowly, Yan was supported by mana and began to stand up. He fought hard to be there and knew he would have to face the guardian of time for this to work. It was the hardest battle of his entire life.


    "I am Yan, the man who seeks something beyond time. I ask that you open for me the line that does not exist, the time that was not, the time that did not happen." Father¡¯s voice resounded with frightening strength, showing that he was not a lamb among the gods.


    "You have the strength for it, but you must pay the necessary sacrifice." Father knew it would be like this; he had seen similar things at least once in his entire life. They were perhaps the scariest moments he had ever experienced.


    "What is the price?"


    "Your immortality."


    "I¡¯ll pay." Yan would spend his entire life in exchange for just one minute with his beloved. He was a crazy man who would do anything for his goal. sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Do whatever you want." The voice said this, and Yan felt a huge weight in his heart. It was simply painful and kept squeezing him without stopping for a second, but the pain was something that wouldn¡¯t stop him at all.


    Father began to peer into the river of time and use all the mana he had accumulated to travel through it. Reaching the end didn¡¯t cost much of his mana; any god could do that. The issue was that the guardian of time did not allow this action.


    Yan¡¯s immortality was a ridiculously high price, as he was, at the moment, the strongest being in this universe. Not only that, but he also had the most threads of fate attached to him. Yan¡¯s immortality was the most expensive price that could be paid in this lifetime.


    When he reached the end of the river, he saw a source of the time stream. It was very small and had practically nothing, it was a huge void. At this moment, he could discover the entire truth of the universe.


    Who created this existence? Who was able to do all of this to this degree of perfection? All these questions could be answered if he drank the spring water, but that was not even a temptation for him.


    What¡¯s the point of knowing the truth in exchange for your happiness? Ignorance was bliss, and Yan would not go against that principle. He pulled out all the mana he had consumed in the universe and began to pass through the spring.


    The man was simply a very dense flood; it was such an absurd amount that there was probably never, at any time in history, anyone capable of handling a merely similar amount.


    A battle between the river of time and the mana of a god began. This placed Pai in the annals of hidden history, known only to those who lived longer than several universes. His achievement was incredible, but not unique.


    Time was a very big thing; Things that hadn¡¯t been done were still ridiculously rare, probably no more than 100 things at some point in history, whether in this universe or an even more distant one.


    All the gods were seeing the open river of time facing Yan¡¯s mana. Slowly, Father managed to overcome one of the most fundamental laws in the entire universe; a god who defeated time itself was born.


    This was a milestone in everyone¡¯s mind, because the impossible, at that moment, was just a matter of opinion. Anything could be done, it all depended on how much you were willing to sacrifice for it.


    "Break my will!" Father was euphoric. His body began to explode from the inside out, and in just a few minutes, only his head was still left, but his eyes didn¡¯t even blink.

 Chapter 401: A new timeline

    He was crazy, obsessed. This was the end of his existence or absolute success; There were no compromises, he would break the entire universe if he had to.


    "I am the way!" And then it broke. Time has been disrupted; some mortals aged to death instantly, while others returned to being just babies.


    The unbelievable thing was that these babies were already in the sixth realm or something related. It was a unique event; such a strong soul was compressed into such weak bodies, but some lucky ones managed to keep their consciousness in one piece at least.


    The flow of time was completely unregulated throughout the universe. People were able to advance several realms in the blink of an eye. The heavens were beyond time and space, so they could have ascension challenges in the same way.


    Entire planets collapsed simply because their trajectories collided, and no god was present to change this. Civilizations were born and died in seconds; on some planets desolated by war, an entire society was born.


    This entire planet has been accelerated by trillions of times. It was such an insane increase that the birth of a god was about to happen as soon as time was regulated. This was completely surreal.


    Father continued to advance through the timeline of his old universe. The fragments were completely broken, time was out of sync, and Yan¡¯s mind, although divine and strengthened for thousands of years, was under surreally great pressure.


    What the god was having to do was review trillions of moments in trillions of places; he was somehow searching for the soul of his deceased wife. It was ridiculously difficult, like searching for a needle in thousands of universes.


    Slowly, his divine mind began to feel heavy. It was a ridiculous feeling he never expected to feel again, something only a mortal would feel. Yan had no doubts about his actions and continued without any fear.


    With every second that passed, he saw absurd things. His knowledge about useless things grew trillions of times, but he also saw great revelations about incredible laws and techniques.


    "Holy shit," he muttered as he saw Thoth introducing himself to a random god and moving small rocks around the ancient universe in dozens of moments. Father saw him practically accomplish the destruction of the universe.


    Thoth was a mysterious being who crossed universes and continued to influence them. Not only that, he seemed to be responsible for many events large and small, the latter being the main ones that accumulated into one big action.


    There was the appearance of some other beings that he recognized as one of the strangers. One of them was a cat that appeared to catch a disciple at one point; another was a crown-bearing king, terribly oppressive, who appeared to take a disciple as well.


    Other than that, there were few appearances of these beings. Yan had no idea who exactly they were, but their stories crossed universes easily, always on top, always in the shadows.


    They were beings that never appeared and were never challenged. Yan had an idea of who they were and what organization they belonged to, but it was only vague. The time he tried to find out more, he almost got killed.


    And the worst thing is that he didn¡¯t even know he was going to be killed; It was something sudden, but it was a warning that he shouldn¡¯t mess with these people. Yan put that aside and continued searching; his mind was slowly breaking.


    The amount of memories was surreally large, an unparalleled pressure was on every part of his being, and yet he continued without any fear. After reviewing trillions of years, he found his wife.


    As a mere mortal, he felt anxiety and endless passion surge in his heart. It was just a metaphor, as he only had an immaterial body present at that moment. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    All the time he spent seemed to mean nothing; It was like the first time he looked at his beloved. Yan wasted no time in grabbing her soul with ridiculous force just as she was about to die.


    BOOOM!


    The sound of time being tidied up exploded silently, something totally strange because while everyone heard it, this sound never existed. The timeline has been completely revamped.


    This was a new timeline; the laws did not allow the past to be remade, so the past was destroyed, at least for everyone who did not have enough strength to reach it, which included practically all the gods.


    This meant that the predictions got even more messed up, as no god was able to see the past and base their predictions for the future on it. It was practically a new time cycle in this universe.


    Yan disappeared without giving any explanation to anyone. He ran to one of his safe spots, in fact, the best safe spot he could have. The god believed he could hold even one of the strangers for a few hours in this place.


    ***************


    Kayden had already remembered his entire history, it was kind of strange to review all the memories he had in his life, it was a unique experience that allowed him to see many mistakes he made due to lack of experience.


    His knowledge was increased by many folds, as he was able to see every mistake in his past and at its base, many of them were obvious and grotesque, and only after much pain was he able to recognize his mistakes.


    After a long time, he recognized that he was in his soul form, it was quite incredible to be able to recognize this form and all its effects, Kayden was doing thousands of tests with it.


    Wherever he was there was no mana or even anything, it was just a ball of soul and a constant cold, plus he wasn¡¯t able to use his path or feel touch or vision, it was completely ridiculous.


    simply nothing there besides him and the cold, it was a strange sensation because Kayden spent most of his life with his senses, he thought this place was either the hell of souls or a Licht prison.

 Chapter 402: Amanda

    The only thing Kayden could do was fight the cold and study his soul. It was funny because she had nothing and, at the same time, she had everything. It was very similar to soul mana, but in a version trillions of times more concentrated.


    The cold wasn¡¯t extreme for Kayden, but it was constant and tried to break his will day after day; there was no pause, and the passage of time did not exist for him at all.


    Something he wondered was why he blindly trusted Licht and his proposal. It didn¡¯t make any sense in his view. From the beginning, he knew it wasn¡¯t a good idea to trust like that, but something compelled him to go there.


    Kayden did not easily make thoughtless decisions, much less decisions that could lead to a less-than-ideal end. After a long time, he concluded that he had been manipulated by someone, but he didn¡¯t have a very clear idea of who exactly it was.


    His main guess was Thoth; he was always present in everything in Kayden¡¯s life. Furthermore, he could manipulate great gods with relative ease, especially Yan, who was one of the greatest gods in this universe.


    Kayden wasted only a little time on this. No matter how much he thought about it, it wouldn¡¯t make the slightest difference in the end as he wasn¡¯t able to change anything about his current situation.


    The only thing he could do was study his soul and at the same time learn more about his path. The second was more difficult, as he had no way to test his theories in this immaterial form.


    ---


    **The Sleeping Gods**


    "The sleeping gods have awakened", Nyc received this news from Thoth, and it was something very worrying; the sleeping gods were a ridiculously strong race.


    "What else?" NYC didn¡¯t know what to expect from the situation. The sleeping gods were called that because of the long periods of hibernation they had; their race was called natural gods.


    This name came from the fact that even a baby was born into the divinity, something completely against the natural order, as each god was unique and had a divine law that he improved over time.


    There were hardly two gods with the same laws; the only ones who were similar were the gods who ascended dishonestly and had generic laws that any idiot with resources could learn, but still, they required a lot of resources.


    Raising a god costs the equivalent of a small organization in resources, a ridiculously large amount, capable of supporting entire constellations of high-level mages. Therefore, few gods ascended in this way, and in fact, they were not even alive.


    Pai ended up killing most of them; Those who remained were spared because they had some useful value in knowledge or some connection with people of power. The rest were brutally killed with no second chances.


    "They will take a part of the universe. Probably, one of the ten large organizations will suffer an attack in a few hours and be decimated," Thoth commented something so scary as if it was no big deal.


    "How strong are they?" Nyc was quite surprised by Thoth¡¯s speech.


    "Ridiculously strong. Each of them is the reincarnation of a natural law produced by the universe; they have perfect and absolute control over their laws." NYC got a scare for the first time in a few thousand years.


    Having perfect control over the law was something that few gods had, and this placed them at the pinnacle of divinity, at least at their level. And, considering that each of them was already born into divinity... dozens were equivalent to thousands.


    "What stops them from dominating this universe?" Nyc asked the question that was probably on the mind of anyone who knew the natural gods.


    "Fear. There are races capable of stopping them and there are also beings capable of stopping them." NYC felt like a little frog every time Thoth revealed something.


    Are beings capable of stopping the race of natural gods? This was completely absurd. Can a single being stop an entire race of gods with perfect laws? The universe was too big.


    ---


    **The Favor of Hypnos**


    "You¡¯re so lucky I owe you a favor, kid." Hypnos stood before Yan and manipulated the soul of Pai¡¯s soulmate.


    Souls were the same regardless of the universe, but circumstances made this a ridiculously difficult job that only someone with a lot of knowledge could accomplish. And there was nothing better than this cat.


    "What will be the consequences?" Yan knew the weight of his actions and expected at least some consequences.


    "She will have very limited intelligence in the first millennia of life. Furthermore, your memories will come back little by little, so your personality will be fragmented most of the time."


    These were things Father could deal with. He sold his immortality, but he still had a few billion years to go. That would be enough for him to enjoy his beloved¡¯s company and, perhaps, regain his immortality.


    "Regarding your cultivation?"


    "Without any hindrance other than your intelligence."


    "My debt will be eternal."


    "We¡¯re even."


    It took Hypnos about 10 years to remodel the soul into a body of the Father¡¯s choosing. This body, in itself, was already in the ninth realm and belonged to a forgotten race, which had already disappeared from the universe.


    This race was born in the ninth realm with its body but was still at the apprentice level with its mind. In a way, this race died out because of its abnormal strength and limited intelligence; it was very similar to giving a gun to a child.


    After the cat left, Yan lay next to his wife¡¯s body, just waiting for her to wake up. No breathing, no movement, just waiting. It was years in this position until she opened her eyes.


    On the one hand, a being that carried memories of trillions of years and a desire to see his beloved for even longer; on the other, just a body without any real memory and feelings...


    Of comfort and security, soulmates recognized each other even in moments that didn¡¯t make any sense. She didn¡¯t have any intelligence and just looked at Father like a puppy looks at its mother. S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Amanda..."

 Chapter 403: Nivus

    The soul is independent of memories, but memories form a part of the soul. Kayden discovered this after many years of studying his soul. She hadn¡¯t had many differences since he regained his memories. This actually had a self-evident reason to him: the memories had never disappeared, they had just suffered a powerful attack and were cloudy; the memory-soul conformation was something ridiculously complex.


    While the two were different things, they complemented each other. Maybe that was why no soul was destroyed; most of the time, they just reincarnated without any memory and perpetuated the cycle. Kayden could freely touch his memories with the control he gained over his soul. It was an absurd power, as he could repeat experiences until he understood them or saw details he had never seen before.


    Modifying and creating memories was not difficult either, and considering that Kayden¡¯s psyche was already completely broken beyond repair, these actions did not cause any damage to his subconscious. Some memories were pillars of his personality; these could not be changed easily. Kayden actually didn¡¯t have much control over them, as they formed a part of the soul separate from his memories; it was something strange and mysterious.


    His path was also in a part of his soul. It took Kayden a ridiculously long time to notice the presence of a crown inside this ball he called a soul. She didn¡¯t have any details; it was just a black crown. Any advance or return in its path caused a small change in the crown, be it a crack or a slightly different shade of black. Every detail was written down by Kayden directly in his memory.


    After a bit of effort, he was able to simply generate a list memory, where he simply spoke all the details that he shouldn¡¯t forget, no matter how small they were. Consulting this list was done instantly. The rest of the soul was responsible for things he couldn¡¯t even understand; it had no matter nor was it made of mana. Kayden tried his best to destroy small pieces of his soul, but there was no way to do it, at least he hadn¡¯t discovered it yet.


    Everything was normal in Kayden¡¯s strange and meaningless life in soul form, until one day everything changed. A kind of small dragon came close to him; Kayden¡¯s senses opened immediately. It was as if the blind man saw again after many years as if the deaf man heard for the first time. It was surreal; Kayden could feel that he was in a square, black room, that¡¯s all. There were no other details.


    His perception was uniquely formed by a spiritual sense composed of... nothing. He wasn¡¯t using mana or anything like that; Kayden was just feeling things around him, including a small dragon, approximately three feet long, that carried huge scars on such a small body. Furthermore, one of its wings was broken and a piece of its tail was simply gone.


    The appearance of this soul was one of sadness and loneliness, but also of an incredibly great resilience that did not give up even after everything that happened to him. Kayden could feel that it was a soul as it had the same shape as him.


    "Hello?" Kayden tried to speak but nothing came out. He was a soul and had no voice. For a second, he almost believed he would receive an answer, but his voice came out only in his mind. Without much to do, he began to study the dragon¡¯s soul. It took a few thousand years, but he was able to find many spots that he had no idea what were on his body and were obvious on the dragons. Its shape was that of a ball without any personality or rationality, while the dragon carried memories and thoughts directly into its soul, and they shaped many parts of it. Kayden didn¡¯t even need the visual part to understand this.


    After a while, he became sensitive to souls. He was able to recognize them even without this spiritual sense. This made him understand what exactly each part of the dragon¡¯s soul meant and, consequently, his own. The strange part of this was that his soul was completely flawed, with countless details missing; the personality part was empty and meaningless. He had no purpose in his actions.


    Many places where physical things in his soul should have had absolutely nothing. Kayden was closer to a newborn soul than the soul of a normal person his age; in fact, even that of someone with just a few decades to live. The dragon was a great addition to Kayden¡¯s world. The cold increased a few folds with him, but Kayden didn¡¯t even notice. He just needed to inflate and deflate his soul to keep warm, and now, with all his knowledge, he didn¡¯t even have any difficulty with that.


    "Hello, dragon friend, who are you?" Kayden threw a memory directly into the dragon¡¯s soul. It had a very specific set of soul pieces for recent memories. The hardest part was doing this feat. The mechanism worked based on creating a new piece of soul that was a recent memory and then removing it from your body and placing it in the dragon at the same point. It was a ridiculously difficult process that took tens of thousands of years to complete.


    The dragon was just standing still all this time; in fact, they both were. They could not and could not even move; it was as if only his spiritual sense existed. The dragon¡¯s mind was strong and... He wasn¡¯t facing the cold that Kayden was, as he was placed there by Nyc in an attempt to increase the intensity of the cold in Kayden¡¯s room. It worked exactly how the Licht wanted, but unfortunately, he wasn¡¯t strong enough to destroy Kayden¡¯s mind. The dragon was unable to respond; he couldn¡¯t even understand how Kayden had done it. He could only feel the soul ball that was in the room, but he was not able to feel the soul. In a way, it was a long time before he achieved a merely similar sensitivity.


    S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 404: Thoth

    "Just think about what you want to say and I¡¯ll take that memory away from you." Kayden placed another memory into the dragon and this time waited a few minutes. After that, he removed that little piece of soul and put something generic in its place. Some form of natural law of souls prevented him from simply taking it away; everything had to be in perfect balance. If a piece of soul was removed, another must be placed. All souls should be made of the same material, because, if this were not the case, he would not be able to do this with others.


    "I am Nivus, a storm dragon. I am here to fulfill a promise to the Licht for my race. Who are you?"


    Kayden was amused by the dragon trying to lie to him in a memory fragment. It was obvious to him that the dragon knew who he was and that it was there to kill and suppress him, simply by the fact that these thoughts passed through Nivus¡¯ head for a lapse of time.


    "I am nobody." Kayden would be smiling right now if he could; This would be a really fun experience.


    ***************


    "Isn¡¯t that what you wanted? See the universe fall apart for the second time?" Father was drinking some kind of wine while watching his wife through a spiritual sense learn to cultivate the false god¡¯s technique.


    "The end glorifies history, but this universe still has a long time before that," Thoth replied calmly.


    "It¡¯s not what it looks like to me like a war between the gods breaking out every few years. The lack of space slowly began to destroy the friendships that existed." Father has been absent from the universal dynamic since he got his wife. Every second of his time was spent helping his wife¡¯s progress. Even when she slept, he was by her side, watching. Whatever she needed, he offered. Slowly, her memories began to return; Yan utilized many divine resources to speed up this process.


    He still maintained some connections with the outside universe and knew it was a mess. The amount of geniuses that were emerging was simply ridiculous; those with lesser talent were still on six rays. It was practically a complete revolution in the strength of the universe. Thousands of gods have arisen and thousands have fallen. Battles became extremely common; Worlds being destroyed at the whims of madmen was also common.


    "And just as everything is in absolute chaos, everything was moving forward at a surreal speed. I think in a few billion years we could have a wizard facing ten lightning bolts, but¡­" Thoth paused.


    "But?" It took so long for Yan to complete it.


    "We will probably have an all-out war in a few years. Some old monsters are going to wake up and my plans have to go perfectly. I am here to negotiate your strength." Dad already knew it would be something like that.


    "You know the universe has grown stronger. I can no longer easily break existence to get mana." The universe was modelable and, after Thoth¡¯s actions, it became much stronger and more compact, in addition to slowly regenerating itself.


    "I offer you false immortality." Pai¡¯s eyes almost popped out of their sockets. He searched for hundreds of thousands of years, but he did not have any kind of success in this search; it was practically a unique case in the universe. Feeling his life falling apart day after day was extremely irritating and difficult for him, even more so after finally achieving his ultimate goal, something he had fought for literally longer than the universe itself.


    " Why? You are strong enough to do everything on your own. When I was in the river of time and saw fragments of you from the past... you always seemed to be watching me. Someone capable of transcending time itself. Who exactly are you?" Yan couldn¡¯t understand this point. Even in another universe¡¯s timeline... Thoth was present and was still able to recognize Yan¡¯s eyes. Not only that, but she often smiled at him. Who the hell was this god?


    "After you live long enough, only one thing becomes a mystery... luck and chance. I can watch everything and see a butterfly flap its wings and start a divine war hundreds of light years away, but there is a small chance of something different happening. That¡¯s what I can¡¯t control."


    Seeing a god admitting to being unable to predict something even after being able to observe everything and experience experiences that Yan couldn¡¯t even dream of having... was scary. Thoth could give thousands of complex reasons, but in the end, it was just a small detail that only those who had a high understanding of everything could observe.


    "What is your ultimate goal?" Yan asked the question Thoth had been asked trillions of times, and for the first time in a long time, Thoth answered honestly.


    "I want to die." Few words, but with a completely crazy meaning. Not being able to die? How crazy was that? S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "You..."


    "Yes, I cannot die no matter what I do or how I do it."


    Craziness. Complete madness. The fact that Thoth didn¡¯t go around killing everyone who went against his orders was very simple for Yan at that moment, it simply wouldn¡¯t make a difference to him, because what he was looking for couldn¡¯t be forced easily and had to be conquered with a lot of time and planning.


    "I understand. What do you want in exchange for immortality?" Yan had no qualms about doing heinous things to have more time with his wife.


    "I want you to be my hand in the universe and push some little steps." It wasn¡¯t difficult considering Pai¡¯s strength.


    "What is the level of risk? I don¡¯t want to die now."


    "Low. You¡¯ll just have to use your influence and fight some wars with the false gods. The strength of your organization will fall greatly, but everything in the universe will fall." Thoth seemed to be planning something very serious.


    "I accept." Yan would do anything for his wife, even if he had to kill every false god with his bare hands.

 Chapter 405: Tests

    A few thousand years ago, Kayden and the dragon were facing a soul war. The issue was that this was a completely individual war, as only Kayden had the ability to manipulate souls well enough to perform actions.


    He had been studying what each part of the soul did for a long time. Whenever he had a hypothesis, he trained directly on the dragon. One of them was the manipulation of rooted memories.


    This was an extremely delicate subject, as these parts of the soul were solid and remained rooted without any change regardless of what happened around them, Kayden took a long time to be able to break one of these memories in the dragon.


    This action was like magic, while Kayden lived through one of the most traumatic moments of the animal¡¯s life, Nivus had his two wings being remade and becoming perfectly healthy.


    Meanwhile, Kayden faced a memory of being tortured for hours and then having his wings ripped off without any gentleness, it was a horrible feeling, the worst part being the emotional shock the dragon went through.


    Fortunately, Kayden¡¯s mind was something completely surreal and he didn¡¯t even feel anything as he saw each of the dragon¡¯s traumatizing memories, it didn¡¯t take long for the dragon¡¯s soul to turn into a mess.


    She didn¡¯t have any memories ingrained at that moment, they were all undone leaving him with a totally different and... volatile appearance, every few days something changed, the soul was trying to force lasting memories, but it was a failure.


    Kayden had just placed random memories without much disturbance in those roots and saw how the soul changed and adapted perfectly to the new memories, even something as simple as standing still showed itself physically in Nivus.


    What followed was perhaps one of the most heinous acts of Kayden¡¯s life, where he was literally molding a living being little by little, his ability to manipulate the soul improved every day, and it wasn¡¯t long before he was able to recreate all the memories rooted.


    Nivus tried to beg Kayden to stop, at first he acted strong, but slowly his mind began to break when he saw that Kayden was just using his soul to study and he couldn¡¯t even understand what the boy was doing.


    Kayden even replicated all his memories on Nivus, this process took a long time, but it was an absolute success and at the same time a great failure, at that moment he understood that perhaps souls had many secrets beyond what he dreamed of.


    Nivus became a miniature of himself in actions and thoughts, but that was it, he didn¡¯t get his ability even after having all his memories and that wasn¡¯t even the worst part, the bad side was the fact that Nivus started to destroy his memories.


    In place of Kayden¡¯s memories, the dragon¡¯s own began to slowly come back to life, it was something incredible, Kayden couldn¡¯t understand where this natural regeneration came from, what led this soul to return to its natural state?


    The soul was supposed to be eternal according to his knowledge, but perhaps it didn¡¯t need to be the same eternal soul, he could destroy small pieces and they would be regenerated naturally, but this had two very big prices.


    The first was the emotional shock and pain, the pain was so strong that even though Nivus was in an immaterial state just as a soul... he was unconscious without being able to go through this pain consciously.


    The second price was perhaps the biggest of them, the soul was eternal and it would regenerate, this would be done automatically, and this meant that you could both have a new memory and a new personality.


    These pieces of soul that Kayden destroyed simply disappeared without him knowing where they came from or where they would go, it was simply a meaningless disappearance, it went against what he was taught.


    The soul worked based on balance at all times, when something was missing, it added something else to regain balance and if Kayden wanted, he could add something random to suppress the imbalance.


    The real problem was that this disappearing soul part was thrown somewhere Kayden had no access to, he had no idea where exactly it went, this was something he would have to learn later. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    In a moment, Kayden left Nivus aside and focused on himself, he didn¡¯t have any kind of strong memory, his body was formless and without purpose, which meant he could take any piece of it freely.


    Without any hesitation, Kayden took a small piece of his soul and let it disappear into the unknown, a ridiculous pain assaulting his body and making him feel like an ant, a frog at the bottom of the well.


    Not even the pain of his entire life combined would give 1% of the pain he was going through, his mind was ridiculously strong, practically unbreakable and yet he was finding himself losing his consciousness.


    Kayden didn¡¯t know how long he was unconscious, but at some point, he just woke up and.....


    "Holy shit", Kayden had some kind of small star-shaped protrusion on his round shape, it wasn¡¯t difficult for him to study this star and understand that it was a fragment of talent.


    His connection with the stars increased to a ridiculous degree, Kayden could practically feel the presence of the stars in all of his memories, they were like living entities and forces that he could manipulate.


    The stars opened to him like new knowledge that he had never even seen before, truths and secrets opened to his mind easily without any need for study.


    Where did this come from? How was such profound knowledge placed in his soul like that? This was practically a divine gift that he received, at that moment Kayden could consume an entire star from millions of kilometers and convert it into mana directly.


    Logically, his kingdom would limit the conversion rate, but this was still ridiculous, as there was a huge difference in this conversion, he did not have to spend any physical or mental energy.

 Chapter 406: The federation

    Simply this small factor, utilizing his absolute dominance, overwhelmed Kayden¡¯s mind with the effort of elevating his path to this level. But with this star, his knowledge suppressed the difference and made it so that he only needed to want to use the star.


    Kayden didn¡¯t have to think long to simply destroy that part of his soul. The pain was completely surreal again, and he was once again unconscious. This time, what appeared to him was a memory.


    It was simply a place with giant trees and many golden birds, just that, something very peaceful that, after some effort, he placed in a fleeting memory. It was a small attitude and change in his soul that wouldn¡¯t make any difference to him.


    The star had given Kayden a great deal of power, but it wasn¡¯t something he achieved with his own hands. It seemed like a silly reason for someone who hadn¡¯t lived long enough, but in fact, it was exactly the opposite. Sear?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden had his principles and a defined path. Nothing more than this could enter into his objectives. Any minute detail that was not conquered by him would automatically be exchanged and replaced with something of his creation.


    A path already taken would only lead to a place already known; This was a maxim that Kayden lived by, and at this moment it would be no different. He has performed this test on Nivus¡¯s soul thousands of times.


    He saw the dragon gain thousands of different knowledge, absurd things that no mortal should achieve easily like this, but at the same time, no divine knowledge appeared.


    It was as if there was a limit to what that soul could handle. No matter how many times Kayden rotated Nivus¡¯s soul and moved things around, nothing divine appeared. New doubts arose for Kayden.


    Where did this knowledge come from? He had only one plausible answer to that: past lives. Probably, the soul still kept certain specific things that were very important for that existence.


    The idea that they were clean before being reborn fell apart after that, as that was the only explanation for knowledge coming so easily. It was funny that anything in the soul became something intimate with the person.


    Knowledge did not need to be learned again, and memories seemed to truly belong to the person. Only in a few cases did Kayden see a refusal in his or Nivus¡¯s soul to absorb some things.


    **************


    "We are facing one of the greatest pinnacles in the universe. We have reached at least 10,000 nine-ray mages throughout the federation." The news was spreading everywhere.


    Even with the increase in the number of wars and heinous crimes due to lust and excess power, the universe was reaching its peak. For most people, this was a great sign.


    Only a few who had already gone through many experiences understood that every pinnacle precedes the fall. How much longer would the universe sustain itself? Nobody knew. The number of gods had been decreasing at an alarming rate.


    Meanwhile, the number of mages capable of asc


    ender to divinity grew exponentially. It was incredible that even the weakest mage in the new universe had six lightning bolts and great combat capabilities.


    This was obvious to everyone as most planets faced wars and force-related events constantly. Death has become extremely common for most people in the universe.


    Some planets, for example, had been at war since the new universe was organized, without pause, not even for a few years, and yet life was still flourishing uninterruptedly.


    Life expectancy has drastically decreased. Few people ended up dying of old age naturally in this new universe; death has become extremely common, regardless of the wizard¡¯s strength.


    "The federation launched a new form of identification." This was a transmission made to everyone in the universe. The event was taking place in a palace, and 5 people were sitting at a table.


    One of them was Yan, another was the primordial dragon god, another was an ancient Licht, one of the gods was a natural god, and the last one could not be identified by anyone. Each of them exuded an absurdly strong aura.


    The Licht had perfect golden bones, and in its eyes burned a fire of the same color. His aura was ancient, ridiculously ancient, he was probably one of the oldest at this table, without a doubt he deserved the title of primordial along with the dragon.


    The dragon god was in his diminutive form as he could easily span millions of miles of pure muscle and fire. Its skin was red with black designs, moreover, it exuded an indescribable animal ferocity.


    The natural god gave off a calm aura. He had the appearance of a middle-aged teenager who lived in a rural town. No one knew what law he wielded, and all those who discovered it ended up dead. He was easily in the top 5 in the universe in terms of power.


    The last god did not have any mana or aura leakage. No one knew who he was exactly, they just knew that it was a recommendation from Thoth, and everyone just followed it without asking too many questions, mainly because Yan was 100% supporting this person.


    The person speaking was a random narrator, without any strength. The true owners of the universe were just quiet as their thoughts were relayed. The natural gods took down two of the large organizations easily.


    The false gods overthrew two others. It was something strange, as Yan single-handedly overthrew an entire organization and established himself as the strongest god the universe has ever seen. Even the old monsters now showed him some respect.


    Two other organizations were overthrown with the support of the dragons and the Licht. It was a strange combination, but considering that the two races were beings that lived much longer than the others, their rapprochement was something very common in the universe.


    At the moment, these five people held absolute power in the universe, at least that was what most thought. Only a minority knew ancient monsters that still roamed around and could break this balance.

 Chapter 407: Past lives

    It was funny to think that even though they were at the top, there were still stronger people, but everyone got used to thinking this after a while in the universe. Yan wasn¡¯t sure, but he knew of at least two or three existences who were wandering around the universe who had strength on par with his own.


    Furthermore, trillions of gods could be hidden in pockets of space in the normal universe or the void, beings who have traversed far more than just a few universes; that possibility has always existed.


    "From now on, everyone will receive a number on their planet equivalent to their strength. Those ranked higher will receive all resources and priority in all government services. In addition, they can commit crimes against people of lower numbers without major reprisals." sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    This was terrifying; the universal order would be destroyed once again. If before the strong had already trampled on the weak, now it would be done openly, without any reprisal from the laws of the state.


    "There are three types of classification: the first is the universal one, which has absolute priority; only those with sufficient talent can request it. The second division is that of the group of planets where you live and, finally, we have a numbering by kingdom. They are, respectively, in order of priority."


    The number of people in the universe was large. Naming planets was relatively straightforward; it just required a bit of teamwork and good organization. But doing it across the entire universe was complex and laborious.


    "Talent trumps strength in our view, and so some people will be ranked higher when they take their tests. Crimes against high-ranking people will be considered crimes against the federation."


    Thus, the universe went crazy in the next few days. Trillions of battles were fought, and everyone was eager to advance in the ranks and constantly challenged those above. It took a few decades for everything to settle down.


    After that time, there were no more wild battles; everyone already more or less knew their limits and strengths. Only those in lower realms continued to fight these battles, as just a few years were enough for their strength to change by many levels.


    What happened was exactly what everyone expected: the strong began to swallow up the weak with thousands of heinous actions, from murder to rape. Such cases have become even more common than before.


    There was no happy ending for those who were weak; they were simply crushed without any mercy. It was funny that most of these actions occurred because the exploiters were those who had been exploited before.


    The dream of the exploited is to be an exploiter. It was something funny, but inherent to all races that thought and went through this. The resentment built up over millennia could not be broken without outside intervention, and none of the people in power would waste time on that.


    Those with nine rays were all invited to live on the central planets of the universe, where the concentration of mana was ridiculously higher, and all the resources they could need were available.


    In the past, any mage with nine rays would be directly pulled into an organization, but at the moment there were so many that only a few were lucky enough to enter the big organizations.


    The overwhelming majority were forced to stay in small organizations. Nine rays made mages strong and unique, but even so, it still didn¡¯t give them the ability to become anything more than that.


    It was funny because practically none of the nine-ray mages who came from the old universe would lose in a direct battle. They grew up in a much harsher time, with little mana and few resources.


    They had to jump over the barriers with just their strength; resources alone were not able to solve their problems, but at that moment, any idiot could get an elixir or something like that to break those barriers.


    Even though in the current universe most had grown up amidst wars and had been hardened by the dark reality... that was just it. They were like flowers that always had the sun to water their petals.


    There is an old saying spoken by the philosopher Heraclitus: "Out of a hundred men, ten should not even be there, eighty are mere targets, and nine are true fighters - and we are fortunate to have them, for they are the ones who decide the battle. But one, ah, that is the warrior."


    He suited almost everything in existence, but in the world of mage strength, he was even more evident. Mana caused there to be many strong mages, but few unique mages.


    The genius of old has become the floor of the current universe. Those who were once considered the greatest geniuses are almost nothing today, at least those who relied solely on their talent. Those who strived to climb the ladder of power continued to evolve.


    ---


    Kayden was already so familiar with his soul that he could easily create new forms and lasting memories capable of giving rise to characteristics. It was funny that these new forms were completely fake.


    He had mastered his personality and soul to the point that anything added was at best a supplement; it would never be completely suited to his will. He had destroyed billions of pieces of his soul and watched it being rebuilt.


    Knowledge that transcended time and space was forcibly placed in his soul and yet he threw it away, what did not come from himself did not interest Kayden, some knowledge would shake entire planets.


    Nivus was also a perfect test dummy, it was funny how Kayden always found himself able to regenerate the dragon¡¯s soul to its starting point just by reallocating his soul portions and destroying the new stuff.


    At least this worked to a certain extent, at one point the dragon¡¯s soul simply shattered into so many pieces that he found himself unable to recover that existence, everything he introduced afterward became a lasting memory and created new parts of the soul.


    At that moment Kayden placed all his memories, practically copying his soul perfectly into Nivus¡¯s, it was one of the longest processes he had ever done in his entire life.

 Chapter 408: Aries

    Every little detail was copied to perfection. Every memory, every day of Kayden¡¯s life was placed into Nivus¡¯s soul. It took a long time to do this, but fortunately, time was not a concern for Kayden.


    "Is that it?" Kayden asked, disappointed to see a poorly made copy of himself. Even with all the memories, Nivus hadn¡¯t become Kayden.


    They were the same person, with the same thoughts, and yet they weren¡¯t the same. It took Kayden a while to think of an answer to that, but it wasn¡¯t difficult for him.


    "Past lives," he concluded. They were the problem. No soul could start over by completely erasing that part of its life. Kayden¡¯s mindset had completely changed once again. This time, he was certain that souls still carried traces of the past.


    How many lives was the same soul capable of living? Hundreds? Thousands? Millions? Kayden didn¡¯t know, but he had the answer to where so much different knowledge came from every time he broke a piece of the soul. It was a surreal and very diverse amount.


    A new goal emerged in Kayden¡¯s mind: he needed to destroy his past lives and rise to something unique¡ªa single life, a single path, a single purpose. His soul had to be unique in every way.


    His focus of study at that moment became the deep-rooted memories. They probably contained the secret to past lives. This was the only explanation for him placing all his memories in Nivus and still not being able to obtain an exact copy of himself.


    This was the second time he had done this experiment, but at this moment, his strength and technique were on a completely higher level than before. It was practically like two different worlds, and yet the result was the same.


    ---


    "I am Aries, the god of war and god of the end." This phrase resonated in the minds of every living being in the universe for years, after the appearance of a very special god at the federation¡¯s greatest event.


    A single person declared war on the entire universe. It was a body mage in short robes and wielding an axe. He was completely muscular and carried an extremely dense aura.


    The federation event was the Four-Digit Fight, a unique event where everyone could compete for the best places in the universe. Not everyone, as only the strongest was invited.


    Challenging any mage meant a gamble with one¡¯s own life and that of the opponent. Deaths were allowed, and one could only leave when both sides chose to do so; otherwise, it would be a battle to the death.


    This event brought together all the forces of the universe at the same time. Most of the nine-ray mages were between the seventh and ninth realms. The rest participated in an isolated fight, with digits per realm.


    The universal ranking brought much more glory to the mages, but the kingdom ranking was also very important and had much greater competition. Most battles with less than nine lightning bolts occurred in the kingdom ranking.


    Facing nine-ray mages was impossible for any other being who didn¡¯t have them. It was too great a difference in strength. Those with eight rays also stood out significantly, representing the portion of geniuses in society.


    Even if the number of nine-ray mages exceeded thousands, that was still ridiculously few, considering that there were trillions upon trillions of living beings. It didn¡¯t even amount to 0.0000000000000001% of the total.


    This meant that they were not even considered in the power dynamics of society. They were an absolute minority and a position that could only be dreamed of but never aspired to.


    The overwhelming majority of society was between six and seven rays. Seven rays had become ridiculously common and no longer had any value. All mages grew in power and could easily reach great realms, but that was it.


    The number of gods had yet to increase significantly. Divinity was never something easy to achieve, and now, with the universe stronger, the requirements to become a god have become even higher.


    The mastery of the laws had to be near perfect, and this made it very difficult for 99% of mages to ascend. The other 1% still had difficulties, but they were able to overcome them. The point was that becoming a deity had become more difficult.


    For some reason that no one knew, the heavens began to make all ascension processes more difficult. Any realm was more difficult, but divinity was especially difficult. Now, it was truly necessary to deserve the title of god.


    Everything was going perfectly in the universe until Aries appeared. He simply towered over the entire universe and challenged it. Most people thought it was nonsense, at least until they all had to face this god together.


    All the gods in the universe joined in this fight head-on. There wasn¡¯t a single god left out; even the natural gods had to get fully involved. It was something ridiculous, never seen before.


    Aries fought with puppets, which was funny considering he was carrying an axe. But this axe was a divine scepter that exuded a unique aura.


    The war began to drag on endlessly for years. All the gods continued to fight, some fell over time, and the strength of the puppets was increasing considerably.


    At first, they were just low-realm puppets. At this point, they were already almost at the eighth realm in terms of strength. Mortals were also in the fight; only the strongest entered as a way to hone their strength, at least that was how it was in the beginning.


    At some point, all beings in the universe entered this war. Every living being was fighting fiercely for their universe. It was clear to everyone that this was the last battle of the universe. sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    It was so sudden and senseless. From one day to the next, the universe was in danger again, and this time from someone much stronger than Pai. Yan couldn¡¯t understand how that being had so much strength.


    "Is he one of you?" Nyc asked Thoth as soon as he saw him.

 Chapter 409: Nivus and their lives

    "No, he is a real challenger," Yan replied, also paying attention to the movements as he expanded his spiritual sense to ask:


    "He who destroyed the other universe?"


    "No, but he was the harbinger of the end, and pretty much everything ended because of him. He¡¯s a unique wizard who only appears three times per universe. Now, he¡¯s trying to go beyond godhood."


    "Is he a ten-ray mage?" Nyc came to this conclusion quickly, and a chill ran down the spines of everyone who managed to hear the conversation.


    This was the strength of a ten-ray mage? Able to face the entire universe for years and still not be at a disadvantage? It was something completely superior to anything any god there had ever seen.


    Even the Librarian found himself unable to measure this level of strength. It was completely insane. As the years passed, more and more gods sleeping in the far reaches of the universe began to appear.


    Mortals were dying by the trillions every day. No matter what they did, the puppets kept appearing, and they began to hunt down the deserters. Only war was known at that time.


    The birth rate of living beings had dropped to a ridiculously low number, and the universe was very close to collapse. As time passed, Aries grew in power. His puppets were now all in the eighth realm, with a good portion in the ninth.


    The gods were still numerous and accounted for most of the battles. Each god was capable of fighting an infinite number of puppets, which bought time for mortals to begin reproducing again.


    Slowly, the universe began to enter a strange balance between death and birth. The situation accelerated the birth of geniuses: only the strong were born, and only the strong survived.


    ---


    Kayden had found the memories of his past life. They were rooted within his soul. In a way, they were part of his soul, and yet not part of it. It was a strange concept, with no explanation.


    Every time he touched Nivus¡¯s soul, he ended up feeling the dragon go through moments of high resistance, and this unconsciously made him fight against Kayden¡¯s manipulation. It took a long time for him to be able to remove one of these memories.


    That piece of soul was simply thrown into nothingness, and Nivus didn¡¯t receive any boosts. His soul remained normal, and that piece was simply replaced by the fragments of his current life.


    Kayden slowly erased every piece of the dragon¡¯s soul he could. With each removal, it became cleaner. At first, he would only remove one memory at a time, but with practice, he began to remove dozens and hundreds. S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    After many millennia, he managed to take one life at a time. The amazing thing was that the dragon always seemed to have more lives. No matter how many Kayden took, the amount of memories seemed to be infinite.


    Kayden encountered another problem during this time. The more lives he took, the more unstable Nivus¡¯s soul became. At first, it was just small things, like his appearance. But after so many lives were taken, the dragon began to have ingrained memories of different lives.


    Over time, Kayden learned to simulate living memories to test the effects of his experiments as if Nivus were in a material body. The soul was so powerful that it simply performed everything perfectly and reproduced the memories.


    The technique consisted of a trick: leaving a large part of the memory incomplete, missing many important details. This caused the soul to relive that memory and fill in the details according to its reality but in an impartial way. Logically, this did not always work.


    A strange case occurred when Kayden forced a situation where Nivus was going to die. Even so, the soul would make him die and then bury that memory in the subconscious, leaving it aside.


    The more Kayden removed Nivus¡¯ past lives, the more the soul caused him to lose traits of his personality, becoming more unstable and with very obvious psychological problems.


    Without mercy, Kayden continued. The process slowly accelerated, and he began taking dozens of lives, then hundreds. In a period, he had taken away all of Nivus¡¯s past lives and¡­


    "What the hell?" The dragon¡¯s soul began to attack itself, trying to kill itself dozens of times. Kayden saw it directly begin to consume itself and try to create lasting memories with itself.


    It was a completely surreal sight. The dragon¡¯s personality was completely altered. His memories were remade and remodeled without any order or meaning. At that moment, he was no longer Nivus.


    He was nobody, and yet he was everyone. His personality changed with every passing second. His mind was in complete chaos, but... he was much stronger. Kayden noticed that at times, his soul felt lighter.


    In very specific moments of lucidity, Nivus had his techniques polished to a completely different level. It was as if he breathed in his abilities as if they emerged so naturally that they seemed innate.


    The mana expenditure in each of them was minimal, almost non-existent because it was so perfect. There was no error whatsoever, no matter how difficult the technique was; it was reproduced with a ridiculous degree of perfection.


    Another thing Kayden couldn¡¯t explain was how easily Nivus¡¯s soul absorbed new knowledge. Kayden played a lesson directly into the dragon¡¯s soul and saw Nivus absorb the entire content in seconds.


    A completely inhuman degree of talent was given to the dragon, in compensation, this knowledge was hardly held in its mind, it became a complete chaos where anything was absorbed.


    Kayden wasn¡¯t quite sure if it was willpower that the dragon was lacking or if the soul wasn¡¯t made to have just one life, but... at the beginning of all existence it should have been like that, right?


    First of all, there were no lives to be past lives, that didn¡¯t make any sense, so Kayden concluded that it must be a lack of willpower, at that moment he continued to break the dragon¡¯s soul.

 Chapter 410: Olympus

    The more Kayden took pieces of Nivus¡¯s soul, the closer she became to collapse. Kayden had no idea, but he was inadvertently strengthening Licht to a whole new level, accomplishing something Licht had always wanted: to absorb souls without their owners being present. For the first time in his life, Licht was succeeding.


    Nivus¡¯s soul was slowly destroyed and absorbed by the cold that Nyc exuded. In just a few days, Licht¡¯s strength had practically doubled. This was completely unreal. His soul was enhanced, and he noticed that his techniques were being executed more fluidly.


    No matter how hard he tried to understand, Nyc couldn¡¯t determine where this power originated. He hadn¡¯t discovered anything new or used any resources recently; his prisoners were still in the same situation. At least, that¡¯s what he thought. Nyc could no longer sense Nivus¡¯s soul in his prison. All souls have a unique signature and are 100% distinct; no two souls are alike. For the first time in a long time, Licht was scared.


    Any fool would be overjoyed to gain strength without doing anything at all, but Nyc didn¡¯t think so. He had placed Nivus together with Kayden, and magically, one of the souls ceased to exist. He hadn¡¯t even known that was possible; weren¡¯t souls supposed to be eternal? In a way, what Kayden had done was ridiculously unprecedented, for he was a soul manipulating another soul, and¡­ He hadn¡¯t destroyed Nivus¡¯s soul; it had been reabsorbed into Nyc¡¯s soul. While this wasn¡¯t something completely new, the way it was done was unprecedented, and¡­ only two people knew about it, and only one of them knew the entire secret.


    Licht was genuinely afraid of putting another soul into his prison, fearing that Kayden would break free and start attacking more than just that soul. This fear kept him from doing crazy things in pursuit of power.


    Fortunately, this was exactly what Kayden needed. He slowly began to destroy his past lives. The sensation was ridiculously strange, the pain was pure hell, but even so, he didn¡¯t stop. His mind was completely hardened against the pain. His past lives were removed one by one, and then in dozens. With each life that came out, he felt both the positive and negative effects.


    His current life became brighter, the details more vivid, his techniques easier, and thinking about things became ridiculously simple. Previously complex matters began to unfold for Kayden at an incredible speed.


    The negative effects were also present, but they were suppressed by his will. The main negative effect was him getting lost in his memories and wandering, but slowly, Kayden was resolving this.


    His personality didn¡¯t change at all, because, in fact, it didn¡¯t even exist. Kayden wasn¡¯t boring or happy; he simply didn¡¯t express any emotions. He wasn¡¯t cold or evil; he just had a goal in mind and would do anything to achieve it.


    Sometimes he would notice things in his psyche that weren¡¯t exactly his own, seeming to be traces of emotions from his past lives. Kayden quickly suppressed them. His soul was his own, unique and indivisible. This was a ridiculously large step on his path. A monarch who does not rule himself is not worthy of ruling any other being.


    ---


    "So you¡¯re the one messing up the universe again?" A ridiculously loud voice resounded throughout the universe. It seemed to be bathed in electricity, something quite surreal.


    "Are you still alive, Zeus? I thought our last battle made it clear who was the strongest," Aries expressed some reaction after decades of silence.


    Zeus appeared in the form of a carefree-looking teenager. His body was perfectly proportioned and his face was a divine masterpiece of beauty. It was obvious to everyone that this being was extremely vain.


    His strength seemed to be so high that Aries stopped sending puppets and focused all his attention on him. Next to Zeus appeared another existence, well known to many.


    "You too, Athena?" Aries shifted uneasily this time. These two together represented a considerable force, and at that moment, his entire plan could collapse without advancing even an inch.


    "Our era has passed, Aries. You have failed and you will not succeed," Athena said in an extremely cold voice.


    The woman was wearing a white dress that contrasted with her... colorless skin. She was a purple-skinned being with galaxies floating on her body, a completely surreal sight, even more so considering that they didn¡¯t seem to be just paintings.


    "Nonsense. Even if I have to burn down every universe I pass through, I will reach the level of legends," Aries didn¡¯t reach ten thunderbolts for nothing; it was through completely crazy determination. S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Our era has come to an end, and I am here to kill the last three gods of Olympus," Zeus said calmly, and the space around them began to close in. Aries didn¡¯t even try to escape.


    He knew it would be no use because that space... was beyond his capacity. It was something that only Athena could do. In the end, only the three of them were left trapped in an enclosed space, ready for one of the most difficult fights of their lives.


    Each attack would be enough to break the universe in half, it was a degree of strength that only a few people have achieved in all of existence, Zeus was an authentic ten-ray wizard and used lightning as a weapon.


    His own body was lightning and moved like one, the speed of light was just a joke compared to his speed, Aries was fighting using his axe, at that moment he was fighting for his life and not to ascend.


    Athena was a false ten-ray magician, this meant that she survived the ten rays, but not that she had defeated them, it was a small detail that didn¡¯t matter much with the other numbers of rays, but in this case, it placed her at a much lower level of strength.


    The battle was being broadcast to a chosen few, who was the person capable of doing this? No one knew, but a giant screen opened up and several gods and mortals were thrown into a room to watch.

 Chapter 411: The end of Olympus

    ---


    It was ironic how, even though they were at the top of the universe, these gods were still insignificant compared to the true gods, beings that no one knew or even knew where they were.


    --- Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Finally," Kayden muttered as he removed the last past life that existed in his body. His mind was crystal clear to an absurd degree, able to remember every detail of his life with incomparable perfection. With a few simple simulations, he saw his path blossom frighteningly, without any impediments like before. His talent problem was completely solved, and at that moment, he was at the absolute peak of the universe in terms of learning.


    His personality did not change at all. He did not even waver in his ideas; it was unbelievable how robust his mentality had become. The pain he had endured for millennia while taking away his past lives, could not be described in words. After that, Kayden found himself without any goals. He had nothing else to do regarding this matter, so without hesitation, he simply switched his goals and continued studying his soul.


    His current life was engrained as the only memory he had. Whenever he tried to remove a piece of his soul, it would simply regenerate based on his past life, with soul fragments coming out of nowhere. As much as Kayden understood about the soul, he was still a layman in this field and had many questions that he could not find answers to. This was one of them: where did the soul fragments come from if he no longer had past lives?


    Without any clear goal, Kayden focused on his path and his soul. Immortality seemed to exist in this place; now it was a matter of Kayden learning its secrets. It would probably take time, but this was the only life he knew at the moment.


    ---


    "Your strength has grown so much, how?" Aries was clearly in a worse condition than the other two. It wasn¡¯t a one-sided fight, but one side was winning.


    "She¡¯s always been on top, son." Those words hit Aries like a bolt of lightning when he saw his father being honest. That meant the last fight was a complete rehearsal, where Zeus lost on purpose. It seemed trivial, but being able to hide so much strength from a god of Aries¡¯ level meant the difference in power between them was much greater than it seemed.


    "Why didn¡¯t you try to go further? Why did you let me try when you had so much more chance?" Zeus looked at Aries and smiled.


    "Because you are my son." This was a crushing answer that no one expected. Divinity, more often than not, breaks any emotional bonds over time. Those who managed to maintain their mortal emotions were dangerous. This happened because their mentality was completely solid; even when elevated to divinity, they did not change their actions or their choices. It was a level of certainty that few could achieve.


    "I see. And why are you trying to stop me now?" Aries had already practically accepted his defeat.


    "You have already failed, and now it is time to give my other children a chance," Zeus said patiently, without any emotion in his eyes.


    "Don¡¯t you have any greed? Why didn¡¯t you try to reach that realm?" The realm beyond divinity, a legend among the high-level gods. Zeus had potential, but¡­


    "Do you know what the beauty of existence is? It ends. That¡¯s what makes it beautiful. I achieved this strength practically only with my talent. I was blessed like no one else in this universe has ever been, and it also made me understand that the next kingdom is not for me."


    Zeus¡¯s words resounded like a thunderbolt in the minds of everyone who heard him. Reaching this level of wisdom and denying a realm of absolute strength was something completely terrifying. This was the mindset worthy of a god, someone who maintains his ideals in any situation.


    "Did I get close?" Aries was starting to prepare for the end of his existence but no one paid much attention.


    "No."


    BOOOOOOM!


    The universe shook as a ten-ray existence exploded its existence without even hesitating. Space was entirely consumed. Zeus and Athena were thrown into the corners of that protection and then surpassed it as everything shattered.


    Time was shaken in the region, and space no longer made sense. Those who were watching suffered a huge mental shock. Their souls began to tremble with a ridiculous intensity. What Aries did was to set everyone¡¯s souls on fire with the laws of the end. Many mortals in the universe simply died instantly, without any second chance. Those who survived went through the greatest pain of their lives, suffering strong shocks to their personalities and souls.


    These problems had no cure. Aries had practically damaged the entire universe because of his resentful emotions. It would take dozens of generations for everything to return to normal, or at least it would have if Athena and Zeus hadn¡¯t blown themselves up in the same way.


    All it took was a meeting of eyes between the two for them to make this sacrifice. Their time had come to an end, and what better way to thank the universe for everything they had than this? The difference is that their explosions calmed the souls and made them flourish. It was a balance. While Aries removed pieces of the souls with his law of the end, Zeus and Athena regenerated them using the past lives of these souls.


    Most of the people who survived the Aries attack were healed by the second blast, and in addition, they gained some unknown talents and memories. A unique event occurred in the universe.


    "I said your path was unique, but it was also your downfall," Thoth muttered as he watched Nyc fight off the hundreds of souls that had awakened in hunger from Aries¡¯ attack.


    Licht was having his soul consumed without any mercy. It was complete chaos. All the hundreds of souls he had absorbed had awakened and were struggling, trying to protect themselves from the cold. If it were just a few weak beings, it would have been fine, but unfortunately, it was the greatest talents in the universe that were in Licht¡¯s prison. One of them was Kayden, who was... not even paying attention.


    The second explosion did nothing to help Nyc; in fact, it only hindered him further, as the souls were now healed and even stronger. In just a few seconds, Licht began to fall apart. His soul was taking such severe damage that it was reflected in his physical form. The pain was too intense for him to even try to get rid of the souls, and besides, he had no idea how to get them out of himself.

 Chapter 412: A new beginning

    The whirlwind only lasted a few minutes, and then Licht¡¯s soul couldn¡¯t take it. As soon as the prison collapsed, all the souls exploded outwards, creating a dazzling scene where dozens of meters were filled with different types of souls. Most of them didn¡¯t even have time to blink before they were collected by the heavens and thrown onto the path of reincarnation again. This was something natural for all souls and one of the universe¡¯s greatest mysteries.


    Nyc¡¯s soul was one of those thrown into this path. In the end, it was Licht¡¯s strength that led to his downfall. He had never directly consumed a soul; it had always been a temporary use, which meant that Nyc had never been able to break through the barrier that separated the nine rays from the ten rays. Thoth had made a bet with this mage because if he could start absorbing souls, he would become something special and eventually break through the nine rays. However, in the end, it was just a plan that failed. Thoth didn¡¯t even waste a second thinking about it, because he had trillions of other plans in motion, and this was just one of them.


    One of the souls on the path to reincarnation was Kayden. The boy had no idea what was happening. He just sensed his surroundings for a millisecond and then found himself being swept away in a river of souls. It was an absurdly large amount; the river was made entirely of souls; not an inch of it was without souls. Kayden didn¡¯t know exactly why it was a river, but something provided this information directly to his mind.


    The friction with the surrounding souls had done something directly to his soul, beginning to break certain parts of it and forcing out his ingrained memories. Fortunately, his time in Licht¡¯s prison had given Kayden more than enough time to learn how to control his soul enough to resist the river. At first, it had taken all of his attention, but as time went on, it had become easier and easier to resist. After a ridiculously long time, Kayden was no longer affected by the river.


    Although it seemed simple, it took him millions of years to study the soul and millions more to learn how to defend himself from the river. Time had long since lost its meaning to Kayden; he could no longer even tell the difference between seconds and hours. Once he got used to the river, Kayden began to study the souls around him. It didn¡¯t take long for him to understand the process used by the river. It was very simple: the deep-rooted memories were subdued and placed as old lives.


    It was very similar to the way he manipulated the soul, but done in such a perfect way that it seemed completely natural, without the intervention of any rational being. After a while, he gave up on messing with it, as it would do him practically no good. Now, all that was left was to wait for reincarnation and hope not to fall into some desolate and lifeless place, or be reborn as an animal.


    In terms of talent, Kayden didn¡¯t care, and his body wouldn¡¯t matter in the end either. He would shape his existence according to his own choice, just as he did with his soul. The river of rebirth finally began to reach its end. Kayden didn¡¯t know where this information came from, but it was present in his mind and soul. Finally, the day had come when he would be alive again.


    ---


    After the Aries battle and the universe was all but in ruins, many things changed. Resources were still abundant, but the number of gods had dropped to a dangerously low level. Only 1,000 gods remained, a number far fewer than anything the universe had ever seen. This left each of them with an incredible amount of space and an even greater number of people to rule over.


    Mortals had a very short life cycle and it did not take long for them to repopulate the universe with large numbers of wizards in all the kingdoms. Those with nine rays were still present in large numbers. These became practically kings on their planets, because, even though they were a minority, they were much stronger than the others. The number of planets also grew rapidly. sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    All the gods were tasked with producing more gods, and this was ridiculously difficult. There was no point in wasting time cultivating mortals one by one; it was simply easier to roll thousands of lucky dice and hope that one would succeed. This resulted in some planets simply growing without any direct observation from the gods, where only the law of the fittest reigned. The beings in these places did not even acknowledge the existence of deities.


    The "numbers" still existed, but they had become much more select. Only a select few had the right to be numbered, especially considering that the average radii had dropped noticeably. Without the constant intervention of the gods, many wars broke out, considerably delaying the development of the planets. Four radii became a common metric in most places again, and the fourth realm once again became the average realm, with the fifth realm barrier once again erected for the mediocre.


    Although it was still superior to what it was before, this represented a huge fall, and it would take an absurdly long time to be elevated again. In the past, only the cream of the crop was chosen for the new universe, but at this time, only the survivors were chosen, and Aries killed the strongest.


    On a large, intermediate-grade planet, there existed two great civilizations that had been at war since the world was created. One side was light and the other was darkness. In a way, they followed their respective colors perfectly. Those in the light had a more just and egalitarian society, while in the darkness only strength reigned. They used a numbering system very similar to that of the federation to separate their talent.


    Kayden¡¯s soul was reborn directly in one of the dark side imperial capitals. It was one of the richest and most mana-rich environments he could choose on this planet. Each capital city had a mage from the sixth realm as its representative. Considering that the strongest person on this planet was only in the seventh realm, it was quite impressive to have a mage from the sixth realm. This planet did not have the intervention of any gods.

 Chapter 413: A new beginning, a new opportunity

    It was practically abandoned to nothingness because of the low talent of the people. Once every few thousand years, a god would appear to take away some talents, leaving the planet with even fewer talented people.


    The capital was called York and had a system of nobility with several wizards from different kingdoms, most of them from the fourth kingdom and a minority from the fifth kingdom. This planet was, at the time, representing the average in the universe in terms of strength.


    "Kayden Harner " ¡ª that was what Kayden heard for the first time when he opened his eyes and found himself in some kind of luxurious room. Around him, a woman was lying exhausted, looking at him with loving eyes. A middle-aged man with a beard left the room as soon as he realized that everything had worked out. This caused the woman to leave another teenager holding Kayden; he had been born again into a human world. sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    In a way, souls always sought to return to their original form. He learned this by observing some past lives of the dragon and himself. The teenager had fiery red hair and eyes of the same intensity. The woman had brown hair and amber eyes that seemed to carry a wisdom far greater than should be possible for that age. The two took turns holding Kayden on their laps.


    For the first few days, Kayden had to sleep with his wife by his side all the time. He was a very strange baby because he didn¡¯t react to anything, he just stood there waiting for something. The woman¡¯s name was Luana and the boy¡¯s name was Matheus. Kayden barely remembered what it was like to have such brotherly love. It was funny to him, after so much time living alone. He had no way of reciprocating this; his emotions were dead, but he would make sure to repay good deeds with good deeds.


    A week later, Kayden was alone for the first time and...


    "Finally!" Mana came to Kayden like servants seeking their king. An unparalleled pleasure assaulted his mind at being able to wield mana again. It had been so long, and yet he remained worthy.


    Kayden felt like a son coming home. He studied his body for just a few seconds to understand that he had been born with good talent and good body connections, at least ten times better than his old body. But that didn¡¯t matter anymore. The body wasn¡¯t the answer. Kayden wasn¡¯t going to develop his physique again; his path was the path and his alone. The boy began to form the mana heart again but with some very different details.


    This time, it was practically an insane reservoir of mana that would pump mana into his body nonstop. He would have no mana veins; the mana itself would be diluted throughout all the tissues of his body until he grew stronger through persistence. In time, he would be able to use this pulsation outside his body¡ªat least that was the first idea Kayden had. But his new soul was an incredible thing; ideas came to him by the thousands.


    What was the point of insisting on the tyrannical heart? That was something of the past, it didn¡¯t match everything he had learned or even his goals. After just a few days of thinking, Kayden got the answer.


    "We want 1 million coins for this child. They must be delivered to the Central Bank of Light." Kayden had forgotten that he had been kidnapped. This small detail was quite significant, actually, but he was too busy thinking.


    The mages around him were all from the third realm and were dressed in white robes. It was obvious that they were neither professionals nor strong. Kayden didn¡¯t pay much attention to them, nor did he fear for his life. He had already reincarnated twice in his existence. If he needed to, he would just be reborn once more and there would be no problem with it. Kayden¡¯s decision, in the end, was to develop the divine crown again.


    Kayden was able to sense divine mana when he used a small trick with his soul. He forced his soul to vibrate, and for a few seconds, he was able to sense and manipulate divine mana as he had in the past. His ability to manipulate souls continued when he reincarnated. Kayden was able to sense the souls of those around him as if it were a spiritual sense. Not only that, but he could use his own to perform small tricks that far surpassed his strength.


    At the moment, he was able to utilize his path with almost the same strength as before. This was the main reason why he did not fear for his life. His reaction time was still very slow compared to other mages, but this could be overcome by accelerating his soul. Since his path focused on manipulating the mana outside of his body, Kayden had no difficulty in asserting his strength against most of the mages in this place. The only thing holding him back was the fear of having a mental stroke.


    His physical mind was not capable of handling all the information he needed. This meant that he had to operate with a ridiculously lower strength than he was capable of. Even with these impediments, Kayden was completely confident in dealing with some mages from higher realms without any direct consequences to his body. He began to form the crown in his mind.


    The pain was always constant in everything he did and this time was no different, the crown began to be modeled using only divine mana, his control was light years ahead of any of these wizards around him and they couldn¡¯t even feel it.


    Kayden¡¯s soul was distributed throughout his body, it was what made most unexplained things work perfectly, be it small, meaningless cellular movements or miraculous recoveries, it was always the soul.


    Kayden began to remove it from his body and place it on the crown, the pain was ridiculously high, and his actions were completely unnatural, it was crazy to think that he was forcibly changing his soul¡¯s place.


    Autor:Two chapters a day as promised (:

 Chapter 414: Nine rays[Bonus]

    The process was ridiculously fast, considering all the knowledge and talent he had developed. In just a few days, he had formed a black crown in his brain, and his soul was now fixed exclusively on that crown. This caused his body to collapse; most of its natural functions ceased to operate, and Kayden¡¯s organs began to fail rapidly. The boy realized this, but¡­


    He didn¡¯t care. He just needed to keep his soul in his head. The rest of his body was frozen with a few mental commands from him. Over time, he would directly develop it so as not to cause a fuss, but for now, he didn¡¯t have that need. The crown was now his physical form, representing his soul and his entire existence at this moment. This also meant that he was practically immortal. His life force wouldn¡¯t diminish, as it practically depended solely on his crown.


    The soul no longer had any use in governing its body; its only function was to sustain its existence. This was the trick that all immortals used. In truth, it did not confer true immortality, but merely a ridiculously long lifespan.


    As soon as Kayden finished the crown, the heavens closed, and he knew he was going through the ascension process. The first five rays fell without him even blinking; they came together because of Kayden¡¯s request. He knew the limits of his strength. He reached the eighth ray in the blink of an eye. It was so fast that the kidnappers couldn¡¯t even react or understand what was happening.


    They knew what an ascension process meant, and they also knew what eight rays meant. At that moment, they made the best decision of their lives: each of them started running for their lives. A wizard who faced as many rays as that baby would cause an unprecedented monumental attraction on that planet. At least, they tried to run. Kayden threw a ray at each of them, killing them in seconds.


    At this moment, he had used his true strength for a brief period, but his head felt ridiculously heavy, and he felt his mind starting to explode. However, it was nothing serious, as any damage would be repaired during the ascension process.


    Kayden began to convert everything around him into mana and divine mana. His talent was so great at that moment that his conversion rate was perfect. He looked up at the heavens defiantly. The eighth thunderbolt had the same dramatic display as the last time he faced it, but this time, he didn¡¯t even pay attention. Its strength was far superior to the eight thunderbolts of the first realm.


    Kayden saw the nine chairs appear in the sky with monstrous magnificence. Each of them emanated an absurdly strong and dignified aura, second only to the two eyes he had faced to become a monarch. A sphere appeared in the middle of the nine chairs, made of pure and absolute laws, a ridiculous force that no mage from the first realm should be able to easily face. But Kayden was not someone simple. He was unique. He consecrated himself as unique.


    The sphere began to descend, and every living thing in the vicinity had to kneel before the pressure. It was far stronger than anything the planet had ever seen. The clouds spread across every inch of this immense planet. At that moment, everyone knew something was happening, but that was all. The sphere descended and faced an attack from Kayden with all his might. His brain collapsed and exploded in his head.


    Fortunately, what kept him alive was his soul, and as soon as he defeated the sphere with frightening ease, the regeneration rays began to fall upon him. Kayden ascended to the first realm easily, without any difficulty. This was one of the cleanest ascension processes that this universe had ever seen. Kayden¡¯s body didn¡¯t exactly have a lot of things to cleanse, which made the regeneration ridiculously fast.


    In just a few seconds, Kayden found himself alone in the middle of an abandoned building in a random cave. He destroyed the bodies of the thieves in a few seconds and then began to fly away from that place. Because of the size of his ascension clouds, it would take a while to find him, especially considering that everything was done in just a few seconds. Kayden faced nine lightning bolts in less than a minute. His strength was at a completely insane and meaningless level for his kingdom. His only impediment was his brain, something he would have to overcome in the coming years.


    It didn¡¯t take long for him to find the capital he was born in again. He had an almost photographic memory, and coupled with his abnormally great spiritual sense, even before advancing to the first realm, he only needed to find the mansion in the noble area. Not even one of the mages there was able to sense him moving at high speed. It was funny how his strength didn¡¯t match his age at that moment.


    He only needed to control the mana that came out of his body and place a small layer of divine mana around him to deceive any spiritual sense existing in that region.


    "HEY! Call the patriarch!" Kayden laid his baby¡¯s body in front of the house and just had to wait to be found. He would probably be taken from that place by some god. At least, that¡¯s what he imagined, but it didn¡¯t happen at all. For some reason, his ascension process was hidden and didn¡¯t send the signal of his existence to other gods. This was something Kayden didn¡¯t know and he couldn¡¯t understand why he wasn¡¯t searched for in the following days.


    "The greatest genius of our family was born." The patriarch who was also Kayden¡¯s father said these words when he felt his son return home and be in the first kingdom with less than 3 months of life.


    Author¡¯s note: It¡¯s been a long time since we had a bonus chapter, congratulations everyone, and thanks for the 140 stones


    S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 415: The Imperial Academy

    The patriarch did not care at all about his sons; to him, they existed only to fulfill the social function of perpetuating the family. His eldest son had no talent and was cast aside after only a few years. In the days that followed, Kayden¡¯s life changed considerably. First, he was given a dozen guards from the fourth kingdom and fed the best food that money could buy.


    The patriarch came daily to check on Kayden¡¯s health and strength. Although his strength hadn¡¯t changed much, as he was still in the first realm and didn¡¯t seem to be evolving, it didn¡¯t matter. He was already light years ahead of his peers. No one could figure out exactly what had happened to Kayden, and no trace of the kidnappers had been found. Kayden¡¯s kidnapping was kept a top-secret, shared only among the most powerful members of the family.


    The family was easily among the three most powerful in the city, and showing weakness would be a laughingstock for most people. Maintaining Kayden¡¯s status as the first kingdom¡¯s mage would be a more difficult task, but it would be done for a few years. The other local leaders would only find out when the boy had already developed into a great warrior and created emotional bonds with the family, thus eliminating the chance of being kidnapped again.


    In the blink of an eye, five years had passed. At that time, Kayden had not advanced to another realm and appeared to be just another normal child to most people, at least in public.


    "Stop using force to suppress your lack of ability," someone said. Kayden was training with the teenagers of the previous generation; each generation had a twenty-year age gap, and this was his older brother¡¯s generation. At this point, he was practically the teacher of about six teenagers from the third realm, a pretty high level for their age, but also relatively low considering the amount of resources they had received.


    At first, Kayden simply accompanied his brother to training until he could stand out. He would not make the same mistake as in his previous life. Kayden would be extremely sneaky and would grow up in the shadows, like a lion. The patriarch practically jumped for joy when he saw his son destroying the decades-older mages as if they were nothing more than sacks of potatoes. At this point, rumors began to spread.


    The legend of Kayden began to spread throughout the city, and soon the fame of a child born with a sword in his hand spread. Everyone believed that this was his greatest talent. No one even considered that he could be even more talented in other areas. The patriarch practically idolized Kayden, while the rest of the family members were treated like dirt by him. Many times, he even beat Kayden and his brother for silly mistakes.


    It was a common case of abuse of power by a higher authority, nothing more. Kayden didn¡¯t care enough to interfere, but at times, he would assert himself and ask his father to stop.


    The first time was extremely awkward for everyone in the family. During dinner, the patriarch, his wife, and their two children were present. For some silly reason, Kayden¡¯s brother started getting beaten.


    "Dad, could you stop?" Kayden, just 3 years old, asked in an extremely calm voice that didn¡¯t match his age or the situation.


    Even the servants were silent. The last time Luana had interfered with one of the patriarch¡¯s "life lessons" she had received, she had suffered injuries similar to those of a military beating. Kayden¡¯s interruption had been so spontaneous and without any emotion that the patriarch stared at him for a few seconds, unsure of what to do.


    "You hitting him won¡¯t fix the problem. If it were that easy, it would already be solved," Kayden¡¯s tone and words were something Keiren hadn¡¯t heard in many years. But that wasn¡¯t what made him stop his actions. It was Kayden¡¯s eyes¡ªthe eyes of a predator, ready to react and kill his prey at the slightest sign of movement. While Keiren was a true mage of the fifth realm, Kayden was only a mage of the first realm.


    The difference in strength was simply surreal, and yet one of them was feeling cornered, without any show of strength from the other side. This only made the patriarch smile and become even happier for his son.


    "Of course, anything for my heir," his words took everyone by surprise, but the final part was even worse: "But... it¡¯s your responsibility to solve this problem." And that was how Kayden became his brother¡¯s sword teacher.


    It took about three more years for Kayden to turn eight and finally advance to the second realm. The opportunity arose when he was once again kidnapped by a rival family. This time, one of the mages was in the fourth realm, but that didn¡¯t mean much compared to Kayden¡¯s strength. This time, he didn¡¯t even need to blow his brains out, because the crown that resonated with all its strength didn¡¯t come from within him.


    The advancement process once again went extremely smoothly, and once again, everything was covered up by a mysterious figure. When Kayden returned home, the patriarch practically cried on his knees, even more so when he saw that Kayden had returned with another realm of strength. This time, he brought with him a guard from the fifth realm, who would not part with the boy under any circumstances. Kayden was the greatest genius the patriarch had ever seen. S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The years began to pass and, in the blink of an eye, Kayden turned ten years old, old enough to participate in the empire¡¯s tournament, a specific tournament where only the most powerful geniuses could compete.


    Kayden received an invitation directly from the emperor, his talent and genius were absurd, logically there were already wizards from the second kingdom his age, but none of them had reached the first kingdom in less time than Kayden.


    Author¡¯s note: I¡¯ll start a slightly lighter arc where Kayden will just cause a bit of chaos, suggestions and requests are free to be made

 Chapter 416: The test

    Keiren could hide many things from many people, but in front of the emperor, he was practically an open book, just as all the people in the empire had to answer to the true owner of this entire territory. This was the perfect opportunity for Kayden to get out of this family and start developing at a much faster speed. He could reach the third realm whenever he wanted, just waiting for the right moment to correct his mistakes.


    The place where everything would take place was the emperor¡¯s seat, a colossal city suspended 100 kilometers above the ground, so high that its buildings projected beyond the clouds. Imagine a floating city that defies logic itself, suspended in the air, with towers that pierce the sky and bridges of magical energy that connect the buildings, allowing residents to travel between different areas without ever touching the ground.


    The city¡¯s architecture is both magnificent and menacing. The buildings are decorated with living gargoyles, whose eyes follow passers-by with a watchful gaze, ready to attack at any sign of danger. The streets are wide and paved with blocks of polished obsidian, reflecting the greenish glow of the magic lanterns suspended from wrought-iron poles. At the heart of the city stands the emperor¡¯s palace, an impenetrable fortress with high walls reinforced by protective spells that repel any attempted invasion.


    The sky above the city is perpetually shrouded in black clouds and greenish lightning, which dance at regular intervals as if the atmosphere itself were charged with magical energy. Below the clouds, a dense fog shrouds the base of the city, obscuring the view of the distant ground and giving the impression that the city is floating on an ocean of vapor. The air is heavy, heavy with the smell of ozone and a constant sense of impending doom.


    Despite the oppressive atmosphere, the city is vibrant and full of life. Floating markets sell magical artifacts, exotic ingredients, and mystical creatures captured from distant worlds. The public squares are training grounds for the empire¡¯s warriors, where duels of dark magic take place under the supervision of the masters of darkness. The residents, dressed in long black robes, walk in silence, aware of the constant surveillance of the emperor and his minions. This is a place where brute force and magical power rule, and only the strongest survive to serve the emperor and perpetuate his rule over the world below.


    The imperial academy was located at one end of the city and followed the same decor as the rest, made entirely of black stone and decorated with gargoyles with menacing light green eyes. Only the best teachers in the empire were housed here. About 100 people passed through there each year, an incredibly small number considering that there were about 1 billion invitations. All of the teachers were in the fifth kingdom, and even the weakest of them had the strength of a high-level noble.


    Few in the Harner family had any hope that Kayden would pass, as the world of the imperial academy seemed far away to them. Even if Kayden had great talent, it was not particularly visible. Only mages with seven or eight rays, an incredibly rare thing, could pass. Eight rays was practically a one-time occurrence every decade, while nine rays had never been seen before. Kayden, according to his account, passed the ascension process with only five rays. Although he was talented, this made the patriarch wary of his endless devotion to Kayden. Even so, the entire family went to the capital, as a direct invitation was not to be refused.


    Kayden meditated the whole way and didn¡¯t even pay attention to his surroundings. In a moment, he found himself in front of a huge maze. The first test was very simple, eliminating 99% of all competitors. All they had to do was pass through the maze, located below the city, to enter it. It was simple for most people, but not for a ten-year-old child with normal development. Those who couldn¡¯t do it were eliminated right away, without knowing the other stages. Keiren wished Kayden good luck and flew with the rest of the family to the other side.


    "Shall we enter together?" Beside Kayden were two other family members who had also received the invitation. The minimum age was ten, but the maximum was twenty, so many ended up trying more than once.


    "No." Kayden stepped into the labyrinth made of endless black walls, disappearing without any help from his cousins. It wasn¡¯t hard for him to understand what was happening there. It was simply a ball of mana that needed to be unwound until it reached the tip and continued to the next point. To Kayden, this was practically a child¡¯s joke. He needed to make a good impression to receive the direct invitation and...


    "Hey! What¡¯s that kid doing? Is he cheating?" The judges started pointing at Kayden and whispering to each other. Kayden simply broke the skeins of yarn and followed their ends. The maze should have taken at least an hour at the fastest time, but Kayden made it to the end in an incredible five minutes, flying at top speed, a milestone and a record never before seen. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Who is he?"


    "Which family did this monster come from?"


    The onlookers began to whisper as they waited for Kayden to join his family. To the surprise of many, he was merely part of a high-ranking noble family in a mid-ranking city, nothing special. To everyone, it was obvious that Kayden was the greatest treasure that this family had produced in its entire history. In just a few seconds, the boy¡¯s name became known to everyone, and his presence even overshadowed that of one of the greatest geniuses that this planet had ever seen.


    Lucas Jardem hoped to be the first to finish this race with a completely insane new record of half an hour, he was an authentic eight-ray wizard, something unique among all.


    Most expected that he would be abducted by the gods, but contact with the outside world was pretty bad, this world was practically growing in an empty way and without any observation at that moment.

 Chapter 417: A monster

    Many still noticed Lucas, but he was practically left aside while everyone talked about Kayden. The worst thing was that Lucas came from a high-ranking family, practically at the top of the empire, just below the emperor.


    "Kayden!" Keiren was elated; this was the proudest moment in all the generations of his family. "You were amazing, son." No family member could relate to the patriarch with this loving version.


    It was practically as if they were two different people: while he was loving with Kayden, he was a demon with all the other members of the family; not even his wife escaped the patriarch¡¯s mistreatment, which made his displays of affection something strange and out of tune for everyone.


    "Thank you, Father." Kayden didn¡¯t say anything else and waited. Sometime later, the next phase would finally begin a straightforward battle against one of the academy¡¯s instructors. It was a doll that perfectly suited the opponent¡¯s strength, made entirely of metal, one of the largest magic training dolls ever created in this world. It had no apparent strength, but when energized, it could reach the peak of the fifth realm in terms of power. It was one of the best training methods, as the doll always cloned its opponent¡¯s abilities and surpassed them in strength.


    The robot also suited the peak of the opponent¡¯s realm and was capable of wielding thousands of techniques from different elements, making it a virtually unbeatable opponent for ordinary people.


    "The test consists of resisting for 10 minutes against the test dummy." The one who proclaimed the rules was an old man with a beer belly and a nose as red as a bell pepper. The order of call was made according to the strength of the noble families. Logically, most of the candidates were not noble, but the strongest portion was, which meant that Kayden had to wait a long time to be able to participate.


    There were about a hundred of these robots, allowing multiple battles to occur at the same time. Kayden just closed his eyes and waited for his turn. He no longer had any reason to watch the fights, as it was unlikely that the emperor himself would be able to teach him anything at this point.


    "Kayden, it¡¯s your turn," Keiren called out, trembling slightly. The patriarch and everyone around were silent, not knowing what to do. Lucas had eliminated one of the robots with a single move, using his blue flame, something unbelievable that had never happened before, at least not in such a short time.


    The truth was that any mage with seven-ray potential was taken off this planet most of the time; those with eight barely lasted a day after their strength was revealed to the public. It was simply something no one had ever seen before.


    Kayden walked slowly, without rushing, but his steps seemed magical, placing him in front of the robot in just a few seconds. It was funny because no one could understand exactly what he had done. At that moment, all eyes were on Kayden. He held the highest record ever seen in the maze of this test, so the expectations for him were ridiculously high, as high as those Lucas had achieved.


    "He was just lucky, my Luquinhas," Lucas¡¯ mother tried to comfort the spoiled child with sweet words that fell on ears ready to believe this nonsense.


    "I¡¯m ready," Kayden¡¯s voice came out before the judge could even ask, and it sent the dummy hurtling forward toward him at high speed.


    It was curious that Kayden¡¯s appearance didn¡¯t reveal his fighting style or strength. He was a complete mystery to the robot and everyone watching. The boy¡¯s mana fluctuation was zero; he looked like an ordinary person who had never cultivated. This piqued some people¡¯s curiosity, but everyone soon assumed that it was part of a secret family technique. There was no way a ten-year-old boy could have such great control over his strength.


    The robot launched a high-speed kick... at least for that realm. There didn¡¯t seem to be any flaws in this defense; at least that¡¯s what most mages saw. Kayden, however, could count at least two dozen flaws.


    *SWISH!*


    katana lit up with a thin thread of high-density pure mana, capable of cutting anything into pieces like butter. With a simple feint¡ªwhich was anything but simple¡ªKayden split the doll into two halves. The movement was so perfect that even those in the fifth realm had trouble following it with their eyes. It seemed as if a black shadow accompanied Kayden¡¯s movements, a frightening aura that sent shivers down the spines of almost everyone present.


    Those with some talent in the sword were practically rubbing their eyes. Most of them couldn¡¯t believe the perfection of Kayden¡¯s movement. These were beings who had lived for centuries, some even millennia, and yet they still couldn¡¯t understand it.


    A round of applause was started by the greatest swordsman in the empire, known only as Juno. Throughout the empire, it was forbidden to give this name to anyone else, such was the reverence of the citizens for him. A true magician of the seventh kingdom, Juno was second only to the emperor in strength, and according to some sources, he was even more powerful. But his goal was only the path of the swordsman, without regard for political power.


    In a rare moment of arrogance, Kayden bowed before the crowd. This bow was not for the common mages, who did not even understand what had happened; in fact, it was a presentation. Kayden bowed before all the true powers of the empire. In each region, he could sense one or two mages capable of something far beyond the strength they displayed, true monsters in sheep¡¯s clothing. These were the numbered ones on the planet, all of them in the top 1000 of the strongest. A ridiculously low number, considering all the people in this place; each of them represented an icon of strength in some area. S§×ar?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 418: A deal with the powerful

    "Kayden Harner, the Emperor requests your presence. Appear before the highest authority on this planet." The invitation had been made directly, and Lucas had received one of those as well.


    Kayden floated without any fear towards the VIP area, where the emperor was surrounded by beautiful women. There were also a few mages in this area, one of them being Juno. In total, there were five mages in this area, and they were all single digits.


    The emperor was a middle-aged man with black hair, a beard, and dark eyes. His presence was terrifying, representing the peak of political power on this planet. Every single person around him also had a menacing aura. Lucas felt incredibly intimidated as soon as he stepped into this room, and he couldn¡¯t even speak as Kayden bowed and introduced himself.


    "Kayden Harner presents himself to the most holy authority." It was a standard greeting, meant only for the emperor in this territory.


    The emperor looked at Kayden but didn¡¯t react. He wasn¡¯t a fool, and he knew Kayden was different; something about him didn¡¯t feel right. Kayden was practically a monster, and he would be removed from this planet in a few years. Once the god returned and found out about him, Kayden would be taken away. During that time, the emperor couldn¡¯t harm the boy, and Kayden knew it. That was the difference between him and Lucas.


    "I offer you a contract as a direct subordinate of the empire, with all rights reserved to the single digits." It was the same offer Lucas had received. The emperor could not distinguish the difference in power between the two, but...


    "I offer you the entire Sword Mountain. Become my heir, boy, and I will give you every resource that can be bought in this world." Juno had never disrespected the emperor, but...


    "Juno, you piece of shit, is trying to rob him right in front of me!" The two were childhood friends, and their positions didn¡¯t change that fact. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "You can¡¯t see this boy¡¯s true talent." Kayden could accept either offer, but...


    "I¡¯m sorry, but you have nothing to teach me." Kayden¡¯s words first shocked everyone, and then everyone¡¯s first reaction was to frown.


    "Arrogance has brought down more geniuses than stars in the sky, boy. Take up your sword and let me feel your way." Juno wanted to teach this child a lesson and then lure him to her side.


    Kayden just touched his sword and...


    *POOF!*


    Juno fell flat on his butt, unable to even finish unsheathing his sword. He felt his life being cut from his body thousands of times in just the blink of an eye. The entire environment went dark, and Kayden became a sword god with his katana. This was the aura of a sword path polished to perfection, something Juno had never been able to achieve in his entire life. In truth, Kayden had only imprinted an aura cut, but with his soul cleansed...


    It was simply something far beyond what any common mortal from an isolated planet could even imagine in terms of power. Juno¡¯s sword path was completely crushed, and the shock caused him to lose his balance.


    "You! Who the hell are you?" This time, Juno reacted automatically and released all of her aura at Kayden, but saw his eyes flicker as he realized that his aura had been completely neutralized.


    "I am the greatest talent ever born on this planet, and I hope you understand what that means." This time, Kayden¡¯s voice was like a bucket of cold water.


    Everyone there was one of the greatest mages in the empire, and yet they couldn¡¯t keep up with the development of this situation. It was simply too fast for them to reason. Fortunately, it only took their seventh-realm brains a second to understand everything and decide what to do. Seeing Juno being defeated by a mere child weighed heavily on their minds.


    At that point, they had two options: kill Kayden and then die when the god stepped onto this planet and discovered the truth, or give him the same treatment given to a budding emperor.


    "Are you a reincarnation?" The emperor had read about it before but had never seen it with his own eyes. This hypothesis made everyone calm down, as it made everything easier and did not hurt their pride as talents.


    "No, and I can sign a soul contract on that." Kayden¡¯s voice was like a knife into everyone¡¯s subconscious hope.


    At that moment, they once again felt like mere ordinary mages facing a true genius. Fortunately, that was short-lived and was replaced by¡­ fear. Kayden could understand part of what was going through their heads.


    "I can sign another contract, promising not to fight for political power in this place. I probably won¡¯t stay here for many years." Kayden¡¯s words were just right to make the emperor look directly at him.


    "A contract of friendship with the empire and the right to the same degree of power as the five of us, only ranking below us." The emperor threw out this proposal without even thinking it through; it was his best opportunity.


    "Sure," Kayden said with a smile and found himself signing a non-aggression contract against the five and the empire. In addition, he was given great authority and many resources in the contract.


    While the five of them smiled in satisfaction at having a talent like Kayden on their hands, the boy smiled at having deceived these five children. Considering their age... they hadn¡¯t even left their mothers¡¯ wombs yet.


    Kayden had no problem destroying soul contracts in his soul or carrying them out even when he was lying, this was quite easy considering his degree of soul manipulation.


    "For security reasons, we will not make this partnership open news, but whenever you need it, use our authorities." The emperor gave a seal with a little of his mana to Kayden.


    Kayden was about to leave and return to his family, but he still had to finish this test anyway, this would be his way of paying his debt to his family for giving him the right to life again.

 Chapter 419: Keiren

    Author¡¯s note: at the beginning to see if you read this, I have two warnings, the first one my translator cuts, so if it¡¯s very different let me know and the bonus chapters are 150 stones


    "Kayden, wait a second, let¡¯s talk a bit," Juno called out to the boy like someone watching a treasure slip away.


    "Of course, Master Juno," Kayden had already made his presence known; he no longer needed to be rude or mistreat these people.


    In the next few minutes, Juno asked Kayden dozens of questions, ranging from his fighting style to how he developed his path. Naturally, Kayden evaded most of the questions.


    "I¡¯m not a swordsman; it¡¯s just a hobby," Kayden said honestly, and he saw the shock and disbelief in everyone¡¯s eyes. Despite their attempts to hide it, it was obvious that all attention was on the two of them.


    "What are you, then?" Juno couldn¡¯t hold back, and Kayden just smiled without any emotion.


    "Now that I¡¯ve answered your questions and helped where I could, it¡¯s time for you to help me a little," Kayden hadn¡¯t planned this, but since he was there, there was no harm in following through with an old plan.


    "Of course, Kayden, what do you need?" Juno immediately offered. Kayden gave him some valuable hints.


    "Kill my father and transfer my family¡¯s ownership to me. Do it openly and find some excuse that he violated imperial laws." Kayden¡¯s words made the five look at him.


    Before they thought they were in the presence of a child with great talent, at that moment, they realized they were facing a true monster without any feelings. Not only that but a cunning and ambitious monster.


    "Sure, do you want me to do it now?" Kayden nodded, and the two were teleported to Keiren.


    In the family¡¯s tent, a few slaves were serving delicious food for the level of wealth this family had, but that was expected, considering Keiren was intoxicated with alcohol and even more with pride. The presence of Juno and Kayden caused everything to come to a halt; everyone there recognized Juno and knew the power he represented. Keiren was the first to kneel and wait quietly for the mage¡¯s words.


    Unfortunately for him, there were no words. Juno made a cutting motion with his fingers, and Keiren¡¯s head rolled off. It was so quick that not even a mage there managed to blink before it was all over.


    "Keiren Harner destroyed his honor by using forbidden practices. Fortunately, the Harner family received the birth of Kayden Harner, and from today on, he is the supreme ruler of this family," Juno¡¯s voice echoed all around.


    The surrounding families already understood everything that was happening; it was just a common power shift among noble families. The strange part was that Kayden was only a ten-year-old boy.


    "Kayden, choose a new name for this family and abandon the disgrace caused by your father." This part was something Kayden hadn¡¯t expected, but the answer came to him in a flash.


    "The Heart family greets the imperial messenger." It had been billions of years since Kayden had died; no one remembered him at this point, or so he thought.


    In a way, it was the pride of a monarch. Kayden would carry his name to the grave; he was at a level of power where he could support his pride. He just needed some time to surpass everyone.


    "The emperor wishes success to the Heart family," Juno disappeared, leaving Kayden to deal with the aftermath.


    "Take his body and give it a proper burial within the family¡¯s domain." Kayden¡¯s voice snapped everyone out of the shock of the situation. "Mother, the family is yours; do whatever you want with it. This is my gift to you, who gave me life and endured so many years of mistreatment," Kayden¡¯s voice once again caused a stir.


    The situation was simply unbelievable; nothing made sense about what was happening. In an instant, the family¡¯s greatest pillar was killed, and the one who took over was a ten-year-old boy who was killed without any mercy.


    Even though Keiren was the patriarch, no one liked him. It was just a facade to avoid abuse or even death. At the beginning of the marriage, there was still love, but after so many years, it all vanished.


    "I greet the Matriarch." Kayden¡¯s brother was the first to follow the example. If anyone hated Keiren, it was him. At that moment, he swore eternal loyalty to his brother, no matter what happened.


    The voices of the others began to join in, and within seconds, everything was reorganized. Luana gained authority that did not match her strength; many family mages were stronger than her, but not even a madman would dare to try anything at that moment.


    "Mother, I know this is sudden, but right now you need to rethink your mindset. In a few minutes, dozens of extremely powerful families will enter this tent. Greet them with grace and don¡¯t accept disrespect even from a prince." Kayden gave instructions to each person there.


    "Matheus, Mother doesn¡¯t have the will or spirit of a warrior; that role is yours. Grow strong enough to protect her and the family¡¯s name in the future," Kayden¡¯s words caught his brother by surprise.


    "Are you leaving?" Things were changing too fast.


    "I will probably disappear within a few decades," Kayden said without any emotion. After finishing his advice, he left the tent.


    Kayden was assaulted by thousands of spiritual senses the second he stepped outside the tent. While most expected to see a boy afraid of the attention, Kayden didn¡¯t even flinch.


    "Only high-level families from high-level cities enter the tent with their proposals; the rest have no place in this conversation," Kayden¡¯s voice came out emotionless, but it seemed laden with arrogance. S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Everyone there had to swallow their words because they had seen none other than Juno appear in that tent and give Kayden control of this family. After that proclamation, Kayden simply floated towards the emperor.


    Before he could fly more than a few meters, he was pulled through space back to the five. Without saying anything, he sat down and began studying his base and body. He didn¡¯t have much else to do at that moment.


    "Kayden, can you deal with some teenagers and children without trying to kill them all?" The emperor asked after a few minutes.

 Chapter 420: Teenagers

    Aqui est¨¢ a tradu??o do terceiro trecho para o ingl¨ºs:


    ---


    "Sure, I¡¯m only in the second realm," Kayden replied with a dry, emotionless agreement. The emperor decided to take a leap of faith and threw three teenagers in front of Kayden.


    Each of them had different colored hair and some distinct features, but it was clear they shared at least one parent, as their eyes were identical to the emperor¡¯s.


    The eldest was in the fourth realm and wasn¡¯t even 20 years old, an incredible talent Kayden hadn¡¯t seen in a long time on this planet. He carried a huge red metal sword on his back.


    The other two were women and were identical, except that one had blonde hair and the other red. They were in the third realm and seemed to be around 18 years old.


    The three were nobles of the highest level, and even so, their realms weren¡¯t that high. It was obvious to Kayden that the emperor had done an excellent job with these three; they were extremely strong for their realms. Kayden estimated that the boy was a seven-ray mage, while the other two were six-ray mages. A good level of talent, considering the average in this world. Additionally, their auras were strong and calm.


    "Hello, Kayden, father told us to become friends," the blonde said with a smile. The other two remained quiet and just nodded.


    In their minds, there wasn¡¯t much point in getting to know Kayden. Even though he was strong, he wasn¡¯t a noble, his strength wouldn¡¯t blossom, and he¡¯d likely be killed by someone in the future. A rather naive thought, given the situation.


    "Nice to meet you, I¡¯m Kayden Heart," Kayden¡¯s brief introduction made the three uneasy.


    They were used to being greeted with bows most of the time and with grand titles and accomplishments accompanying the names of those who spoke, even when dealing with people their age.


    "Do you know who we are?"


    "No," Kayden said, and a frown appeared on the faces of the three. It was quite clear they weren¡¯t accustomed to this kind of treatment.


    "We are the princes of this empire, the highest nobility, and the most worthy of the throne in the entire territory."


    Kayden just looked at them as if he was seeing three fools. He had already forgotten how humans were prone to arrogance. Princes of a tiny empire on a tiny planet and arrogance was embedded in every bone of their bodies.


    "I see," Kayden simply responded and remained silent. The silence lasted for seconds, enough for him to lose interest in paying attention to the three idiots in front of him.


    The situation was being closely watched by the five leaders of the empire, which made Konan, the eldest prince, feel compelled to react. He infused some mana into his arm and was about to give Kayden a shake, but¡­


    "Sometimes the realm doesn¡¯t mean everything, son," the emperor appeared next to Konan, whose arm was now broken and completely shattered on the ground.


    "What was that?" Neither Konan nor the other two understood. None of the five around them understood anything.


    Only Kayden knew what he had done. This was the highest degree of politeness on his path; he was capable of manipulating his opponents¡¯ mana. As soon as the mana flowed into Konan¡¯s arm, he exploded it outward, causing the prince to be pushed back. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    This technique made the realm meaningless to him, as he only needed to manipulate the opponent¡¯s mana better than they did, and using his path... it was almost child¡¯s play.


    Even more so considering he had only one life in his soul, this allowed him to express a strength far beyond what he had ever been capable of. As soon as the mana made the slightest movement, he identified all its points.


    In just a moment, he broke the chain of mana¡¯s flow and reversed the direction. With a little more effort, he could have made all the mana in the prince¡¯s body explode without even having any way to avoid it.


    "Kayden, what was that? How did I lose?" Konan swallowed his pride and asked the question everyone was expecting. Unfortunately, Kayden didn¡¯t even bother to look at him.


    "Personal techniques," that was all, and nothing more. There wasn¡¯t time to continue the conversation, as the end signal of the test sounded.


    In the end, only five hundred people passed the second test, a relatively high number yet also quite small. The next stage was very simple: a battle where ten mages would enter, and only one would leave.


    The winners automatically secured a spot in the academy, while the rest would go through one more screening test and could finally be considered official participants of the Imperial Academy.


    Kayden didn¡¯t waste any time prolonging the battle. As soon as it started, he removed each participant from the arena with a few simple aura cuts. They were harmless and only left a thin cut on the participants¡¯ necks, but it was a very clear sign.


    Besides him, only four other wizards managed to perform a similar feat of strength, in many other points it was still a one-against-nine beating, but for the most part, they were normal, boring fights.


    With that, his family received all possible honors at this event. Kayden considered himself free of any gratitude at that moment, so much so that he returned to the emperor and proposed a small deal that would benefit both.


    "Let me live in the imperial palace, and I¡¯ll give your children some tips from time to time," the emperor readily agreed. Kayden was an enigma of power and knowledge.


    Moreover, there was no harm in bringing the boy even closer to his side. The worst that could happen was Kayden being taken by the gods, and in the best case, the boy would become an intimate participant in the empire.


    "No problem." the emperor said with a smile, not knowing that he was indirectly decreeing the end of his empire.

 Chapter 421: Third Realm

    Kayden cut off any contact with his family in the days that followed. He had already done his best to repay his debt and, moreover, had allowed them to use his name to negotiate with other houses.


    His focus during this time was... to wait. He planned to advance to the third realm but needed to be in a more secret and protected place. Only after all the appointments and events of the Imperial Academy had ended was he able to head to the palace.


    The Palace of the Black Mages, located at the heart of the capital, was an impressive structure in scale and architecture. Its black obsidian towers rose imposingly against the horizon, while the main building stretched over an endless expanse. The outer walls were smooth and dark, reflecting little to no light, creating a sense of mystery and hidden power. Upon entering, the main hall was awe-inspiring in its immense size: black columns supported a high ceiling decorated with intricate and enigmatic patterns. The throne, positioned on an elevated level, seemed to be made of a single block of ebony¡ªsimple, yet with a dominant presence.


    Inside, the long, winding corridors were cold and silent, with walls lined with materials that absorbed sound, giving the place an oppressive atmosphere. The inner chambers were wide and empty, with black marble floors gleaming softly under torches mounted on metallic stands.


    Despite the threatening and vacant appearance, the large number of people working and living in the palace gave the place a lively energy, even with a certain joy in the air.


    Once he was completely free of other hindrances, the emperor took Kayden and gave him a room in the highest tower of the palace. The room had a garden beside it, made entirely of black roses.


    "I want to advance my realm. Is there a secret place where I can do that?" Kayden asked, without much expectation. But, to his surprise...


    "Yes, we have a small false world. The ascension test can take place there," the emperor replied. He ordered the cultivators to vacate the area for a few hours and took Kayden there.


    It was an authentic false world, with trees and life running through the lands. They entered through a rift in space just below the treasure room. Kayden had to sign a silent contract to be there.


    The mana of this world, the ground¡ªeverything about it seemed to be perfectly made. Probably, no ordinary mage could tell they were in a spatial plane, as all the laws of nature seemed to follow the same pattern. However, Kayden didn¡¯t need even a minute to feel that something was wrong. Everything was perfect, yet at the same time, there was an error he couldn¡¯t explain. His path indicated that controlling things here was easier because they were imitations.


    "This world... what¡¯s its story?" Kayden asked the emperor after reflecting for a bit.


    "We don¡¯t know much, but my ancestors found this place, and within it were some of the most important techniques of our family. Thanks to it, we¡¯ve managed to get where we are."


    Kayden expected a more detailed explanation but didn¡¯t care much. This was probably the work of a mage with vast spatial knowledge¡ªsomething he didn¡¯t yet possess, as his focus had always been on combat, not construction.


    There were many steps involved in creating this place. The first consisted of opening a large artificial space. The second, keeping that space stable enough for the laws of nature to simulate a copy inside. After that, everything had to be adjusted through trial and error.


    It was the work of a bored god or the lifelong effort of a ninth-realm mage focused on space. In either case, it was impressive and earned Kayden¡¯s respect.


    Without saying much, he began his ascension process. As the first three realms were just a refinement of the cultivation base, Kayden would be able to pass through these stages in just a few hours, but it was better to avoid drawing too much attention.


    The following realms wouldn¡¯t be too difficult either; he would only need time to correct the mistakes he had made in the past. Fortunately, in his soul form, he had more than enough time to reflect on everything.


    Now, his base was perfectly aligned with his path. It was so perfect that he no longer needed to worry about cultivation; he just had to understand how to overcome the barrier points.


    In his second chance, he started from scratch, with a body free of concepts, a path free of concepts, and a completely perfect foundation. Interestingly, his body no longer had physical strength¡ªit was merely a shell for his soul. Kayden could easily leave his body and remain in soul form, but he would likely be pulled into the cycle of reincarnation.


    One of Kayden¡¯s objectives at that moment was to rid himself of his body and make his soul his physical form. However, that was a goal for the next realm; now, he just needed to focus on the ascension process.


    It wasn¡¯t difficult for Kayden to achieve the nine rays, as he no longer had many mental obstacles. Since the use of his path was done through his soul, he mastered an unusual technique, which only someone who had spent so much time manipulating their soul could utilize. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden still managed to restrain himself during the ascension process, using only small parts of the false world¡¯s mana. So little and so distant that the emperor couldn¡¯t understand where so much mana was coming from for Kayden.


    Kayden¡¯s attacks were completely refined. Each slash was absurdly deadly. In the past, Kayden used magical circles to boost his attacks, but nowadays, there is no need for that. His control was perfect; everything he desired, he simply placed into the spell instantly.


    At times, he used circles to save time on more complex spells, resulting in even more destructive attacks, at the cost of more steps. The more Kayden learned, the simpler his spells and path became. In the beginning, he needed dozens of circles to release an attack at full power; now, he simply inserted it directly into the spell, through his path.


    "Now I understand your strength," the emperor said, swallowing hard, as all his pride as the empire¡¯s greatest genius crumbled in seconds. He knew that, at that moment, he was still stronger than Kayden, but...

 Chapter 422: Konan

    For how long? Perhaps in the next realm, the emperor would no longer be able to rival Kayden. Did this truly exist? What kind of unbelievable and absurd talent was that?


    "Just a silly detail," Kayden thought.


    ************


    Kayden took a hundred years to understand how to advance to the fourth realm. This was a realm of extreme importance, almost as much as the fifth, as it was the foundation for divinity. In the past, he had no idea of this, but after so many years observing souls, he realized that the fifth realm transformed someone into a semi-god, and the foundation for that realm was in the fourth.


    This meant that the foundation of divinity began in the fourth realm, and Kayden needed to reflect deeply on how to become a god. He had no clue and didn¡¯t even know where to find such information.


    In the end, the only answer he found was the same he applied to everything in his life: his path was the answer. Kayden spent ninety years struggling with a foolish idea, and another ten to realize his true concept. He fused his path with his soul¡ªthe monarch¡¯s path was imposed on his soul in a completely irrational way. Kayden tied his life to his path, so that if he changed his mind or had the slightest doubt, he would die, and his soul would completely disintegrate.


    It was ridiculously insane, for even the slightest lapse could make his soul collapse. Fortunately, Kayden was utterly mad; not for a single day of his life had he doubted his path, not even after spending billions of years as a soul.


    The ascension to the fourth realm was smooth and without difficulties. Kayden was beginning to be frightened by his strength. It was an absurd level of power, with things happening ridiculously easily for him.


    "Congratulations, master," said Konan, having been beaten enough to understand the difference in power between him and Kayden. It took a long time, but he finally realized he was facing a true monster.


    As Kayden occasionally trained the emperor¡¯s three sons, he eventually earned the title of master informally, as he never directly took any of them as disciples.


    Kayden¡¯s relationship with the nobility was peculiar. He didn¡¯t participate in public events and rarely had tea with the emperor or the five main leaders, and that was it. Kayden¡¯s name practically disappeared during this period.


    His family had been without news of him for so long that they no longer bothered asking the emperor about him. Kayden had washed his hands of it entirely and lived as a true hermit, with the only human contact being the princes and the five.


    Konan never managed to win a fight against Kayden, no matter how long he remained in the same realm. Kayden was always ahead, and most of the time, it was a tiny detail that turned the fight completely in his favor.


    At the moment, Konan was in the sixth realm, but even then, he was unable to win his battles through brute force alone. At best, he forced Kayden to use a little more of his power.


    No one knew exactly how strong Kayden was since he never needed to use his full strength to win. Most of his victories came from technical massacres. He seemed like someone who had fought for thousands of years.


    Kayden admired Konan¡¯s demonic determination, which was why he pushed the prince so hard in training. As for the other two, he just did the minimum, teaching them a few things from time to time.


    If Konan continued with that determination for a few more millennia, Kayden wouldn¡¯t hesitate to accept him as a disciple. Passing on his knowledge was a great way to review the fundamentals, and it almost cost him no time.


    "What?" Konan, destroyed on the ground, seemed to have heard the craziest thing of his life.


    "Break your cultivation and destroy your path," said Kayden, smiling as he looked at Konan. This was the final test, to see how far the prince¡¯s trust in him would go.


    "But..." Konan hesitated. The situation was completely sudden, and the request was even crazier than he could imagine. Doubts began to invade his mind like a whirlwind.


    "You have five minutes to decide," Kayden issued the ultimatum, still smiling. Every second, the prince seemed to go through thousands of decisions, without reaching any conclusion.


    Slowly, the minutes passed. It was just the two of them in the training area. Konan couldn¡¯t turn to anyone for advice. He knew this was a test, but he had no idea what kind.


    Finally, he made the most important decision of his life and broke all his cultivation. The pain was utterly surreal, burning every inch of the boy¡¯s body. In a few seconds, he was reduced to a mere apprentice.


    Fortunately, his body was capable of surviving naturally for a few more decades. One of the major effects of regressing cultivation was gaining a few more years of life¡ªsomething many mages at the end of their lives used.


    "Congratulations, Konan. You had an excellent path, but you would never have passed the seventh realm. And beyond that, you would have died on this planet," said Kayden, catching the prince off guard.


    Konan was given an hour to recover from the shock of breaking his cultivation, and then he was hit with that harsh truth. All the honor of his family was destroyed, and... S§×ar?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I know, master," Konan replied, bowing his head, unsure of what to do. Kayden¡¯s words were harsh but completely accurate.


    "Since you took that leap of faith, I will accept you as my disciple," Kayden said, and Konan¡¯s eyes lit up. "But that means giving up everything, if necessary. Sooner or later, you will lose all your relatives. The pursuit of power is lonely."


    "What do you mean, master?" Konan understood more or less where Kayden was going with this.


    "I have two paths for you, Konan. The first is for you to become strong and end up owning this planet. The other is for you to become a god, but you will probably die along the way."

 Chapter 423: Leaving

    There were two paths to greatness in the eyes of ordinary people, but for Kayden, only one option was correct. The other was simply a path for the weak-minded and...


    "I want to become a god," Konan responded without hesitation. Kayden had chosen the boy precisely for his mentality.


    "Great. The first step is to abandon the paths already walked by others. Your cultivation and all your techniques came from third parties. I want you to cultivate based on this heart," said Kayden, tossing a book on the *Mana Heart* technique.


    In his view, this technique was the most complete and flawless for people with physical bodies, as it increased all attributes evenly and could be followed by anyone, without restrictions.


    "You must adapt it to your preferences. The foundation is something I used, but you can modify it as you see fit."


    "Thank you, master," Konan said gratefully for the opportunity. Kayden had proven time and time again that he was superior to most things in this world.


    ************


    The time he was passed. The destruction of Konan¡¯s cultivation was a shock to the entire royalty. At first, everyone was extremely disappointed. The prince, who had the potential to surpass his father, had fallen from grace.


    In a way, Konan lost prestige among the nobles, and his reputation was trashed. But he didn¡¯t care. His mind was becoming increasingly shielded, thanks to Kayden¡¯s teachings.


    The cultivation model he chose to follow consisted of using the *Mana Heart* and imposing his path on it. Konan¡¯s path was that of a barbarian, and his body grew stronger and more bizarrely rapid each day.


    The prince delayed his progress in each realm as much as possible, following Kayden¡¯s orders only to advance when he achieved complete perfection at each stage. This was also something unbelievable to everyone.


    The only one who didn¡¯t comment on the prince¡¯s actions was his father, the emperor. He believed that everyone should follow their path and wouldn¡¯t interfere, but he knew that choices always had consequences.


    "He said I only have ten years to surpass my younger sister, or the throne will be hers," Konan said, distressed, to his master. Kayden had expected something like this to happen.


    Over time, Konan began abandoning his social ties. After spending so much time with Kayden, he developed a sort of fascination with power, an obsession similar to that of his master, but to a much lesser degree.


    This personality change wasn¡¯t normal. Kayden had a hand in it. He was constantly testing things on the souls of people around him and implanted some of his strongest memories into Konan¡¯s subconscious.


    There weren¡¯t many, at most five events. Still, the prince¡¯s mindset leaped in wisdom and resilience in a completely abnormal way. The best part was that Kayden observed no direct consequences on the prince.


    "What are you afraid of? Is the throne your ultimate goal?" Kayden asked, trying to guide Konan on the right path.


    "But the throne was mine... it always was. I was born for it," the prince responded, repeating what everyone had told him for decades.


    "No, Konan. You were forced to become a prince by your birth and then to inherit an empire that isn¡¯t yours," Kayden commented. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Of course, it¡¯s mine, master! I¡¯m the heir," Konan said, starting to grasp Kayden¡¯s words but faltering in his speech.


    "Abandon mediocrity. You haven¡¯t earned anything here. Everything in this place has already been tread by someone. Is that what you want? A throne to play war with other empires until the day you die? Will you settle for so little?"


    Kayden¡¯s voice wasn¡¯t a shout, but it echoed in the prince¡¯s mind like thunder. Not only his but also in the emperor¡¯s, who stood at the doorway of the training room. At that moment, both realized something very important.


    One of them made a decision that would change his life forever, while the other realized he was like a frog at the bottom of a well¡ªthe peak he believed he had reached was only imaginary and had no real value outside of that closed world.


    A few days later, Konan invited Kayden to the kingdom¡¯s largest social event. Naturally, Kayden refused, but after his disciple¡¯s insistence, he felt obliged to attend.


    "Kayden?" Matheus asked, dropping his cup. Kayden¡¯s brother had blossomed as a fifth-realm mage, surpassing all the negative expectations that had been placed upon him.


    It was a real surprise, this reunion. Kayden had believed that no one from his old family had any talent for this and that they would probably be swallowed up in a few years.


    "No, I¡¯m Lucas," said Kayden, releasing a few disinterested words before walking away. He no longer had any reason to keep in touch with these people.


    The banquet was held outdoors, in a vast field of golden grass, artificially nourished. The most impressive thing was the number of people, easily exceeding a thousand participants.


    The closer to the center, the higher the nobility and strength of the attendees. Although the social circles had no apparent divisions, no one from the lower layers dared to try to mix where they didn¡¯t belong.


    Kayden acted like a ghost, wandering the places and observing people. He was studying the differences in souls. At times, he made small alterations and watched as fights broke out, and relationships disintegrated. It was amusing how easily he could manipulate mortals.


    Even making them advance in realms wasn¡¯t difficult. Kayden only needed to find people on the verge of advancement and give them the small push they needed, placing the right knowledge in their minds.


    Kayden¡¯s presence at the event went unnoticed, but he made it the most chaotic and exciting event in centuries. Fights broke out in droves, wars were declared¡ªit was pure entertainment.


    Moreover, old warriors once considered dead weight, returned to action by advancing in the realm. Practically everything changed. In just a few hours, dozens of conflicts and advancements occurred.


    "I ask for the attention of the emperor and the entire kingdom at this moment" Konan put mana in his voice and made herself heard by every inch of that environment, everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at the prince who was floating in the air.

 Chapter 424: War

    Each minute of the event contributed to making it unique and unprecedented. The tension in the air was palpable, and Konan seemed to be making the most difficult decision of his life.


    "I renounce my right to the throne," his voice cut through the silence, which was quickly replaced by whispers and murmurs.


    "Do you understand what this means, Konan?" The emperor¡¯s voice sounded emotionless. He was there as a monarch, not as a father.


    "Yes." Renouncing the right to the throne in the Dark Empire meant completely giving up one¡¯s noble lineage. This meant that Konan would be cast out from the royal family as if he had never been a part of it.


    "You understand that I will offer no protection? You will be a commoner among us," the emperor continued. Konan nodded, and for the first time in his life, he saw his father falter. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I understand, father. Don¡¯t worry, I am untouchable here," Konan¡¯s words were laden with arrogance, and Kayden smiled. The young man was telling the truth.


    "I, as emperor, renounce Konan from the imperial family. From today onwards, all his affairs are private, and I swear by my honor that the empire will not oppose his wrongdoers." The emperor¡¯s voice was as cold as ice.


    It didn¡¯t take even a minute for a voice to rise from the crowd. A middle-aged man with black hair and scars all over his body floated near the center. He was a sixth-realm mage with the aura of a war veteran.


    "Konan, forty years ago, you killed my son over a minor insult. I apologize to Your Majesty, but I must avenge my family¡¯s memory." Along with him, dozens of other voices rose as well.


    "Konan slept with my wife twenty years ago."


    "Konan took my apprentice position forty years ago."


    Many of the complaints didn¡¯t even make sense at that moment; they were just old grudges, taken advantage of in the opportunity to kill a prince. For many, it would be a story to tell their grandchildren¡ªthe day they killed a prince. Konan, being only in the second realm, would have no chance against even the weakest of the opponents present.


    "Master, I entrust my life to you," Konan murmured as dozens of spells surrounded him, without mercy. He closed his eyes and kneeled in the sky.


    *SWISH!*


    The sound of Kayden¡¯s spells cutting through the air wasn¡¯t even audible, but the sound of heads being severed resounded loudly. In a matter of seconds, dozens of mages were brutally eliminated.


    Some of the most powerful figures in the kingdom fell like wheat, their lives taken without warning. Their lifeless bodies shocked everyone around. Eyes and spiritual senses turned to the emperor, seeking explanations.


    "Congratulations, Konan, you¡¯re doing very well." Kayden appeared before his disciple, drawing the attention of everyone present. It didn¡¯t take a genius to understand that he was responsible for the deaths.


    No one knew him, except his former family. His power terrified everyone, especially the emperor and the Four Greats. They knew Kayden was strong, but they hadn¡¯t imagined anything so terrifying.


    "Let¡¯s leave," Kayden said, pulling his disciple. But before they could leave, a woman dressed entirely in black appeared before them. Her seventh-realm aura was unmistakable.


    Few knew her, only the Four Greats were aware of who she was: an ancient matriarch, hidden from society. She had planned to kidnap the prince and stage a coup on the throne in the future, a scheme that had been in the works for millennia.


    "You can¡¯t take the prince like that..." she tried to say, but she couldn¡¯t finish her sentence.


    "Leave." Kayden¡¯s voice was emotionless, yet it carried all his killing intent. His ability with souls caused his voice to strike directly at the core of the woman¡¯s soul.


    A seventh-realm mage trembled like a child before a tiger. She couldn¡¯t even form a barrier; Kayden removed her with a push of mana, cementing himself as the greatest monster the empire had ever seen.


    No one in their right mind dared to go after the two at that moment. One of the most respected figures in the seventh realm had been mentally destroyed by someone from the fourth realm. Nothing made sense at that moment.


    The emperor and the Four Greats silently thanked the gods that Kayden was on their side and not their enemy. They knew that they could have destroyed the empire with their mistakes.


    "What are we going to do now, master?" Konan was abandoning everything to follow his dream of power. There was no turning back.


    "We¡¯re heading to the borders. You will fight in wars without my supervision. If you die, it will be your fault. Your goal is to fully develop your killing intent." Kayden, of course, would be watching, but he couldn¡¯t let him know.


    The two empires were in constant conflict, though without major escalations. This meant that only mages below the fifth realm could participate in battles. Any force above that would provoke a dangerous increase in violence.


    In truth, this war was just to keep the commoners busy. The great empire did not waste its forces on these senseless intrigues. The greatest danger to each empire came from within its territories, with rebellious wizards and things like that. The borders also served as a training point for most of the nobility, as they were relatively safe and there the nobles could kill without any reprisals. In addition, they could control the commoners as they wished, one of the biggest reasons why the commoners hated the nobles.


    Most of the time the nobles used the borders as their playgrounds, and human rights there was a big joke, the only chance was when you had some talent and the army protected you, other than that it was a jungle without any law.


    Most of the time the nobles used the borders as their playgrounds, and human rights there was a big joke, the only chance was when you had some talent and the army protected you, other than that it was a jungle without any law.

 Chapter 425: Beyond the limits

    "But there are thousands of them," Konan exclaimed, watching one of the greatest battles of his life on the border. Millions of people were fighting, and Kayden pointed to one square kilometer specific area.


    "Make that area your territory. Kill anyone who enters it. Pile up thousands, or even millions of bodies if necessary," Kayden gave no further instructions and hurled Konan into the middle of the battlefield.


    The boy had fought many battles and killed numerous people, but he had never been in anything so chaotic. The murderous intent was palpable in the air; every second, someone dropped dead around him. Some were in realms higher than his, but the highest was only the third realm. Kayden eliminated anyone in the fourth realm who tried to enter the designated area with a single move.


    There was a certain code of honor in war: higher realms avoided massacres against the weaker and a silent understanding in many battles. Konan was far superior to most ordinary warriors. He eliminated anyone who approached him. His mastery of the Seven Thunders was at a level many would never reach in their lifetimes.


    The difference in strength was immense, but so was the number of enemies. Konan quickly became a landmark on the battlefield, with both sides desiring his head. He killed hundreds in just a few minutes, and his count kept rising.


    "Do not interfere unless you wish to die," Kayden sent this warning directly into the minds of the sixth-realm mages who appeared in the sky.


    After some quick communication, both sides realized that Konan belonged to neither. He was a pariah, wreaking havoc where he shouldn¡¯t. The situation worsened when they realized that the mages trying to kill him were being eliminated as they approached. Kayden maintained control over the number of people entering the five-kilometer quadrant around Konan, regulating the flow to push him to his limit.


    As hours passed, Konan approached that limit. In just one day, he could no longer continue. That¡¯s when Kayden appeared before him.


    "You lasted only a day. You can choose to leave now or keep fighting," Kayden expected the second answer and¡­


    "I¡¯ll keep going," Konan replied, not disappointing him. The boy had already surpassed his limit of strength, yet he still wanted to press on. This determination was what Kayden sought.


    The hours dragged on for Konan. He no longer had the strength to fight at his peak. Every movement was painful, and his mind urged him to give up. But he tamed his own will and kept going, without a second of pause.


    Konan¡¯s mind was confused; he no longer knew what he was doing. His actions had become automatic. Many times, the boy passed out, but Kayden would wake him and command him to continue.


    "I... I can¡¯t," Konan sent this message to Kayden through mana after minutes of struggling to manipulate it. He had reached the true human limit for the first time.


    Kayden had reached this point thousands of times. It¡¯s when the body no longer responds to the mind¡¯s commands. The nervous system collapses. No matter what you try, the body simply won¡¯t obey.


    The mind begins to hate mana as if it were the greatest evil in the universe. Just having it in the body caused intense nausea. It was something very difficult to reach.


    Konan¡¯s mentality was strong, but not enough to reach this stage without many stimuli. Fortunately, Kayden was that stimulus. The boy began to think of other plans, seeing his disciple in that state.


    "Right now, your body no longer responds to your commands. The mere act of using mana is difficult and causes severe nausea," Kayden said, watching Konan, who agreed with a glance. "This is the moment you separate from the ordinary, where you have the chance to prove yourself worthy of becoming a god."


    The battlefield was completely silent. Everyone there recognized who those two figures were. The fame of Kayden and Konan spread throughout the Dark Kingdom and quickly reached the other realm.


    The former prince¡¯s feat was terrifying. No one had ever seen anything like it. Many nobles in the war felt as if they had been slapped in the face.


    Additionally, some recognized the state Konan was in. They themselves had reached this stage before. Mental strength developed rapidly in war, but reaching this level was rare, even among the rarest.


    "Use the mana. It is your servant. Use it and rise," Kayden said. Konan looked at his master, doubting it was possible in his current state.


    "Ascend beyond the top. This must come from you, not from your primitive will to survive. Just close your eyes, and I will take you out of here," Kayden offered, giving his disciple an easy way out. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The mana began to move toward the prince. He felt one of the greatest pains of his life, accompanied by deep nausea and disgust for the mana. Even so, he continued.


    He surpassed a limit that no ordinary mage would ever reach, and yet, he went beyond it. Kayden smiled proudly. Perhaps one of his plans would come to fruition in the future.


    "I salute the master," Konan kneeled, using mana, and saluted Kayden as a disciple would. His action sent a chill down the spine of everyone watching.


    "Very well Konan" Ayden smiled and finally the prince was allowed to faint from exhaustion, Kayden just picked him up and left the battlefield.


    No matter how much they tried to track the two, no one was successful, it was as if they had never been in that place before, and actions like this happened regularly in the following years.


    While Konan used these moments to train her body and mind, Kayden used them to train his manipulation of souls and mana, he was already at a completely superior level to everything, but what he was developing at that moment was even more frightening.


    Kayden could feel the mana passing through each person¡¯s body amid millions of mages, a mere movement and he would cause an explosion with no chance of recovery. Kayden was able to force the advance of inferior mages just by manipulating the other person¡¯s base.

 Chapter 426: New path

    This level of control was terrifying. For Konan to reach the fifth realm, he needed something to elevate his path even further. He no longer sought conventional methods of advancing between realms. Instead, he forced his path to bloom, pushing his strength to the next level. It was almost as if the universe itself acknowledged that he was ready to ascend.


    Kayden, on the other hand, had reached a surreal level of self-control. The lightning that once empowered his body no longer brought about changes. He had become a mage who fought and lived through his soul, which meant that the lightning found no more points to improve in his physical body. This was true absolute control: his strength came only from his soul and his steps. No one else could interfere with his evolution.


    Kayden no longer depended on anyone else to change his strength. Every bit of progress was the result of his efforts, something that, at times, could make him slower compared to other mages. The heavens, like an omnipresent and unfathomable entity, could identify areas to improve and transform them. However, that divine aid would contradict the path Kayden walked: the path of a monarch, one who rules over all.


    Time passed quickly, and Konan became a true destructive force on the battlefield. Whenever he appeared, the slaughter was certain. Both realms already knew his reputation. At first, the orders were clear: avoid the boy at all costs. But these orders were repeatedly disobeyed, and the massacre continued until Konan reached the limits of his body.


    Meanwhile, Kayden manipulated the souls of the warriors behind the scenes to face his disciples. It was easy to implant memories of hatred and resentment, as humans were driven by simple and primitive desires. Even the strongest leaders unconsciously followed Kayden¡¯s desires. The soul, after all, was a domain barely understood and almost inaccessible to most. In this environment, Kayden felt like he was in a playground.


    Konan, on the other hand, began converting his heart and techniques into something beyond the physical. After fighting relentlessly and surpassing unimaginable limits, the boy saw his path bloom in unexpected ways. He always thought he followed the path of a barbarian: fighting and killing made him feel alive, a sentiment many warriors shared. However, for Konan, it was something deeper. If he went months without facing the feeling of almost dying, he would go mad.


    His true path, it seemed, was the path of death. Seeing people die made him feel alive. Watching life slip away before his eyes brought him terrifying revelations. Whenever he experienced a life-or-death situation, Konan grew stronger. The closer to death, the more powerful he became. Now, in the fourth realm, it had taken him centuries to get there. He was no longer part of the royal family, and many had forgotten his existence. Only the high nobility still recognized him.


    "What do you think I should do, master?" Konan asked, still with many doubts in his mind. His strength was immense, and he knew he could crush most people below the fifth realm. No ordinary mage posed a threat to him. Yet, the battles had lost their meaning. They still taught him something, but they weren¡¯t enough to push him to the next realm.


    "I want you to become a monarch," Kayden¡¯s voice sent chills down Konan¡¯s spine.


    ***


    As Kayden reflected during his time of introspection, he realized something was wrong with his path. It wasn¡¯t doubt about what his path represented but about the direction it was taking. He needed to be unique, unique, and surpass everyone. He couldn¡¯t walk a path already trodden, not even in its smallest details. Although his techniques and cultivation methods were original, something about him had already existed before. He was merely replicating with slight variations.


    Being a monarch wasn¡¯t something new. There had been monarchs before, and probably new ones would emerge in the future. All of them, in some way, ruled over mana, with minor variations between them, but in the end, they were all similar.


    This was the answer Kayden had sought for so long. He finally reached this understanding after what seemed like an endless journey. He would reshape his path and extend it.


    It wasn¡¯t a difficult task. Kayden simply needed to alter the foundation of his path to make it truly unique. He had already done so long ago but had only now realized it. His soul was the key, and at the same time, it wasn¡¯t.


    "The monarch of oneself." That was the answer Kayden found. He didn¡¯t want to rule or control anyone. That was merely an indirect consequence of his strength. What he truly desired was control over himself. His path, his existence, was to be the monarch of himself, to rule over his destiny and actions. Controlling the things around him was merely an extension of that.


    If his will was to control the air, then ruling the air was an extension of ruling himself. That was the true difference. When Kayden realized this, his aura changed completely. And when he integrated this new understanding into his soul, it too transformed.


    In the past, Kayden¡¯s path was oppressive. His mere presence made weaker beings kneel and submit to his will without question. It was something instinctive.


    Now, the path of the Monarch of Oneself was different. Kayden¡¯s aura conveyed a sense of peace and serenity. He no longer seemed affected by the things of the universe around him. S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Things around him automatically followed suit, strong winds became calm, the environment became tranquil, and in a lake, the waves calmed down regardless of how hard they were rocking.


    And when Kayden became excited... the wind followed his will, everything around him resonated with his state of mind, and he governed himself, but the universe became an extension of his own will.


    It was a silly detail, but it made a huge difference in the way Kayden dealt with Mana. In the past, he had to give orders to get Mana to do what he wanted, but now he didn¡¯t even need to ask. Kayden¡¯s spiritual sense ceased to exist and became something much superior. It was practically a unique sixth sense that he had developed. He could feel everything for hundreds of kilometers.

 Chapter 427: Shaping a monarch

    This area responded to his will; if Kayden wanted to perform an aura cut, mana would transform into his attack. It wasn¡¯t something that required his action¡ªthe universe fulfilled his will, as the universe was an extension of his intent.


    This new way of manipulating mana and the things around him was truly unique, but it had a price. Kayden¡¯s range was drastically reduced. Before, he could reach several thousand kilometers even in the Fourth Realm, but now, it was only a few hundred.


    The difference seemed enormous, but when compared to the power gained, it was entirely worth it. Kayden probably had at least ten times more strength with this new path than with the old one.


    He no longer needed to convert reality into mana; it simply transformed of its own free will. There was no explanation for the revolution in Kayden¡¯s path and power. It was a degree of talent and level of learning that he had never possessed before.


    With each passing day, Kayden became more certain that removing his past lives had been the best decision he had ever made. After mastering all these new things, Kayden decided to advance his realm.


    Once again, it was a ridiculously easy process. Kayden didn¡¯t even suffer any injuries. His strength was far beyond anyone within the Nine Rays; those nine in the skies were the only intimidating part of the ascension challenge.


    Kayden¡¯s new strength didn¡¯t change much; his body muscles merely developed more, but he no longer fought with his body. This meant that he gained nothing from the ascension process.


    He was practically carving out each inch of his path with his own will, and it was working. At this moment, he was fully convinced he could face any being on this planet.


    Previously, mages in the Seventh Realm were still strong and capable of posing some risk to Kayden. In a way, they could catch him by surprise and kill him in a single move. But now?


    Not even all the Seventh Realm mages on this planet combined could pose any threat to Kayden at this moment. Any attack would be automatically sensed by him from hundreds of kilometers away.


    Kayden¡¯s spatial mastery was on a completely insane level, and he only needed a simple leap to avoid an attack. At this point, he didn¡¯t even need to tear through space; he merely traversed it with his will, and the universe did the rest.


    "How much pain will I feel?" Konan asked after Kayden mentioned a training capable of saving him millennia.


    "You¡¯ve likely never felt even 1% of 1% of this pain. You¡¯ll probably end up going mad and killing yourself after a few sessions," Kayden said, emotionless.


    "Then why should I do it?" Konan asked, frightened, because Kayden neither lied nor exaggerated in any of his statements.


    "If you want to go where no one else has gone, you must do what no one else is willing to do. The choice is yours, as always," Kayden wouldn¡¯t insist. He had already placed many memories into his disciple¡¯s subconscious.


    Kayden believed Konan could withstand what he was planning. He had tested it on others, and they were able to resist a certain percentage of their past lives being removed.


    Most of the time, around 10% of their lives would be taken, and at that point, they would begin to enter shock and become confused. This would cause them to die mentally before they could even try to kill themselves physically.


    Their strength grew rapidly as past lives were removed. The problem was that their psyche was slowly being destroyed. Little by little, their personality was lost, becoming something forced.


    The tactic Kayden had found was entirely wrong from an ethical standpoint, but it allowed people to endure almost double the amount, reaching 20%. When he removed this much, the mages¡¯ power grew nearly twofold, which was an absurdly high amount.


    "I¡¯ll do it," Konan responded, and Kayden smiled. He then began removing his disciple¡¯s past lives. It was a process that needed to be done with as much time as possible between sessions.


    The ideal time was about 1% per year, giving Kayden enough time to place memories into his disciple¡¯s subconscious and lock them so they couldn¡¯t be accessed consciously. S~ea??h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    This was the secret of the process: Kayden practically made the other souls more similar to his own. He had no estimate of how much he could replace and hide before people¡¯s minds broke¡ªit required more experimentation.


    "Prepare yourself," Kayden said, and after a few seconds, he touched Konan¡¯s soul and removed about 1% of all his past lives in a single motion, automatically filling the void with his memories.


    The pain was so immense that it wasn¡¯t even possible to move a muscle to scream. There wasn¡¯t a spot that didn¡¯t hurt. The pain was so widespread that it seemed like no specific point was hurting; it was a pain that existed in Konan¡¯s mind.


    Konan¡¯s mind was strong. Kayden had made sure to teach his disciples many things that would enable him to endure this pain. It wasn¡¯t easy; many memories had to be altered, and many others removed.


    After so much time living with Kayden¡ªat least a few centuries¡ªKonan¡¯s mind changed at an absurd pace, both due to what Kayden forced upon him and through the training.


    The former prince no longer existed. Kayden was absolutely convinced that Konan would kill his two sisters for a bit more power, and this was precisely the mentality he had worked hard to build.


    The pain lasted for at least a week, and it took another week for Konan to be able to speak and move his muscles again. His mind was completely destabilized. Kayden had not exaggerated when he said it was something he had never experienced before.


    It seemed like a long time had passed, but Kayden knew that Konan was at least three times faster in recovering his mentality than the other normal mages he had tested, most of whom took three weeks to two months.


    "I feel much stronger and¡­ my techniques are coming out much smoother than before," Konan recounted his experiences to Kayden, he was still traumatized and afraid of the pain he had gone through.

 Chapter 428: Slaves

    If they asked Konan if he would choose to go through the same pain again, his first instinctive response would be no; he would choose anything else instead. Choosing pain was not natural for any living being, and Kayden knew that. That¡¯s why he started tampering with Konan¡¯s soul, adding memories and things related to his subconscious. Not only that, but he also altered the perception of the pain the boy had experienced. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "You¡¯ll grow in strength rapidly with this method. We¡¯ll do one session a year to give your mind time to recover," Kayden said, receiving an immediate response.


    "I can handle it..."


    "No, you can¡¯t," Kayden gave his disciple a mana shock, a small pain to stop him from speaking further on the matter. "Now, we¡¯re going to look for some people; I need a few more disciples. But don¡¯t get attached to them; they¡¯re destined to die."


    Konan accepted Kayden¡¯s words. It was rather cold, but as long as it wasn¡¯t him, he had no issue. These disciples would be Kayden¡¯s experiments to test the limits of souls, and after experimenting on them, Kayden would pass the positive results on to Konan.


    Situated in a deep ravine surrounded by towering mountains, the slave market stretched for hundreds of kilometers. The surrounding landscape, isolated as it was, conveyed a sense of cold order. The buildings housing the slaves were made of smooth, well-crafted stone, with wide corridors lit by torches burning with a constant, perhaps magical, flame. The air was always clean and fresh, contrasting with the grim function of the place. There was impressive organization in how the different areas were distributed, each section serving different functions or purposes, like a vast, common market.


    Despite its professional appearance, not everything was pristine. Some areas had walls with unfinished stonework, haphazardly placed stones, and visible cracks as if they were hastily built or neglected. Some of the passages were too narrow, leading to alleys that felt more like traps than practical routes. The cells, though organized, showed signs of wear, with rusted metal bars and erosion marks on the stone. It was as if the quality varied according to the importance of that area, making it clear that different priorities existed.


    One would expect a slave market to be a quiet, gloomy place, but this one felt more like a grand entertainment market. The common areas were large and open to all, with attractions and tourist points displaying the slaves.


    There was a select group dedicated solely to these attractions. Many families came here to spend the day just for entertainment, and some ended up purchasing slaves for their homes. This made the slave organization a honey trap, attracting bees and then using the opportunity to sell their products¡ªliving beings, in this case.


    There were other areas for people looking for more specific slaves, those with particular skills or appearances. The organization could offer many combinations. The stronger and rarer the slave, the better their accommodations while they waited for their new owner. In some areas, hundreds of people huddled together without any hope, just common folk with nothing special beyond being alive.


    "What are we here for, Master?" Konan looked at these people with a trace of pity in his eyes. Losing freedom was an incredibly sad thing.


    "We¡¯re here to choose our new disciples," Kayden said without looking directly at his disciple, searching for the leader of the place. It didn¡¯t take long for him to find a seventh-realm mage.


    The image was in a room with dozens of extremely beautiful women with perfect bodies. He had blond hair and blue eyes, pale skin with no blemishes¡ªalmost an albino. Kayden could sense a strong, threatening aura coming from him.


    "Come with me," Kayden began walking through the narrow corridors as if he knew them like the back of his hand. Neither he nor Konan were stopped by any mage. Whenever one got close, Kayden sent a calming signal to their soul.


    In just a few minutes, Kayden and Konan stood before a red door adorned with numerous protection and silence runes. Some sixth-realm individuals were present as well, indicating a very well-done job at keeping this room hidden from the common folk.


    KNOCK! KNOCK!


    Kayden knocked twice, watching as everyone on the other side froze for a moment. It was rare for anyone to disturb the slave leader¡ªthis only happened a few times a year. The organization practically ran itself.


    "Come in," came the man¡¯s voice, extremely serious. He knew who the two at his door were. Their reputation preceded any introduction, but the question was, why were they here?


    Kayden entered with his disciple in tow. He walked slowly, breaking any spiritual sense that tried to approach him. Not only that, he spread his aura throughout the entire place, making everyone feel suppressed, even though it wasn¡¯t a negative aura.


    It seemed like it took several minutes for Kayden to walk over and sit in one of the chairs. He pulled out a cup and a strange drink, slowly turning the chair towards the mage, who was lying on a bed in the center of the room.


    In just a few seconds, he had completely dominated the minds of everyone in the place. His presence was suffocating, making everyone feel his existence¡ªnothing more, nothing less.


    "I want an exchange of favors," Kayden said after sipping the tea he had made. The common posture of a more powerful mage would be to rise against Kayden and try to suppress him with his power, but¡­


    The slave trader was unusually afraid. He couldn¡¯t remember feeling like this in the last millennium, all because of the vibration Kayden was sending directly into his soul, combined with all the stories he¡¯d heard.


    In an instant, he stood up and sat in the chair next to Kayden. Not only that, he put on more presentable clothing, as if he were receiving an emperor from one of the empires.


    "My name is Jonas Keit, I am the owner of the largest slave market in this world, a wizard from the seventh kingdom and heir to the Keit wizards." Kayden had no idea who these wizards were and didn¡¯t care.

 Chapter 429: Disciples

    "I would like to trade a favor of mine for some of your slaves," Kayden didn¡¯t even introduce himself¡ªhe didn¡¯t need to. His strength spoke for him.


    "How big is this favor?" Kayden smiled and continued drinking his tea. Slowly, the pressure forced Jonas to concede. "Alright, what do you need?"


    "Bring me your slaves with the strongest minds; talent and rank don¡¯t matter," Kayden already knew the next question.


    "How strong?" It was obvious that an organization like this would know some people sought slaves only to break them. It was sick, but much more common than one might imagine.


    "The ones still standing in five minutes." Kayden snapped his fingers, and a circle of mana emanated from him, spreading in all directions. It was mana mixed with a small part of Kayden¡¯s soul.


    It extended everywhere, implanting a memory of ridiculous pain and despair in everyone. No one was spared; 99% of the people immediately passed out.


    The memory was so intense that few had the mentality to endure it. It was much easier to become unconscious and erase the memory from their minds, which is what most did without any control.


    The people in the room were the only ones unaffected by Kayden¡¯s attack, as he had directed it in a way that left them safe. The seventh-realm leader understood what had happened.


    He could have argued with Kayden for affecting his clients and such, but it was clear that Kayden wasn¡¯t someone he could mess with easily. It wasn¡¯t worth offending Kayden for the sake of a few fat old men.


    A few minutes later, everyone stood up as if nothing had happened. No one could remember what had occurred, and only a few would know the truth of this event.


    In another room of the market, Kayden stood before seven people. Five were in the third realm, and one was in the fourth. Each had a strong and determined aura. They seemed to have faced many hardships in their lives.


    "I will take three of you with me. I don¡¯t care about your names or your stories. Whoever can take ten steps under my aura will be chosen," Kayden said, and...


    The atmosphere changed immediately. Even Jonas felt as if an entire world was weighing on his shoulders. It was as if the universe itself was pressing them to the ground. Some of the slaves knelt instantly.


    "You can fall or crawl, but walk the ten meters, and I promise you freedom." Kayden¡¯s voice reached deep into their minds, his tone not appearing deceitful.


    Time passed quickly. The test that seemed simple was hell. Every step took hours, and after a few minutes, Kayden blinded them so they couldn¡¯t draw motivation from their opponents.


    The first to take ten steps was the highest-ranked individual, an elderly mage with dozens of scars on his body. He seemed to have fought for centuries, which was indeed true. His name was Pelvan.


    He had been a mercenary from the moment he was born until the day he was captured in a battle and sold as a slave. That was one of the dangers of fighting for other forces, especially against those who cared little for basic human rights¡ªmost mages.


    "Congratulations, now sleep for a bit." Kayden simply knocked the man out and waited for the others.


    The next one took at least ten hours longer than Pelvan. It was a small woman with red hair. She, too, seemed to have gone through many bad experiences, especially considering her beauty and strength.


    Her name was Hanna, a third-realm fire mage under 50 years of age¡ªa great talent. Unfortunately, she had fallen into the hands of slave traders when her village was raided decades ago. Since then, she has suffered many hardships.


    "Congratulations, now rest a little." Kayden knocked her out, and the next one arrived almost half an hour later.


    Again, it was another woman, but this time her appearance was utterly terrible. Her hair was disheveled as if she hadn¡¯t bathed in millennia, and her skin was dry, covered in red spots.


    Her name was Ana, a teenager rescued from one of the southern tribes. Her mind had been broken for months by various groups performing different activities. When she was finally rescued, she found out she was a slave.


    Due to her unattractive appearance, she was treated even worse. It was ironic how society would recoil at the killing of a butterfly but ignore the death of a moth. That was Ana¡¯s case¡ªno matter what they did to her, no one cared in the least.


    "Congratulations, now sleep." Kayden took the three, thanked Jonas, and left, flying off with Konan so quickly that no one could react to the situation.


    A few minutes later, Kayden and his disciple were on a vast plain. The three slaves lay on the ground before them like dolls. With a snap of Kayden¡¯s fingers, they awoke.


    For several minutes, Kayden said nothing as he stared at them, measuring their mentality and strength. It was obvious to the boy that they weren¡¯t great fighters; they had only survived through sheer willpower, which had never given them a solid foundation.


    "I need three disciples. If you don¡¯t die during training, you should be able to reach the top of this world easily. If you don¡¯t want to, you are free to leave." Kayden¡¯s voice came out without any emotion.


    "Who exactly are you? Pardon my honesty, sir, but why should I trade my freedom for something unknown?" the man spoke with courage, looking directly into Kayden¡¯s eyes.


    "I am Kayden Heart. I hold no titles beyond ¡¯monster.¡¯ This is my disciple, Konan." As soon as Kayden said that, Konan released his aura, and the three before him fell to their knees. S§×arch* The n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Nice to meet you." Konan released her aura and bowed, her display of strength was quite significant, as her kingdom was not high and yet she suppressed the man completely.


    "You are free to make your choice." Kayden knew that the three would accept, he had already moved the three souls for that.

 Chapter 430: Failure

    This was a unique opportunity that opened up for them. They practically had two options: attempt the unknown and become people of great power, or try to make it on their own and gamble with their luck.


    Everyone there was naturally distrustful, having learned that nothing in this world comes free and that compassion always has a motive. However, the soul vibrations Kayden was emitting made the idea seem very appealing.


    "I accept." "I accept." "I accept."


    A decade later, Kayden¡¯s three disciples were unrecognizable in terms of both strength and appearance. Before, they had a wild and depressive aura, but now they exuded calm and powerful energy.


    Kayden had invested heavily in each of them, helping them develop unique fighting techniques and paths. He also purchased elixirs to extend their lifespans.


    The treatment to remove their past lives had been a complete success. Kayden watched as their power grew at an abnormally fast pace.


    In the beginning, Konan could suppress the three of them just by using his aura. But after a decade, he had to fight seriously, or he would lose. Kayden began the procedure on Konan every three years, while for the other three, it was done annually. As a result, they blossomed.


    Their mentalities became similar, which brought the four of them closer quickly, despite Kayden repeatedly telling Konan that they would die eventually. Some things were beyond Kayden¡¯s control.


    Fortunately, the procedure proved to be the best decision Kayden could have made. By subconsciously adding pieces of his memory into his disciples, their mentalities remained strong, with minimal personality changes.


    The personality shifts were minor because, in truth, they were adopting something akin to Kayden¡¯s. The issue was that Kayden¡¯s personality didn¡¯t exist¡ªhe was like a blank slate that would never be filled.


    After removing 10% of their past lives, Kayden slowed the rate of extraction, spacing the process out to every two years. At that point, the recovery time became longer, but the power that came with it was immense.


    Two decades later, Kayden watched as the two women advanced in rank. Before, they had been third-realm mages with four rays¡ªnothing impressive by general standards, but considering their life stories, it was incredible.


    Now, they were fourth-realm mages with six rays, following well-paved paths and mastering high-level techniques. They were practically at the top of the world and only needed more time to go beyond.


    Konan could no longer defeat the three on his own. He found himself in a difficult position where he would lose due to exhaustion. And when I say exhaustion, I mean it¡ªafter days of fighting, he couldn¡¯t even muster the strength to lift a single muscle.


    Kayden introduced additional soul modifications to help Konan cope with pain, making the boy spend most of his time meditating on himself.


    Thousands of medicines were used to help him develop focus and connect more deeply with his inner self. Kayden accelerated the process millions of times through his modifications to Konan¡¯s soul.


    Slowly, Kayden removed useless memories that only hindered Konan¡¯s access to his subconscious. He performed the same procedure on the other three disciples.


    The problem arose when Hanna began to break down after a few years. Kayden had reached the mark of 19% of past lives removed, but her personality started showing serious inconsistencies. Episodes of bipolarity and intense anger became common. S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Her strength grew explosively, but that was it. She no longer had a mind capable of controlling 100% of her power. At many moments, she would make mistakes in her movements or techniques simply due to a lack of inner peace.


    Konan felt a deep sorrow in his heart because he knew this would happen. Kayden had told him, and now it was clear that it was true¡ªthese three were destined to die.


    This realization could have caused a breakdown in the disciple, but Kayden had thoroughly shaped Konan¡¯s mentality. Konan was sad for a few days but eventually accepted the reality.


    Another decade later, Hanna finally reached her absolute limit. Kayden had removed 24% of her past lives and implanted a significant portion of his memories into her. The once cheerful personality had turned into something closed-off and angry.


    She could no longer maintain her composure in many situations. Not only that, but her mood was completely unstable, and her personality changed daily. Kayden knew that if this continued, she would be dead in just a few more sessions.


    The strength she had gained made her the equivalent of a seven-ray mage when combined with the techniques Kayden had taught her, which was utterly absurd. She was able to fight on equal footing with Konan and often overpower him.


    Hanna had become a true monster, requiring all three of the others to take her on together. Kayden had stopped the sessions on the other two a few years ago to focus more on studying her case.


    Even though the strength of the other three grew rapidly, it wasn¡¯t enough to match Hanna¡¯s power. When her mind was clearer, she became a real beast, fighting with two daggers.


    Her movements were clean and flawless, her speed terrifying, and her spiritual senses, which had been modified, left her with no blind spots. She was practically a combat machine.


    "Hanna, you are free to leave. You¡¯ve failed as a disciple. Your mind is broken and unstable," Kayden dismissed her from the circle with a few words.


    The first reaction from everyone was absolute shock, and then they turned to Hanna, waiting for her reaction. What happened next was like an avalanche. Her face turned red with rage, and...


    POOFT!


    Her body fell to the ground, split in two. She was about to cast a spell against Kayden but was brutally killed by a single strike that emerged directly from Kayden¡¯s skin into her body.


    No one said anything while Kayden burned the body to ashes, they had never taken Kayden¡¯s words seriously until that moment, he just killed her as if she were an animal, he didn¡¯t even blink at killing someone who spent decades with them.


    Author¡¯s note: I forgot the bonus chapter, I¡¯ll try to bring it tomorrow, sorry

 Chapter 431: Debt

    "I told you from the beginning that it was dangerous. She could have walked away alive and with absurd strength, but she chose to turn against the hand that fed her," Kayden continued to project soul vibrations toward them.


    His master¡¯s words entered their ears like honey, convincing them that this was indeed the truth. In the end, Hanna chose to die of her own will¡ªshe could have simply left.


    Kayden had already begun having the other two reflect on themselves. He constantly inserted dreams that reminded them of their most painful memories. This gradually helped them overcome their traumas and consolidate their personalities much faster.


    Kayden resumed the sessions and saw how they were able to go far beyond what Hanna had achieved. Both reached 20% without any signs of side effects, and the strength they gained was terrifying. At this point, Konan could no longer hold them back easily and was defeated within minutes.


    After much study, Kayden finally resumed testing Konan. The boy¡¯s strength grew in leaps and bounds¡ªhe had a far greater potential than the others, which wasn¡¯t surprising since he surpassed them in just a few years.


    Konan was now absurdly motivated after spending so many years with Kayden. He had fully understood Kayden¡¯s philosophy of life and distanced himself from the other two, focusing only on himself.


    Konan¡¯s personality had solidified at a very high level. At this point, he could undergo a session without Kayden needing to add fragments of his memories. This might seem like a small difference, but it was an immense leap.


    While the strength of the other two disciples doubled at 20%, Konan¡¯s tripled, and he showed no signs of side effects in his personality. His personality only grew stronger over time.


    The next to break down was Ana. In the end, her young age made her mind too weak to fully contain her personality, even though she had consolidated it at a high level.


    Her strength grew and quadrupled when she reached 30%, surpassing the others by a large margin. Her mind was completely flooded with other memories and personalities.


    This allowed her to achieve something Kayden directly stimulated through soul signals and verbal encouragement: she advanced a realm within just five decades under Kayden¡¯s tutelage.


    Her ascension process was utterly surreal. She reached seven rays without much difficulty. At this moment, Kayden began shouting for her to keep going, giving all the encouragement of a master who seemed genuinely concerned.


    Unfortunately, she didn¡¯t have the strength to handle that level of power. She found herself dead within seconds of accepting the challenge. This was something Kayden had expected; he just wanted to be sure.


    "She failed. I need new disciples now," Kayden sighed and gathered his disciple¡¯s ashes. She had always wanted to be buried by the sea, and he would fulfill that promise for her.


    It didn¡¯t mean much, but the other two disciples had witnessed him make that promise. Once again, Kayden had to return to the slave market. It was the easiest place for him to find new apprentices.


    The environment was the same, unchanged even after decades. Kayden found Jonas in the same room as before, but the man seemed to have aged centuries in those years.


    "Hello," Kayden entered the room in the same manner as the first day, this time not bothering to relax his aura and simply letting it flow freely.


    "Kayden!" Jonas was startled but quickly recovered in a manner befitting a mage of his rank.


    "I need slaves again. Do you want me to pay the favor?" Kayden wasn¡¯t offering another favor; this was merely a gesture of goodwill.


    "Actually, yes. I have a bit of a problem with an organization in the mage world. They¡¯re entrenched in the white faction of the mages and are trying to ban the sale of slaves worldwide." Kayden didn¡¯t show it, but he could already sense the annoyance coming.


    "What do you want me to do?" Kayden asked without beating around the bush.


    "I need you to wipe out this group. I can¡¯t make a move, or else the White Empire will turn against me," Jonas replied.


    Kayden sighed. It would be a real nuisance.


    "The strength of the mages?" Kayden wasn¡¯t too worried, but it was good to be prepared.


    "A mage with double-digit seven rays. The rest are just sixth-realm mages without much power. Only one descendant from the place has seven rays and monstrous talent as a wind mage."


    For the next hour, Kayden gathered as much information as possible about the organization, from their location to the exact number of members. After some thought, he decided to take the simplest approach: he would attack head-on and destroy the organization directly.


    "Can you guarantee that no other organization will interfere?" Kayden didn¡¯t want to be caught off guard.


    "I can strike all their allied entities on the same day as your plan, which will prevent them from calling for help," Jonas assured him.


    Kayden went even further, requesting measures of silence and isolation for several kilometers around the area.


    In the end, Kayden left his disciples in some random city and told them to wait for him while training, making sure they didn¡¯t reveal their identities. After that, he set off toward the organization. sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    At his maximum speed, he could cross the entire planet in just a few days. It didn¡¯t take him more than two days to reach the enormous jungle that was the center of the organization. Kayden was impressed by the civilization that had grown there.


    This magical city was situated in the heart of a vast and ancient jungle, where the power of nature and magic intertwined impressively. The vegetation was lush, with colossal trees reaching the sky, forming a natural canopy that, in some areas, blocked out the sunlight, leaving the surroundings illuminated by magical orbs of light floating among the branches. Amidst the jungle, towers and structures made of stone, wood, and crystal emerged harmoniously, as if they were part of the forest. The architecture blended the organic with the arcane, with roots and vines entwining crystal pillars that emanated magical energy.

 Chapter 432 - 73

    The city was organized into different districts, each one dedicated to a particular aspect of magic. In the center stood a massive, green-glowing crystal tower, radiating power and marking the headquarters of the organization that controlled the place. This organization was comprised of the most powerful mages in the region, known as the Arcane Council. They governed the city wisely, maintaining a delicate balance between magic and the surrounding nature. This balance was sacred, and the citizens¡ªmostly mages and magical creatures¡ªlived in harmony with the jungle, using their magic to cultivate and shape the environment around them.


    The streets were wide and paved with enchanted stones that changed color according to the time of day, while channels of magical water flowed throughout the city, serving both as a source of energy and transportation. Small magical creatures, such as fairies and nature spirits, flew freely among the inhabitants, contributing their magic to the city¡¯s functions.


    The harmony was nearly perfect, and Kayden hadn¡¯t been this impressed in a long time. After a few minutes, he felt a strong vibration of energy coming from the green orb in the central tower.


    He didn¡¯t know exactly what it was, but it seemed very similar to a concept¡ªmillions of times deeper and more complex. Some beings in this place had features slightly different from humans, such as pointed ears. The beauty of the human-like beings here was far superior to that found anywhere else in the world, and Kayden was certain of this. Their proportions were flawless, with no one displaying any bodily imperfections.


    It was a pity that all of this would be destroyed in Kayden¡¯s battle with Pedro, the wind mage who represented this organization¡ªa true seventh-realm mage capable of moving at absurd speeds. He fought with a large wooden staff that incorporated his wind techniques and increased in speed alongside him. According to rumors, Pedro was the fastest mage on the planet, but Kayden doubted that. He only needed to extend his spiritual sense to understand that this mage had forced his way into his realm. S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Hello, Pedro. Come out, I¡¯m challenging you for your position in the top ranks," Kayden¡¯s voice echoed throughout the city.


    All activities stopped automatically, and no one knew what to do. Most simply tried to process what was happening¡ªnothing like this had ever occurred before.


    Pedro¡¯s family, the Ventus clan, didn¡¯t know what to do either, but it didn¡¯t take long for everyone to feel Kayden¡¯s strength and realize he was in the fourth realm.


    A few seconds later, a mage rose into the sky. He was the heir of this empire, a true seven-ray mage in the fifth realm. Kevin Ventus was there to defend his family¡¯s honor and humiliate Kayden in every way possible before killing him.


    "Who dares challenge the Ventus family?" the aura of the green-haired, green-eyed boy grew and exploded, suppressing everyone in the city, but Kayden didn¡¯t even flinch¡ªhe had dealt with far greater things for as long as he could remember.


    "I am Kayden Heart. Bring Pedro here, or I will kill everyone in this family." Kayden¡¯s words came out without any emotion, sparking a wave of hatred among most people. This was a benevolent organization, loved by the people.


    "Insolent!" As soon as Kevin began manipulating his mana¡­


    BOOM!


    The heir¡¯s body hit the ground at an absurd speed. He didn¡¯t even understand the blow he had taken. No one besides Kayden and Pedro had seen the movement, but understanding it was something only Kayden was capable of.


    "I¡¯ll spare you because your talent is impressive. If you want to grow beyond seven rays, seek me out. I¡¯ll take you as my disciple," Kayden knew that the boy would either hate him for the rest of his life or seek him out once his family was devoured by other seventh-realm mages.


    A deadly silence descended over the entire city. The heir was considered the greatest genius they had ever had, and everyone took pride in speaking of him. But now, he had been destroyed as if he were a mere talentless fool.


    It took several seconds and many mages to heal Kevin enough for him to stand. Kevin couldn¡¯t find words as he looked at his hands, then at Kayden¡ªthis had been utterly terrifying.


    "Wind Knights, come with me to face the invader." Dozens of sixth-realm mages rose to confront Kayden. Unfortunately, it was the worst decision of their lives.


    POOFT


    POOFT


    POOFT!


    Heads began to fall as if they were raindrops. Kayden spared most of them, only killing those with no emotional ties to Kevin. He had studied the situation carefully and wanted to take full advantage of it.


    "Pedro, you have one minute to come out of that hidden room in the round building, or I¡¯ll kill everyone here," Kayden spoke.


    In a room exactly as Kayden had described, a ridiculously young-looking mage sat in a lounge. He had the same green eyes and hair as the rest of his family. His youthful appearance made his vanity clear, but his cowardice was even more obvious¡ªKayden could feel it. Pedro had recognized him the moment he entered the city.


    All the seven-ray mages on this planet knew each other and understood what level of threat anyone posed to them. Kayden was considered an enigma; no one knew the extent of his strength.


    Pedro floated out of his room and into the skies. Everyone in the city was frightened, and moments later, someone recognized Kayden. Whispers spread throughout the crowd about the legend who had appeared decades ago and then vanished from the world.


    "I challenge you for your rank," Kayden said, staring directly into Pedro¡¯s eyes and releasing his killing intent straight into the mage¡¯s soul.


    The young man began to tremble as if it were the middle of winter and he was nothing more than a mere human. He looked at Kayden as if he were gazing upon a monster.


    Author¡¯s note: no bonus chapter from last week, if I have time I will try to make up for it, as an apology I will lower the price of next month¡¯s privilege to just 1 coin (both levels)

 Chapter 433: Entitled

    If Kayden had already had a number, he could have given up. But since he wasn¡¯t yet numbered, this battle had no retreat¡ªit was a fight to the death, and Pedro was beginning to panic.


    "Pathetic," Kayden muttered, watching as the mage prepared to flee. In a millisecond, Pedro covered an absurd distance, but... the universe responded to Kayden¡¯s will, bending space to place Pedro directly in front of him again.


    **SWISH!**


    The aura slash that the universe conjured split Pedro¡¯s head in two and continued down, dividing his entire body. It wasn¡¯t even a battle¡ªKayden suppressed him directly, down to his soul.


    In a way, Kayden felt disappointed. He had truly hoped for a fight that would push him to his limits, but it seemed that any use of soul-based attacks instantly ended the battle in his favor. No one in this world knew how to manipulate the soul, much less defend against such attacks, leaving their minds alone to resist Kayden¡¯s power. And Pedro... Pedro was just a mage who had reached his level through sheer luck and abundant resources.


    "My name is Kayden Heart, and I claim the rank of 73," his voice echoed throughout the surroundings. No one quite understood what had just happened.


    This wasn¡¯t a fight¡ªnot even a one-sided slaughter. It was an execution, plain and simple. No one there could even comprehend what had occurred. Pedro¡¯s body hit the ground with a dull thud.


    "Kevin, if you ever wish to abandon this mediocrity, seek me out. Being special among sheep has gone to your head. Acknowledge your insignificance before coming to find me," Kayden left this last statement hanging in the air before speeding off into the distance.


    No one could react. It took several minutes before they began to burn the patriarch¡¯s body for a hasty burial. Those who understood how the world worked were fleeing the Ventus family. Reaching the top without enemies was a complete illusion. Most of them had offended one or two families, who would now hunt them down without Pedro¡¯s protection. This city was destined to fall and be destroyed.


    "We need to get the Harmony Gem!" Kevin¡¯s father, a sixth-realm mage, was among the first to think of it. Unfortunately, no one could find it, and soon they turned on each other.


    Another battle began, but Kevin had already fled by that point. He was one of the main targets for enemy families due to his incredible talent.


    In the days that followed, Kayden¡¯s fame reached the highest levels across the entire empire. He was a fourth-realm mage capable of confronting a seventh-realm mage as if it were nothing. Fear began to creep into the hearts of all the seventh-realm mages in the world. The balance had been completely shattered, and when Kayden ascended to higher realms, he would easily dominate and bring the world to its knees.


    However, a select group of five individuals celebrated like never before. Their decision to align with Kayden had saved them and their organizations. They now had absolute certainty of this.


    Kayden earned a title across the planet. Calling him strong was wrong. Calling him a monster didn¡¯t suffice either. There wasn¡¯t a single title that could accurately describe the sheer absurdity of his actions, leading people to call him "the Untitled." His strength was unprecedented, making him the greatest mage to have ever walked the planet. His name began to spread as a legend, and millions of people started naming their children Kayden.


    Jonas had always known Kayden was strong, but after receiving first-hand reports of his power, he realized that all this time, Kayden had been merely polite when negotiating with him.


    Every organization began searching for Kayden to recruit him. He was now the only seven-ray mage without an established affiliation, and everyone wanted that strength, especially after he became a two-digit-ranked mage.


    Unfortunately, no one could find Kayden. He had vanished from the map without a public appearance for years, training his new wave of disciples in secret.


    Marcus was an old carpenter whose village had been sacked, his freedom stolen by slave traders. He had watched his wife be raped and murdered in front of him, and even his daughters hadn¡¯t escaped that fate. He had spent decades as a slave, waiting for his chance at revenge.


    Jordan was a farmer caught in a noble war. His estate was destroyed, most of his family was killed, and to make matters worse, he was taken as a slave with no hope of negotiation.


    Maria had been the fianc¨¦e of a baron but had angered a duke. It didn¡¯t take much to understand that her actions led to her downfall. The girl was sold to the underworld brothels, spending years being used as an object.


    Harlan was... just an ordinary teenager who had been taken in a random raid on a village at the edge of the world. He had nothing special about him, except for his incredibly resilient mind. He was the first to complete Kayden¡¯s challenge.


    These four were Kayden¡¯s new disciples, carefully handpicked. All had immense mental resilience and were subtly influenced to accept his call. Pelvan, meanwhile, was still strong and capable of learning.


    Pelvan had now purified 35% of his soul, gaining immense power in the fifth realm. At this point, Konan could no longer rival him in any situation¡ªKayden had truly created a monster.


    "Pelvan," Kayden called him aside one day, seemingly at random. "You are no longer able to continue training. You¡¯ve failed. You are free to go live your life."


    These were the words Pelvan had feared every day since he saw one of Kayden¡¯s disciples dismissed. He knew his time would come, and his personality had become somewhat twisted as a result.


    "Why master? Where did I fail?" Pelvan asked with a completely different mindset of resentment. S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Your mind is showing flaws, your personality is no longer solid, if you find any solution you can look for me again" after that Pelvan flew off in a random direction.

 Chapter 434: The city of kayden

    Pelvan had spent enough time with Kayden to understand that his master wasn¡¯t someone who showed emotions. In fact, it wasn¡¯t just that¡ªKayden didn¡¯t seem to have any emotions at all. It took Pelvan years to realize this, but it became clear after enough time had passed.


    Kayden continued in this pattern, training his disciples to the point where they would either die at their limit or push further. Each experiment allowed him to go a little farther and become better at manipulating souls.


    Konan was still the primary disciple. The boy had managed to extract 30% of his past lives without any psychological issues, making his strength incredibly frightening, even though he hadn¡¯t yet surpassed his current realm. The fifth realm was too significant to be reached haphazardly. This was why Konan was forced to train far beyond anything he had ever done in his life. Kayden would not allow him to advance until he reached perfection.


    Kayden had two main reasons for investing so much in Konan. The first was to deepen his understanding of souls and their intricacies. The second was to have a training partner. The third, simpler reason¡ªKayden found it amusing. It was entertaining to watch those under his care grow stronger, slowly but surely. The problem was that, as soon as they stopped progressing, Kayden discarded them. Fortunately, Konan was an exception.


    Time flew by at an accelerated pace. It took Kayden 1,400 years to get Konan to a state where 35% of his past lives were extracted without any side effects. Dozens of disciples had died during this period.


    A smaller number had been freed by Kayden, and these were always ridiculously powerful individuals who gradually found their way into positions of power within the empires. Pelvan, for example, had earned the title of Duke in the Black Empire after marrying into a ducal house.


    Pelvan had nothing to offer except his strength¡ªbut that was exactly the point. He had become a seven-ray mage in the sixth realm. Not only that, but his strength was absurdly high, well above the average for his realm. He even sought out Kayden a few centuries ago.


    His master had remained unchanged. Subconsciously, Pelvan desired to impress Kayden, to prove that he, too, could become a grand figure. Unfortunately, all he received was a "Congratulations" from Kayden. After complaining, Kayden¡¯s exact words were:


    "You¡¯re incredible, Pelvan. Your strength is extraordinary... but only among ordinary people. You¡¯ve lost your way in my teachings and didn¡¯t cultivate your realms perfectly. You¡¯re destined to die with seven rays or less."


    Kayden¡¯s words hit Pelvan like a punch to the gut.


    He had dedicated years, decades, centuries to improving¡ªbut it wasn¡¯t enough. Deep down, Pelvan knew the truth in Kayden¡¯s words. His strength was indeed extraordinary, but that was it. In his haste to accelerate his progress, he had cut short his future.


    This became even more evident when he felt the dangerous aura Konan exuded while still in the fifth realm. Thousands of hardships had failed to break Pelvan¡¯s mind, but on that day... it crumbled.


    Pelvan gave up on becoming a god. His mind settled into a comfortable zone, convincing him that he didn¡¯t have the talent to ascend to divinity and that he should simply quit. He lost the battle with his mind, and he didn¡¯t even realize it.


    Other talented disciples emerged¡ªsome with far greater potential than Konan. Kayden even managed to create an authentic eight-ray mage whose power was terrifying and capable of shaking the foundations of the world.


    Yet, despite this, Kayden discarded the mage after a few years. This situation puzzled everyone. None of Kayden¡¯s inner circle of disciples could understand how their master was throwing away the most talented mage among them. An eight-ray mage was a historical milestone in this world; no one could remember anyone like that.


    "I¡¯m not seeking talent. Talent, I can produce and find. What I want are people with a strong mind, and at this moment, only Konan has passed the test," Kayden said frankly. Even after so many years, he had never found anyone with a stronger mentality than Konan¡¯s.


    "Ridiculous! I¡¯m the greatest genius this world has ever seen!" The disciple raised his voice at Kayden, viewing his master as a father figure. This was the hardest situation he had ever faced.


    "Leave," Kayden¡¯s tone was neutral, but it made it clear that if the boy didn¡¯t start moving, he would be killed. Everyone there saw that their master held no mercy.


    That boy was named Thor, one of the greatest talents Kayden had ever released into the world. Over time, Kayden¡¯s disciples began to be sought after across the globe. They were unique and special.


    The hunt for them became so intense that only two organizations¡ªthe two empires¡ªhad the strength to compete for a disciple. The rest of the world didn¡¯t have the power to fight for them.


    This fueled Kayden¡¯s legend even further. His first title was replaced by a new one: Creator of Monsters, a fitting name considering that those who had witnessed his earlier battles were now old or dying.


    Konan was indeed the perfect find for Kayden. The more Kayden trained the boy¡¯s mind, the more it developed. An amusing detail was that the memories Kayden had implanted in Konan¡¯s soul began to fade over time, yet Konan¡¯s personality remained unchanged.


    This was an excellent sign, indicating that his disciple was becoming a true, unique warrior without needing the memories. He was becoming singular in the entire universe.


    When 2,000 years had passed, Kayden realized there were no more opponents for Konan in the fifth or sixth realms. So, he finally settled down in one place. As soon as he did, all the surrounding organizations flocked around him.


    A small village between the two empires began to grow into a city. It took a while, but the two empires eventually agreed to create a divided state in that place. S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 435: Yan

    There was a governor and many laws were made, but everyone knew that the one who truly ruled that place was Kayden. He had opened a training center, and as long as you passed the test, you would be accepted.


    This test occurred once a year and had no restrictions¡ªpeople of all ages and kingdoms could participate. Not only that, but participants could attempt as many times as needed until they succeeded.


    However, no one who failed ever repeated the test.


    It was something very simple; you only needed to withstand Kayden¡¯s killing intent and enter the dojo. The number of steps you took didn¡¯t matter. If you could take even a single step forward, Kayden would consider you a disciple.


    The problem was that most people¡¯s minds collapsed. The higher their rank, the faster they recovered, but even those in the Fifth Realm took months before they could speak properly again.


    It was simply too brutal. The most unbelievable part was that even some Seventh Realm mages were unable to move forward. After the first Seventh Realm mage failed, no one else dared to try. It was simply a shame to be unable to withstand the aura of a mage three realms below them.


    The test¡¯s difficulty far surpassed what Kayden used when selecting slaves because there were more people, allowing him to better separate the wheat from the chaff.


    Each year, billions flocked to Kayden in search of the test, but only two or three completed it. All were warned of the high death rate among Kayden¡¯s disciples, yet they continued, fearless.


    All those who admitted to being Kayden¡¯s disciples gained bizarre strength and rose to social heights within a few years. The dream of becoming powerful without needing resources was too tempting for most people.


    Three thousand years had passed with Kayden standing there, choosing disciples. By this time, hundreds of generations had come and gone, and his legend lived on through the deeds of his disciples.


    They became so influential that empires stationed two Seventh Realm mages in front of Kayden¡¯s building. At first, they tried to fight for candidates using force.


    "Try" was a strong word. In the first attack that destroyed part of the ground, Kayden killed one of the Seventh Realm mages as easily as a chicken. His aura was so terrifying it paralyzed the other three instantly. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The situation became critical. Everyone realized that Kayden was crazy and didn¡¯t fear the empires. Yet, even so, the Dark Empire gathered all its Seventh Realm mages and appeared in front of Kayden¡¯s door.


    There were at least three hundred Seventh Realm mages, many of whom were even Kayden¡¯s former disciples, including an Eighth Realm mage whom Kayden had taught.


    "Master! I have returned," his voice boomed, full of pride. Yan was the strongest Seventh Realm mage ever in that world. It hadn¡¯t taken much effort for him to become the Emperor of the Dark Empire.


    The power transition was simple, with no major turbulence. The former emperor knew when his strength was insufficient and had even accepted Yan as his heir.


    Kayden stepped out calmly, without any hint of surprise or emotion. He looked just as Yan remembered. Slowly, an overwhelming pressure filled the air as Kayden gazed at everyone.


    "You¡¯ve grown a lot in strength," Kayden said this as casually as a father would tell his son he was getting better at his favorite sport.


    Kayden¡¯s calm reaction put everyone on edge. Yan had expected fear, or at least genuine recognition¡ªsome shock at his power¡ªbut there was none. Kayden wasn¡¯t even slightly unsettled.


    While everyone was thinking this, Kayden subtly influenced Yan¡¯s soul, provoking him to attack. Kayden wanted to break the boy¡¯s composure and get a real fight, something he hadn¡¯t had in billions of years.


    "Grown? I¡¯ve become the strongest man in this world. The seas part at my presence, everyone bows to my will, and the only reason I haven¡¯t united the two empires is because of a few setbacks." In truth, the only setback was that he chose to see Kayden before the empires.


    "And yet, you failed to strengthen your mind. You¡¯re still unstable. You failed, Yan. Just accept it and move on with your life." Kayden¡¯s words were like a punch to the gut for his former disciple.


    The anger Kayden had been fueling exploded like a volcano. Without a word, Yan launched an attack of yellow water at Kayden, his special ability¡ªa kind of divine mana liquid.


    This liquid could take on dozens of forms, from healing to acidic. At that moment, it sped toward Kayden like an arrow, easily shattering the space around it. It was an absurd level of power.


    Kayden had to use a powerful aura strike to block the attack. The sensation of giving his all again was intoxicating. This was a battle that wouldn¡¯t disappoint him.


    Thousands of divine water arrows were thrown, and Kayden responded with thousands of aura slashes. The universe itself seemed to carry out his actions; only his will was required at that moment.


    "How are you so strong?" Yan was shocked after a few moves. Insecurity began creeping into his heart, growing stronger as Kayden sent subtle signals into his soul.


    At that moment, two battles were taking place: one physical and the other between Kayden¡¯s and Yan¡¯s souls. Every attack Kayden made carried a tiny piece of his soul¡ªso small it recovered in just a few seconds, but still terrifying.


    A single particle of Kayden¡¯s soul was enough to kill a weak-minded mage. All the Seventh Realm mages present fled for shelter after several died from casual attacks by Kayden and Yan.


    BOOM!


    A ball of water exploded with massive force and created a crater over ten kilometers wide that simply swallowed most of the city in ruins, not only that but it killed almost all the inhabitants of that region.


    The seven-ray mages protected some random people they could, but most were killed, Kayden¡¯s building was defended by him, and in secret, he ordered all his disciples to evacuate so he could deal with this fight with 100% focus.

 Chapter 436: Insane

    "Is that all, Yan?" Kayden taunted as if he were completely at ease with the fight¡ªbecause he was.


    The energy ball exploded directly over Kayden, but the young man tore half of the space with a frightening amount of mana, throwing most of the impact inside. Without that, the surrounding thousand kilometers would likely have been wiped clean of all life and structures. The divine water exploded in smoke that destroyed everything it touched.


    The strikes continued. Kayden fought using raw mana¡ªnothing else¡ªyet it was the peak of perfection. It appeared simple to others, yet at the same time, it was profoundly complex. The perfection of his attacks made them easy to visualize and understand, but impossible to grasp truly. S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The mages began clearing out of the area, fleeing for their lives as even the weaker Seventh Realm mages moved away. Kayden manipulated mana and the surrounding space at an incomprehensible level. It seemed like the universe itself was executing his actions¡ªno delays, no strain, and that was the simple truth.


    The divine water started filling kilometers of space, rising until it threatened to bury everything in the water. Within a few minutes, they were floating above a sea of golden water with no end in sight. All that water surged toward Kayden, like a giant devouring a man. Kayden, who wasn¡¯t even two meters tall, stood against a sea spanning dozens of kilometers. Yan was now using his ultimate technique.


    The Seventh Realm mage was utterly focused, his mind clearer than ever. He wasn¡¯t just any mage; he was an authentic Eight-Rays mage, a unique creation. His final attack consisted of suppressing his opponents with his divine water. It was formed from an extraordinarily strong and unique substance with no precedents, making it deadly.


    "Finally," Kayden felt the old rush of adrenaline from having his life on the line. It had been so long that he had almost forgotten how good it truly felt. He focused inward for a moment and drew his movements directly from his soul. At that moment, Kayden wasn¡¯t using his mind¡ªit was his soul traveling through every inch of his spiritual sense.


    Kayden¡¯s soul, which had been concentrated within his body, dispersed across hundreds of kilometers, converting everything into mana. Absolutely everything was transformed, even space itself crumbled into nothingness.


    If it had been the past, the void would be merging with the world, but after Father¡¯s actions, the universe had developed a second layer before the void could be accessed, one that restored all damage inflicted.


    A portion of the world simply disappeared, and Kayden was left with an amount of mana no mortal should have been able to control. His soul reformed, along with all the mana. The amount was so vast that it appeared as if a blue block, spanning dozens of kilometers, materialized in the sky out of nowhere. As soon as Kayden¡¯s soul reformed, it immediately separated again and enveloped the mana.


    The sea of golden water had already dissolved into mana. It was strong, but not strong enough to face a soul directly. Kayden¡¯s soul concentrated again, and all that mana became a single aura slash.


    BOOOOOM!


    An aura slash descended on Yan. The young man didn¡¯t even have time to react; he couldn¡¯t even blink before he ceased to exist. The slash should have split him in two, but it was so immense that it crushed him into pure mana, killing him instantly.


    The sound of the explosion came from the world being sliced with a cut more than 1,000 kilometers long and nearly 3,000 kilometers deep. Kayden had practically created and shaped a new space within the world.


    His attack caused thousands of deaths, wiped cities off the map, and created an unprecedented abyss. Some seas began to pour into it, vanishing into the darkness.


    Pooft! Pooft! Pooft!


    The former emperor collapsed, along with all the other Seventh Realm mages who had witnessed the victory. The shock was total. This wasn¡¯t something mortals should be able to do, at least not in that realm.


    Kayden had shattered an entire part of the world while in the Fourth Realm. His power was already considered unprecedented, but now? What the hell had that been? If all the Seventh Realm mages had joined forces in this attack¡­


    They¡¯d all probably be dead by now. None of them, not even for a second, believed they could have faced¡ªor defended against¡ªan attack of that magnitude.


    Silence dominated the scene. They didn¡¯t even know what to say. There were no words to describe the situation. Kayden remained floating in the sky in silence, recovering from the attack. His soul trembled as though it might break, and an infernal pain had assaulted his body. He knew he had overdone it, but it had been beautiful¡ªthe greatest power he had ever used in his life.


    The pain was masked by the intoxicating thrill of power, but that sensation only lasted for a few seconds. He collected himself. He had overexerted himself and needed to rest his soul. That meant no more fighting for a while.


    "Do you wish to continue?" Kayden looked at the Seventh Realm mages and spoke without emotion. He knew he had already won the battle of their minds before even asking.


    There was no response. None of them could even reply without violent fear coursing through their bodies. Even the former emperor kept his mouth shut as if he were no one.


    "I want my city rebuilt in one week. Not just that¡ªeverything around it must have trees planted, new grass, and the population restored to how it was before," Kayden gave a ridiculously short deadline.


    "Sir¡­ I mean, God Kayden," the former emperor used a title more fitting for the current situation. "That time frame is impossible¡­" Kayden interrupted him without a trace of emotion.


    "Put all the wizards in the seventh kingdom to work on this," Kayden demoted them to mere carpentry and construction wizards, "I don¡¯t care or I¡¯ll kill every single one of you in the next few hours."

 Chapter 437: Teacher

    The space around was completely shattered, creating chaos, but it began to rebuild itself within just a few minutes. The universe became much stronger; it was not a mere fourth-realm mage capable of breaking its spatial laws.


    With that, the boy descended and began to rebuild his temple. This part was something he had to do himself, and everything had to be exactly to his taste and preferences. It was practically a combination of the architecture of the Taj Mahal and Russian palaces. The onion-shaped domes, typical of Russian architecture, were made of black marble, reflecting the moonlight. The towers were tall and imposing, with precise geometric details running along their surfaces, framed by pointed arches reminiscent of Islamic style. Black was the predominant color, creating a sense of power and mystery.


    The exterior consisted of large, smooth black stone walls, interrupted by stained glass windows that contrasted with the darkness. The massive wrought iron gates bore intricate designs combining traditional Indian and Russian symbols. The gardens surrounding the palace were minimalist, with sparse trees and dark water fountains that reflected the night sky.


    Inside the palace, the dark theme continued. Vast halls were adorned with dark crystal chandeliers and black marble columns. The polished stone floor reflected the golden details on the walls, creating a feeling of cold elegance. Rooms decorated with tapestries and ornaments followed the same austere style, providing an atmosphere of luxury and mystery.


    Kayden took exactly one week to build this structure, while the city grew around it at a pace that seemed only possible because of nearly 300 seventh-realm mages working day and night without any rest.


    Kayden¡¯s disciples returned without a single casualty, watching their master construct the place with absolute focus and subtlety as if Kayden was painting a picture while building.


    The universe responded to his commands; things were shaped and formed as if he were giving detailed instructions to a machine. Everyone paused at least once during the week to try and understand how Kayden was doing it, but none of them succeeded.


    The city rose at an unprecedented speed in history. Many people survived and were given resources to rebuild, while the rest were recruited from the cities and villages of the two empires. Since this was a fully planned city, it grew beautifully, with immense gardens and public parks. All the houses followed the same style, with purple and pink cherry blossoms, something Kayden appreciated due to an event in his past.


    The two emperors realized that after everything that had happened, they were no longer the true rulers of this world. They were merely representing the majority because Kayden had no interest in ruling.


    This understanding also made them realize that this place would now be the center of the world, even though thousands of countries with billions of inhabitants were scattered everywhere. This specific point would decide the fate of everyone on this planet.


    The empires¡¯ capitals were moved to this location in a unique event, marked by the marriage between the emperor of the dark side and the empress of the white mages. Finally, peace was achieved after many, many years.


    This caused a dramatic shift in global dynamics. Wars between empires ceased, and conflicts shifted between countries, resulting in a surge in death tolls and warfare.


    At this point, the empire merely collected taxes, as it controlled the entire world. In truth, it had always been like this. The emperors had been lovers for millennia and always made plans together. Kayden merely sped up the process.


    When they declared a state of emergency, claiming the need to unite forces, they silenced all opposing voices with just a few swift moves. Normally, they could not use force freely, even though they were the strongest, as they could still be overwhelmed by vast numbers of people.


    In a way, life for most people became a bit worse, as the insecurity of war increased to a bizarre level. In the past, countries within the same empire did not go to war, but now, everything descended into chaos.


    The power dynamics needed to be restructured, meaning fights became much more frequent in the pursuit of balance. Everyone sought to claim a larger slice of the pie.


    Meanwhile, Kayden continued his recruitment system. His fame grew to an unprecedented level in all of history. He became the most well-known name in every corner of the planet, the strongest mage the world had ever seen. Boundaries and realms were mere jokes to him.


    The emperors¡¯ prestige plummeted, and in many places, thoughts of rebellion began to emerge. This was anticipated by experts, and these rebellions were brutally suppressed.


    A few years later, the pilgrimage to face Kayden¡¯s test became a unique global event. People came from all corners to face his challenge and witness the abyss created by the strongest man in the world.


    The number of people attempting Kayden¡¯s test became staggering, easily surpassing half a trillion. This world was enormous, absurdly large, with tens of trillions of people, yet the number capable of passing his test was ridiculously low. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "How many of you have really trained for something in your lives?" Kayden was giving a grand lecture to billions of people.


    He realized that he could spread a bit of his life philosophy, and people would follow his advice immediately. This led him to give a lecture before every test he conducted.


    "Most of you probably answered yes, that you really pushed yourselves to your limits," Kayden saw that many there agreed, blind in their ignorance. "The truth is that none of you have ever really pushed yourselves." Kayden¡¯s voice hit like a punch for most, as no one liked having their effort disregarded. "The body is strong, but the mind is weak. Let me tell you a little story."


    Kayden always gave his classes sitting on a tree trunk that was a few dozen meters high outside the city. The city was large and could house a few hundred million people, but hundreds of billions was a completely different level.

 Chapter 438: Limits

    Kayden always held his classes sitting on a tree trunk that was located several dozen meters high outside the city. The city was large and could house a few hundred million, but hundreds of billions were at a different level.


    "In a world where there was no mana at all, humans were ordinary beings. They could only rely on the limits of their body and mind." The idea of a world without mana was terrifying. "I came from that world, and through many different circumstances, I ended up here." Kayden¡¯s revelation was deafening to most, as they knew nothing about him.


    "Lies! My great-grandfather told me he met your family in the old empire," a voice emerged from the crowd with a degree of courage that no one there could believe. Kayden had placed that person there.


    "Are you insinuating that I¡¯m lying?" Kayden smiled and made a soul contract in front of everyone so that he wouldn¡¯t lie for the next few minutes. "I came from that planet. It probably doesn¡¯t exist anymore, but we didn¡¯t have mana. We were just weak humans with no perspective."


    Kayden¡¯s revelations shocked everyone, especially those who had been around since the time he was just a boy. These were an absolute minority, only those who had surpassed the fourth realm lived long enough, and they were few¡ªridiculously few.


    "Most humans in that place lived lives of illusions, chasing material goods above all else, much like the way you pursue social titles." Kayden delivered yet another blow to many there. "But a few went beyond and tested their limits, trained their bodies and minds to the human limit and beyond it. Most of you don¡¯t remember, but what¡¯s the limit of a human who never cultivated? How many kilometers can they run?"


    Many attended Kayden¡¯s lectures to witness the heart of the world, so they knew some of Kayden¡¯s questions were open for the brave to answer. They had to be brave, as there was the pressure of half a trillion people against them.


    "I believe 100 kilometers is a good point for a highly trained human," the emperor of the dark side answered Kayden after a few seconds of silence.


    His words were echoed by the majority there, but few truly understood the strength of a human who had never cultivated. They were extremely rare, usually due to problems they were born with, and no one sane would refuse to believe.


    "Georges Holtyzer ran 673 kilometers with only a few breaks to attend to his physiological needs." An eerie silence fell upon everyone there, even some first-realm mages weren¡¯t sure they could achieve that.


    "The mind is capable of going far beyond what our bodies can. Most of you have never even come close to the true limit of your bodies. You get tired and think you¡¯ve done your best." Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden¡¯s words were once again like a slap in the face for everyone, even the emperors were deep in thought. No one there had truly reached such a terrifying point as George.


    "And you think that¡¯s the maximum? Jonas Deichmann cycled 180 kilometers," Kayden had shown this vehicle to the world a few months earlier, "ran 42 kilometers, and swam another 5 kilometers." These numbers were already impressive, but it became even worse when Kayden added, "every day for 120 days."


    120 days completing what is known as an Ironman challenge. It was simply unbelievable that the human body could achieve something like that. It was simply too large a number¡ªpractically one-third of an entire year.


    "Do you understand where I¡¯m getting at? You may be strong, the most powerful mages in your realms, and yet I doubt any of you have ever worked as hard as a man who never felt mana in his life. End of the lecture."


    Each of Kayden¡¯s classes was a shock for most people. The topics were always different. Sometimes he taught techniques that would be reasons for wars between nations, while other times he simply imparted life lessons.


    Both were important. Fools believed only the techniques were superior, and that brute force would always prevail. This was the mindset of the majority, but a few were wise and able to understand the quality of Kayden¡¯s teachings.


    "The test will happen in an hour," Kayden concluded his lecture and vanished. About an hour later, he returned to the same place and unleashed his full aura and killing intent.


    Most collapsed to the ground unconscious as soon as the test began. Many didn¡¯t understand the true difficulty of the test and came just for fun, which caused a few deaths from shock every year.


    The rest were divided into those who could only stay conscious and those who were able to think at least a little. The latter were the ones capable of attempting the trial.


    Again, only a tiny number succeeded in this trial. In fact, only four people were able to walk to Kayden, while the rest failed and were left in the void to recover on their own.


    The number of Kayden¡¯s disciples kept growing and shrinking in equal measure. He could ensure they lost about 20% of their life force with total safety. Beyond that, problems would begin to arise.


    Kayden made sure they reached the 20% mark in just five years of alternating sessions, and with some resources, he only politely requested and received from the emperors, he was able to accelerate the disciples¡¯ mental recovery.


    The success rate was still 0%. No disciple, besides Konan, had been able to keep their mind intact beyond 35%. At the moment, this was the limit Konan had reached, and it had become an insurmountable barrier to Kayden¡¯s abilities.


    After a few more centuries, Kayden managed to increase the limit by 5%, using a technique that involved placing a person¡¯s soul back into themselves. This would consolidate it while also destroying it.


    When Konan reached the 40% mark, he became a true monster. His techniques became something beautiful to watch; he was practically a new person. But even so, Kayden didn¡¯t think he was ready to try becoming a monarch.


    Konan¡¯s mind was strong¡ªthe strongest Kayden had ever encountered in all these years. But unfortunately, he still wasn¡¯t capable of facing the monarch, at least not yet.

 Chapter 439: The test to become a monarch

    The world was slowly changing as Kayden¡¯s disciples gained more and more influence in the global dynamics. Each could rival the greatest geniuses, but they were also the cause of most wars and heinous crimes.


    Those with any power and influence in this world understood that the disciples who left Kayden¡¯s temple were the ones who had failed, and they were the majority. Konan was the only one who had never left Kayden, which meant that this disciple had not yet failed.


    The wars were supposed to stop over time, but they only continued with greater frequency. Most were caused by Kayden¡¯s disciples, with their unstable minds and high-level talents. As time went on, these disciples began to be hunted as signs of misfortune. Wherever they went, something bad happened. The people were tired of fighting wars caused by them, and everyone understood that those who left the temple were failures.


    Kayden began killing those who were too unstable as soon as they were expelled from his temple. This caused the number of disastrous events to decrease significantly, and their recovery improved somewhat. All of this was done so that the number of participants in his tests wouldn¡¯t dwindle. Kayden was searching for a mage who could surpass Konan, but he doubted he would find one. The prince¡¯s mind was ridiculously superior to anyone else Kayden had encountered.


    Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, Konan reached the sixth realm and managed to summon eight lightning bolts during his ascension. It was an incredible event that solidified him as the second most powerful mage on the planet, second only to Kayden.


    "At this moment, you are stronger than me and practically all the seventh-realm mages," Konan heard as soon as he landed after the test. "If you want the honor and glory that come with power, I will let you go after dominion over this world. All the women, all the riches, all the treasures will be yours," Kayden sweetened his words with honey and a few soul attacks.


    "No, master. I seek power, not worldly things," Konan¡¯s mindset was ridiculously well-trained. He didn¡¯t even waver in his decision. Long ago, he had given up on pursuing common pleasures.


    "Are you sure? Glory is just one step away." Kayden was bombarding Konan¡¯s soul with all his strength at that moment, and the boy¡¯s mind was beginning to show signs of faltering.


    "No, master," Konan resisted fiercely and rejected every one of Kayden¡¯s advances. Finally, his mind had made the leap Kayden wanted. At that moment, he was unique, a singular existence over which Kayden no longer had control. S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Congratulations, Konan. You have passed the first stage of becoming a Monarch," Kayden began to explain everything he knew about the Monarchs to his disciples and how to become one. At that moment, a new world opened up for Konan.


    **********


    Konan¡¯s mind was strong, but perhaps Kayden had rushed things too much, or perhaps he had dreamed too high, and Monarchs couldn¡¯t be created. But he doubted the latter, for everyone is born with infinite possibilities for development; they just need to be guided down the right paths.


    Konan had been in a coma for 23 years since he began imposing his will on mana, just as Kayden had done the first time he attempted to become a Monarch. At least he was still showing signs of life; all Kayden had to do was wait.


    In the meantime, he continued to produce disciples. With each passing day, more people were infected with Kayden¡¯s mindset. The boy had written a book and sent it to the emperors for distribution.


    He wasn¡¯t able to change everyone¡¯s mind in this world directly, but slowly, he made small changes through interventions capable of generating direct results over time. The number of Kayden¡¯s disciples continued to grow, and time kept passing. In the blink of an eye, tens of thousands of years had passed, and at that moment, Kayden¡¯s first major failure appeared.


    Konan ended up dying naturally. His soul was completely shattered and cast directly onto the path of resurrection. Kayden didn¡¯t even get to see his disciple die. So many years were wasted in a matter of seconds.


    Even after all that time, Konan was still the person Kayden had invested in the most and who had gone the farthest. At that moment, he was able to push his disciples to a total of 50% cleansing of past lives.


    This percentage placed them directly at the peak of the realms. Achieving seven lightning bolts was child¡¯s play for them, but eight lightning bolts were still something special that only a tiny number had been able to reach.


    Seven lightning bolts only required the strength to challenge the heavens, but eight lightning bolts was a far greater stage. One needed something beyond common geniuses; one had to be completely unique in their path and power.


    This proved to Kayden that he could create monsters, but he couldn¡¯t create geniuses. There was a subtle difference between them, but as one progressed through the realms, it became more and more apparent.


    After Konan, other failures came. Kayden remained alive as time passed¡ªthousands and thousands of years, hundreds of thousands of years, living only to study the soul and search for a way to progress.


    Time no longer meant anything to him. Kayden had lived long enough to see both emperors die and others take their places. He watched the world descend into chaos over control of the empire.


    The former princesses were strong, but some geniuses could go far beyond them. It was amusing to see how a mage from absolute obscurity managed to ascend to the seventh realm with eight lightning bolts and wipe out any existing dynasty.


    Kayden appeared at his coronation ceremony. As soon as he stepped into the hall, everyone fell silent. It seemed the world was about to face the greatest battle in a long time, but fortunately, Kayden merely greeted him and watched the ceremony.


    So much time had passed that no one dared to challenge him anymore. Kayden was the oldest man walking these lands, and even the oldest mage there remembered their parents saying Kayden was already an old man.

 Chapter 440: Success

    Kayden¡¯s kingdom had slowly become a mystery. There were two absolute truths in the world: the first was death, and the second was that Kayden¡¯s test had been conducted longer than the current empire had existed.


    "What makes someone a genius?" Kayden was delivering one of his thousands of lectures. Many people who attended these lectures over the centuries eventually became his disciples.


    "Strength above others," a voice came from the crowd. No one there feared Kayden¡ªonly respected him, as he had never harmed a soul in this world.


    "Perfect," Kayden replied, leaving the person in ecstasy, "but also terribly wrong. When you are surrounded by geniuses, what makes you different? Strength?"


    Kayden¡¯s questions made everyone think deeply, and most often, they failed to find the right answer. It made no sense to be strong if everyone around you was strong, as that made strength common.


    "Genius comes from the ability to become something unique, a mage who has never been seen and cannot be copied. That is a true genius. The paths already traveled only lead to the same places," Kayden concluded the lecture and promised to return in an hour.


    An hour later, there he was, in front of half a trillion people¡ªa number that remained constant, sometimes rising and sometimes falling. Having lived so long, Kayden noticed that the world maintained a balance in the number of lives.


    The world seemed to have a will of its own, self-regulating. In many instances, the population would reach extremely high levels, and then mysterious diseases or wars would erupt everywhere. When the population was low, peace reigned.


    Kayden developed the hypothesis that this was due to the number of souls. The world couldn¡¯t handle too many souls at once and needed a certain minimum quantity. This last part didn¡¯t make much sense to Kayden.


    The world seemed to have some sort of rationality, but it was probably something rational done irrationally, like how computers execute programs. Worlds, too, must be capable of managing their laws.


    "Good luck to you all," Kayden unleashed his aura and killing intent freely upon all the people present.


    Over the years, he had increased the difficulty by several degrees. Strong minds were good, but strength alone no longer produced the results he sought for his research. Now, he only wanted the pinnacle of willpower. This left him without any disciples for years.


    Most fainted immediately. The rest remained motionless, unable even to move forward or think clearly. But this time, something different happened...


    A barefoot adolescent, wearing tattered clothes, was walking toward Kayden as if the pressure didn¡¯t exist at all. His eyes... were empty. That look...


    Kayden had seen it before when he looked in the mirror. The boy was short, barely 1.50 meters tall, practically a dwarf in a world where everyone was well-developed physically due to mana. S~ea??h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    His hair was straw-yellow, and he was extremely malnourished. Whip marks covered his body, making it clear to everyone that he had been severely mistreated all his life.


    "Congratulations, boy. What¡¯s your name?" Kayden noticed the boy¡¯s eyes didn¡¯t even flicker at the recognition.


    "I don¡¯t have a name. My owners don¡¯t allow me to have one," Kayden confirmed his theory at that moment.


    "Your owners¡­ what do you want to do with them?" Kayden asked as if offering candy.


    "Kill them. All of them, even the children," came the harsh reply, something no ordinary person would say without hesitation.


    "Are they here? Just point them out," Kayden saw the boy indicate a family with several sixth-realm mages among them. They weren¡¯t weak, but as soon as Kayden thought of killing them, the universe did the rest.


    Not even the children were spared. Everyone was killed instantly. Finally, Kayden saw a glimmer of recognition in the boy¡¯s eyes, but just a flicker, as if it had been a single step.


    "Enter and wait for the end of the test," Kayden ordered his new disciple. After just a few more minutes, no one else survived the test, something he had expected. After wishing good luck to everyone next year, Kayden entered the temple.


    "Why don¡¯t you have any cultivation?" Kayden had noticed it before but had saved the question for a private setting.


    "I was born like this. I can¡¯t feel the mana inside my body," Kayden¡¯s eyes nearly popped with excitement at the opportunity.


    "I¡¯m going to do a small test on you. It will hurt." Kayden didn¡¯t wait for the boy¡¯s response and removed 5% of his past lives in a single motion. The boy was assaulted by infernal pain and couldn¡¯t even move his eyes.


    Unlike all the other disciples, the boy stood up afterward, looking at Kayden in shock. But that wasn¡¯t the issue¡ªthe fact that he could stand after a session of past-life removal was.


    "Congratulations, boy. Do you want to choose a name?" Kayden asked his disciple.


    "I don¡¯t have one in mind, master," the boy managed to reply calmly despite the pain he had just endured. It wasn¡¯t something the body could easily handle; it was a pain directly in the soul.


    "I¡¯ll call you Han Heart," Kayden said, recalling certain things from his past. It was just something he liked, with no sentimental value.


    "Thank you, master. But what about my problem with mana?" Kayden smiled.


    "That¡¯s not a problem, boy. Just follow my instructions."


    ************


    In the following years, Kayden had Han cultivate his body like someone from Earth. It took two decades, with proper nutrition and excellent resources, for him to reach the true peak of the human body.


    Past lives were slowly removed, and the boy¡¯s mind continued to grow in strength rapidly. By this point, soul attacks were met with some resistance, which was impressive since it had taken Konan millennia to reach that level.


    The problem with the boy¡¯s body was impossible to fix, Kayden had two options at that moment, simply put him in another body or place him as a monarch, the second was preferable, as it would increase the quality of his study.

 Chapter 441: Time[Bonus]

    After testing numerous alternative methods, Kayden finally managed to enable Han to manipulate mana outside his body. However, it was a ridiculously small amount, and it took hundreds of forced mana shock sessions before Han could do it on his own.


    "I want you to become a Monarch," Kayden said these words only when his disciple had had 50% of his past lives removed and was at the absolute end of his natural lifespan.


    Han¡¯s life had been prolonged for centuries through treasures. He never complained and continued to work diligently under Kayden¡¯s teachings, his mind simply unshakable. Kayden had truly found a gem in Han.


    "Subjugate the mana down to its last atom and defeat the god of that place." These were Kayden¡¯s only instructions. Han had just a few decades left to live, so this was his last chance.


    "Farewell, master," were Han¡¯s final words to Kayden. This time, the master was truly confident in his disciple.


    Not even Konan had come close to possessing a mind as sharp as Han¡¯s. This time, Kayden was sure he had created a genius¡ªthough in reality, he had merely provided the right paths.


    About five years later, the mana in the entire region, covering a kilometer, became anemic and lifeless. It had bowed down. Kayden dropped everything and rushed to Han, feeling as though he were looking into a mirror.


    Han¡¯s body was overflowing with mana, his eyes seemed to carry all the mana in the world, and his very breath exuded it. Kayden remembered this exact state as if it were yesterday.


    "I did it, master," Han knelt in respect, his mind strong enough to remain humble despite his accomplishments.


    "Congratulations, Han. You¡¯ve taken your first step toward becoming a god," Kayden smiled at his disciple. There were still many steps ahead.


    Now Han had to push his body to the next realm by forcing mana cultivation. Fortunately, his Monarch¡¯s path allowed him to handle this challenge. Initially, it was difficult, but Han already had a foundation, and through Kayden¡¯s teachings, he became the Monarch of Despair just a few decades later.


    Within a few more decades, Han advanced to become a first-realm mage with nine lightning bolts. Kayden had truly succeeded in creating a genius this time. Han fought with a form of dark mana that caused hallucinations and worked like acid. S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The boy wielded a sword made to measure from the most expensive resources on the planet, and his techniques involved fighting with the sword sheathed, mentally wearing down his opponents.


    For the first time in hundreds of thousands of years, Kayden stopped conducting his tests. Finally, he had the opportunity to study a Monarch up close. His main focus was on the boy¡¯s soul.


    Han¡¯s soul had solidified even further after becoming a Monarch. His past lives were still present but had become much weaker and dimmer compared to his primary soul. His entire soul had undergone radical changes.


    Previously, it had been a solid foundation carrying the existence of many past lives. Now, it seemed like a structure that had lived many lives, but those lives were secondary, and his soul was simply a support for his current existence.


    Han was superior to everyone in his realm, and even most people below the fifth realm lagged behind him in terms of strength. Only fourth-realm mages with seven lightning bolts could compete with him.


    "You¡¯re like a greenhouse flower right now, Han. I need you to go out and explore the world, make friends, kill people, reproduce your lineage¡ªin short, gain life experiences. Come back in ten thousand years."


    Kayden gave Han an extended period of time and resources to survive in lesser realms. He also taught him methods to prolong his life and how to behave in different environments.


    These actions seemed like someone caring for his disciple, but the truth was that Kayden had already completed his research. It no longer mattered what happened to his disciples or not.


    Studying the soul of a Monarch allowed Kayden to understand what he needed to do to reach the fifth realm and what his final form in this universe should be. Nearly all his ideas came from long periods of studying souls and paths.


    Kayden entered a long period of seclusion. It would take him many years¡ªperhaps hundreds or even thousands¡ªto prepare for advancement.


    His soul was being altered at its most fundamental level, and the process was painfully slow. Every minute passed with him expanding and dilating his soul. Everything was going perfectly but at a snail¡¯s pace.


    Altering the shape of the soul was incredibly difficult and required immense concentration on Kayden¡¯s part. He was essentially doing something no one had ever done before. He was already unique, but now he sought to become even more unique.


    Years began passing in a blur as Kayden continued his soul alterations. Meanwhile, outside, Han was causing quite a stir. He had reached the third realm at a ridiculous speed and just a few centuries later, advanced to the fourth realm.


    The deficiencies in Han¡¯s body concealed one of the greatest talents humanity had ever seen in its entire existence. The realms passed by quickly, and his strength grew at an astonishing rate.


    Han¡¯s fame grew to an absurd level, while Kayden¡¯s reputation began to fade into near-obscurity. As thousands of years passed, Kayden became more of a legend to scare children.


    When Han reached the fourth realm, the entire planet recognized his existence. He was a mage with nine lightning bolts and had become one of the top figures while still only in the fourth realm.


    Fear gripped the minds of most seven-lightning mages. They knew the legends¡ªonce, a figure named Kayden Heart had appeared out of nowhere and shook the world. This time, the name was Han Heart, and the pieces fit together perfectly.


    Han was increasingly determined to study his path, at first he just killed a few people and participated in wars, but as his strength and control grew he began to decimate small villages for his studies.


    Author¡¯s Note: 200 stones per chapter bonus now, 150 became too easy

 Chapter 442: Han

    The mage, Han, grew up under the guidance of someone as emotionless as Kayden. He had a clear objective in mind and would fight for it without hesitation. After centuries and the destruction of dozens of villages, Han faced a harsh reality.


    "Who are you?" Han asked after being utterly defeated by a seventh-realm mage in just a few moves. The mage was an elderly man with white hair and a long beard that fell to his waist. His body appeared small and frail, supported by a staff. Yet, the amount of mana he possessed was absurd, seemingly limitless.


    His attacks were swift¡ªfar too fast for someone of the seventh realm. It was as if he didn¡¯t even need to think before moving, casting dozens of massive spells without pause.


    "Control your massacres. The world is undergoing a rebalancing," the old man said. Han barely heard this as the mage dealt direct damage to his cultivation, leaving him immobilized for centuries.


    This was the strangest experience Han had ever encountered. He thought he was the strongest mage on the planet, perhaps only rivaled by his master. Even then, it would have been a close battle¡ªor so he believed. His path of power had never placed him in a situation where he felt inferior to anyone, but now, he was utterly crushed.


    For the first time in ages, Han was gripped by a deep, unprecedented fear of death. He knew he was only alive because the old man chose not to kill him; otherwise, his life would have ended.


    For centuries after this, Han vanished. He focused solely on training and cultivation, staying out of sight, and doing everything he could to avoid attracting the attention of the old mage. At this time, he searched for Kayden, but it seemed his master had disappeared from the face of the earth.


    No one from the newer generations had heard of Kayden. He had become an urban legend, a story told only by the oldest members of society. His city had faded into obscurity, its location now forgotten.


    Meanwhile, Kayden slowly succeeded in expanding his soul into a larger form. He was doing what no one had ever done before. His sixth sense became an extension of his mind, stretching across kilometers. The universe was feeding him information directly¡ªmore accurately, he felt everything around him. Everything was from him, and everything was for him. His soul was being diluted.


    Kayden¡¯s goal was to integrate his soul with the universe and his sixth sense. He sought to become an entity without a physical form, present everywhere. This was the wildest idea he had ever conceived.


    Fortunately, Kayden had prepared for an absurdly long time for this. His knowledge was at the absolute pinnacle of his existence. Now, all he had to do was apply it. The process was tough at first. A soul is rigid and difficult to manipulate, but as time passed, Kayden improved.


    The pain was similar to having his past life removed. The challenge was that Kayden had to remain attentive every second¡ªany mistake and his entire existence would be wasted. Tampering with the soul was a difficult task.


    Each day, Kayden managed to extend his soul by a few centimeters. Progress was slow but steady. Kayden felt that with every passing day, he was drawing closer to a breakthrough¡ªa rupture point where his soul would suddenly expand exponentially.


    After 90,000 years, Kayden finally reached that threshold. His soul now spanned several kilometers, and he felt the presence of a final barrier. One more step, and everything would change.


    Kayden¡¯s soul was perfect, just like every other in the universe. Souls were well-crafted, identical at their core. Only their unique traits differentiated them. But now, Kayden was attempting something unprecedented.


    He could feel the universe calling to him, offering itself as a pillar for his soul, inviting him to merge with it. Kayden was on the verge of becoming one with the universe. This was good, but it also meant there would be no reincarnation for him. This was his final life.


    Luckily, this was a decision Kayden had made millions of years ago. He didn¡¯t believe in secondary plans. It was always one plan, one path¡ªeither 100% success or 100% failure.


    After a long time, Kayden took the final step. His soul stretched in all directions and filled his entire perception. Initially, he had only extended a few kilometers, but after breaking the barrier, his soul expanded to fill everything.


    The sensation was utterly unique, beyond explanation. Kayden felt everything as part of himself. The ability to convert things into mana became immensely powerful, and space itself was at his command.


    Everything was him, and at the same time, everything was the universe. There was no delay in anything he did. His attacks could emerge from any part of his spiritual sense with equal strength. Additionally, he could instantly convert and release mana without any delay.


    Previously, mana had to be condensed, but now it was simply released without hesitation. Mana seemed to come from nowhere and was used without any lag. It was surreal, as Kayden was directly violating the laws of space. Since everything was him, there was no sense of mana needing to cross distances¡ªeverything was already with him.


    Kayden¡¯s physical body no longer had any value. It made no difference. Even if it were entirely burned away at this moment, it would mean nothing. His soul was no longer inside it.


    Everything seemed beautiful, but there was a danger. The path of resurrection constantly tugged at Kayden¡¯s soul. He had to remain vigilant at all times. The slightest slip, and he would be pulled into the resurrection path. But with his soul diluted, he wouldn¡¯t be able to traverse it. Instead, he would be torn apart, his soul shattered into millions of pieces.


    Kayden¡¯s strength grew by bids of folds at this moment, the attack he had used on Yan could be replicated instantly without any delay or burden on his mind. S§×ar?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 443: Monster

    Kayden¡¯s strength grew exponentially at this moment. His attack with Yan could now be replicated instantly, without any delay or strain on his mind. With this newfound power, Kayden had surpassed 99% of all the Ninth-Ray mages that had ever existed, his strength reaching unprecedented levels. There were only a handful of beings capable of something like this.


    Kayden began solidifying and testing the parameters of his soul, knowing this would take even more time. Years passed in the blink of an eye, transforming into centuries. After millennia, he managed to resolve the issue with the path of resurrection by anchoring a piece of his soul to his body. This fragment was vital to him, and if removed, it could force him into hibernation for a long time.


    His new form granted him advantages no mortal should have. First, his body no longer mattered. Anyone wanting to kill him would need to be able to manipulate souls or cast spells capable of reaching his. The likelihood of someone possessing such abilities was nearly nonexistent. Killing Kayden¡¯s physical body would only force him into hibernation, making him practically immortal against ordinary people and most geniuses.


    Once everything was in place, Kayden began ascending to the Fifth Realm. Again, it was easy, but this time, the ease was almost ridiculous. He effortlessly defended himself from the ascension lightning bolts, which could easily strike his soul and cause significant damage. However, Kayden merely suppressed the lightning with greater force. His aura slashes were so strong they could tear space into thousands of pieces, just from the remnants of his attack.


    Kayden could now unleash his maximum-strength slash three times consecutively without any difficulty. The first slash would shatter all the space around him. The second would break the containment created by the universe, something ordinarily incredibly difficult. Luckily, Kayden was using only his space manipulation path. The third slash consumed the void itself.


    These three attacks were surreal. Kayden used one for the eighth bolt and another for the ninth bolt, and he still had one left. This level of power was beyond comprehension, and the worst part was that Kayden still had much more room for improvement. S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Ascending to the Fifth Realm did nothing to enhance his strength. The lightning bolts no longer posed a threat to him. At this point, only Kayden could increase his power. Nothing else could improve him further.


    Once again, Kayden went into seclusion to push his strength to its limits. The easiest way was to expand his sixth sense, which was also a way of increasing his existence. His spells and attacks were already perfect¡ªbillions of years of study had ensured that. There was little he could do to improve them further. Expanding his sixth sense, however, had a direct impact on his power.


    The larger his reach, the more mana he could convert. Kayden spent the next thousands of years solely on this process. It was slow but constant progress. In the Fifth Realm, he managed to extend his sixth sense to a range of ten thousand kilometers. At this point, he surpassed any mortal limit. His reach was the same as it had been when he was in the Sixth Realm.


    Once again, Kayden could unleash his maximum strength three times in a row. The difference was that his strength had grown exponentially. In theory, it should have increased only tenfold to maintain proportionality, but mana didn¡¯t work that way. His power had grown to something between twenty and thirty times.


    A single attack from Kayden at this point could almost split his former planet, Earth, in two. Earth had a diameter of around twelve thousand kilometers, and Kayden¡¯s attack could reach nearly thirty thousand kilometers deep.


    This was not the kind of power a mere mortal should possess. Kayden no longer stood on the same level as any other being on the planet and was likely among the most talented in the entire universe.


    Ten thousand kilometers was the limit of the Fifth Realm. To go beyond it, Kayden would have to ascend. It was as if the universe imposed a barrier to prevent its inhabitants from exceeding a certain level of power.


    Kayden decided to wait. He could have ascended immediately, but there was something he wanted to learn, and he also needed to seek battles to improve his strength. At this moment, he felt like a flower in a greenhouse.


    His strength had grown by thousands of times, but he had yet to find worthy opponents. In a way, he was stuck with only mental battles. That¡¯s why he needed to leave this planet as soon as possible.


    ************


    The time Han spent in isolation was extremely beneficial for him. The young man had grown both in strength and mentality. He was now in the Sixth Realm, with Nine Rays and a perfect path.


    He hadn¡¯t seen his master in thousands of years, but he still followed Kayden¡¯s teachings diligently. Han pursued perfection in each realm and sought to strengthen his mind every day. However, he had encountered the same problem as Kayden.


    Han no longer had any opponents. He had easily massacred everyone in the Seventh Realm without any difficulty, and for some reason, this seemed to be the limit of power in this world. No one could go beyond it.


    Seventh-realm mages were capable of understanding a law in an incomplete form. To advance to the Eighth Realm, they needed to grasp the law fully, and in the Ninth Realm, they had to learn how to use those laws.


    These seemed like simple steps, but in reality, each one was a massive hurdle. The world in which the mage lived was also highly significant, as each planet had a certain power ceiling. Breaking through that ceiling was extremely difficult.


    Once the first native mage broke that ceiling, the others would find it much easier to do so. The problem was that no one had ever managed to achieve this.


    Han was entirely focused on elevating his path to the level of an incomplete law, but the problem was that he was failing. He had no idea how to do it, nor could he find anyone who had succeeded before.

 Chapter 444: Guardian of the world

    Han was entirely focused on elevating his path to the level of an incomplete law, but the problem was that he was failing. He had no idea how to achieve this, nor had he found anyone who had done it before. This idea had been a recommendation from his master. To make matters worse, he was nearing the end of his lifespan, having used far too many treasures to stay alive in other realms.


    He only had a few tens of thousands of years left at best, but that wasn¡¯t a good thing. All signs pointed to his impending failure. His massacres were the only thing that helped him, but unfortunately, it wasn¡¯t something he could practice often. At that moment, Han¡¯s strength placed him as the strongest mage in the world. He was perfectly capable of killing billions and walking away unpunished. However, the problem was the old man who protected this world; he was much stronger than Han. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The two had faced each other twice more during that time. In the first encounter, it was a one-sided massacre again. In the second, Han managed to fight decently and escape before losing. Han became the emperor of everything that existed and lived in this world, and he realized it was dull. Now, he lived isolated from the rest of the world, only emerging on special occasions to meet some women.


    In the end, Han got lost in one of the lowest pleasures possible: he became addicted to the opposite sex. It was something that brought no gain to his life. It was a great pleasure, and fortunately, Han knew how to control himself and didn¡¯t dedicate his entire life to it.


    As time passed, Han understood more and more that he was going to die on this planet. He needed to cause a massive massacre to elevate his path to the seventh realm, but that meant facing the guardian of this world again, and he knew that this time, he would be killed without mercy.


    A world so vast and diverse was, in truth, nothing more than a grand prison for him. He had the freedom to do whatever he wished in this place, and yet he was trapped and would die without advancing. His talent wasn¡¯t the problem, nor was his age. It was all due to his strength. Han¡¯s mind began to break down slowly as the years went by. The closer he got to death, the less he focused on training and cultivating.


    What was the point of seeking more strength if he had no chance left? It would be a waste of time. Han simply began to seek more pleasure and random activities to fill his time. His mind was strong¡ª incredibly strong¡ª but in the end, his talent surpassed his mind, and he ended up becoming lazy. Despite always pushing himself, everything had come easily to him.


    Most of the blame for this actually lay with Kayden. By meddling with Han¡¯s soul, Kayden changed many things. As strong as Han¡¯s mind was, it was unstable, and this only became apparent after thousands of years of facing the same problem. If his soul had not been altered, he probably would have remained 100% focused on his goal, even in the face of death. But he also wouldn¡¯t have come this far. He had potential, but not at this level.


    "You should have tried harder, Han," Kayden arrived at the exact moment when his disciple was with the queen of a random country and her daughter in the same room. It was quite a humiliating moment, as both women screamed and ran out, while Han took a moment to understand what was happening. The person he¡¯d sought for all these years appeared before him.


    His master had only been present for a tiny fraction of his life, yet he was the person who had most influenced it. Han had been shaped by Kayden from the beginning, growing under his teachings, but he had also blossomed on his own.


    "I did what I could," Han responded to his master without shrinking back. The bond between them was no longer the same as before. There was respect, but no longer the fear.


    "What¡¯s stopping you from reaching the seventh realm? You¡¯re this weak?" Kayden said these words without hesitation. Han should have been much stronger than this weakened state.


    In the next few minutes, Han told Kayden about his problem and everything that had happened over the years. He had truly tried hard. Kayden was surprised to learn that someone was maintaining the world¡¯s balance.


    "Let¡¯s do some massacres," Kayden said without any emotion, and Han simply followed him. This was a great chance to solve his problem. Despite all the time that had passed, Kayden seemed to carry the truth on his back.


    Every problem has a solution. There was no man capable of instilling fear in his master. Once again, Han felt like an ant. Kayden was superior; Han could feel it just from his master¡¯s aura. Han was in the sixth realm, and Kayden was only in the fifth. They were both supposed to be mages with nine rays, so why did Han feel so pressured? It was as if Kayden was light-years ahead of him.


    They began wiping out entire villages without mercy. In just a few days, the death toll had risen to hundreds of millions. It was very easy for the two to kill ordinary people or even the stronger ones; it was like harvesting wheat.


    It didn¡¯t take long for the old man from before to appear in all his glory as a seventh-realm mage to stop the massacres. Kayden could feel many things emanating from him. The first was his aura¡ªit was strong, ridiculously strong¡ªbut... it seemed ordinary. This old man was powerful, but his strength came from something else. A piece was missing. Kayden began analyzing his soul before anyone could say a word. It didn¡¯t take long for him to see a direct connection to this world.


    Kayden¡¯s soul was linked to the very fabric of reality; he was connected to the universe itself, whereas this old man was tied to his world and received support directly from it. In seconds, Kayden understood the source of the immense amount of mana he possessed.

 Chapter 445: Total eradication

    Furthermore, he seemed to be an eight-ray mage in all his glory. In summary, he was already strong, but with the world¡¯s support, he became absurdly powerful. Kayden would finally have a worthy fight. Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Stop this..." he didn¡¯t have time to continue because Kayden launched an aura slash directly at him.


    "No," was all Kayden said, and the two murderous intents exploded. Neither of them needed to exchange any more words to understand that this would be a fight to the death, with only one winner.


    The old man began casting thousands of fire spells instantly. He wasn¡¯t going to waste any time and went all out from the start. Each of his attacks could kill a common seventh-realm mage in a single second.


    Kayden immediately understood that in a prolonged fight, he would lose, as the old man had far more mana than he did. The entire world would be drained if necessary since the old man was its guardian.


    All the space within ten thousand kilometers instantly turned into mana for Kayden¡¯s use. Not only that but it was transformed into an aura slash without any delay. Kayden¡¯s aura slash came out with insane power. All the fire spells were buried by the slash; it was simply too strong and crushed any chance of retaliation. The old man had to summon a massive wall of flames, using all the mana he could draw.


    It was a colossal amount that clashed with what Kayden had gathered. The two attacks exploded against each other, and the shockwave traveled tens of thousands of kilometers. Weaker lifeforms simply died without even understanding what was happening.


    This was the strongest battle the world had ever seen. Its outcome would decide the fate of this world¡ªon one side, balance, and security, on the other, death and the end of all existence.


    Kayden didn¡¯t even blink as he conjured a second attack of the same intensity as the first. This time, the old man had to burn his life force in an incredible effort, manipulating the same amount of mana within his body once again.


    The difference between him and Kayden was that while Kayden manipulated mana without any negative effects, the old man had to use it through his body. This made everything incredibly slower and more painful.


    "Stop! Let¡¯s talk! I am the guardian of the world, I cannot die!" the old man shouted in a millisecond. He managed to raise the barrier, but it was shattered into pieces.


    Kayden¡¯s attack continued and destroyed everything for thousands of kilometers. Not only that, but it buried the old man and pushed him dozens of kilometers underground. Fortunately for him, the attack was stopped by his barriers, nourished by the world¡¯s mana.


    Two attacks of such magnitude with no interval between them¡ªthis should have been Kayden¡¯s limit, right? Unfortunately, the old man would never find out if his thoughts were correct. Kayden¡¯s next aura slash erased him from existence before he could even comprehend it.


    The third attack was the strongest of all because it came from the void. Since space there was more unstable, the amount of mana was usually greater, at least when Kayden converted it. In the past, it had been difficult for him to convert it, but now, no difficulty even crossed his mind.


    An enormous ravine over 30,000 kilometers long appeared on the planet. At that moment, Kayden had truly done something impossible. He had practically created a new sea. Everything was being filled with water as the world desperately tried to restore balance.


    Losing a guardian was an unbelievably huge blow to any world, causing it to quickly search for a replacement. Unfortunately, finding a new life capable of stopping Kayden would be impossible.


    "Thank God," Han thanked himself for never disrespecting his master. That old man had been strong, but each of Kayden¡¯s attacks made it seem as if a god were descending into this world.


    Each aura slash carried the weight of an entire universe. Han couldn¡¯t even think of defending against an attack of that magnitude. He finally understood that he still had much to train.


    "Let¡¯s continue. We¡¯re going to cleanse every inch of this planet." Over the next few years, the two split up and began the greatest massacre this world had ever seen¡ªor rather, that many worlds had ever seen.


    Not a single living being was spared; even trees were deadly. Kayden truly wanted to reset this world to its earliest days. It took only one year for them to wipe out all living beings.


    It was insane. The world reeked of death at that moment. It wasn¡¯t an odor that could be smelled but rather felt. Death permeated every corner; there was absolutely nothing left for millions of kilometers.


    The amount of mana in this place was decreasing more and more, something Kayden noticed as the number of beings diminished. He made a direct connection to the number of souls in the place.


    In a way, they had practically introduced the law of death so strongly into this world that some undead had begun to emerge. It was the world¡¯s desperate attempt to bring souls back and attract mana.


    Kayden continued studying the world, while Han was studying death and despair itself. It wouldn¡¯t take long for Han to reach the seventh realm at this point, no more than a few months. The laws of death and despair were incredibly strong here.


    Kayden wasn¡¯t too concerned with these laws but with the world itself. It was much more interesting for him to study the world¡¯s reaction as it tried in every way to create life and draw souls back to it. It was practically a rational being.


    The more Kayden eliminated life forms, the more they emerged from somewhere¡ªwhether in a small patch of grass or a skeleton being cleansed to hold a soul. It was incredible. Kayden had never seen anything like it before.


    Another thing was the laws of death in this world; they were terrifyingly strong. Kayden couldn¡¯t fight against them at that moment. He felt his mind trying to force him to kill himself as the years passed. Fortunately, it was nothing too serious.

 Chapter 446: End

    The problem was Han. He was having immense difficulty controlling these impulses, especially considering that he was studying the law directly. The boy was incredible and a true monarch, but...


    His mind was already a bit shattered due to the moves Kayden had made on his soul, and it only got worse at this moment. The weight of the laws was too great; it subtly entered Han¡¯s mind.


    Kayden didn¡¯t care at all. He began another action this time; he would destroy the entire world. It was several million kilometers, but he only needed to convert it all into mana and use it to attack the planet¡¯s core.


    At first, nothing changed, but after a few days, Kayden had already consumed a considerable part of the planet. He could easily feel that he was causing a storm. The more time passed, the greater Kayden¡¯s attack on the planet became.


    What was initially just a very large ravine was now becoming a true rupture in the planet¡¯s structure. The more Kayden used his conversion, the better he got at it; in the end, it was excellent training.


    The planet began to show some resistance against Kayden. At first, he unleashed some monstrous storms the size of a continent, but this did not faze the boy; he simply converted the storm into mana.


    As time passed, some undead began to attack Kayden. Many were in realms higher than the third, making it clear that a lot had been invested in them, but in the end, that was it. There was no one capable of stopping him.


    The world was going to end, and Kayden was the cause. Han advanced after a few months; his strength was much greater, but he still felt fear of Kayden. Even wielding an incomplete law, he was not sure if he could defeat his master.


    "Master! What are you doing?" It took Han several months to find Kayden on this huge planet. The problem was that he was in a huge hole that covered half the planet.


    The mana in this environment was a mess; everything here was toxic and it seemed to be an even stronger law of death than that of the rest of the planet. Kayden could feel himself getting closer to killing this world.


    It was unbelievable to consider that a mere mortal was causing the death of an entire world. There was nothing more to do. Kayden could feel that at any moment, this place would explode.


    This world would explode into thousands of pieces, and he was sure of it. There was a natural barrier that prevented everyone from leaving this planet. Not only that, but it also held the laws inside as well, making Kayden certain that everything would collapse.


    "I¡¯m killing this planet so we can get out of here," Kayden replied as if it were no big deal and continued his work.


    Han simply remained quiet by his side while understanding that Kayden was truly at a higher level than him. The difference in strength between them was surreal, even though both were at the same level of lighting and with two realms of difference.


    "Finally," Kayden murmured. He began to feel things around him falling into absolute chaos. The law of gravity completely disappeared, and the amount of mana started increasing thousands of times.


    Huge pieces of rock began to levitate and be destroyed without any explanation. The laws of nature began to be completely thrown around randomly. The barrier that floated above the planet collapsed and¡­ Thousands of ships were flying over the planet. It was a number capable of covering the entire sky, in every direction. Every small space was filled with mages and ships.


    There were millions of mages from different organizations, each with ridiculously high strength. They had been surrounding this planet for thousands of years. When the barrier broke, they were left confused and quickly descended like madmen.


    It didn¡¯t take long for Han and Kayden to be found by ninth-realm tracking mages. At that moment, some organizations had already prepared a negotiation table.


    "What happened to this planet?" Before everything, this was the question asked by one of the mages. They were so stunned by this level of destruction that they couldn¡¯t say anything more than that.


    "I killed it," Kayden said these words as if observing that the day was hot. Around him were thousands of mages at the ninth realm, and none of them could even react to the calmness with which Kayden said this.


    "Did you kill all the living beings here?" the same person asked again and¡­ "Yes," Kayden answered without any fear, in the same manner. At this moment, everyone there looked at the two as one looks at a monster.


    There were billions of lives, trillions and trillions, in fact, a ridiculously large number that most gods would never reach in their lives. Large-scale death like this was strongly discouraged.


    All the organizations there had been searching for the awakened monarch. They knew it was one of the people from this planet, but at this moment, they might have lost a monarch because two lunatics killed everyone.


    "Are any of you a monarch?" the same ninth-realm mage asked. At that moment, everyone was attentive.


    There were millions and millions of mages waiting for the answer. At that moment, many had arrived. There were at least 10% of all combat forces of the largest organizations present at that moment.


    The aura they carried was immense, making Han feel pressured. He didn¡¯t have as much life experience as Kayden to be in front of so many monsters.


    "Han, find a good organization and don¡¯t accept a soul contract without knowing all the details first, and do it in this place. The presence of other organizations prevents them from enslaving you," Kayden said this phrase and woke his disciple from his trance.


    Everyone understood who the royal monarch was. In seconds, several dozens of organizations began to present themselves to Han crazily. Everyone wanted to recruit him and put their best treasures on the line.


    "Monarchs are rare mages throughout the universe. Whenever one is born, the entire universe receives a signal. We came running as soon as possible and spent several tens of thousands of years waiting outside the planet¡¯s natural bubble," one of the mages told Kayden. Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    As soon as they understood who the monarch was, no one cared about Kayden anymore and left him aside as if he meant nothing, considering his realm was below Han¡¯s¡­ no one cared about him.


    Kayden didn¡¯t need much effort to manipulate some souls and make some friends who told him the news of the universe. A lot had indeed happened since he was captured by Licht.


    Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t find out how much time had passed. There was no one alive from that time, and the furthest some here had reached with their knowledge was a few billion years.


    "We are the Obsession, an organization that operates on the foundations left by a very ancient mage. Only the highest can know his name, but in summary, we seek the limits of strength and the perfection of each person¡¯s mind."


    Kayden found this proposal very interesting, as it was in line with his mentality. The more he listened, the more impressed he became. They seemed very much like his ideas and some things he taught to all his disciples.


    "Who exactly is the creator of this organization?" Kayden was thoughtful.


    "We can¡¯t tell you, but he is an incredible person who fought in the ancient world of luck against a Licht, one of the greatest geniuses this universe has ever seen," Kayden finally understood who it was.


    His lessons in the world of luck created an incredible organization. His message reached millions of people, but only a few truly understood its content, those who understood passed it on.


    Over time, they became unique and strong, but not enough to become one of the greatest organizations in the universe. They were just one of the shallowest ones controlling a few dozen planets.


    The universe expanded on a frightening scale but kept the mana density at a high level. Something changed strongly. The universe grew both in size and strength. It was ridiculously destroyed, and when it recovered, it became stronger.


    The number of planets increased rapidly, and the number of genies increased even more than before. But the number of gods was stagnant, even with wizards much stronger than before.


    That story about the knowledge declined after great disasters was completely false. The greater the war, the greater its teachings. Living beings need struggles to progress.


    "Do false gods still exist?" Kayden wondered as he heard this group introduce itself to Han.


    There were so many organizations and at the same time so many different proposals that he felt a little lost. He looked at Kayden for some recommendation, but in the end, he only received a smile.


    Author¡¯s Note: We¡¯ll have two days with a chapter like this, but I made it a little longer (about 1 and a half chapters) I¡¯m traveling

 Chapter 447: False god

    Here is the translated text:


    ---


    Someone responded to Kayden, "They exist, but they are not present in the world power dynamics. "


    Since Yan managed to recover his wife, he entered a state of seclusion, and consequently, most of the false gods followed the same path. They were all determined to find a way to become gods themselves.


    Moreover, since their leader was unwilling to confront other high-level gods, they lost a lot of combat strength. Yan would only emerge in moments when he believed his organization was being wronged.


    "Are they still searching for Kayden Heart?" Kayden¡¯s question surprised everyone and left them uneasy.


    Everyone recognized that name, but almost no one there knew who this person was or why they were being sought. It was one of the mysteries only those in power understood.


    Kayden had read about this search for him in Nivus¡¯ mind. Yan conducted this search and swore under the heavens to repay Kayden for helping him recover his wife.


    "Yes, but no one knows who he is," Kayden received this response. Yan had indeed kept his promise.


    "Can you from Obsession take me to them? I have important information; I will consider it a personal favor." No one there had any idea how valuable a favor from Kayden was.


    "Of course, you¡¯ve become one of our friends."


    **************


    The world of false gods was surreal in its vastness, at least several hundred million kilometers. It was so large that each corner became something unique and special.


    In **Thaldrion**, the world extends over incalculable distances, with landscapes as diverse as they are endless. The forests are so dense and vast that they seem infinite, and the mountains, towering like pillars, pierce the skies, reaching beyond the clouds. Rivers of fire and frozen seas coexist, while magical deserts shift their dunes at the whim of invisible winds. Every corner of this world pulses with mystical energy, an arcane force that permeates both the sky and the earth, vibrating in harmony with the beings that inhabit it. Beneath the surface, crystalline caves hide ancient secrets, while the skies are dominated by colossal creatures, their vast silhouettes gliding among the stars.


    Magic flows freely through Thaldrion, and its touch is seen in everything, from the trees that grow to the sky to the storms that roar with elemental fury. The cities that rise between the valleys and forests are small compared to the grandeur of the world around them, and the creatures that live there, though powerful, are humble before the natural forces. Thaldrion is a world where the balance between order and chaos is fragile, and the winds of change are ever-present. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Huge cities rose at specific points on this planet. Each city was ruled by a false god. The space in this place was vast enough for each of them to have a city according to their desires.


    Logically, there were a few thousand false gods, but only a few hundred cities. Those who received this honor were only the strongest and most capable of the race. Each city was governed by its laws and had its own culture.


    All of them competed for the chance to receive the Father¡¯s grace. Any city that succeeded would gain the right to create another false god. Each one of them was an unrivaled force in the skies.


    Each city was so technologically and economically developed that it served as its empire, capable of conducting negotiations off-planet and transmitting its knowledge to other organizations.


    Kayden requested to be put in contact with one of the highest-ranking false gods. The organization with him had that power, but it would cost them greatly, so Kayden had to give a contractual guarantee that had to be beneficial enough to cover the costs.


    He didn¡¯t need much to achieve this. It was relatively easy to manipulate the minds of other mages after making small suggestions to their souls. Kayden only needed to offer a contract guarantee.


    A few days after leaving his home planet, Kayden found himself seated in front of a false god. Her characteristics were common. He couldn¡¯t associate the strength level of a god with this person.


    She was a middle-aged woman, with blonde hair and blue eyes. It was amusing to see a false god without all the hair on her body being blue¡ªtruly strange, considering the amount of mana they stored and manipulated.


    Her aura was calm and reminded Kayden of a kind mother. This matched the atmosphere of her city, as it was one of the most just and benevolent across all false god territory. Unfortunately, a peaceful environment didn¡¯t create strong warriors, but that wasn¡¯t what she was looking for.


    "Who exactly are you? Your aura is the strangest I¡¯ve ever seen in my life." This was the first question Kayden received.


    "I¡¯m just an ordinary mage from a planet that no longer exists," Kayden replied without much detail, but sincerity could be heard in his voice.


    This answer could be true in both situations of his life. The three planets he lived on were destroyed over time, and he was never someone who truly stood out in the universe. In every way¡­ he was ordinary.


    "What did you think of my city, boy?" The woman changed the subject after seeing that Kayden¡¯s answer was sincere. This meeting was arranged at the request of an organization residing in her city. She had some interest in this unusual situation.


    "In what sense do you mean?" Kayden had some doubtful opinions about this place.


    "In terms of strength and its growth," the woman asked the same question to everyone who came here.


    The vast majority of guests were unable to say what they truly thought and ended up praising the peace and harmony, but these were lies that became obvious to a false god who had lived for countless millennia.


    "Pathetic," Kayden¡¯s first word was like a slap in the woman¡¯s face. "Most of them grew up sheltered in a greenhouse; their strength may be high, but they are like porcelain dolls. This city is destined to die from corruption or be invaded by some organization, logically assuming your presence is no longer here."


    Kayden¡¯s words were like a punch to the woman¡¯s face. She was so shocked by this honesty that she couldn¡¯t react for a few seconds. No one had ever been so truthful with her.


    She knew these were sincere words. The problem was that she had grown up in a greenhouse and couldn¡¯t identify where to improve her city without losing the air of peace and perfect harmony it possessed.


    "Who do you think you are to talk like that?" The woman exuded the full aura of an ancient being who had killed countless gods and destroyed hundreds of planets and¡­


    "I¡¯m nobody. You just asked for an opinion, and I gave it." Kayden didn¡¯t even flinch and continued drinking his tea calmly while almost half the city was paralyzed by the woman¡¯s outburst.


    Kayden¡¯s calm sent a chill down the woman¡¯s spine. Something was wrong with this reaction, devoid of any emotion or fear. It wasn¡¯t natural¡ªit was something strange.


    "The purpose of these cities is only to nurture a social circle for the false gods." The woman revealed this to Kayden without any fear.


    "And yet you feel alone, because in all these years you have only created lambs and sheep, and none of them have the strength to be themselves in your presence." Kayden¡¯s voice this time was as precise as a knife.


    For the next few minutes, neither of them spoke a word. Kayden had struck a weak spot in the woman; he had found the exact point where she had failed over all these years and never managed to fix it.


    Emotions had become easy for Kayden after learning to read souls. He could feel the goddess¡¯s loneliness like an elephant in the room. He was also sending small signals of trust and sincerity to her.


    Kayden had to be extremely careful at this moment, as any mistake could cause her to realize she was being manipulated, but the chance of that happening was ridiculously small.


    "What do you think I should do?" Kayden received this question after a few minutes.


    "Kill everyone in the city and rebuild it from scratch would be the most correct answer, but I doubt you can do that." The woman was startled by Kayden¡¯s opinion and then nodded at him. "Create a fight that doesn¡¯t exist, call another false god and have him try to take the city in a false way, create a war with another city, create a calamity, just force people out of their comfort zone." Kayden continued giving her dozens of options.


    Whether he liked it or not, he was a true colonizer. He spent a lot of time in the abyss and learned how to manage a civilization. Not only that, but all the experiences in his life made him learn how to create strong people. The conversation lasted a few hours while Kayden gave a true lesson on how to manipulate the masses and how to create monsters. The woman started listening skeptically, but over time she was practically devouring every word Kayden said.

 Chapter 448: The interconnected plans

    Author¡¯s note: we will keep the chapters to 1 and a half while I¡¯m traveling (man doesn¡¯t live by writing alone)


    The conversation lasted for hours, as Kayden gave a true masterclass on manipulating forces and creating monsters. The woman initially listened skeptically, but over time, she practically devoured every word Kayden said.


    "Boy, my name is Reyna Jyn, and I owe you an eternal debt," Reyna said. Kayden had extended the conversation to bombard Reyna¡¯s soul with positive feelings about him; practically everything here was orchestrated by him. "We¡¯ve talked so much, but what is your real goal in coming here?"


    "I need to speak with the Father. He and I share a debt that transcends time," Kayden said in a neutral tone, and his next words nearly made Reyna faint: "My name is Kayden Heart."


    ***************


    Imagine a vast city stretching over a thousand kilometers¡ªa colossal metropolis where cutting-edge technology seamlessly blends with nature. Called **"Nebulon,"** it serves as the intergalactic capital, the main hub for trade, knowledge, and diplomacy throughout the galaxy. Its borders seem endless, with silver towers reaching into the sky, connected by floating bridges and magnetic transport systems that slice across the horizon at incredible speeds. Despite its vastness, Nebulon is surprisingly green, filled with immense parks that interrupt the technological skyscrapers with the softness of lush forests and crystal-clear lakes.


    At the heart of the city, **Aurora Park** stands out as one of the largest parks on the planet, covering an area equivalent to several smaller towns. In this park, nature and technology coexist perfectly: enormous trees have leaves that capture sunlight and convert it into renewable energy to power nearby buildings. Interactive holograms guide visitors along trails where they can learn about the biodiversity of hundreds of different planets, as alien species of flora and fauna have been introduced into artificially created microclimates.


    The city is divided into several districts, each with its function and architecture. The **Galactic District** houses the headquarters of the largest corporations in the universe, while the **Ambassadors¡¯ District** serves as a meeting point for diplomats from thousands of planets, with each building designed to reflect the cultural aesthetics of its respective civilization. Away from the corporate and diplomatic zones, the **Zenon District** is home to the intergalactic academies of science, technology, and medicine, where students and scientists from all over the galaxy collaborate on projects to advance humanity and other intelligent species.


    Transportation in Nebulon is a spectacle in itself. Vehicles levitate effortlessly a few meters off the ground, crossing the city in seconds, powered by fusion energy and anti-gravity systems. For even greater distances, space-folding portals allow citizens to travel instantly to different planets and orbital stations.


    No common mage was allowed to fly freely in this city for two main reasons. The first was that aerial traffic would be chaotic¡ªa high-speed mage of great power could accidentally kill a lower-ranked mage just by bumping into them. The second reason was one of privilege¡ªonly those with the highest standing in society held the right to fly freely in this city. Anyone else would simply be killed by the city¡¯s defense runes.


    Kayden was floating alongside Reyna toward an area where only false gods could enter. Since he had revealed his name to her, the way he was being treated had changed completely, becoming almost reverential.


    The city¡¯s center was where only the truly powerful resided, though, in truth, it was a meeting place, as those at the top rarely lived in a society in a normal way¡ªthey needed far more space, free from other beings. The center of the city occupied an astounding 10% of its total area, yet housed less than 0.0001% of the population. It was a glaring inequality, with massive parks and temples throughout, and each resident was free to decorate their space as they saw fit.


    Reyna was a very powerful individual but by no means among the most elite. She had a mansion roughly a kilometer long in one of the middle points of the center, surrounded by some false gods and deities from other organizations.


    "We¡¯ll wait here for a bit; it seems all the gods are gathered for a mission," Reyna said after a few minutes of trying to contact her superiors.


    What was so enormous that it required the participation of all the gods in the universe? Whatever it was, it must be something monstrous. Kayden couldn¡¯t even begin to imagine such a thing¡ªprobably just a large meeting, he thought.


    "Is there a place where I can go to train around here?" Kayden wanted to fight those of equal strength; he was missing high-level battles.


    "There¡¯s a space plane open just for people to train. Only eight-ray mages can enter. Most of the beginner false gods


    are there right now," Reyna said. She wasn¡¯t sure of Kayden¡¯s exact power level, but she assumed it wasn¡¯t low. S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Please, take me there," Kayden asked politely, and after a brief flight at maximum speed, they arrived at a building with dozens of rooms. At that moment, Kayden¡¯s perception completely shifted.


    The building¡¯s ancient stone walls supported sturdy wooden doors, each marked with arcane symbols and protective runes. Passing through any of these doors didn¡¯t lead into a simple room, but into a dimensional rift that opened into specific planes, carefully designed for masters of different arts. In one, the clang of blacksmiths¡¯ hammers echoed in a realm of fire and metal, where flaming forges were fueled by pure magic. In another, the air thrummed with fire¡¯s energy, controlled by mages whose towers floated above seas of lava.


    Each dimensional space was its immutable reality, self-sustaining, with infinite resources for those who mastered their disciplines. In the depths of one plane, alchemists worked with rare ingredients that flourished under moons of various colors. A floor above, a realm of calm and meditation housed monks who cultivated their inner power among mountains wrapped in mystical mist. The building, though discreet and not highly trafficked, was a central point for the greatest minds and artisans in the multiverse, who gathered there in search of improvement and wisdom.


    This building was interconnected with what they called the World of Geniuses, a spatial plane with dozens of worlds. There were many points in the universe where one could enter, ranging from distant, small worlds to the enormous main citadel of the false gods.


    This was the largest joint effort the entire universe had ever undertaken. All organizations could place their geniuses in these environments, but they had to educate them about the rules. It was a development-focused environment.


    Each person was assigned a ranking from 1 to 5, based on their importance in the world¡¯s dynamics. The overwhelming majority were ranked at level one, with a few at level two. False gods were almost always ranked level three.


    In this place, organizations did not exist. Everything was governed by the council, which enforced the rules and managed all of the world¡¯s organizations. Many ordinary beings of strength were used as labor, a fair exchange considering they could benefit from an environment with many opportunities.


    All of the greatest geniuses in the universe were given the chance to be in this place, which was populated almost exclusively by eight-ray mages and above. Moreover, the resources here simulated the real world perfectly; the laws of the universe were flawless.


    This was the ultimate proof that all the gods had to work together to balance most of the universe¡¯s laws in this place. Once they had established about 70% of them¡ªa task that took millions of years¡ªthe universe automatically completed the rest.


    They had essentially created a second interconnected universe. Each planet in this place had an absurdly large dimension and was at a proportional distance from a star that illuminated all the planets together, making the day cycle last around 36 hours and the night 14 hours.


    The building itself had few details. Reyna took Kayden directly to one of the rooms, and as soon as they passed through the door, Kayden felt the entire environment change. It was so fast that he didn¡¯t even have time to blink.


    It had been a long time since he had made a spatial leap. His soul adjusted to the new environment, and he immediately felt slightly stronger in this place because the universe¡¯s laws were a bit less rigid.


    "This is the center. You will be identified and assigned a ranking. Since we don¡¯t know your value yet, you¡¯ll probably get something between levels one and two," Reyna said. Kayden doubted very much that he would rank so low.


    "What are the rewards for each level?"


    "For the first levels, you¡¯re just a regular person. Those at level two have slightly greater rights, but nothing significant. Levels three and four start enjoying special privileges: priority access to high-value missions, VIP auctions for rare magical items, and ancient artifacts, where only the most powerful can compete. Their accommodations transform into luxurious private residences with exclusive services, like personal magic masters and specialized servants. Additionally, they get priority in restricted areas and are treated like true nobles, with much lighter laws for minor transgressions and, in some cases, partial immunity from severe punishments." Reyna spent the next few minutes explaining the advantages to Kayden.

 Chapter 449: Level

    They were truly different worlds. Those at the highest level practically owned these planets and wielded influence and power far superior to everyone else. Kayden needed to reach at least level three to gain more comfort and ease in achieving his objectives.


    "Hello, Miss Reyna, we will need to follow standard protocols for your friend. Sorry for the inconvenience," Kayden and Reyna heard a voice and found themselves in front of a teenager dressed in an elegant suit.


    He wore a mask to conceal his identity, a practice to ensure that no government worker was targeted outside of their duties. Kayden sensed a spiritual presence in his body as certain measures were taken.


    "Name?" A small questionnaire began.


    "Kayden Heart."


    "Organization?"


    "None."


    "Home planet?"


    "It no longer exists."


    "Spouse?"


    "No."


    "Path followed?"


    "Combat."


    "Class?"


    "Standard Mage."


    "Realm and level?"


    "Fifth realm, I have no level in my cultivation path." This statement surprised both Reyna and the official, but they didn¡¯t dwell on it for long¡ªeveryone had their secrets.


    "Age?"


    "I don¡¯t know," Kayden replied honestly. He had already realized that he was being observed by some kind of soul spell in this place, and false answers would trigger an alarm.


    "An estimate?"


    "I think several tens of billions of years." Kayden¡¯s response was so shocking that the two mages stood for a few seconds, waiting and hoping the runes would show it as false.


    It was terrifying to think that a being in the fifth realm could live for such a long time. Kayden was likely a reincarnation, and the standard procedure required the official to ask this question.


    "Are you the reincarnation of a mage? What was your former identity?"


    "I am and always have been Kayden Heart." This was the answer they received, and the runes did not react. It took a few seconds for the two to recover; this was such strange information to process.


    "How many rays? You can omit that information if you wish." Kayden was given this privilege only because he had come with Reyna. S§×ar?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Nine perfect rays." Nine perfect rays meant that he had achieved this from the first realm, something even rarer than a simple nine-ray mage in the fifth realm.


    This time, the two were a little less surprised. Reyna had expected something like this based on everything Kayden had presented to her. The issue was that neither of them expected a mage with nine perfect rays to be without an organization.


    Again, the rune confirmed that Kayden was telling the truth, which only deepened the mystery surrounding him.


    "Without any further tests, we can grant you a level two privilege." The official couldn¡¯t finish his sentence before Kayden interrupted him.


    "I would like to take the test." Kayden was not satisfied with such a low privilege; it would hinder his plans to face the strongest on this planet.


    "Very well, we have several types of tests for different areas. You¡¯re a combat mage, right? The test is very simple: to reach level three, you must defeat a mage from our organization with nine rays. To gain level four, you must face a mage at least one realm above, also with nine rays."


    Kayden thought the tests were good¡ªthey were simple and directly reflected strength. The problem was, that he had no idea how strong the mages of this era were. He clearly remembered how terrifying Nyc was in his time.


    "I would like to face a mage in my realm first." Kayden chose to be cautious, believing he could handle a nine-ray mage without much difficulty.


    Even though Kayden had nine rays, he was a step above. The way he had built his path was unique. His soul was one of a kind in the entire universe, and not even a mage could claim perfect resonance with the universe like he could.


    "Great! Do you need time to prepare?" Kayden shook his head and replied, "No, but I think our combat zone should be in a more isolated area¡ªI tend to destroy everything around me." Kayden was being modest. His path forced everything around him to cease to exist and turn into mana. It wasn¡¯t "kind of" destroyed¡ªit was completely obliterated.


    The two didn¡¯t take this too seriously. After all, what could a mere mage in the fifth realm do?


    "Don¡¯t worry, we have special zones for such battles." Kayden blinked and found himself in a different environment, along with the other two. The butler asked for a few seconds, and after a few minutes, Kayden was in the arena.


    It was a space nearly a thousand kilometers wide, with forests and vegetation all around. This was truly a large combat zone. Kayden could feel the boundaries at the edges¡ªthey only prevented spells from leaving the bubble but allowed them to enter.


    Outside, there were other combat zones of similar proportions. Kayden saw various mage duels happening, most of them weak, with only eight rays. Their fights were quite boring for him at this point.


    "I need a bigger arena," Kayden muttered, and a voice spoke in his mind.


    "Don¡¯t worry, kid, I¡¯ll make sure nothing gets out of control. I am a false god of nine rays and ninth realm." Kayden heard the voice directly in his head and could only sigh. He had already warned them twice; now it was up to the government to deal with the consequences. "Is there any mage we shouldn¡¯t call because they would be too strong against your weaknesses?"


    "No," Kayden answered curtly and waited. A few seconds later, a mage from the fifth realm with a strong aura of light appeared. The light around her seemed to twist in her presence.


    She was blonde, with pale hair all over her body, and her eyes were completely white. Her stature was medium, and she had three legs and three arms arranged in an odd formation, marking her as non-human.


    Her aura was powerful. Kayden could tell she had nine rays. As soon as she stepped onto the field, she began to multiply, and... each copy was perfectly identical in every way.


    It seemed as though Kayden was facing more than a dozen opponents simultaneously, and he could sense that each one was real, none weaker than the original.


    "Incredible," Kayden murmured, waiting for the judge¡¯s signal. When it came, he decided to hold back and learn as much as he could. His decision proved correct when he witnessed one of the most well-crafted spells he had ever seen.


    The mana moved at an absurd speed between each copy, ensuring that everyone had the same mana reserve as the original. The spell was so complex and beautiful that Kayden was stunned for a moment.


    The attacks began to pour in without pause, from all the copies¡ªmostly arrows and slashes of light. Each copy seemed capable of casting spells individually. They were excellent, but...


    Crack! Crack! Crack!


    A strange sound echoed through the area as Kayden broke each attack by simply forcing his presence into the world. This was only possible because the attacks were imperfect. They still had a long way to go to be flawless.


    The mere fact that they weren¡¯t 100% refined allowed Kayden to break them as if it were the easiest thing in the world. That was the level of perfection he had reached on his path.


    "How?!?" The mage shouted at Kayden, staring at him in total shock. The boy only smiled and explained.


    "Your light spell is perfect. I can¡¯t understand how you managed to simulate so many identical copies, but the problem is that your attacks are weak and poorly crafted." It was the first time in the girl¡¯s life that she had heard her attacks described as poorly crafted.


    She had spent thousands of years honing these attacks. If they were poorly made, what could be considered well-made to Kayden? What level of perfection was he aiming for?


    She dismissed his words as shallow provocations and attacked Kayden again. This time, her attacks were much stronger than before. Now, she was attacking to kill. Kayden could no longer break them as easily.


    He had to counter each attack with an aura slash, sometimes two slashes per attack. The woman was strong, and her copies began to surround Kayden and strike at his blind spots. Unfortunately, those didn¡¯t exist for him, as Kayden was simply a scarecrow.


    "Is that it?" Kayden muttered in disappointment. The woman was strong, but was it her that was lacking, or had he just grown too powerful?


    The mage grew increasingly pressured and began unleashing her secret spells. A massive sun appeared above her head, occupying an easy four hundred kilometers. Its white color radiated an intense light.


    That was a real atomic bomb, Kayden felt space breaking as that sun descended against him and pressed him to the ground, not only that but it burned everything around it, putting out an absurd heat. This was not a common attack, because, in addition to destroying the things around it, its rays were impregnating the ambient mana and making it erratic and disguised, practically making everything melt, the speed at which it was falling was very accelerated,

 Chapter 450: Four

    This was not an ordinary attack, for besides destroying everything around, its bolts saturate the ambient mana, making it erratic and unpredictable, practically causing everything to melt. The speed at which this was falling was breakneck.


    Kayden smiled and fully activated his path. Everything within ten thousand kilometers turned into mana. Kayden couldn¡¯t throw anything outside the barrier but simply pulled everything toward him. The entire landscape was instantly undone and transformed into mana. No one had time to react, even the other combatants had their spells turned into mana before they could respond.


    The judges overseeing each battle barely had time to blink before all the mana was gone. It simply evaporated, and within ten thousand kilometers, mana ceased to exist, leaving a massive void with no explanation.


    BOOM! Crack!


    The sound of space breaking and everything exploding echoed as an enormous, unprecedented aura slash destroyed everything inside Kayden¡¯s bubble. The barrier held his attack only because the judge was directly supplying energy to it.


    The ground sank into an immense ravine more than two thousand kilometers deep. The combat zone, which had once been a forest with various lakes¡ªa true environment¡ªno longer existed; it was now just a vast emptiness.


    The woman had managed to perfectly defend against Kayden¡¯s attack, but it cost her a significant portion of her mana and stamina. Her hand trembled as she looked at Kayden, who was regarded as if he were a monster. Without any expression, Kayden floated in the air with both hands behind his back. This had been the strongest attack the mage had ever used in public, and she had not expected her attack to be completely absorbed.


    Additionally, she had to use a special defensive spell, dividing her body dozens of times to survive and distribute the damage. Unfortunately, Kayden¡¯s aura slash covered 100% of the space in the zone, and she had to do everything she could just to stay alive.


    Fights at this level of power became very quick. There weren¡¯t many special techniques at this stage, as most people could only maximize a single spell, which became their trump card. The rest was just to test the strength of their opponents.


    Kayden knew thousands of spells, but he only used simple mana slashes perfected to the extreme. Sometimes, he used a few lightning strikes, but most of his attacks were weak and poorly crafted.


    Everyone was looking at Kayden in complete shock as he floated calmly in the air. He had simply destroyed everything around him. The judge didn¡¯t know what to do. Such cases were rare but not unique.


    "Congratulations on reaching the third level of privilege, Kayden Heart," the judge¡¯s voice declared, ending the battle. The mage could no longer continue; her strength had been completely obliterated.


    Meanwhile, several dozen ninth-realm mages appeared to rebuild the entire battlefield. Normally, only one or two were required per zone, but at this moment, nearly a hundred appeared. Ninth-realm mages were supposed to reign over all others, but most of them were slaves nurtured by the government since childhood and were now used as cheap labor.


    It took about an hour to fix everything Kayden had destroyed. It was simply a vast area and required an immense amount of effort from them. It was rare for mages to destroy the bubbles, but destroying ten of them?


    "I¡¯d like to try for the fourth level of privilege," Kayden¡¯s voice caused a small murmur among the crowd; he had already gained some fame in this place.


    "Proceed to the seventh-realm mage zone, Mr. Kayden," the same judge informed Kayden of his orders.


    This time, they used a combat zone for seventh-realm mages, but Kayden¡¯s opponent would only be in the sixth realm. The real problem was Kayden. This zone was about twelve thousand kilometers wide, a surreal size.


    This world was bizarrely massive. Even the medium-realm combat zones were enormous. This world must have been tens of billions of kilometers in size. It was so large that only by using space leaps could some distances be easily traveled.


    The government felt utterly oppressed by what Kayden had done. Those in power wanted to find someone who could directly attack his weak point, but the problem was that Kayden had crushed his opponent so thoroughly that they didn¡¯t even know how to do so.


    How many times could Kayden launch an attack of that magnitude? Capable of making a ninth-realm mage completely unable to cast even a single spell, it was a bizarre display of offensive power.


    At this moment, they had two options. They could place a mage capable of matching Kayden¡¯s power, or they could place a mage who could endure his attack and then fight with a weaker force afterward.


    Both cases were a gamble. In the first case, there was a risk that Kayden was even stronger than he appeared. In the second case, they risked that Kayden could use his attack more than once.


    "Hello! My name is Matheus Jyn, and it¡¯s a pleasure to fight you," a blonde teenager with green eyes appeared, floating in the air. He had a muscular build and carried a large shield on his back.


    "My name is Kayden Heart. Are you related to Reyna Jyn?" Both shared the same last name, but when Kayden asked this question, he saw his opponent¡¯s eyes narrow slightly.


    "She¡¯s a banished member of our family tree." Kayden didn¡¯t want to dwell on the matter, as in the end, he didn¡¯t care.


    The two remained silent for the next few minutes. Matheus was a sixth-realm mage with nine rays, entirely focused on defense. But the main detail was that he belonged to the false gods. His strength far exceeded his realm and rays. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    He hadn¡¯t yet fully transitioned into the state of a false god, which was why he didn¡¯t have the characteristic blue hair of false gods. A few minutes later, the judge gave the signal to begin.


    The space around Matheus fractured in several places, and the void mana inexplicably flowed toward him. It was a simple spell that all false gods could cast. Then, the shield on his back liquefied.


    This liquid covered his body until it fit perfectly, mana filling the shield on his body and creating an unexplainable compressed mana barrier.


    The density of the mana was so high that it began to break the space around him. Each step Matheus took caused massive cracks that spanned kilometers. At that moment, Kayden understood why he was a nine-ray mage.


    Each crack in the space expanded dozens of times, filling the entire arena. Matheus was an expert manipulator of space, a ridiculously rare race capable of bending space with no difficulty.


    The cracks began to move like snakes, seemingly alive. With each second, the amount of mana in the environment increased and disappeared simultaneously, in a mad duality to behold.


    The space was completely unstable. Kayden could have half his body destroyed in the blink of an eye if he wasn¡¯t careful. Moreover, he could sense that Matheus was everywhere in the arena, yet nowhere at the same time.


    WHOOOSH!


    A vortex opened next to Kayden, followed by an attack with a dagger, moving at a speed that should not have been possible. Kayden couldn¡¯t react in time and saw one of his arms severed.


    He looked directly at Matheus and saw a smile on the false god¡¯s face. Kayden then looked at his arm, several kilometers away. He still had a lot to learn. This attack was so natural that he didn¡¯t even understand how the space had twisted.


    "Unleash that attack again, or I¡¯ll take you apart piece by piece," Matheus seemed to have completely changed. The humility had vanished upon seeing that he was winning.


    The ego is a feeling that every race possesses. It¡¯s extremely difficult to rid oneself of ego and pride. Matheus had the same eyes as kings... who, after some years, were killed by the blindness of their egos.


    "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall," Kayden murmured one of his core teachings.


    Being a teacher for so long gave him certain habits, one of which was correcting students with high egos. At that moment, Matheus saw himself as the strongest mage of the sixth realm. Kayden smiled; it was time to change that.


    In the blink of an eye, all matter within 10,000 kilometers ceased to exist and became mana. Once again, it was so fast that no one could react. The gift of transforming matter into mana was something that false gods possessed, but the problem was that Kayden was not a false god, and to make matters worse... his technique was even stronger than theirs.


    As quickly as the matter was transformed into mana, an aura-cutting attack appeared in its place and swallowed the entire arena. The twelve thousand kilometers of the arena were flattened to a depth of 30,000 kilometers in a frightening manner.

 Chapter 451: The peak of strength

    The depth of this attack was simply colossal. It made no sense for a mage of the Fifth Realm to be capable of something so massive¡ªa ravine twelve thousand kilometers long and thirty thousand kilometers deep was something completely out of reality.


    "Is that all?" Matheus was still floating in the same place, with a posture of absolute pride and ego.


    He had survived the attack at the cost of his shield, but that was it. He hadn¡¯t suffered any damage or had his combat proficiency nullified. At this moment, he had won the fight and knew it...


    At least, that¡¯s what he thought. A chill ran down his spine when he saw Kayden smiling at him from across the arena. Not only that, but he also felt one of the most bizarre sensations of his entire life.


    Matheus was highly sensitive to spatial changes and alterations as a space mage. Any minor alteration would be transmitted to his mind, and he would quickly comprehend the technique being used.


    The problem was that he felt all the space within ten thousand kilometers cease to exist. He found himself hanging in the void, without any spatial support. It happened so quickly it didn¡¯t make sense to his mind. He didn¡¯t even have time to think about what happened before Kayden¡¯s attack reached him.


    The void was present in reality. Matheus had to work hard to shatter the space around him. In the blink of an eye, the boy conjured a black hole. It was an utterly ridiculous move to pull off in such a short time.


    Matheus turned pale from the effort but hurled the black hole toward Kayden¡¯s attack, and a massive clash between the two forces ensued. Logically, it wasn¡¯t a black hole with the same strength as a real one; otherwise, Kayden would have been utterly destroyed.


    The two attacks struggled to engulf one another, a stunning display that caused enormous cracks in space, turning the void into a spiderweb or shattered glass depending on the angle.


    Sound no longer existed, as the space for it to propagate vanished within the first few seconds. The battle lasted several minutes, but finally, a verdict appeared. The black hole proved victorious, consuming the entire attack and advancing toward Kayden.


    With just a few commands, the space around the black hole disintegrated, triggering a chain reaction within the spell. Kayden and Matheus were back to square one¡ªor so everyone thought.


    "Shall we go again?" Kayden smiled, and the void disappeared, this time replaced by the universe¡¯s backdrop. S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The attack once again surged at Matheus with the same intensity. Kayden unleashed three colossal strikes without any rest or interval. It was simply absurd; the spectators couldn¡¯t even comprehend the magnitude of these attacks.


    Matheus was out of options at this point. He couldn¡¯t launch a defense and continue fighting. Even if he could defend himself, it would be a gamble whether Kayden could maintain this pace.


    The space around Matheus began to contort in a brilliant demonstration of spatial prowess. The boy was creating a personal dimensional plane for himself, something he had possessed for a long time. This space was entirely black with blue points.


    As soon as Kayden¡¯s attack reached him, the dimensional plane swallowed it whole. Not a trace of Kayden¡¯s attack remained, but in return, the plane was destroyed. It simply combusted under the enormous cracks forming within it.


    "Incredible, Matheus." Kayden began clapping, stalling for time as the mana in the environment grew by the second. The void in equilibrium was vast, causing the universe to forcefully accelerate mana production at a much faster rate.


    "What trick up your sleeve will you use now to withstand my attack?" Kayden smiled as he saw his opponent tremble. He was subtly affecting Matheus¡¯ soul and exuding a strong killing intent.


    Logically, a False God could endure all this, but little by little, it weighed on his thoughts, especially after having his personal dimensional plane destroyed solely out of pride.


    "You¡¯re bluffing! There¡¯s no way you can keep this up forever!" Matheus shouted, visibly emotionally unstable. It was madness to be crushed like this without even understanding what was happening.


    Kayden laughed, continuing to buy time by throwing some useless words at Matheus. He knew the universe wouldn¡¯t recover enough for him to launch another attack of the same proportions, but in a few seconds, he would have enough for a strong enough attack to knock Matheus out of the arena.


    "Surrender now, or leave this arena defeated," Kayden delivered his ultimatum. Matheus had already understood that Kayden was merely stalling for time; the question was who would recover enough first.


    The answer didn¡¯t take long to arrive, as Matheus began distorting space, sending dozens of cracks toward Kayden, each one capable of transporting him to an unknown location in the universe.


    Kayden found himself in a spatial battle where his talent was laughably outmatched. In seconds, he was completely overwhelmed and realized this wouldn¡¯t work. Fortunately, it was the time he needed to unleash an aura slash at Matheus.


    The environment had recovered by about 15%, but considering it was three environments being restored, that added up to about 45% of a normal attack¡¯s power from Kayden. Still, it was a very significant amount.


    "Kayden Heart is the winner and gains the right to the Fourth Level of Privilege," the judge¡¯s voice rang out just as a Ninth Realm mage removed Matheus from the arena.


    In the end, the battle was decided by the smallest detail: the one who recovered better managed to make the final move. Ultimately, Kayden bought enough time to invest everything in one single attack, while Matheus invested in a weaker strike and couldn¡¯t defend himself.


    At that moment, Kayden had made a name for himself in the world of warriors. He had risen from nowhere to claim a Fourth Level privilege in just a few hours. The strongest warriors could do so in the same manner.


    Geniuses were not rare in this place. As absurdly powerful as Kayden was, there were still people stronger than him in the same realm. It was a crazy notion, but the universe was vast.


    "Congratulations, Kayden. I didn¡¯t expect you to be so strong," Kayden heard these words from Reyna as soon as he stepped out. This was once just a diplomatic mission, but now it was an investment in a future god.


    All nine-ray mages had the potential to become gods, but, surprisingly, it was easier for eight-ray mages with lesser talents to ascend to godhood simply because their minimum requirements were lower.


    A nine-ray mage was a being not allowed to be mediocre by the universe. They had to pass through all the realms with nine rays since they completed the first ascension process with nine.


    Not only that, but it was much more challenging for them to advance realms because their techniques had to be elevated to the same degree. Of course, a nine-ray mage could reduce their rays, but they would practically become fallen mages, who would find it nearly impossible to return to the pinnacle of the world.


    The number of gods remained low after the great war against Aries, even though billions of years had passed. Like it or not, that was only a few cycles for Ninth Realm mages, who typically lived between 100 and 500 million years.


    That was a considerable amount of time, but for gods, it was just a brief moment. This was one of the main reasons gods often maintained social circles only among themselves, as nearly everyone they knew became corpses or cosmic dust after a short time lapse.


    Additionally, the mind of a god was millions of times more advanced than that of a mortal. Keeping a conversation with a mortal was extremely boring and predictable, as it seemed like everyone only ever said the same things.

 Chapter 452: Privileges[BONUS]

    Author¡¯s note: It¡¯s crazy that we get a bonus chapter again, thanks for the support readers, but now it¡¯s 270 stones (: S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Who are the strongest in this place? How many are at the same level of strength as me?" Kayden went straight to the point with Reyna.


    "I can¡¯t tell you, people at my level can¡¯t even enter this realm. The gods are too powerful for this space." Kayden just nodded and followed the woman back to the government building.


    This time they flew to the location and saw a completely organized city, built in a way that could meet the needs of dozens of different races.


    Imagine a vast city stretching for hundreds of kilometers, with floating skyscrapers glowing under the light of several artificial suns, powered by an invisible web of mana. In this multicultural metropolis, dozens of cultures coexist, their traditions and languages blending on streets illuminated by arcane crystals, while technological devices, driven by fusions of magic and science, circulate through the air and on the ground. Vibrant markets sell goods from all parts of the universe, where aliens, humans, elves, dwarves, orcs, and other races live peacefully, each contributing with their unique heritage and knowledge. Ancient rituals and futuristic festivals happen side by side, celebrating diversity and harmony among these different species.


    At the same time, the city¡¯s infrastructure is unmatched in sophistication. Buildings are connected by ultra-fast transport networks, levitating bridges, and dimensional portals that facilitate inhabitants¡¯ movement. The vital energy that permeates the world, mana, serves as the power source for advanced technologies, from complex defense systems to sustainable agriculture. Industries that manipulate matter and space through magic coexist with cutting-edge scientific laboratories. On every corner, automatons powered by mana perform daily functions, while citizens use enchanted devices to enhance their abilities, navigate holographic networks, and even heal wounds with a simple touch of mystical energy.


    It was a beautiful sight, but Kayden didn¡¯t need much time to understand that this place was just a grand illusion of equality. Those with lower levels of privilege lived relatively mediocre lives, often facing abuse.


    It wasn¡¯t hard for Kayden to see ordinary people being beaten or used as slaves by those with lower levels of privilege. It was ironic; those on the first and second levels, who should understand the feeling of being oppressed, were the main oppressors.


    On planet Earth, there was a famous saying: "The dream of every oppressed person is to become the oppressor." And it was true. As soon as someone gained a little power, they tended to forget most of what they had endured, perpetuating an eternal cycle of oppression.


    They flew to the building in the center of the arena, an inverted pyramid several kilometers wide. Kayden could feel thousands of runes vibrating in this place; some were on the ground, and others floated in the air.


    As soon as they entered, a spatial portal opened in front of them. Reyna entered without hesitation, and Kayden followed. They found themselves in a cozy room with expensive wines and all the delicacies the universe could provide.


    Kayden chose not to drink anything while he waited, but Reyna grabbed a few glasses of wine. She was relatively cheerful and didn¡¯t mind using government resources a bit.


    "Sorry for the delay, we were organizing all the details. Your promotion was very swift, Mr. Kayden." A false god entered through the door. He had authentic blue hair and blue eyes.


    His aura was far superior to Reyna¡¯s and any other false god Kayden had encountered. Moreover, he seemed much stronger than average. It was obvious to Kayden that he was facing a high-level mage.


    "My name is Pedro May, and I represent the fourth-level privilege mages. I am a nine-ray perfect mage and a survivor of the Great War. I wonder how you¡¯re still alive after so many years." The conversation started casually, but in the end, Pedro looked directly into Kayden¡¯s eyes and released a pressure strong enough to make even Reyna kneel.


    When he looked into Kayden¡¯s eyes¡­ Pedro simply saw nothing. There was no emotion¡ªfear or anxiety did not exist in those eyes. The pressure surrounding him was no more than a mild annoyance.


    "Remove your pressure, you¡¯re affecting my friend," Kayden said in a neutral tone. After a few seconds, Pedro complied.


    Looking into Kayden¡¯s eyes was like staring into an abyss. It was like gazing at a dead person. Every living being should show at least a minimal reaction when its life is threatened, but there was absolutely nothing.


    "How are you still alive? You were strong back then, but not to this extent," Pedro murmured his doubts. His curiosity was piqued. Kayden was a topic all high-level false gods knew about.


    "We all have our secrets, don¡¯t we?" Kayden couldn¡¯t go into details¡ªnot without revealing information that would make him a laboratory rat.


    "I understand. Well, let¡¯s discuss your privileges." Pedro tossed a book to Kayden. "Here are most of the rules and perks you receive. Additionally, you must provide support to the government once a decade or century as payment, whether in a mission or knowledge exchange event."


    In the next few seconds, Kayden read the entire book. He was given a mansion in one of the city¡¯s central districts, fully furnished, with several vehicles to choose from¡ªnot that it was necessary, since with his privileges, he could fly freely across the planet.


    His house came with a few fourth-realm slaves, ready to meet any of his needs, from cleaning the house to infiltrating other organizations. Clearly, Kayden wasn¡¯t going to use any of these abilities. He would probably just tamper with their souls and hope none of them died.


    Kayden gained access to a few time-dilation rooms. They were at relatively low levels compared to what he had seen before, but the 1-to-10 ratio was still appealing in his eyes.


    He received a list of establishments where he would get discounts¡ªdozens of them. Additionally, he would receive a monthly payment, as long as he committed to lending his services twice per decade, something he agreed to without much trouble.

 Chapter 453: Yan family

    **"What are your best abilities?"** Kayden was asked this question just as he finished reading all the benefits he would receive.


    "I can increase anyone¡¯s strength by practically 10 to 20% with an insanely low risk of side effects, but this service is worth much more than what you¡¯re paying me," Kayden played his trump card.


    He was an authentic monster maker. He had created Yan and several other mages with strength far superior to the average in this universe. Not only that, but he had nurtured a true monarch.


    "Can you prove that?" Pedro asked honestly. The percentage Kayden mentioned was too high. "What are the requirements? What realms? What are the material costs?"


    At this moment, Kayden could see the greed in the mage¡¯s eyes. He had offered a deal too good to be true. But what if Kayden was telling the truth?


    "The only requirement is for the person to have a strong mind, the costs are practically zero, only my time is needed¡ªand it¡¯s ridiculously expensive," Kayden wasn¡¯t about to offer such a special service for so little.


    "What¡¯s your price?" Kayden wasn¡¯t quite sure what to ask for. After all, he had never been one to use many resources to advance.


    "A 20% boost per millennium, and I don¡¯t have to do anything more. Besides that, I want to know the requirements to become someone with level five privileges." What he asked for wasn¡¯t too much, and Pedro quickly agreed.


    "A level five privilege is only for those with double-digit rankings in their realms, but that¡¯s just one of the requirements. They must have spent at least a few thousand years here, hold a grade-3 political power..." Pedro began listing dozens of requirements.


    Kayden didn¡¯t think twice before giving up entirely. There were too many conditions and tasks, and it would be a hassle for something that wouldn¡¯t even be worth it. He struck a deal with Pedro to perform his strength enhancement technique once every millennium.


    He wasn¡¯t too worried about being enslaved, as his technique was too special for them to risk it. Moreover, his potential and history had a certain mystery to it that suggested he should not be touched, especially considering his connection with Father.


    "Do you have a list of the strongest mages in the fifth realm?"


    ************


    Kayden spent the following years fighting every day without stopping for a minute. He would finish one battle and immediately seek another. Most of the time, he won; Kayden lost very few times, and most of those losses were due to his opponent¡¯s versatility.


    In one of his battles, he faced a mage who could trap himself in a spatial point and avoid attacks. No matter how perfectly Kayden struck, it made no difference, as his strength limit was reached before his opponent¡¯s.


    In another fight, he faced mages who could rival his strength within the same realm. These were few¡ªjust a handful of individuals, most of whom were people living their second lives.


    Within just a few weeks, Kayden encountered these beings: mages who were reborn with all their memories intact. Some of them hadn¡¯t even been that special in their first life, but the chance to redo all their mistakes had elevated them to the top this time around.


    No one had an answer for this rebirth phenomenon¡ªit was simply something that happened to millions of people every year. Most were ordinary individuals who ended up achieving only relatively more success, but a rare few were geniuses who, given a second chance, accomplished the impossible.


    Only the reborn were able to face Kayden directly. Actually, there were five others¡ªthe "Five Uniques"¡ªalso known as the five greatest geniuses of the fifth realm. All of them were, without exception, mages who had been raised from birth to become the strongest.


    Their organizations had heavily invested in each of them. The wealth poured into them could raise an organization into the universe¡¯s top 10. It was a completely different world of investment.


    Each was carefully selected from birth. Most of them could manipulate mana from the moment they took their first breath, possessing a degree of talent far greater than usual.


    The question was, Kayden was slowly increasing his power to the point where he could rival them. His spells were already perfect¡ªflawless and honed to the extreme.


    At this moment, he needed to elevate his spellwork to another level, but the way to achieve that was still a bit unclear. Kayden had spent these years training and preparing to advance.


    He knew that his strength would grow directly with his realm and with the expansion of the area in which he could use his path. At that moment, this was the only thing he could do without spending millions of years blindly striving. S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Fighting powerful people also increased Kayden¡¯s strength. He learned to use his spells more effectively, even if the changes were minimal. So far, there was no sign of Yan appearing.


    The gods had been absent for decades, and no one had any news of them. The only thing keeping society organized was the fear that they might return; otherwise, thousands of power struggles would have already erupted.


    After thousands of battles, Kayden decided to advance to the sixth realm. The entire process took place in a spatial bubble that the government provided for mages, designed to keep the remnants of the battle from escaping.


    Once again, Kayden achieved insane results. Using his three attacks, he passed through all the lightning without a single scratch. It was practically child¡¯s play for him.


    "You are entitled to face the tenth lightning, child," Kayden heard a voice from the heavens and looked up, startled.


    He had no idea that a tenth of lightning existed. The voice from the sky was heavy, and Kayden didn¡¯t have the strength to respond with anything but yes or no. At that moment, his mind became a whirlwind of thoughts.


    Exactly how powerful was the tenth lightning? He had never seen a mage with ten lightning strikes in this universe¡ªit must be something ridiculously superior to everything he¡¯d encountered. Kayden wasn¡¯t even the strongest mage in his realm.


    In the end, he set this new goal in his mind but declined the challenge. He didn¡¯t have the strength to face a tenth of lightning at that moment. Nine was his limit, at least for now.


    After advancing, Kayden isolated himself from the world and began cultivating like a madman, increasing his sixth sense at a frantic pace. The only problem was his soul adjusting to that speed.


    In just a few decades, he doubled his range to more than 20,000 kilometers, and it didn¡¯t seem like he would stop anytime soon. Each day, he easily added a few kilometers, his power growing at a terrifying rate.


    "Kayden!" Reyna shouted from outside for hours before Kayden could hear her. The boy had been in an intense state of focus.


    "Hello, Reyna, what can I do for you?" Kayden emerged from his room, hiding all his impatience behind a polite smile.


    "Yan is back." At that moment, it had been about three centuries since Kayden had been cultivating quietly, with no sign of life.


    So much time had passed in seclusion that many thought he had abandoned this plane and gone to train elsewhere. Only a few highly influential people knew the boy was still around.


    "Take me to him." Kayden understood that the time for the reunion had finally come.


    The two floated toward the central tower of the plane, from where they would be teleported back to the world of false gods. In the meantime, Kayden took the opportunity to talk to Reyna a bit.


    He hadn¡¯t had the time yet, but Kayden wanted to put one of his plans into action. He wanted to have a child with a false goddess and shape his soul perfectly so that he would become practically a law-bearer before even reaching the higher realms.


    In this case, he would have two advantages. The first would be the false gods¡¯ race, strengthening all his attributes. The second would be Kayden¡¯s genes, which were extremely polished and well-refined. In the end, it would be an excellent experiment for his future plans.


    Using subtle influences on Reyna¡¯s soul, Kayden had slowly been making her fall in love with him over the years they had spent together. Fortunately, three centuries was too short to erase his imprints from the girl¡¯s soul.


    After passing through the necessary portals, the two returned to the world of the false gods. Yan was in a place far from the center of this world, and they traveled for a few hours at maximum speed until they finally arrived at a farm.


    The god¡¯s farm was an endless expanse, stretching beyond the horizon like a living tapestry of lush hills and enchanted forests. The trees, towering monuments with silver trunks and golden leaves, cast their comforting shadows over the ground. Some bore fruit that resembled stars¡ªglobes of light hanging from the branches¡ªwhile others blossomed with petals that whispered ancient songs to the wind. At the heart of this agricultural realm, a colossal tree rose, its roots delving deep into the world¡¯s core, and its branches were home to birds with silver feathers that sang celestial melodies day and night.

 Chapter 454: Yan family[2]

    Between the trees, mystical creatures roamed the fields. There were horses with sky-blue coats, crystal wings that shimmered in the sunlight, and deer whose antlers bloomed into small bushes, laden with rare fruits and flowers. The river that meandered through the farm had crystal-clear waters that reflected the eternal sky, flowing lazily through the plains and hills. On its banks, flowers of changing colors blossomed, absorbing the light of a sun that never set, and giant fireflies emerged at dusk, illuminating the land with their soft glow.


    The house of the god and his family stood atop a hill, made of white stones that gleamed with golden touches. From there, it was possible to observe the vastness of the farm, surrounded by eternally blooming gardens. The god¡¯s wife, a figure of serene beauty, had long blue hair like the deep sea and eyes that shone with the same intense hue. Their seven children, all with the same vibrant blue hair and eyes, tended to different parts of the farm, ensuring the trees grew healthy and the mystical animals thrived


    One of the most powerful beings ever existed was tending to his farm humbly, without any luxury. His children wore worn-out clothes and all seemed to be in the Fourth Kingdom, though amusingly, they were barely 2,000 years old. They were all the same age and looked ridiculously alike. There were three girls and four boys. Kayden could sense the latent power within them; they were truly the offspring of a real god. Each of them was a mage of either eight or nine rays, true geniuses cultivated to their limits with resources. The rest was something they had to achieve on their own.


    Kayden and Reyna hovered in the air. Reyna was completely still, trying in every way not to draw attention and to project an image of elegance. Meanwhile, Kayden was doing what he had done for the last thousands of years¡ªevaluating the children for their strength and talent. Each of them underwent a long soul and talent inspection. Kayden found them to be geniuses, but¡­ that was it. Only two of them had real potential; the rest relied merely on resources and superior genes.


    One of them, Kayden concluded after seeing his calloused hands from wielding a sword, had obviously worked hard to catch up with his siblings. He had the least talent, but without a doubt, the greatest will to succeed among them all. The other was a girl who¡­ well, Kayden couldn¡¯t quite find the words. Her talent was unlike anything he had ever seen in his life. The space around her seemed to move to accommodate her steps. The mere act of her breathing was supported by the universe itself. Kayden had never seen such a great talent before.


    "What do you think of them?" Yan appeared beside Kayden, proud and smiling. His eyes, once wild and dreamy, were now strong and loving. Kayden was not fazed by the natural pressure the god exuded. He thought for a few seconds before giving an answer, while Reyna remained completely petrified, unable to react.


    "Only two of them have potential. The rest have only reached their level through resources and superior genetics." Yan¡¯s eyes closed. Kayden¡¯s words hit him like a punch to the face. The father of the false gods was not used to receiving criticism. In fact, he couldn¡¯t even remember the last time someone had dared to speak to him like that, not even a god.


    Swallowing his anger¡ªafter all, he was a god, not a fool controlled by emotions¡ªYan didn¡¯t need to think long and pointed to two of his daughters, one of whom Kayden had chosen, while the other Kayden had not even paid attention to.


    "These two?" The two girls, with shoulder-length blue hair and pale skin, stood confused as their father presented them like lambs to Kayden and Reyna.


    "No, that one has insane talent," Kayden pointed to one of them and then to the other. "This one is following a foolish and pointless path." Kayden didn¡¯t weigh his words at all as he spoke.


    Jasmine was the one insulted. She had never been treated like that by a stranger, especially in her father¡¯s presence. He made sure everyone understood the extent of their talents, and that they were not just anyone. The girl exploded in response, her path¡ª a true wind path¡ªerupting all around them with tornadoes and whirlwinds made of the divine wind, golden and seemingly sacred.


    "Is this weak to you?" The girl attacked Kayden with all her strength. A divine hurricane spanning dozens of kilometers appeared, an attack of the highest level capable of tearing space even in the Fourth Kingdom.


    "No," Kayden snapped his fingers, and the hurricane vanished, surprising everyone watching. "You are strong, ridiculously strong. Your path is perfect, your attacks are perfect, and you are barely a few thousand years old. But that¡¯s it. You will never take the final step because you are following a path that does not belong to you."


    Kayden¡¯s words didn¡¯t make sense to anyone there except Yan. He fully understood what Kayden was saying because he also knew that this path had come to Jasmine through a dream and not directly like the others. Even though it was perfect for her, it still wasn¡¯t hers.


    "Ridiculous! Who are you?! Father, kill this fool!" Jasmine knew deep down that Kayden was right. It was a secret she carried with all her might, and seeing it exposed made her lose control.


    "Pathetic! You¡¯re the only one here who recognizes my words, yet you choose to close your eyes." Kayden¡¯s harsh voice caused an extremely rare event in the family. Jasmine began to cry. The emotions were too strong, but only two people understood what was happening: Kayden, who was manipulating the souls around, and Yan, who could feel him doing it.


    The only reason the god allowed this to happen was that Kayden didn¡¯t seem to harbor any ill will toward his family. Quite the opposite, he appeared to be doing something that would benefit them all.


    A woman appeared in the sky, glaring at Kayden with a hatred capable of destroying worlds. She had white hair, white eyes, and extremely pale skin, practically albino, but her whiteness had a slightly golden hue. She was the mother of the seven children and had come to comfort Jasmine as soon as she felt her daughter¡¯s tears. She was on the verge of killing Kayden and then punishing Yan for letting something like this happen, but by the god¡¯s orders, she only embraced her daughter.


    "Is that it? Do you run to your mother¡¯s arms? You will never be able to catch up to your sister this way. You will slowly see her distancing herself until you can¡¯t even be in the same realm as her." Kayden¡¯s words were harsh and once again made the girl cry, but this time she looked directly at Kayden while shouting.


    "What do you expect me to do!? She¡¯s a natural monster; there¡¯s no way to catch up to her." Those words seemed to come straight from the girl¡¯s soul.


    "How do you expect to surpass someone if you aren¡¯t even following a path of your own making? Abandon this path; you¡¯ve wasted your life up until now."


    Kayden¡¯s words were extremely harsh, and even Yan was trying to understand what was happening. He was a god and could make billions of calculations per second, but he couldn¡¯t read souls as easily as Kayden.


    "The strength you have wasn¡¯t built by you, Jasmine," this time, Kayden¡¯s tone softened. "You¡¯re at the top of the universe in terms of power, but you know you will never be able to surpass your sister because what you are building is not what you truly want. Abandon your path, follow your own destiny."


    Finally, Jasmine couldn¡¯t take it anymore. She flew down at high speed and went inside the house. Kayden¡¯s confrontations were too much for her, and she needed time to think.


    "Thank you," Yan thanked Kayden, surprising all the children as he floated down to follow his daughter. "Wait here while I speak with your sister and mother."


    Kayden and Reyna were left alone, facing six pairs of eyes, most of them filled with hatred and resentment for what Kayden had just done. This was a very close-knit family.


    "Who are you, and why did you say those things to my sister?" asked the brilliant woman who had risen alongside Jasmine.


    "I am Kayden Heart. I said only what she needed to hear before it was too late." These were words Kayden spoke with complete sincerity. No one there fully understood his intentions.


    "What about us? What are the words we need to hear?" one of the boys said boldly, his ego was ridiculously high for being Yan¡¯s son and having a nine-ray strength since the first realm.


    Author¡¯s note: You should be back home on Wednesday, so on Thursday or Friday we¡¯ll be back with two daily chapters. sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 455: Mistreated

    "And what about us? What are the words we need to hear?" one of the boys asked bravely, his ego ridiculously high for being the son of Yan and having the strength of nine lightning bolts since the first realm.


    "Nothing. You have good paths and possibly perfect techniques, but that¡¯s all," Kayden¡¯s indifferent treatment of them, as if they were just ordinary people, stirred a small feeling of resentment in the group.


    "And are you special? I doubt you¡¯re capable of doing half of what I do in my realm," the genius of the Seven responded to Kayden, but he immediately received a message directly in his mind.


    "We both know why you are capable of that¡ªswallow your ego," the woman¡¯s heart started racing. If Kayden knew her secret... everything could collapse in seconds.


    "Yes, how strong are you to place yourself on such a high pedestal?" Kayden heard this question from the people below him.


    "You don¡¯t have the strength to ask that question," Kayden replied as a god would speak to an ant, slowly pressuring everyone to attack him.


    It took only a few more exchanges of words before the six jumped at him. Logically, 99% of their actions were due to the soul manipulation Kayden performed on them.


    "Kneel," Kayden released all his aura and killing intent at once. The very universe supported his actions. The six felt as if the world cornered them, forcing them to their knees.


    "Your bodies are strong, but your minds are pathetic. Ego blinds your movements. I¡¯m not even using mana to crush you," Kayden¡¯s words fell like iron upon each of them.


    No matter what they did, they couldn¡¯t even lift their faces off the ground. This was the most humiliating situation they had ever experienced. Of the six, only the boy with calloused hands was still trying to stand; the rest had given up, waiting for Yan.


    "Strengthen your mind. You are the master of your destiny, the lord of your path," Kayden whispered in his ear, guiding the boy to slowly rise to his knees.


    "Well done, boy," Kayden relieved the pressure on everyone. They only looked at Kayden with hatred, astonished. They had never been treated like this before, but Kayden ignored them harshly.


    "You train every day, more than anyone here, and yet you¡¯re the weakest, aren¡¯t you?" Kayden asked, already knowing the answer.


    "Yes, sir," the boy replied sadly, but he respected Kayden the moment he showed recognition of his effort.


    "I can change that. I can put you above anyone here," Kayden made his promises. Unfortunately, at that moment, Yan appeared, along with Amanda and Jasmine.


    The girl seemed to have recovered. Not only that but there was a new determination in her eyes; she looked more resolved and a little happier, even with her eyes red from crying so much.


    "Thank you, Mr. Kayden," the girl bowed in gratitude, surprising all her siblings. Kayden simply nodded.


    No one there understood why she thanked Kayden, except for Jasmine¡¯s parents and Kayden, who understood the decision she had made. She had been on the edge of a cliff, and Kayden¡¯s action was just the trigger she needed.


    "Who is the other one you pointed to, Kayden?" Yan asked, but the answer was obvious, seeing where Kayden stood and after having watched the situation from the outside. S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "This boy has more talent than all the other five combined," Kayden¡¯s words provoked a certain anger among Yan¡¯s other children.


    "Why?" Yan knew his children were strong, but the one Kayden pointed to was undoubtedly the weakest.


    "Potential," Kayden merely murmured and fell silent.


    "Let¡¯s have some tea," Yan pulled Kayden into the skies, creating two floating sofas. After sitting on one of the chairs, he took out a bottle containing a golden liquid.


    After serving themselves, silence permeated the atmosphere as each of them got lost in their thoughts. On one side, Kayden had no idea what was going to happen, but he knew it would define his future, while Yan hadn¡¯t expected to encounter Kayden in this life.


    "Thanks to your contribution, I was able to reach divinity. In all my years of life, you were the one who helped me the most in recovering my soulmate. My debt to you is eternal," Yan said, looking deeply into Kayden¡¯s eyes.


    The gratitude and debt Yan spoke of were clear to Kayden when he looked into the god¡¯s eyes. They were pure and reflected exactly what he was saying. Kayden was surprised, but he thought it might be something like that.


    "Do you want the resources to become a god? Women? Riches? Half of this universe? Just ask, and it will be yours." Kayden was offered perhaps the greatest reward of his life.


    For a few seconds, Kayden¡¯s mind wandered through the vast possibilities, but it didn¡¯t take long for him to make a decision. In the end, he was faithful to his principles, which allowed him to overcome mediocrity.


    "I will spend some time on this planet. Just give me a seal of yours for free access to most things¡ªjust rooms and events. I¡¯m not seeking resources..." Kayden began, but Yan interrupted him, already knowing Kayden well.


    "You understand I am one of the greatest gods in this universe. Everything is at my feet, and you still ask for simple things?"


    "Resources can only take me so far. I wasn¡¯t born with great talent, sir. The strength I seek must be earned by my own hands."


    Yan knew Kayden was special, but seeing a mere mortal remains unmoved when the universe was placed on a platter before him was something that would always surprise him.


    "Is that all?" Yan¡¯s gratitude compelled him to offer much more than Kayden was asking for.


    "Offer your son to me as a disciple," Kayden said, a statement that took Yan a moment to respond to¡ªa moment only a god would be able to notice.


    "Why? What do you want with this? What are your qualifications? You are strong, but that¡¯s all, you are not special, besides what happened all these years? Why are you still in the same kingdom?" This time the one who invited was Kayden.

 Chapter 456: A scary secret

    "Make an oath to the heavens," Kayden demanded. He knew Yan had broken the previous one and remained alive; he had witnessed this incredible event through Nivu¡¯s memories.


    As much as this meant the possibility of Kayden being deceived, he doubted it very much, as his karmic value at that moment should be millions of times greater, and not even Yan¡¯s father would escape the fury of the heavens unscathed.


    "What kind of oath?" Yan raised an eyebrow, his godlike mind working at full speed, considering all possibilities.


    "Swear not to kill me or hinder me in any way, and also swear not to reveal anything I tell you." Yan admired Kayden¡¯s courage. Before, no one spoke to him like this, and after all his actions, not even the greatest gods spoke freely with him anymore.


    "I swear before the heavens that I hold no negative feelings or will take any action against Kayden Heart, and furthermore, I will not disclose our conversation to any living being in this universe." A golden bolt of lightning struck Yan, signifying that he was now bound by an unbreakable oath.


    "I was reborn," Kayden began his tale, and with every word he spoke, Yan became more and more astonished. Even a god like him, who had lived through the existence of two universes, didn¡¯t know such things were possible.


    "I created a monarch."


    "I destroyed a planet while only being in the Fifth Realm."


    "I know how to manipulate souls to the point of increasing a mage¡¯s power by dozens of folds."


    With each of Kayden¡¯s sentences, Yan understood that he was standing before a monster, much like he was in his youth ¡ª someone capable of changing eras with sheer strength. It was only a matter of time until Kayden fully developed.


    "That¡¯s enough," Yan interrupted Kayden after a few minutes. "Why do you want my son? What are your intentions?" Kayden could have lied, but he opted for complete honesty.


    "I want to make him a monarch and study how his soul reacts, even though he¡¯s a false god." Yan felt slightly irritated by the idea of his son being an object of study, but he also understood that Kayden was offering a great deal. Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I can accept that. On this planet, nothing can harm my family while under my supervision." Yan was indeed confident, capable of stopping even a fly from flapping its wings with his current power.


    The two talked for a few more hours. Yan offered many useful pieces of advice to Kayden, especially on how to use large amounts of mana in a more automated and powerful way.


    "Since you¡¯re going to take care of my son, I will tell you the secret of the gods." Kayden remained silent, waiting without any reaction, much to Yan¡¯s disappointment. "All the gods are working on something extremely unique and unexpected. We¡¯ve discovered a multiverse, another universe within our reality."


    It took Kayden a few seconds to grasp the full implications of this. It was an utterly insane discovery: new techniques, new gods, new worlds ¡ª a zillion new things could arise from that universe.


    "What¡¯s the average power level in that place?" Kayden automatically became interested but not too much, as he still had a lot to learn in his universe.


    "Divine. Nothing below the divine level can set foot in or be born in that universe." Kayden was mentally stunned at the thought of a universe filled solely with gods. It was a terrifying idea.


    "It¡¯s trillions of times larger than ours, but that¡¯s also the problem. We¡¯ve seen techniques and gods wielding powers far beyond what we¡¯re accustomed to." Kayden didn¡¯t need to think long to understand what was going to happen.


    "The gods are going to move to that universe, aren¡¯t they?"


    "Exactly. The problem is there¡¯s no return. No one who enters that universe can come back. You know what it takes to become a god, don¡¯t you?"


    Kayden fully understood what the god was talking about. To become a god, you need a willpower and obsession for power far beyond the ordinary. No one who became a god through normal means could resist the chance to become even more powerful.


    In the past, many gods with lower capabilities advanced through vile and dishonest means, but nowadays, only the elite of the elite could achieve divinity.


    "All the gods are going to leave this universe. Those who vote to stay will be killed before we leave." Kayden was a bit startled; the chaos this universe would become was entirely beyond comprehension.


    "How long?"


    "A few million years." Kayden couldn¡¯t help but feel worried; that wasn¡¯t enough time for him to surpass the mages who would remain.


    "You understand the chaos this place will fall into, right? What about your children?" Kayden asked, trying to figure out what plans the god before him had made.


    "Unfortunately, I am one of the gods who wants to stay, but I had to vote in favor. Sometimes, there comes a point in your life where you must make a choice, and unfortunately, I have no options."


    A heavy silence filled the room as Kayden grasped the depth of sadness of a man who had done the impossible to recover his wife and ended up a victim of circumstances.


    "You¡¯re going to fight the whole universe, aren¡¯t you?" Yan saw the gleam in Kayden¡¯s eyes and realized that they were both madmen and madmen who think alike.


    "Yes, I¡¯m going to take as many idiots with me as I can." The hatred that emanated from Yan was enough to cause the planet to tremble slightly in space.


    Kayden said nothing as he thought. His ability to manipulate souls could be used in this situation. He could regress and hide this god¡¯s soul, but that would be a plan requiring a lot of work and would likely consume the next few million years of his life.


    "I want to change my requests a bit," Yan said, asking Kayden to continue.

 Chapter 457: Marry

    "I want some resources and privileges to build an organization." Kayden would have to sacrifice some of his time with others, without any research purpose this time.


    His goal was to build a strong enough organization so that he could live peacefully in the future without needing to advance rapidly to gain enough strength to survive.


    He could create several monsters, and combined with Yan¡¯s influence, he could easily make a few hundred peak mages, enough to dominate a significant portion of the universe.


    The main problem was being betrayed in the end, but that would be ridiculously difficult because he would place subliminal messages in the souls of the people around him. Kayden would essentially make his subjects love him with all their might.


    "That won¡¯t be a problem." Yan and Kayden discussed for a few more hours everything Kayden could take and a space for him to cultivate on this planet.


    The boy was granted a small continent surrounded by seas on all sides, large enough to accommodate a few trillion people. It was currently uninhabited because it was the next reward Yan planned to give to one of his false gods for their excellent millennial work.


    After many agreements and days, the two returned to the farm. Incredibly, everyone was waiting for them. Kayden¡¯s presence was simply too much of an enigma to be ignored, and they could easily wait a few days.


    "Atlas, from today on, Kayden is your master. This is a unique opportunity in your life, one even I would have wanted as a mortal," Yan sweetened the words that shocked the whole family.


    "Father!"


    "No!"


    "YAN!!!"


    Several cries came from different sources. Most couldn¡¯t understand how this happened¡ªwho exactly was Kayden, and why was he being treated so well by their father? On top of that, why was he becoming a master to one of them?


    "Quiet, this decision has already been made. They will live on the Island of the Condemned." Since it was located in the most distant part of the planet, many called it by that name. "Atlas, trust your father this time and go with Kayden."


    Yan simply pushed his son, Kayden, and Reyna out of the farm, launching them a few tens of thousands of kilometers away. The god seemed to be facing a good argument at home.


    "Atlas," Kayden took the reins of the situation, "you just need to stay with me for one year and decide if you want to be my disciple or not. Until then, just call me Kayden." Atlas was a boy who grew up being bullied by his brothers.


    Even though his family was united, and he knew it was all just play, being the weakest cast a shadow in his mind that weighed on him at all times, never leaving him alone.


    This was a unique opportunity in his life. The boy could at least try. Like it or not, it was a recommendation from his father, and he knew how protective Yan really was of his children.


    "Fly a bit away, Atlas. I need to talk to Reyna alone," Kayden requested as the boy agreed to his previous words.


    "Swear to the heavens you won¡¯t let anything I say here slip," Kayden¡¯s words scared the woman who had spent the last few hours under incredible tension caused by the presence of Yan¡¯s children.


    The big problem was the god¡¯s wife, who had far more experience. With just a few words and some pressure, she managed to get every piece of information she wanted out of Reyna.


    "I swear to the heavens that I won¡¯t let anything escape from my lips." The heavens glorified her with a golden lightning bolt, symbolizing that they had accepted her words.


    "Marry me," Kayden said two words Reyna never expected to hear, not even in her wildest dreams. All the while, the boy had been bombarding the girl¡¯s soul with emotions of love and attraction.


    "I..." Kayden knew it wouldn¡¯t be easy. He would need to push a bit more to secure a wife.


    "Let me tell you a story," Kayden began detailing everything he had discussed with Yan. With every word, Reyna¡¯s expression grew heavier and more closed off.


    After a few minutes, Kayden said everything he had to say, presenting all he had gained and what he would do in the future. Meanwhile, he continued bombarding Reyna¡¯s soul with positive emotions about him.


    Something Kayden quickly realized was that the more emotional an event was, regardless of whether it was negative or a great joy, everything made the soul more prone to receiving new information and desires placed artificially.


    "Become my queen, rule the entire continent and my organization. In return, all I ask is that you be the mother of my children." By this point, Kayden had spent long minutes bombarding Reyna.


    "Is this a political marriage?" Reyna didn¡¯t want to do something like that. Power was enticing, but in exchange for her freedom of choice, it simply wasn¡¯t worth it.


    "In part, but I genuinely was captivated by your beauty from the moment I met you," Kayden started adding various sweet words to his speech while continuing to bombard these feelings into the woman¡¯s soul. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Since when have you been in love?" Kayden didn¡¯t expect that question.


    "Since the day I first saw you." An obvious answer that Reyna would have regarded with great suspicion if she were fully in control of her thoughts, but Kayden¡¯s constant attacks on her soul had left her practically infatuated with him.


    "I..."


    "How about we just have a casual relationship for a few years, until you¡¯re ready to make this decision?" Kayden first offered a very strong option that would require many changes in Reyna¡¯s life, then gave her a small escape route.


    "I accept." Her soul accepted it immediately. Kayden would have plenty of time to mold the woman¡¯s soul to his control; all he needed was time.


    ************


    Once they returned to Reyna¡¯s city, they began recruiting people to handle the administrative side of the continent¡¯s population and resources. It was a simply colossal place, but luckily, Reyna had many contacts.


    It took only a few months for them to recruit a few billion people and a few thousand top-level individuals. They only had to promise some rewards to the primary residents.

 Chapter 458: The country

    "The pain will be immense, but I believe you are ready to endure it," Kayden said to his disciple, while Reyna was preparing. During these months, Kayden had been training Atlas¡¯s mind. He performed countless tests and challenges focused solely on mental strength. Atlas¡¯s physical power did not grow even by a fraction during this time, which deeply unsettled the boy.


    "Why are we doing all this?" Atlas asked tens of thousands of times, only to receive the same response every time.


    "A strong mage requires a strong mind." This phrase was repeated to Atlas with each question he asked, and unfortunately, it was the only answer he ever received.


    "How intense will the pain be?" Atlas was finally about to face something different. Kayden said this would directly increase his strength by a significant percentage.


    "The strongest pain of your life." Atlas was doubtful, as his father had taught him and his siblings to fight against pain and endure it, and not just minor levels of it.


    "Then let¡¯s go," Atlas said confidently, a decision that would turn out to be the worst he could have made.


    In the following minutes, Atlas experienced the greatest pain of his life. He found himself unable to even speak once the procedure was over; his mind was in shambles. Fortunately, he was strong, and Kayden was mending his soul and accelerating the healing process by many times.


    What would have been a lifelong trauma barely lasted a few hours under Kayden¡¯s healing. Once Atlas regained consciousness, he measured his strength, shivering at the thought of the recent ordeal.


    "What the hell is this?" Atlas had experienced nearly a 10% increase in strength in just a few hours, a leap he couldn¡¯t have achieved even in years of training.


    "This is a body purification process. Each session can be done every few years. By the end, you should be able to increase your strength by at least tenfold, and if you¡¯re lucky, you might gain something even more special."


    "What would that be?" Atlas took the bait like a child seeing candy.


    "Only my disciples are allowed to know," Kayden smiled.


    "I accept. The power I¡¯ve gained is far superior to anything my brothers could achieve," Atlas said, staring at his own hands in disbelief.


    "Swear to the heavens to serve me as your disciple, but first, ask your father for permission." Kayden reminded him that Atlas was the son of a god, and not just any god.


    "Father," Atlas called out, and immediately Yan materialized inside the room.


    "It¡¯s your decision alone, son. You¡¯re old enough to make your own choices." Yan said this and disappeared without further words.


    Atlas was no longer a child, and Yan knew it. As much as the god wanted to treat him like a defenseless baby, doing so would only hinder his potential. Besides, Kayden and Yan had made a vow to each other¡ªhis son wouldn¡¯t be directly threatened.


    "What will I have to do as your disciple?" Atlas knew this was a big decision, and Kayden¡¯s next words made him even more reflective.


    "Everything. I want you to reach the limit of power in this universe, even if it means killing every being within it." Simple and direct, Kayden didn¡¯t hide his intentions.


    Atlas had a strong mentality, something his father had made sure to teach him, but he was not yet the most developed being. He still had some reservations, especially concerning large-scale massacres.


    Fortunately for Kayden, Yan had no way of knowing what was being done to his son¡¯s soul, as Kayden was bombarding Atlas with suggestive emotions, stripping away much of his free will.


    "I accept," Atlas said, and Kayden smiled at the words of his new disciple.


    ***************


    Ten years later, Kayden had already built a great city on his continent, along with dozens of smaller cities. All of them were fully functioning thanks to the resources Yan had provided.


    The main type of resource Kayden requested was qualified people to lead the herds. He hadn¡¯t asked for any expensive resources beyond this. Most of the people were from lower realms and had low talent.


    In terms of the world¡¯s average, Kayden likely had the weakest continent ever seen, and by this point, Reyna was entirely captivated by Kayden¡¯s charms.


    It took years of constant bombardment, but now Reyna loved Kayden with all her heart. They were even expecting a child within the next few years.


    For false gods, it took about nine decades to generate a child. It was a long time, but necessary for their superior genes not to kill the child at its first breath. S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden¡¯s cities were growing freely, merely accumulating people. His current focus was to populate the entire continent before starting his major plans.


    During this time, he also gained a few new disciples. They weren¡¯t as talented as Atlas, so Kayden sped up their training to the point of producing ten eight-ray mages in just one decade. Unfortunately, they were all from the second realm, but it was a start.


    Kayden had opted for a king-and-queen system in this place. Reyna handled all the administrative affairs of the kingdom, and everyone knew and respected her decisions as absolute law. Meanwhile, Kayden was rarely seen, only showing himself a few times a year.


    By now, the continent housed several hundred billion people, and Kayden finally thought it was time to open his organization to the world. To do this, he summoned everyone for a massive event with a final announcement.


    "Welcome, everyone," Kayden amplified his voice with mana to carry across hundreds of kilometers. He stood in the capital, which was packed to the brim with its inhabitants. So many people had gathered that many were camping outside the city.


    "The kingdom is opening a very special organization that will recruit its mages once a year," at that moment, ten eight-ray mages appeared, floating in random points in the sky.


    "These are the ten mages who are part of it," most of the people weren¡¯t impressed¡ªthey were just some second-realm mages. "Each one of them used to be a three-ray mage," a slight lie, as they were all five-ray mages, "but with the organization¡¯s resources and their will to start anew, they¡¯ve all reached eight rays," Kayden¡¯s voice silenced the crowd.

 Chapter 459: The empire

    Author¡¯s note: I had unexpected events these days, sorry about that.


    From three rays to eight rays was an absurd change, it was light-years of difference. Eight rays would place you directly at the top of the universe, something that 99.9999% of ordinary people would never even see in their lifetime. sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I promise that anyone who passes our test will reach this power, but our test is something difficult that only the mentally strongest are capable of achieving. The strength you have at this moment doesn¡¯t matter to me, only what your mind is capable of really makes a difference."


    The mages in the sky began casting some spells to impress the crowd, something that worked perfectly. Even those in the fourth realm would feel slightly intimidated. Kayden was using his soul manipulation all the time.


    It was a huge effort for him to do this in such a large crowd, so the boy opted to make small mental suggestions to everyone there using his sixth sense, complementing it with a truly worthy display to impress these people.


    "The test consists of taking a single step forward over my aura." The test seemed very simple, especially for those few high-realm mages present at the scene. "I will give you a small taste of what it¡¯s like. Those who don¡¯t want to experience it, please raise your hands, and you will be protected."


    Only a small portion raised their hands, as most believed they were mentally strong. Like it or not, they had lived hard lives, right? Working every day to support their homes and raise their children.


    Kayden smiled at the sweet pride that mediocre minds automatically created. It was funny how most rational people always believed they could handle more than they actually could. It was practically an effect of exaggerated optimism.


    "Ready?" Those who were not participating were protected by Kayden¡¯s disciples, some of the only mages there who could do so.


    As soon as Kayden released his aura slightly, many immediately fell and began having epileptic seizures. Their bodies recognized a predator and entered fight-or-flight mode, but unfortunately, it was too intense, and they passed out.


    The more Kayden increased his killing intent and his aura, the more these mages fell to their knees and passed out. In just a few seconds, Kayden released only 10% of his aura and took down 60% of all the mages in that place.


    After snapping his fingers and shocking the souls of everyone who was unconscious, Kayden stopped attacking them with his aura. The boy simply waited while the majority regained consciousness and looked at him in absolute fear.


    Almost all of them had some degree of panic attack, and some even suffered heart attacks. Fortunately, Kayden was controlling the intensity of his attacks at all times. Not only that, but medical teams were stationed all around.


    "As you¡¯ve noticed, we don¡¯t want those with weak minds. We only want the peak of the peak of our realm." Kayden¡¯s words caused some to shrink back in shame. "The next test will be at full strength. If you didn¡¯t feel perfectly fine in the last one, I strongly recommend you don¡¯t try this one, as many may end up dying."


    Kayden¡¯s words sent a chill down the spine of many who thought they had done well. Some there had really pushed themselves and managed to withstand Kayden¡¯s aura, but unfortunately, they hadn¡¯t been 100% fine, and that would make all the difference now.


    "Those who want to join the Knights of the End, step forward."


    *************


    Kayden managed to recruit only one mage capable of passing the test, but he hadn¡¯t expected much. Only people who had gone through great trials or possessed monstrous talent were able to succeed.


    Most of these people had only faced common difficulties in their lives. Moreover, most of the time, they were just things that passed after a few weeks. That would change after Kayden began putting all his plans into action.


    The person Kayden recruited had strong talent. Kayden only had to make some modifications to his soul and begin training him. Slowly, his number of genius servants was growing.


    His plans were delayed by Reyna. As much as the woman was completely in love with Kayden and fulfilled his every request, she had not yet reached the point of renouncing her entire life for him.


    It would still take a few more years or decades for that to happen. Meanwhile, Kayden was just taking the opportunity to recruit whoever he could and whoever would be useful to his organization.


    With the resources and support of the Father of the Gods, Kayden practically had a vast information network and was able to recruit people from distant planets with no connection to the one he was on.


    Four decades later, Kayden finally managed to fully dominate Reyna. At that moment, the dynamics of his realm changed. Kayden began to implement a system where the powerful were free to do as they pleased.


    This meant that the number of murders and assaults increased at an alarming rate. Kayden only prohibited slavery; everything else was allowed, as long as it was done to weaker beings.


    Kayden numbered people, as had been done in his previous world, but the difference was that everyone received a number. It was a gigantic process, but after a few years, everything was aligned, and it didn¡¯t take long for people to get used to it.


    It happened faster than Kayden expected. He also started making each city independent from one another and encouraged a strong rivalry between them¡ªso strong that wars were permitted and encouraged.


    Of course, changes of this magnitude couldn¡¯t be made without opposition, but luckily, Kayden only needed to convince the majority with soul suggestions, and the rest quickly followed.


    It was an impressive herd effect. Nobody wanted to be the one swimming against the current. It was much easier to just follow the crowd. Kayden understood this effect very well and simply used it on a large scale.


    It would take a few generations for them to fully understand just how surreal the change would be by introducing more challenges to the lives of common people. Kayden understood that only hardships made people grow stronger.


    All his disciples had at least eight or nine rays in one of the first four realms. The only one progressing extremely slowly was Atlas, but Kayden was extraordinarily polishing him.


    All the others would achieve a high level of power in a short time. Probably in a thousand years, some of them would be in the seventh realm, perhaps even the eighth, but that was it.


    Kayden was first creating cannon fodder, and only afterward would he start creating true monsters. Not that these first ones were weak, but they were just strong¡ªthey weren¡¯t special in any way.


    Atlas had 30% of his soul cleansed of past lives, and his strength grew at an incredibly alarming rate. But that wasn¡¯t even the main thing; Atlas grew as a person. Kayden¡¯s ideas entered his mind deeply.


    Since the boy accepted becoming Kayden¡¯s disciple, he only needed to be seen as alive by his father. That was all. It was no longer necessary for Yan to take care of his mind and desires, as he was a grown man and had accepted following Kayden¡¯s path.


    It was something Atlas did not regret. He was in the same realm while his siblings were already in the fifth, but his strength had soared to unprecedented heights. He was fully confident he would achieve nine rays in his next ascension test, which would elevate him to the same ray level as his three strongest brothers.


    The pain caused by Kayden¡¯s session was slowly disregarded in his mind. He no longer even cared about going through the process. Kayden had fully shaped his soul.


    He was practically a perfect version of Kayden in his youth, from motivation to mentality. Kayden didn¡¯t even have to do much work; Atlas was ridiculously focused on his goals.


    The boy¡¯s mind only needed a few touch-ups. He would probably stand out over time. His brothers were too used to just living life and training as their father wanted.


    Only that girl with nonsensical talent¡ªKayden knew she was something beyond what she showed. What exactly, he wasn¡¯t sure, but her soul was unique and had no past lives. That was very strange.


    How could a soul naturally have no past lives? Kayden had never seen that before in his entire life, even after killing thousands of people and studying trillions. He still hadn¡¯t seen anything like it.


    In the decades that passed, Kayden also began a new study. He started learning about sleep and its role in the soul. It was something trivial that most people gave up on in the early realms, but he remembered his conversation with Hypnos.


    The god had introduced himself as a god of dreams and also a god of souls. What exactly was the relationship between them? Kayden wasn¡¯t entirely sure, but after a few years of study, he reached some conclusions.


    The soul was cleansed of its defects every time an individual slept. Even those in the fourth realm could benefit from this cleansing, though to a ridiculously small degree. But after some calculations, Kayden arrived at a terrifying conclusion.

 Chapter 460: Sleep

    If a mage slept for at least eight hours every day of their life, from the first to the last realm, they would reach a completely purified soul by the end of their life. It was a trade of time for the quality of the soul. A soul without past lives was an utterly absurd advantage; in Kayden¡¯s opinion, it was a relatively fair trade. Would he do it? It might be extremely beneficial for people without the ability to manipulate souls like he could.


    It was a trade of a huge amount of time for a huge amount of strength. Kayden¡¯s studies led him to learn much about sleep; our body typically induces it through many hormones and signals. The lack of sunlight wasn¡¯t a barrier to sleeping, but it caused our daily cycle to stretch beyond the standard 24 hours. This was a negative in Kayden¡¯s view, as it made things more erratic and without pattern.


    Kayden raised several dozen children during this period in a far-from-ethical study where he distributed different amounts of sleep to each. It took only a few decades for him to witness something incredible. Those with less than six hours of sleep had almost no soul purification. This meant that all their strength came solely from their efforts. Compared to the group that slept eight hours¡­ they were far behind.


    All of them were trained in the same technique and given the same resources; even their food and daily activities were standardized. Kayden tried to ensure that sleep was the only differentiating factor in their lives.


    Another experiment Kayden conducted involved pregnant women. He varied their hours of sleep and also administered certain substances, one of which was alcohol. It took only a few years for him to understand the magnitude of the problem he had uncovered. Souls enter the body of the child around the third month of a normal human pregnancy. Most of the fetus¡¯s life was spent sleeping, and when Kayden deprived the woman of sleep, almost nothing happened to the fetus¡¯s future. However, when the woman consumed alcohol, things changed.


    This small living being, organizing its soul within its own body, received a massive dose of a substance that prevented it from dreaming. This made the child incapable of placing its soul into its body perfectly. The soul became disconnected from the fetus¡¯s body, similar to trying to fit a square object into a round hole. The more alcohol consumed, the higher the incidence of these disconnections.


    When the child was born, it wasn¡¯t possible to immediately understand the extent of the damage, but as years passed, they showed between 10 to 30% developmental delays compared to others of their age. Their life was practically destroyed because of an irresponsible mother, or in this case, because of Kayden.


    Kayden also found himself unable to fix this disconnection simply by inducing sleep. He had to study the person¡¯s soul deeply and then repair it over the years. It was ironic how much of your success was determined before you were even born.


    After a few decades, Kayden became an expert in human sleep and dreams. He gathered dozens of insights through thousands of studies and concluded that 99% of mages didn¡¯t get the minimum amount of sleep required to reap the benefits. Moreover, sleep was one of the most beneficial states for regulating both the body and mind of a mage. He observed a direct relationship between dreams and the overcoming of traumas: the deeper the sleep, the faster one could overcome intense trauma. It was a direct correlation.


    Kayden had recruited a select group of mages to start sleeping eight hours a day and procreate among themselves. They would be one of his longest-running experiments, likely lasting a few thousand years. After drawing all these conclusions, Kayden set aside his focus on sleep for a while. He had learned everything he could during this period. The remaining information would require a colossal effort to uncover.


    Author¡¯s note: Believe it or not, all of this information is true. I got it from the book *Why We Sleep*. Of course, some things have been adapted for a magical world. S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    In the blink of an eye, a few centuries passed. During this time, Kayden¡¯s organization grew terrifyingly. The Knights of the End expanded their numbers to a few dozen, and all of them were ridiculously strong mages. Each Knight of the End had at least eight rays, and one or two had reached nine rays. These last ones, unfortunately, were stuck in the lower realms, with the highest realm reached so far being the sixth.


    Kayden knew he was merely increasing his numbers at the moment, so he didn¡¯t care too much about the quality. He had more than enough time to turn his kingdom into a true monster in this universe. His kingdom also grew in power at an alarming rate. One of the craziest things Kayden did was something never seen before in the entire universe: he made all techniques available to the public.


    Literally all techniques¡ªsome capable of creating entire organizations from scratch just by their power. Legendary techniques, insane techniques that could spark world wars, all of them were free to be learned in libraries throughout the cities. To prevent the information from leaking, everyone who entered the library had to sign a contract and take an oath. Additionally, he enlisted Yan¡¯s help to monitor the mages entering and leaving his kingdom.


    Kayden didn¡¯t want spies entering to learn and then leaving to take the knowledge elsewhere. He needed people to use the techniques in his kingdom so that it could develop. This led to a terrifying number of people being executed for breaking the oath and an even larger number by Yan¡¯s mages.


    In return, the number of immigrants arriving in the kingdom increased at an enormous scale¡ªbillions arrived every year. Most were of low level, but a few were at an elevated stage and quickly adapted to the power dynamics of society. The number of cities multiplied rapidly during this period, and most were constantly at war for resources. During these few centuries, people spent at least 70% of their time at war, killing each other.

 Chapter 461: Decades

    In the beginning, it was difficult, but over time, it became the norm. Kayden was always behind major events and wars. The government-funded both sides and as soon as one side lost, it was completely eradicated, allowing new people to take over the city. Kayden had devised a system where the same group of people couldn¡¯t control two cities, preventing monopolies and forcing new individuals to rise and become powerful.


    When a city lost a war, it was given 1 to 2 centuries to recover. Moreover, the government and other cities would help rebuild, forming new circles of alliances. The cities were divided into levels of power, starting at level one for the weakest and going up to level five for the strongest. A city¡¯s level was directly proportional to the number of wars it had won, and its resources were distributed based on this level.


    Life for ordinary people was tough, extremely tough. Most lost a loved one or even died themselves because of the wars, but there was something that compelled them to stay in Kayden¡¯s kingdom¡ªsomething no other place in the world offered: opportunity.


    Everyone had the same opportunities, whether they were born rich or poor. The public library was always there for them to learn legendary techniques. In this place, meritocracy truly worked. Children up to 20 years old couldn¡¯t participate in wars, and they were required to go through mandatory basic education. Kayden made it clear that everyone had the opportunity to grow in strength, but outside this kingdom, they wouldn¡¯t.


    When they turned 20, they had to take an exam and receive a score from 1 to 99. This score determined whether they were recruited by the government or by the cities. The average score was usually below 50. Only geniuses scored above that, with those above 75 being special prodigies, and very few appeared each year. Those above 95 were once-in-a-decade talents, and the government would recruit them directly.


    Then there were the Knights of the End¡ªbeings from another world with godlike strength. They were revered by the population. While they weren¡¯t allowed to participate in wars, they were the ones responsible for ending them. Capable of halting wars with their strength alone, and killing millions or billions if a city¡¯s group defied orders, they were untouchable. Everyone aspired to become a Knight of the End.


    Kayden¡¯s test to become a Knight was nearly impossible to complete, and only a very small number managed to pass. But this only increased the prestige of those who succeeded, turning it into a childhood dream for every mage. The Knights of the End were tasked with many responsibilities, but the main one was to grow in strength under Kayden¡¯s supervision. Those whom Kayden believed had reached their peak were cast aside without mercy.


    Each Knight could have one or two apprentices to pass on their knowledge and continue their magical lineage. This was one of the most coveted positions in society, though Kayden didn¡¯t care about it at all.


    Kayden set aside about 20% of all territory to build enormous farms that produced high-level treasures. It was a colossal endeavor, requiring an immense amount of resources. Fortunately, after a few centuries, everything was well-established. It was an environment with a high mana density and countless resources being generated. This was done to ensure that the Knights of the End and some cities had access to first-class resources.


    All of Kayden¡¯s plans were designed to develop an extremely powerful organization. If every ruler dedicated themselves to their people as Kayden did, the universe would likely be at a much higher level.


    During this time, Kayden had three children with Reyna, a woman he came to care for. She was hardworking, and even under the effects of Kayden¡¯s soul attack, she hadn¡¯t completely lost her personality. Her mind was as strong as her body. However, their three children died early in their childhood, an immense emotional shock for Reyna. Kayden strongly supported her with soul suppressants, ensuring she didn¡¯t collapse, as there was still much to do in this kingdom.


    Kayden also began strengthening Reyna¡¯s soul. This woman was to be his main defender and the pillar of his organization. She had to become the strongest mage in the world. Kayden needed to turn her into a high-level false goddess.


    The reason Kayden¡¯s three children died was that they were born too powerful for human bodies. Their souls were much purer than any normal person¡¯s¡ªat least 40% cleaner, which was an astonishing number. Kayden¡¯s genes had created little monsters, and it was insane that his children were born as first-realm mages. His offspring were on a completely different level, and unfortunately, their strength was too much for them to handle at that age.


    This plan was in progress, but Kayden set it aside for the time being. He needed to prioritize strengthening Reyna, as this was more important than having a few children to study.


    Atlas had made terrifying progress. Kayden managed to remove 40% of his past lives, turning him into a monster in his realm. He could easily challenge the peak of the peak in his realm, but he still couldn¡¯t fight against nine-ray mages. Whether he liked it or not, the jump from eight rays to nine rays was a surreal leap¡ªa bottomless chasm to cross. However, Atlas could easily advance to the next realm and achieve nine rays, but Kayden was holding him back.


    He wanted to remove a total of 50% of Atlas¡¯s past lives before allowing him to advance. Atlas¡¯s siblings had probably already advanced, but he remained in the same realm. In the past, this might have caused negative thoughts in him, but nowadays, Atlas fought only against himself. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Atlas¡¯s mind was completely contaminated by Kayden¡¯s ideas. The boy had only one function, only one purpose, only one path. He had no other goal in his life. His momentary strength was dispensable. Time passed quickly as everyone grew in strength. Kayden received a very large offer from Yan. One of the greatest treasures in the world would open. It was a time chamber, on a scale large enough that one day it would become 10,000 years old.

 Chapter 462: Strength

    The invitation was meant for Atlas, but Kayden stopped him from accepting it. Atlas needed to strengthen his mind without shortcuts and continue going through soul sessions during this period¡ªbeing away for ten thousand years was too long without stabilizing. As a result, Kayden received the invitation in his place. He saw it as a great opportunity to push his sixth sense to its limit, which at that moment spanned 25,000 kilometers¡ªa staggering amount, though Kayden believed he could achieve much more.


    Master and disciple traveled through various space portals to one of the most distant points on the planet. There was absolutely nothing there¡ªjust a vast stone desert devoid of life or civilization. It was so remote that it would take months of travel at a good speed to reach this place. Kayden and Atlas easily found their destination, as all the mana in the area was being pulled toward the center of the desert like a black hole.


    The amount of mana being drawn in was so massive that the surrounding environment was practically drained of it. Kayden had seen this many times before, as his path did something similar, but not on the scale of millions of kilometers like this. After a few hours, Kayden and his disciple found themselves before an enormous altar spanning dozens of kilometers, covered in millions of runes. It was an incredible sight¡ªeach rune radiated a unique aura, and mana flowed through them evenly, giving the pentagram a glowing, almost surging quality, as its blue color intensified with each passing second.


    Kayden and his disciple could hardly believe what they were witnessing. The gigantic altar stretched as far as their eyes could see, its edges fading into the distant horizon. Each rune carved into the ancient stones glowed with a rhythmic, breathing blue light. The air around the altar was thick with an ancient and overwhelming energy. The runes, etched with astonishing precision, formed intricate patterns that seemed to shift slightly, changing shape as mana coursed through them. The soft hum of rising energy filled the air, mingling with the crackling of pure energy emanating from every line of the colossal pentagram.


    As time passed, the altar began to transform before their eyes. The glow of the runes intensified, and the vibrant blue deepened into richer, more profound hues as if the altar was absorbing mana directly from the surroundings. Atlas felt his skin tingle, and his hair stood on end from the proximity to such immense power. The pentagram at the center of the altar slowly started to rise from the ground, like a living entity about to awaken. The ground beneath their feet trembled lightly, and a distant, almost imperceptible melody echoed through the runes, filling the air with an overwhelming presence. It was clear that something monumental was about to happen.


    Within minutes, they reached the center, where an ancient hourglass stood¡ªa relic used to measure time with sand. Surrounding it were dozens of people, all-powerful mages from high realms. However, they were not the ones who would be entering, as only those below the seventh realm would benefit from the ten thousand years. For a seventh-realm mage, ten thousand years would offer little in terms of learning, but for mages in the sixth realm or below, it was an immense amount of time.


    As soon as they stepped into the area, all eyes turned toward them, but no one could say anything before they were pulled directly toward Yan and his family. Kayden didn¡¯t even manage to step before he found himself face-to-face with the god, while Atlas stood before his siblings.


    "It¡¯s been a while, Lord Kayden," Yan greeted him. Kayden bowed and offered his greetings, then remained silent, waiting.


    "Atlas, why are you still in the fourth realm?" Jasmine, his sister, was the first to speak after not seeing him for decades.


    "I haven¡¯t reached the ideal point to advance," Atlas replied, as usual. Over the next few minutes, everyone exchanged their experiences. While most had incredible stories to tell, Atlas had only trained.


    While his siblings visited other planets and used legendary treasures, Atlas had only trained and trained. He hadn¡¯t left Kayden¡¯s side for decades. In the past, this might have caused him to feel regret, but after seeing the strength he had gained, there was no room for sadness.


    "You¡¯ve turned him into a monster, Kayden," Yan commented, out of earshot from his children. Atlas had once been the weakest, but now, he could go toe-to-toe with the strongest, as long as they were in the same realm.


    "He¡¯s not ready yet. I want a few more thousand years to refine him. I¡¯ll turn him into a true monster, Lord Yan, just wait," Kayden¡¯s words made the god raise his eyebrows.


    In Yan¡¯s view, Atlas was already terrifyingly strong. His son had always been special, but he shouldn¡¯t have been able to surpass the level he was previously at. All of this was due to Kayden¡¯s special soul technique.


    "Can the soul technique be used on my other children?" Yan was a good father, willing to move entire worlds to make it possible.


    "No, the person must have an exceptionally strong mind, and none of your other children possess that. They¡¯d go insane after just a few days," Kayden answered honestly. Only this monster, Atlas, seemed to have the necessary mental strength, but he didn¡¯t need Kayden¡¯s technique.


    "That¡¯s a shame. What¡¯s your goal for Atlas?" Yan didn¡¯t know how far his son could go, but he had some ideas. Kayden¡¯s next words, however, took him into a completely different world from what he expected.


    "I want him to become a monarch. He¡¯ll likely be dozens of times stronger than he is now and will only have your daughter as his main opponent in this world."


    Even Kayden wasn¡¯t the strongest in his realm, and he knew that. When he was in the fifth realm, there were still people who could fight against him. But the difference was that he had no race backing him. Atlas had immense immediate potential, while Kayden had tremendous future potential. S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Most people¡¯s strength followed a sequential growth across realms, but Kayden¡¯s power increased multiplicatively. With each realm, his strength grew dozens of times because his sixth sense expanded, and the area it covered multiplied his strength directly.


    Author¡¯s note: problems lead me to come back with a chapter for a while, sorry dear readers

 Chapter 463: The ten thousand years

    As soon as Kayden reached the greater realms, he could convert a huge area; in fact, he could convert entire planets in just the blink of an eye.


    "It¡¯s about to begin," Yan commented as he saw the massive rune stop absorbing mana. The air began to tremble, and a faint mystical sound appeared for everyone as the space around them was completely torn apart.


    In just a few seconds, the entire pentagram disappeared, and the altar in the center became a green and black hole, pulling everyone toward its core. The suction force wasn¡¯t exactly strong; in fact, it was quite weak, and everyone managed to stay firm, waiting.


    "You may enter, and remember, everything inside is an illusion," Yan¡¯s voice echoed for everyone, and in just a few seconds, Kayden disappeared along with dozens of other mages.


    The large group found themselves floating in a vast, endless forest. All the beings within were at least in the fifth realm, and there seemed to be a strange harmony in every direction.


    Imagine a vast, endless forest where the horizon disappears among towering, magical trees with leaves in shades of purple and pink. The treetops sway gently in the wind, creating an ethereal aura that paints the sky with a palette of soft, bright hues. The trees have long, graceful trunks, their bark a deep blue and greenish hue, as if sculpted over centuries. The forest floor is covered with shimmering, almost translucent grass that glows a soft green under the moonlight.


    As you venture deeper, majestic mountains with towering peaks rise in the distance, their slopes covered in purple moss, contrasting with the golden plains stretching at their base. Small streams of crystal-clear water weave through these plains, reflecting the vibrant colors of the surroundings. A light morning mist drifts through the forest, enveloping everything in a pearlescent glow, making the scene even more surreal.


    Living in this magical world are unique, enchanting creatures. Among the trees, there are beings called "Lunaris," winged creatures with translucent wings that glow with silver light at night. They are small, resembling fairies, but with a serene and wise aura. Their role in the forest is to maintain the harmony of the plants and mountains, always in sync with the environment.


    On the plains, the "Sylvaras" roam, creatures resembling deer but with gleaming coats that change color according to the mood of the forest. Their antlers are made of crystal, and they communicate with the trees, absorbing and transmitting the energy of nature.


    In the mountains, the "Gronis" dwell¡ªgiant creatures with stone-like skin, yet their eyes glow a bright sky blue. Although they appear imposing, they are peaceful and gentle, dedicating their lives to protecting the balance of the mountains and the rivers that flow down to the plains.


    This harmony was utterly unsettling, and Kayden immediately understood it as something unreal, something that did not truly exist in this place. Someone or something made all of this possible, but what was it? Kayden had no idea, nor did he plan to find out.


    Most people began to scatter without any purpose. They had plenty of time to explore everything this magical forest had to offer them. Kayden and Yan¡¯s sons were the only ones who remained in place.


    "Lord Kayden, our father told us to seek you out from time to time for advice, but I see no need considering your strength. So we shall part ways here," one of Yan¡¯s monstrous sons said. Kayden simply nodded at him and began floating downwards.


    A few minutes later, he stood before a massive mountain with millions of stone golems, their bodies lined with blue mana veins. Kayden found them visually intriguing, and after observing this civilization for a few seconds, he understood how it functioned.


    They only used the artificial sunlight to warm themselves, sleeping and eating in an eternal cycle of peace and tranquility. It was utterly bizarre to Kayden¡ªhe couldn¡¯t understand how they could live like this.


    They lived inside the mountain in perfectly carved caves. Whoever had done this was an expert architect, for the tunnels and curves were all shaped like a giant golem.


    "Hello!" Kayden spoke through a mana message and waited for a response as millions of golems turned toward him. Some showed visible fear in their bones, while others were merely curious.


    "Who are you, outsider? You do not belong to the Eternal Sacred," the golems said, aware of the legends. Every few hundred thousand years, some beings would arrive in this place, representing the pinnacle of strength and, at the same time, endless destruction.


    "I am Kayden Heart, and I¡¯m just looking for a place to spend the next few thousand years," Kayden¡¯s voice came out in a friendly tone, but even so, he received a cold response.


    "We do not accept strangers." That was all. There was no further response.


    "I want to use this mountain. We can negotiate this peacefully, or I could just wipe out your entire civilization," Kayden sent this message directly into the souls of millions of golems, releasing his full killing intent.


    For beings used to peace and with few conflicts in their entire lives, this was an overwhelmingly shocking experience. Many fainted and fell to the ground, lifeless.


    "Alright, outsider!" the voice replied this time in panic. "Hold your spells, let¡¯s talk this over." The golem tried to continue speaking, but Kayden could already see his intentions straight through his soul.


    "I believe this is the end for your race," Kayden said calmly as he began launching thousands of perfectly timed aura slashes at the cores of the millions of golems. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The golem leader only wanted to lure Kayden into the caves and kill him, but unfortunately for him, Kayden was able to see that just by looking into his soul. After pondering for only a second, the young man chose the easier path.


    In just a few minutes, millions of golems fell to the ground, lifeless. Kayden was using his aura at full strength; practically none of them could even move, and those who tried were failing miserably.


    A mountain spanning hundreds of kilometers was wiped clean of all life in just a few minutes. A chilling air pervaded the entire environment as the golems took their last breaths, and in such a pathetic way, a civilization fell for a trivial reason.

 Chapter 464: The ten thousand years[2]

    Kayden sat on the mountain peak and began to expand his sixth sense. He had chosen this place for two reasons. First, the amount of mana here was far superior to all other areas in this space, and second, there was a strange spatial law at work. The space here was more robust and seemed to be folded into several layers. Kayden had no idea why this was, but it was incredibly useful in pushing his sixth sense to its maximum strength. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    It only took a few hours for another race to appear near Kayden¡ªblack wolves of medium stature with red eyes, natural predators. They could all sense Kayden, who wasn¡¯t hiding his aura, appearing like a sun over the mountain.


    "Oh great two-legged wolf, I humbly request your permission to partake in this feast," Kayden heard one of the wolves speak, a large white streak running down its back. All the wolves were looking at him hopefully.


    There were thousands of them, but not one dared to take a step forward. The pack was tightly knit, and if the leader hadn¡¯t given permission, not a single one would move. There was also Kayden¡¯s overwhelming aura; all the wolves understood they were in the presence of a true predator.


    "Go ahead," Kayden said indifferently, ignoring the wolves. The animals, overjoyed, feasted until they were full and then settled down for a long nap. After such a mana-rich meal, their strength would grow tremendously.


    The problem was that there were so many golems¡ªthousands for each wolf. This caused a massive power leap over the next few years, unintentionally creating a significant imbalance in the forest. In the past, this would have been impossible, as no living being born in this place could alter the harmony. Not only that, but they were incapable of even attempting to do so. Unfortunately, Kayden was exempt from these responsibilities.


    During this time, other races also appeared to try and claim some of the remains, but the wolves were vigilant, not allowing a single golem to escape their grasp. Moreover, their current strength far surpassed that of any other species.


    "You fool!" a voice thundered from all directions, smashing most of the wolves to the ground with terrifying pressure. "These wolves are going to disrupt the entire balance of this beautiful forest!"


    A teenage girl in the sixth realm was floating before Kayden. She had blue hair and eyes, clearly a false deity, with about nine bolts of lightning denoting her strength. Her features were delicate, her body slender, and her beauty was undeniable. Despite her youth, she was clear.


    "They¡¯re under my protection. Leave," Kayden said calmly, relieving the wolves from the girl¡¯s pressure.


    Initially, he didn¡¯t care much for these animals, but after several years, he learned to read their souls and observe their growth. It was an exceptional phenomenon¡ª as their strength increased, their souls seemed to shrink. This unique phenomenon fascinated Kayden.


    "I am Haya Jenus! Who do you think you are to defy my orders!?" Kayden heard the typical outburst of a teenager who hadn¡¯t yet lived long enough to understand the world. His eyes narrowed, and he unleashed his full killing intent.


    "I am Kayden Heart," he replied, his voice filled with the weight of billions of years. "Leave, or I will kill you." The boy had no fear of breaking his soul oath.


    Kayden was no stranger to soul oaths and knew exactly how to nullify them. His voice and the intensity of his aura froze the girl in place. She could not move. Even her father didn¡¯t possess such a strong killing intent. What kind of monster had she provoked?


    Without another word, she fled with her tail between her legs. She was strong and knew it, but she also knew when to recognize a mage more powerful than herself, one who was directly threatening her life.


    "Thank you, Lord Kayden," all the wolves howled in gratitude, bowing before him. He simply nodded in response.


    Kayden had his favorites among the wolves, nurturing them differently. Most had hit a growth impasse, advancing at a tortoise¡¯s pace, but some he altered directly, changing their souls and watching them grow explosively in strength.


    They were simple creatures. As long as there was food and females to mate with, none of them would leave. They would likely spend decades, even centuries, in this place, growing their race.


    A few days later, the same girl returned, looking at Kayden with fear, but she seemed to have mustered enough courage to stand before him¡ªthough she still looked ready to flee.


    "I came to have a rational conversation!" she shouted, prepared to run at any moment, but to her surprise, Kayden merely glanced at her and said:


    "Go ahead, I won¡¯t attack without reason." He was a bit curious about what she wanted.


    "My path is nature, and I came here to improve it, but these wolves will destroy the balance in a few decades, and I¡¯ll have wasted my time. Please, let me kill them," she said confidently as if her argument was flawless.


    "No."


    "Why not? I asked politely."


    "I just don¡¯t want to."


    "Please."


    "No."


    "I will remember this, Kayden Heart!" With that, she disappeared over the horizon, as Kayden had released a bit of his killing intent with his final answer, frightening her deeply.


    A few days later, she returned once more, this time seemingly ready to negotiate. Kayden was slightly annoyed but figured he could use this girl and perhaps make her one of his most loyal knights.


    "What do you want? We can strike a deal that benefits both sides," Kayden said, bombarding her soul with positive emotions and desires toward him.


    "I already have everything I need," she replied, and with that, Kayden unleashed his killing intent, causing her to vanish.


    Kayden continued this process, never forgetting to make small wishes so that she would always come back to him, this made his impulses stronger and less perceived as unnatural.

 Chapter 465: Atena

    Aqui est¨¢ a vers?o corrigida e traduzida para o ingl¨ºs:


    **Ingl¨ºs:**


    It only took a few months for her to start coming to talk to Kayden, and without realizing it, she no longer left his side and began to cultivate alongside him. One of the reasons for this was one of the phrases Kayden said to her:


    "Nature is not static; its harmony lies precisely in its chaos. Learn about these wolves and how they will change the dynamics in this world." A new world of ideas opened up for him. S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Could it be something meaningless? Yes, it could, but since the magic of love enchanted her... Kayden could spout dozens of silly things, and she would still trust him. After a few more years, Kayden began to change the girl¡¯s soul.


    The wolves continued, merely altering their sub-leaders and growing their brood. The main leader was an animal Kayden had placed from the beginning; it was the wolf with the most potential and the one with lightning on its back.


    "I can have a second wife, but you must understand that you need Reyna¡¯s permission," Kayden had finally reached the ideal point. From this moment on, he had another false god under his orders.


    Kayden had no real interest in these women he was collecting, but their strength could not be underestimated. Each false god had the strength of a true god when fully developed. In the future, Reyna and Haya would be the pillars of his organization, which would buy him all the peace he needed.


    In the following years, Kayden only increased his sixth sense and occasionally had primal relations with Haya. These pointless actions were an annoyance; Kayden no longer even felt pleasure, as he now lived in soul form, not in a body.


    During this time, Kayden also increased the strength of the wolves and Haya with his soul techniques. It was an absurd pain, but the wolf he nicknamed Jarvan had the ability to endure it to some extent.


    Creating monsters had become one of Kayden¡¯s favorite hobbies. It was gratifying to see a soul grow stronger through pain and effort, and besides, Kayden was always able to learn something new from these souls.


    "Kayden?" Yan¡¯s strongest daughter appeared after a few decades. The aura of this place had changed completely over the years. The wolves had been pushed by Kayden to grow and multiply through wars among themselves.


    Each of them was in the sixth realm with a strong murderous aura. Furthermore, Kayden stood like a beacon at the top of the mountain, with his wife by his side, trying to cultivate and learn about chaos.


    "Hello," Kayden simply said and remained silent. The woman fidgeted a little and began to speak.


    "My name is Athena. How much do you know about my secret, and what do you want to make an oath to the heavens?" The woman had thought long about killing Kayden, but the boy had some sort of aura around him and a deep connection with karma; she couldn¡¯t take advantage.


    "I don¡¯t need anything, Miss Athena. I know you are a first-generation pure soul. I¡¯ve never seen anything like it in my life." The woman trembled at the depth of Kayden¡¯s gaze.


    The boy was looking directly into her soul, analyzing all her emotions and observing her reactions. She could feel it and realized she was facing a true monster.


    Even though Kayden didn¡¯t fully understand the woman¡¯s secret at the moment, it was only a matter of time given his strength and powers. The easiest way would be to kill this man, but unfortunately, she couldn¡¯t draw attention at the moment.


    "Let¡¯s say I¡¯m a reincarnation, Mr. Kayden, one you certainly don¡¯t want as an enemy," Athena revealed a bit of her aura, and Kayden simply laughed at her display of strength.


    "I don¡¯t care if you¡¯re the reincarnation of a god or a ten-thunder mage." Athena¡¯s heart should have skipped a beat at that moment, but she was no novice; even her soul remained in control. "I¡¯ve seen things I doubt any being in this universe has ever witnessed. So, Miss Athena, I hope you don¡¯t threaten me again."


    Along with Kayden¡¯s words, his entire aura appeared, his entire soul covering dozens of thousands of kilometers around him. Athena felt a terrifying pressure she¡¯d only witnessed a few times in her life, but that wasn¡¯t the worst part. The worst was looking into Kayden¡¯s eyes.


    The highest level of madness, that degree of insanity where there was no overwhelming emotion; it simply stood still, mad without any explanation. These were not eyes a rational being should possess.


    "This isn¡¯t a fight you can buy, Mr. Kayden," Athena unleashed her full aura and saw Kayden¡¯s eyes light up.


    "Probably in your prime, I wouldn¡¯t even be able to touch your shadow, but right now? You can¡¯t back up your words." Kayden¡¯s aura grew with excitement; the boy was eager for a good fight. Unfortunately, Athena didn¡¯t want to go down that path.


    "Let¡¯s maintain friendly relations. I guarantee that we can both learn a lot from each other." Kayden withdrew all his aura and returned with a friendly smile in a 180-degree shift.


    "Of course." With that, he returned to cultivating and ignoring the woman. She was too strong to be attracted to him and had nothing to offer his life.


    Athena felt slightly offended. In none of her lives had she ever received such... indifference. Kayden neither disdained nor did anything to attract her attention; he truly didn¡¯t care about her presence at all.


    The ego of a goddess who had traversed billions of years at the top of the universe was not something to be easily trifled with. Athena simply sat next to Kayden and began studying the boy and his interactions.


    The more time passed, the more she understood that Kayden was a unique being in her entire existence. It was visible to someone of her level the terror Kayden was inflicting on the souls of all living beings in this environment.


    "Why are you doing this? Why do you constantly hurt their souls and remove their past lives?" The last part was something Athena already knew from her knowledge, but the first part was a true mystery.

 Chapter 466: Atena[2]

    "Why do you ask questions to which you already know the answer?" Kayden¡¯s response was short and blunt, and Athena almost recoiled at the speed with which she received that verbal slap.


    "I know this increases your strength, but why are you doing it?" Kayden thought for only a second before answering.


    "I¡¯m studying your souls to learn something useful." His response violated all the basic rights a living being should have, but Athena was a goddess who had lived too long and already had her share of heinous actions.


    No one ascended to divinity without committing some massacres, small or large¡ªit all depended on perspective. There came a point when it ceased to matter; it was a concern only the weak should have.


    "Why are you telling me your secrets so easily?" Kayden received this question, and he answered without much thought.


    "You know you can¡¯t stand out at this moment or alter karma¡¯s balance. Your second chance boils down to staying hidden for the next millions of years." Each of Kayden¡¯s words felt like a slap to Athena¡¯s face. "Besides, this is a great secret¡ªif you reveal it, you¡¯ll attract the karmic attention you¡¯ve been avoiding."


    Kayden had read her like an open book. Athena tried not to give any signs with her soul, but even so, the boy was able to pick up on the subtle clues she gave and fill in the rest.


    "You make many accusations, Mr. Kayden."


    "Your soul vibrates, Miss Athena; souls don¡¯t lie." Kayden looked directly into the woman¡¯s eyes, and a new secret revealed itself in their gaze, forming a nearly unbreakable connection.


    ***********


    Five thousand years later, everything had changed in the forest. The era of the black wolves had begun. They simply dominated an absurdly large area, and it was only by Kayden¡¯s command that they stopped expanding their territories.


    The animals residing in that place were strong, but not strong enough to fight against a pack of thousands of wolves whose souls had been modified and who had spent millennia eating and fighting.


    They were practically wolves molded from blood and claws, while the rest of the animals were merely orderly beings with strong bodies and high realms¡ªthey were literally flowers in a greenhouse.


    No mage dared oppose Kayden, mainly because of the person who was always with him. Athena hadn¡¯t left Kayden¡¯s side for a single day since they had exchanged that look.


    The secret between them remained, with neither side making any effort to reveal it. It would stay that way for much longer if it were up to Kayden¡ªthis was a headache he didn¡¯t want to deal with at the moment.


    The forest began to grow in strength as Kayden molded other animals more subtly. The environment did its job, and only the strongest survived, triggering a chain reaction.


    Resources were scarce, and only the strongest could seize them, which kept natural selection in full swing¡ªonly the fittest could survive.


    During this time, Kayden had some children with Haya. Because the girl¡¯s genes weren¡¯t very strong, they were able to have offspring, but all of them were terribly weak, and Kayden killed them after a few decades.


    Haya never really understood what was happening; the girl¡¯s soul was in a stupor where nothing made much sense. Yet, at the same time, everything Kayden did seemed like the right reason for their being there. sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden made sure the girl¡¯s strength grew during this period, and by using his alterations on her soul, he made her explode in rapid growth. Unfortunately, Kayden¡¯s constant tampering with the girl¡¯s soul cut off her future¡ªshe would probably never surpass the eighth realm.


    This wasn¡¯t a problem for Kayden, as he had secured a high-level false god much more susceptible to his soul experiments than Reyna. Besides, he was nearing the limits of his realm¡ªor so he thought¡ªbut it seemed there was no end in sight.


    His sixth sense had already reached an incredible range of 300,000 kilometers, and it showed no signs of stopping anytime soon. At that moment, Kayden took his first step above all the mages in the universe.


    His attack could split planets in half with terrifying ease, covering an insane distance. His mana conversion remained instantaneous because it was all his soul¡ªthere was no time for the mana to travel from one point to another, as both points were Kayden himself.


    The soul was likely the only thing capable of nullifying the laws of space with such ease. A full-force attack from Kayden at this moment could turn Earth into stardust. He had surpassed any limit that could exist in this world.


    Athena had observed this growth closely, and with each passing day, her eyebrows raised higher. Kayden was far beyond what a being in the sixth realm should be able to achieve; she couldn¡¯t even measure his full strength at this point.


    Her relationship with Kayden developed strangely. She cultivated occasionally but hardly needed to. She simply chose random days to make leaps in power and grow following her current situation. The rest of the time, she spent observing Kayden¡¯s experiments.


    At first, it was just a pastime, but later it became a true interest, especially considering she had never been able to replicate these situations at any point in her life.


    No matter how much she begged Kayden and offered him unique things, the boy refused to teach her how to manipulate souls. In truth, it wasn¡¯t even that he didn¡¯t want to; the truth was that he had no time for it.


    Kayden had literally spent billions of years tinkering with souls 24 hours a day to reach the state he was in now. It wasn¡¯t simple or easy¡ªhis circumstances were unique, completely unique.


    Emotions that had been dormant in Kayden began to awaken again. Things he didn¡¯t expect to feel were resurfacing. His affection for Athena wasn¡¯t natural, yet it dominated his actions. Yan¡¯s other children came to talk to them a few times during this time, Kayden¡¯s closeness to Athena was strange to all of them, it didn¡¯t make much sense after everything Athena had said.


    AN: Don¡¯t judge me¡ªjust watch this spectacle.

 Chapter 467: I do not permit your existence

    Yan¡¯s other children came to speak with them a few times during this period. Kayden¡¯s closeness to Athena was strange for all of them; it didn¡¯t make much sense after all that Athena had said. Unfortunately, they didn¡¯t have much weight in their words to engage in dialogue with either of them. On one side was a madman their father supported, who could beat them with impunity, and on the other was a sister who would also get away with beating them.


    Each of Yan¡¯s children had been raised to be capable of managing their own lives perfectly, meaning they could very well follow their paths without the help of their siblings. For this reason, they didn¡¯t give much importance to Athena and Kayden.


    ---


    Finally, ten thousand years had passed. By this point, Kayden had maximized his sixth sense as much as possible. He had reached the mark of 500,000 kilometers and had broken through any barriers that might have existed.


    At this moment, his power easily reached the peak of peak strength among the mages in this universe. He could launch three full-force attacks, which were simply ridiculous in strength. Kayden¡¯s strongest move had become something beyond any standard or measure. He doubted there was any opponent at his level in his realm, and even among higher ones, it would be difficult to find a match.


    His increase in his sixth sense was by tens, but his power increase was by hundreds. Mathematically, it was a proportional increase, but in terms of raw mana, it was something far beyond.


    "He¡¯s going to open it; we need to leave before we get trapped in here," Athena communicated to Kayden, pulling him from his reverie. A huge black spot opened in the skies; the day had finally come to say goodbye to this paradise.


    "Haya, you must ask Reyna for permission to be my second wife," Kayden said these words along the way, and a slight furrow appeared on Athena¡¯s brow.


    "Jarvan, I¡¯m heading to the upper world. You¡¯ve served me well all these years. If you want to join me and abandon your pack, just nod your head." This was the last test for the wolf.


    Kayden had perfectly molded him into one of the most fearsome animals this plane had ever seen. He was a true sixth-realm mage with eight bolts of lightning, superior to anything this plane had ever created before. Furthermore, Kayden had made him develop a lightning path.


    "I¡¯ve held the pack leader," Jarvan communicated. He had been a lone wolf for many years in power, and only Kayden could provide him with true companionship.


    With that, the four of them floated toward the black spot, among the first to leave. The order didn¡¯t matter, as time was compressed, so everyone would leave at the same time. It was no surprise that, on the other side, all the people who had entered were there.


    Most had grown in aura to a palpable level. The ones who had grown the most were Haya and Jasmine, their strength light years ahead since they entered this environment. But the truth was that it was Kayden who had reached the true pinnacle of power.


    "Athena, what are you doing with the master?" Atlas appeared beside them immediately, and...


    "ROAR!" Jarvan leaped at the boy with high speed and exploded with lightning from his mouth directly onto Atlas¡¯s throat.


    "No, he¡¯s a friend," Kayden grabbed the wolf by the neck as if he were a plush toy. "Everyone here is a friend. You don¡¯t need to assert dominance over any of them." Atlas¡¯s heart was racing from the fright.


    He was a strong mage in the fourth realm, but this was a high-level sixth-realm beast and... incredibly cute. Atlas loved animals, and this one was no exception, especially after Kayden released him, and the wolf rubbed against his leg in a clear sign of apology and friendship.


    "Athena and I have become friends during this period. She will come live with us from today onward," Kayden¡¯s words took everyone by surprise, including Athena, who had no idea, and everyone else who knew of her strength.


    "I don¡¯t recall that," Athena muttered, glaring at Kayden.


    "I spared you from coming uninvited and living off me without notifying anyone," Athena was about to retort, but Kayden pinched her cheeks with a level of intimacy no one there had ever seen before.


    Not even Reyna had this kind of closeness with Kayden. Furthermore, Athena was the darling of all of Yan¡¯s children, not to mention she was the darling of Yan and Amanda. At that moment, an extremely heavy aura descended upon Kayden.


    Amanda appeared, floating around them, not even glancing at Kayden. She inspected Athena thoroughly, and only after finding nothing wrong did she turn to talk to Kayden.


    "Who do you think you are to have such intimacy with Athena?" Amanda¡¯s aura should have suffocated any mortal to the point where they couldn¡¯t even move their eyes, but Kayden responded calmly.


    "We¡¯re just two good friends, my lady, nothing more." Kayden¡¯s words were completely sincere, earning him a slap on the back of the head from Athena.


    "Sorry, my hand slipped," everyone was stunned by this completely out-of-the-ordinary interaction. S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Even a friend of my daughter must be special."


    "That¡¯s right! Who do you think you are? Prove that you can be this close to Princess Athena."


    "Yes! She deserves only the best of the best!" Cries like this came from all sides, from low-realm mages to false gods at the peak of the ninth realm. Kayden just smiled. It had been a long time since he¡¯d been challenged.


    "Atlas, honor is something you must defend only once in your life, so always make sure to leave a good impression," Kayden ignored everyone else and gave a life lesson to his disciple.


    "Face me, boy! I am one of the future pillars of the false gods, a true sixth-realm mage with nine impressive bolts of lightning." Several other challenges were thrown at Kayden, but he ignored them all.


    "You are not on my level," Kayden began levitating in front of the greatest elite mages in the world of the false gods. Even some gods were present, and they were all visibly confused by the form of Kayden¡¯s sixth sense¡ªit was a true enigma.


    The boy¡¯s statement was utterly absurd amidst so many geniuses. Moreover, he ignored people who had never been disregarded in their lives. If he didn¡¯t put on a spectacle at that moment, he would be destroyed by the people around him.


    "I do not permit your existence," Kayden¡¯s voice came out in a neutral tone, and a small hole in the void appeared, erasing an immense area before everyone¡¯s eyes. Kayden had used the void to avoid damaging the surrounding region.


    A completely surreal amount of mana concentrated in his hand, far beyond what any sixth-realm mage should be capable of manipulating. It was utterly terrifying.


    All of this formed into an aura slash that, at that moment, was truly an enormous line covering a vast area. Kayden¡¯s attack shot into the sky at high speed, and within seconds, it disappeared into the horizon.


    None of the weaker mortals could understand what had just happened. Kayden had made an insane attack, but it seemed somewhat dull to most who didn¡¯t grasp the power of the attack.


    Since it hadn¡¯t been aimed at them, most had no idea how monstrous that attack truly was¡ªit exceeded the spiritual senses of most seventh-realm mages, and that was bizarre.


    BOOOOOOOOM!


    An unparalleled dust wave appeared in the skies. No rocks fell; it was just a massive explosion of dust. After a few seconds, everyone could see that it wasn¡¯t even dust¡ªit was just the pressure of space being pushed.


    "He blew up a moon," one of the false gods murmured in complete shock.


    When the moon was obliterated by Kayden¡¯s devastating attack, a wave of magical power swept across the firmament. The air around it distorted, trembling as if the very fabric of reality was being pressed. The stars seemed to waver, the night sky lighting up with an intense glow as the destruction of the moon triggered a series of cosmic reactions. The unbalanced gravitational forces created visible vortices of energy, swirling in space with a spectral glow. The impact reverberated through the ground like sacred thunder, a primordial force pushing the air and causing mountains to tremble like leaves in the wind.


    The dust floating in the sky wasn¡¯t ordinary dust¡ªit was fragments of magical matter being disintegrated and rearranged by the forces of the attack. The pressure of the destruction manifested as an immense distortion of space-time, where the horizon seemed to bend and fragment in the distance. The shockwave traveled across the world, and seventh-realm mages, powerless in the face of such vast power, felt their spiritual senses collapse. For those with magical affinity, it was as if an incomprehensible force had rewritten the very laws of the cosmos.


    Author¡¯s note: my father had an accident, and I had to rush home, sorry for the days without chapters, it was all very fast.


    Author¡¯s note2: we will return to single chapters, after a month of testing I didn¡¯t notice any change in the %

 Chapter 468: Thoth

    A few seconds later, the voices began. No one understood what Kayden had done, but at that moment, it was clear¡ªa sixth-realm mage had brought down a moon. It didn¡¯t even make sense when said in the same sentence.


    A silence permeated the atmosphere as Kayden showed these people the weight of the name Kayden Heart, a mage who rose from absolute nothingness to the absolute top of the universe, someone who walked this bloody path alone.


    Kayden had elevated himself above all criticism at this moment. No mage below the eighth realm could replicate his actions now. Everyone understood that Kayden had drawn a line that made him untouchable in his honor.


    "Sorry about that, God Yan," Kayden said, looking at one of the invisible spots where the god stood, surprising everyone again.


    "No problem, Kayden, it¡¯s just a moon," Yan¡¯s tone made it clear that it was no big deal like Kayden had broken a vase in his house.


    "I hope this is enough, Empress Amanda," Kayden spoke. The woman took a few seconds to process his words, as the situation was beyond her comprehension.


    "You¡¯ve proven yourself, Kayden. I don¡¯t need any more proof," Amanda simply had nothing else to say. Even if she didn¡¯t like her daughter being near this man, she could do nothing.


    Kayden Heart had been a monster since his early years. These people didn¡¯t know even one part in a hundred of his story. He should not be challenged; he had lived far longer than most of them.


    ************


    "What did you say?" Reyna frowned, glaring at Haya. A few days after they had left that place, Kayden¡¯s two wives met.


    "I want to be Kayden¡¯s second wife. I¡¯m asking for your permission. I seek no power or influence, only the status that comes with the title," the woman spoke humbly.


    Reyna was a mage exiled from her family, but even so, she was a false god who had fought thousands of battles and had a vast history, too great to be disrespected. But that didn¡¯t mean Haya would easily yield to her wishes, or rather, to her soul¡¯s desires.


    "Kayden, explain this to me," Reyna didn¡¯t even glance at the girl. Her eyes were firmly fixed on Kayden and¡­ Atena beside him. But this was someone Reyna dared not even greet.


    "I met her at the space treasure. She fell in love with me, and I liked her. You are my first love, and that won¡¯t change, but I need more political power and members in our country," the last part was heard only by Reyna and Atena, the latter due to her extraordinary abilities, not because she was included in the conversation.


    "I¡­" S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "You are the queen. You command everything, my love. She won¡¯t have any influence here, I promise you. Besides, you are the queen, and she¡¯s just one of my wives." Kayden uttered a few phrases to soften Reyna¡¯s ego while sending clear signals to her soul.


    "Fine," Reyna murmured after a few minutes, "but I don¡¯t want her to have any carnal relations with you without my presence, and she cannot be your wife in social events." Kayden nodded. It was something he could accept.


    The first part was odd, but it matched Reyna¡¯s extremely jealous personality from the beginning, long before Kayden completely molded her soul. Besides, Haya also accepted it.


    A few minutes later, Kayden gave instructions to everyone and retreated to his room to cultivate for a bit. It wasn¡¯t even a few minutes before Atena appeared, lying on his bed.


    "You are worse than I thought. You toy with people¡¯s souls without any emotion. You have no malice in your actions, only a goal that you pursue."


    "The ends justify the means," Kayden responded one of the most spoken phrases by kings and queens throughout history after committing heinous acts and achieving what they had in mind.


    "Would you do the same to me?" Kayden hesitated in his words for the first time in millions of years.


    "I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t think so," one of the most sincere phrases he had ever spoken in all the years of his life.


    "I don¡¯t want them alive." Atena looked directly into Kayden¡¯s eyes with deep hatred.


    "I don¡¯t care. Swallow your jealousy," Kayden saw a pout forming on Atena¡¯s face, who was not used to being contradicted.


    "You know what we are, right?"


    "My decision remains the same."


    "Stubborn."


    "I¡¯m above worldly things. You can accompany me, but my goals won¡¯t change."


    "Let¡¯s see how long you can keep that up."


    ************


    In the following centuries, Kayden continued developing his kingdom at an absurdly fast pace. The wars and events promoted by the government were perfect for only the absolute elite to emerge in this environment.


    In just a few centuries, the average mage level went from four rays to six rays, surpassing 99% of all the countries in the universe. No one understood this ridiculous development; many tried to copy it in their worlds.


    After Kayden destroyed a moon, word spread throughout the universe, and he became known as the strongest mage of the sixth realm. Many doubted his position, but no one dared challenge him for the title.


    His fame led tens of thousands of mages to copy his governing style, but unfortunately, none of them had two key things. The first was the courage to release all secret techniques to the public. It was a step that few dared to take, and those who did regretted it decades later.


    At best, they created a few dozen special geniuses, but raising the average of their population wasn¡¯t seen anywhere. This was due to the changes Kayden was making to the souls of his people. Periodically, he would make mass alterations.


    In addition, basic education was entirely focused on creating a winning mentality. Resources were abundant for anyone with talent, something few kingdoms could provide easily.


    Kayden had strong support from Yan and received tons of resources every year. In the beginning, there was total dependence, but over the years, he slowly built an enormous space capable of sustaining his entire kingdom. It wasn¡¯t easy, but it was starting to pay off centuries later.


    All actions and organizations within the kingdom were monitored by the government. There was no freedom whatsoever. Kayden didn¡¯t care at all about the opinions on freedom that many brought to him¡ªhis focus was on development, and nothing else.


    His elite knights also grew in strength, with some reaching the seventh realm with eight rays and others the fifth realm with nine rays. Kayden had truly been able to create a few dozen monsters, who were the pillars of his ever-growing kingdom.


    In the past, cities were dominated by ordinary civilians, but Kayden slowly released those who had reached their limits through the soul technique. This raised the bar for achieving power, forcing those at the bottom to work much harder.


    Atlas had not yet been allowed to advance. Kayden was truly polishing the boy¡¯s mind to the absolute limit that a god¡¯s resources could take him. His apprentice consumed directly ten percent of all the kingdom¡¯s resources¡ªan astonishing amount for only minor improvements in his strength.


    His siblings visited Kayden¡¯s kingdom to see Atlas and Atena. They grew in power at an absurd rate that Atlas couldn¡¯t keep up with. Their resources were dozens of times more abundant, but even so, he wouldn¡¯t trade Kayden¡¯s tutelage for anything.


    "Don¡¯t trade your future for the present," was a phrase that had been repeated since the first time Kayden had spoken it to Atlas.


    In the fourth realm, the boy became one of the most insane mages the world had ever seen, losing only to a few mages with nine rays who had been at that level far longer than him.


    Haya had reached the eighth realm with nine rays and was the second strongest person in Kayden¡¯s kingdom, only behind Reyna. Unfortunately, that was her limit, and Kayden knew it¡ªhe had altered the girl¡¯s soul for this. But she was still an excellent soldier.


    Over the years, Kayden and Reyna attended thousands of social events and built dozens of connections. The closest kingdom to Kayden¡¯s was that of Haya¡¯s parents. They were very pleased with their daughter¡¯s marriage¡ªfirst because Kayden was strong; second, because of his connection to Yan. But most importantly, Haya was radiant with happiness in every interaction they had.


    Kayden¡¯s strength had only undergone minor changes. He was merely polishing his kingdom while contemplating what to do to elevate himself to the seventh realm. Something was missing, and he needed to find it.


    "Hello, Kayden. It¡¯s been some time," a being made entirely of light sat before Kayden at that moment. He had arranged this meeting years ago without using any name or organization.


    His strength in the ninth realm allowed him to do so, but not to the point of quickly placing him in front of Kayden, he had to wait for a huge line of people that was in front of him, even more so considering that he had no direct business objective.

 Chapter 469: Thoth[2]

    His strength in the ninth realm allowed him to do this, but not to the point of quickly placing him in front of Kayden; he had to wait behind a huge line of people ahead of him, especially considering he had no direct business objective.


    "Who is it?" Kayden asked with no emotion; he truly had no idea who the being in front of him was.


    "It¡¯s me, Thoth." Many would expect a surge of feelings from Kayden, especially after being betrayed and nearly losing his life, but the boy didn¡¯t even flinch.


    "Thoth?" Kayden hoped this god¡ªor whatever he was¡ªwould eventually appear.


    "Don¡¯t you have any questions or accusations?" Thoth expected at least some minimal reaction from Kayden, but even his immense soul didn¡¯t respond to the mage¡¯s words.


    "No, Thoth, what do you want?" Kayden asked with no intention of dragging this encounter out.


    "You¡¯ve become a strong candidate for the top, Kayden, but unfortunately, Hypnos is your patron and has been protecting you all these years. I want to help you with your goals." Thoth was direct, and Kayden didn¡¯t understand the god¡¯s change of positions.


    "What¡¯s your true objective with this?" Thoth took a few seconds to respond to Kayden, but after that, he looked directly into his eyes and said the saddest words Kayden had ever heard in his life.


    "Imagine you¡¯ve reached the peak of the universe, Kayden; you¡¯ve learned absolutely everything there is to learn. You¡¯ve lived much more than all beings summed and multiplied by trillions; you¡¯ve reached a level where nothing is new, nothing is interesting anymore¡ªnothing makes sense, Kayden; each day is the same as someday you¡¯ve already lived."


    Kayden had never thought of this point¡ªat the true pinnacle of power, an absolute peak where nothing was novel, where everything had truly been done, a level where trillions of years equated to mere seconds.


    "I want to die; I can¡¯t kill myself, Kayden. Do you understand this? I¡¯m above time and the laws; I¡¯m above anything. I can¡¯t eliminate my existence."


    In the end, the only certainty in life was death, but when it was taken from you? Where would true rest be? Perhaps this sounded like the words of a weak mind, but Thoth was looking at Kayden in a ridiculously sad way; he wanted to die, that was all.


    "I understand, but what do I have to do with this?" Kayden understood the sadness of being in front of him but didn¡¯t care in the slightest, to be honest.


    "I will help you become very powerful, and in the end, I ask only that you kill me. You are one of the plans I abandoned, but fortunately, everything is moving toward something incredible." Thoth was sincere in each of his words.


    "If you¡¯re so strong and old, how can you not foresee every point in this universe? That¡¯s not difficult even for a common god." Kayden knew that a god¡¯s mind was bizarrely superior to that of mortals.


    He had studied and knew that a god could easily see thousands of years into the future of mortals just by making predictions based on all the circumstances around them; their spiritual sense was great enough to eliminate surprise factors and calculate every atom in every second.


    Thoth¡¯s mind should be great enough for him to do something like that; if he was beyond time itself, he should be capable of something at that level. Moreover, Kayden had already understood that he and Hypnos were the true peak of the gods¡ªbeings so strong that they no longer participated in the power dynamic.


    "I can see space-time itself, Kayden, every centimeter and second of it; everything is within my reach. Do you know what that means? It means I know that the universe will not produce anyone with this potential; there¡¯s only one thing that can make this happen." Kayden received the answer he imagined, but the detail he mentioned was, "The law of chaos; this is the only thing that makes me incapable of understanding and predicting the future, which is why I engage in many strange actions."


    Kayden smiled at the god in front of him; the information he received sent his mind into a brief moment of reflection. Thoth had come so far that he was no longer even capable of dying.


    "I understand; what¡¯s your advice for me?" Kayden wasn¡¯t going to turn down the knowledge of a being at this level.


    "I don¡¯t know; you are treading a unique path. Only a few dozen have reached this same path in all my existence, but none chose to become one with the universe." Kayden became pensive again.


    He always thought he was on a unique and unprecedented path, but at that moment, he realized that perhaps it was just a matter of opinion. If he were to see dozens of universes, he would probably find some like him.


    "How far above the other gods are you? And what do you know about the multiverses?" Kayden asked some questions that wouldn¡¯t have been answered anywhere else.


    "Those are questions you don¡¯t have access to, Kayden; I can¡¯t interfere in certain things, and these are among them. Just know that the exit of the gods is a gift from me to all the plans I possess; conquer as much space as you can in this universe. A few million years after the gods disappear, the universe will be flooded with mana and resources."


    Terrifying; Thoth simply could manipulate the multiverses. Not only that, but he was also capable of sending all the gods to the next universe without much effort.


    "How many candidates are there? Tell me a bit about your plans." For the first time in a long time, Thoth found someone curious about his actions. S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Don¡¯t try to pass this information on." Kayden just nodded. "I possess a few trillion small plans, a few billion medium plans, and only a few thousand large plans."


    Those were incredibly large numbers; Thoth had to be present in most of the universe. Not only that, but he also had to be able to identify potential geniuses and make small changes in their lives¡ªit was simply colossal.


    "On what scale am I included?" Kayden strongly doubted there were many people with his level of strength.


    "S-class plans; I only have a few dozen in this universe." Kayden was still surprised by the number, but not too much; there would always be someone stronger than you hidden somewhere in this universe.


    "How many of them reach divinity?" Thoth immediately replied with a shocking number.


    "Less than 1% of all plans succeed in reaching divinity, but each of them can achieve an unprecedented divine level every time."


    It was a ridiculously small number, but one Kayden understood perfectly. In the end, the stronger people were, the harder it was for them to become gods. The universe did not allow a tiger to become a cat at the end of the evolutionary path; it was simply an offense that no one could bear the consequences of.


    "Incredible; what do you know about ten-ray mages?" Kayden¡¯s question did not surprise Thoth.


    "Only a few are generated in each cycle of the universe. The number that meets the requirements is thousands over time, but only a number less than two hands can reach the true level of ten rays. This universe is at such a high level that it will manage almost a dozen in the future."


    "Are these the ones you¡¯re looking for?"


    "No, yes, they¡¯re good candidates, but that¡¯s all, most of them don¡¯t get to where I want them to be either." The levels they were looking for were simply too scary for Kayden to even think about.


    "I see." The two discussed a few more curiosities and details, but there really wasn¡¯t much they could talk about. Most of the information was locked away for reasons of karmic value according to Thoth.

 Chapter 470: Atena crazy

    Kayden hovered above his city, gazing down at it¡ªan impressive achievement he had built over the centuries. The kingdom¡¯s capital was a formidable city, where red and black structures stood out against the clear sky. The streets were wide and paved with gleaming stones, reflecting the sunlight and creating a vibrant, joyful atmosphere. Flower-filled squares and dancing fountains adorned the public spaces, where citizens gathered to enjoy bustling fairs selling magical items and delicious delicacies. The buildings, with their tall spires and ornate details, housed academies of magic and temples dedicated to legendary techniques accessible to all, reinforcing the idea that strength was available to anyone seeking greatness.


    The imposing palaces of power, adorned with tapestries and flags, were the heart of the city¡¯s governing organizations. In their lush gardens, public events were held, where magical demonstrations and skill competitions took place in friendly contests. The air was filled with laughter and music; at night, colorful festivals illuminated the city, celebrating its strength and unity.


    What truly made his people joyful was the opportunity available to all. Many government positions were filled through rigorous exams, ensuring that only the best were chosen. Additionally, officials were replaced every decade, meaning anyone who worked hard enough could attain power and status that their family had never known before. The laws were relatively just; in the early centuries, there had been an eagerness for those in power to oppress at any cost. While this hadn¡¯t entirely changed, the rotation of power had significantly reduced violence and aggression. Furthermore, Kayden had forbidden the killing or violation of anyone under fifty years old without reason, which contributed to the rise of so many elites in his kingdom. Oppressing a genius was considered a crime, punishable by death.


    Kayden hovered in the air alongside Athena.


    "Why?"


    "You know why. I don¡¯t want any of them in this world," Athena responded coldly to his question.


    "You killed a false god of the ninth realm. How will you compensate me? I only accept numbers, Athena," Kayden showed no concern for the lives of his subjects.


    Athena had killed Reyna in an impressive display of power. The woman had reached the seventh realm and become an unshakable entity, but even then, she shouldn¡¯t have been able to make such a leap in power. Clearly, dark methods had been employed. The repercussions of her actions were hushed by Kayden, who simply decreed that Reyna had died during one of her training sessions. While the news wouldn¡¯t easily stick, Yan was supporting him, and at that moment, his word was practically sacred.


    "I¡¯ll give you a false god with nine lightning bolts," Athena said with a pout.


    "I want two of them," Kayden wasn¡¯t willing to accept anything less.


    "Or else what?" Athena challenged him, her stance defiant.


    "I¡¯ll leave your life," Kayden spoke these words with perfect control over his expression and soul, but in truth, he was nearly spitting them out.


    "You know you can¡¯t," Athena¡¯s heart raced wildly. She couldn¡¯t imagine such a thing happening, but the expression and soul of Kayden made it clear he was serious.


    "I¡¯m capable of anything, Miss Athena," Kayden replied without emotion, despite experiencing one of the most emotional moments of his life.


    "Fine, but how long will you deny this?" Athena glared at him.


    "As long as it takes."


    While they argued, a massive funeral was taking place below. It had taken hours to begin, but enormous wooden pyres were lit across the city. An odd stillness filled the air as the majority of the kingdom¡¯s citizens gathered to witness the event. Reyna had been known for her good deeds, while Kayden was known for his darker actions. While he was a tyrant king without prayer, Reyna was a motherly figure who extended a helping hand to all. It was one of the most somber and chilling events Kayden had ever witnessed. Reyna had been such a good person that an entire kingdom had come to see her off.


    Not only adults but the elderly, children, teenagers, men, and women had gathered to say their last goodbye to their queen. Thousands of miles of bonfires were lit, and the sorrow was so palpable that natural laws in the area began to change.


    "I could say many words here. Reyna stood by my side from the early days, but I believe that wouldn¡¯t truly reflect who she was. No matter how long it takes, I invite every mage of the fifth realm and above to speak in her name."


    Kayden was merely avoiding his responsibilities at this moment, but this decision resulted in one of the longest funerals in history, lasting nearly five years. Thousands of people spoke, many eventually returning to their homes, but the majority remained. Kayden took in every possible detail, conducting thousands of soul excursions into billions of people.


    Everyone¡¯s soul was ripe for his influence, and he took advantage of the moment to ensure most would choose to stay. Not only did he ensure this, but he also used the occasion to bind everyone¡¯s loyalty to his kingdom. He imprinted loyalty directly into the souls of all present. A five-year funeral wasn¡¯t something normal mortals could withstand, but through his efforts in altering their souls, Kayden made it possible. He didn¡¯t breathe for a second during those five years, ignoring all meetings he could. His decision proved right when, a few years later, the average power of the kingdom saw a slight increase.


    "You know you can¡¯t do this to Haya, right? She comes from an incredibly influential family," Kayden sat in his room, talking to Athena. Unfortunately, he had underestimated her madness.


    "Don¡¯t make her the next queen, or you¡¯ll be facing another funeral," Kayden merely smiled.


    He defied Athena¡¯s words and made Haya his queen, almost as punishment for her actions. The queen died only days later. This time, the funeral was short, but the real issue was...


    "Kayden Heart! Get out of that damned palace and face your end!" A booming voice echoed through the skies of the capital.


    Above the clouds floated a false god with long, blue hair, exuding an ethereal presence. His deep blue eyes gleamed like stars, and he moved in silence, surrounded by a luminous aura that rippled around his body like electricity. The clouds swirled softly around him, tinged with a surreal gold, while distant lightning flickered as if the sky itself responded to his will. His translucent robes appeared to be made of pure ether, billowing in the magical breeze. Despite his majesty, there was an emptiness in his gaze. This was a true false god of the highest level, likely among the top ten strongest this world had to offer. His mere presence invoked natural laws in the same way a true god would.


    "Hello, Lord Jenus. What brings you here?" As Kayden rose to the skies, an overwhelming aura radiated from him. The false god was someone who had killed countless gods. Yet, despite his power, Kayden did not even flinch under his aura. Kayden knew he couldn¡¯t be killed in this world, not while Yan watched over his actions.


    "Tell me the truth about my daughter. I waited through the funeral out of respect, but now you will pay for your crimes." Kayden remained unfazed, staring down.


    "Athena, come and take responsibility. I warned you," he called, and the woman appeared, undisturbed by the god¡¯s aura. She had seen far greater things to care about something like this.


    "She disrespected me, so I killed her. Any problem with that?" Her tone nearly drove the false god into a fit of rage, but he knew well that Yan always protected her kin. S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Athena¡¯s words were filled with absolute truth, and he knew it was simply something she had done on a whim. It was a matter he¡¯d have to settle another day.

 Chapter 471: History

    "Understood," the false god said and disappeared from the capital¡¯s skies, leaving all the inhabitants curious about the reason for his visit. As quickly as he appeared, he vanished from the skies.


    The god¡¯s plans were predictable; he wouldn¡¯t let this go. In the future, he would have his revenge against Athena. It would be an extremely long process, but he persevered in his revenge.


    Unfortunately for him, Yan wouldn¡¯t leave loose ends. As soon as the conversation ended, the Jenus family no longer existed in this universe; all were eliminated in the same second by a power far beyond their knowledge.


    Meanwhile, Kayden continued his life peacefully. He had already gained two false gods on the same level as Reyna, and this time he would gain someone even stronger, for Haya had talent far superior to Reyna¡¯s, and only he knew of her future failure.


    "They no longer exist. Will you finally make me your queen?" Athena had a smile like someone who had just won the lottery. Kayden had never seen her so happy before.


    "Wait a few years for us to have this conversation." Having a new queen at that moment wouldn¡¯t be at all respectful to the deceased.


    *************


    "I want you to become a monarch," Kayden said these words, looking into Atlas¡¯s eyes. The boy had spent almost ten thousand years being pushed to the limits of what a mind could reach.


    Kayden had never done such perfect soul work in his life. All the others had been mere tests to reach this stage. It was all a learning path for him to achieve true perfection.


    Atlas had been mentally strong from the beginning but never to the point of becoming a monarch. Even with the alterations Kayden had made to his mind, it probably would never have been possible. But fortunately, Kayden¡¯s soul manipulation had reached an absurd level.


    "This... this is a test forbidden by the ancients. Only those born to be monarchs should become monarchs," Atlas said. Kayden smiled at his words.


    After asking a bit about this world, he discovered that monarchs had existed for an enormous amount of time. Records of them existed since the early days of the universe. Each monarch was an insane mage, and most never reached their true path.


    The path of the monarch does not exist; it¡¯s just a foundation, something Kayden took an incalculable amount of time to learn. Most couldn¡¯t find their true path, but that didn¡¯t make them weaker. Each monarch was worth five nine-ray mages on average.


    And a god-monarch... that was something the universe hadn¡¯t seen in a ridiculously long time. It was the old story of how difficult it was to increase in rank and, at the same time, become a god when your goals were too high.


    "No one was born for anything, Atlas. Destiny is just a bad joke," Kayden once believed in destiny, at least partly, thinking that mana could make future predictions possible. But the law of chaos that Thoth had spoken about changed Kayden¡¯s view.


    Everything could be predicted, at least to a point. But at the slightest sign of the law of chaos, everything would fall apart. Predictions wouldn¡¯t be 100% accurate, even for a god. It was something beyond the normal capabilities of gods.


    "Yes, master." Atlas had many doubts but had learned to trust Kayden blindly over time.


    All his siblings had reached the seventh realm at a pace unmatched by any normal genius. Nine-ray mages were supposed to take an absurd amount of time to grow in power, as was the case with Kayden. But Yan¡¯s children had resources and genetics superior to almost everyone in the universe.


    In just a few thousand years, they had moved from the fourth realm to the seventh, with eight or nine rays. Their progress was frightening, and only a few people in the universe had all the necessary variables for such a thing.


    Athena was the most accelerated of them all. Kayden understood that she was only keeping up with her siblings. Her strength was far above the nine rays of the seventh realm. She could achieve divinity at that moment if everything was perfect, but she couldn¡¯t draw attention to herself.


    Kayden took only a few seconds to explain the procedure to Atlas, and it took just a few more seconds for him to look into the same eyes Kayden had seen an infinite time ago in the past.


    "Will he succeed?" Yan asked beside Kayden. The boy had already expected the god¡¯s appearance upon seeing his son in a coma.


    "I hope so. He was the best student I¡¯ve ever had in my life," Kayden murmured sincerely. S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Can you bear the weight of killing my son?" Yan asked, and Kayden only responded,


    "Can you bear the weight of blaming your son for flying with his wings?" Neither of them answered the questions; they were too deep for either to respond easily.


    *************


    "Don¡¯t you want to know who I am?" Kayden was sitting on his bed cultivating while Athena sipped a glass of wine by the fireplace.


    "No." Kayden just replied and remained silent. It was the first time the woman had brought up the subject in thousands of years together.


    "Not even a little curiosity?" Kayden shook his head.


    "I altered my soul in such a way that I will hardly express emotions, Athena. If you had appeared earlier, we could have had a beautiful love story. But right now, I can¡¯t offer you what you so long for," Kayden replied honestly, staring deeply into the woman¡¯s eyes.


    "Why?"


    "Someone had to die for me to reach where I am. The first death was my soul and my emotions," Kayden¡¯s words were sad because he said one of the most sincere phrases of his life.


    Kayden had killed his feelings and altered his soul in such different ways that he couldn¡¯t even totally connect with Athena. It was just a strong affection or love, but nowhere near what it should be.


    "My name is Athena Olympia. I was born in the previous universe. That universe was very different from what we have here. First, it was much bigger, at least a few trillion times larger in terms of space and mana. I was born about halfway through its existence, had a loving family, and had many lucky encounters. At one point in my life, I fell into enemy hands and spent decades being used as a slave." There was no hatred in the woman¡¯s words; it had been so long ago that it no longer caused her any emotion. "I met a couple named Zeus and Hera, the strongest mage I¡¯ve ever seen in my life. But at the time, he wasn¡¯t so fearsome. I think saying he was strong is the wrong word. He had talent."


    Kayden was just listening. He knew there was a great story behind this woman. Her strength was far too high for her to be simple, but hearing that she came from another universe was a huge surprise.


    "Just respect was enough for him to ascend in rank. He never cultivated once in his life. Lightning was almost like a second skin for him. He didn¡¯t even use mana in its manipulation," Athena seemed surprised to recall this story. "Do you have any idea what it means for a mortal of the fourth realm to be able to manipulate the law of lightning?"


    This time, Kayden stopped what he was doing and paid attention to Athena¡¯s words. The information he was receiving was very frightening, and he had never heard anything like it before.

 Chapter 472: History[2]

    "He never cared about increasing his strength, it came to him naturally. I doubt any mortal could touch his body; even the gods had to be careful with him. After helping me, the two of them took me in as a daughter, and they practically raised me, the first Olympian of all."


    Athena¡¯s complexion darkened slightly as she remembered the moments of her past life with immense fondness. Even though she had lived to the point of killing all her emotions, she did not succumb. Athena lived her life from beginning to end as an emotional and rational being, a perfect balance between the two.


    "There were thousands of experiences as we hunted the best of the best to be part of Olympus. It was trillions of years of endless adventures, battles, in hidden corners of the universe, fleeing from gods¡ªit was madness until the day the son of Zeus and Hera was born."


    This time, Athena¡¯s aura became a little unstable. She didn¡¯t seem to have good memories of this person, which was proven correct with her next sentence.


    "Like Zeus, his son Ares was born with the ability to manipulate laws while still a mortal. But the problem was, he could manipulate three laws: balance, puppets, and war. It was practically unbelievable. He grew in power at an alarming rate. By that time, we had already dominated the entire universe we lived in, with Zeus as a ten-lightning god, and me as a pseudo ten-lightning mage," Kayden raised his eyebrows at that last part.


    "What is a pseudo-ten-lightning?"


    "I didn¡¯t pass the gods¡¯ tests to become a god. I ascended to divinity without passing through the ninth realm, which is possible under certain circumstances. Anyway, the more Ares grew, the more Zeus disappeared from world politics. Slowly, the son took his father¡¯s power."


    Kayden understood that this was done by force. Ares was far superior to his father, and as a good father, Zeus could endure it. In fact, he didn¡¯t even care, but that was something Kayden didn¡¯t understand.


    "I disappeared at the same time. There was no reason to stay in politics anymore; I had conquered everything I could with my power. The rest of Olympus was strong, made up of the best gods in the universe, but they were also greedy people who wanted even more," Athena sighed, remembering her friends and some children in the process.


    "What do you seek when you truly reach the top?" Kayden had been wondering about this for a long time.


    "Most fall into deep depression, while others continue trying to break divine limits. But this is a majority in the early years at the top and a minority in the later years. It¡¯s a stage no one had come close to, at least until Zeus and Ares."


    Kayden finally had an idea. Could Thoth and Hypnos be on that level they had talked about? Kayden had a strong suspicion that either they were or this ancient god was cursed with true immortality.


    "What do you know about Thoth?" Kayden decided to clear his doubts.


    "Nothing, absolutely nothing. He is a god who seeks death. No one ever knew where he came from or who he was, but when Zeus was young, Thoth was already old." Indeed, Thoth was something superior to everything in this universe.


    "Were you part of his plans?" Athena¡¯s face darkened and soured. Kayden had learned to recognize the woman¡¯s signs.


    "No, he called me a failure for not passing the gods¡¯ test in the last realm. Zeus was someone he never managed to convert. In fact, Ares was a gift Zeus gave to Thoth to make up for his wasted talent, a peace offering so he wouldn¡¯t chase after more power."


    Thoth had one of the greatest determinations Kayden had ever seen in the entire universe. He pursued the same goal for practically an infinite amount of time, and yet, he had the same mentality, always seeking something new.


    "In the end, Ares grew in power to the point of defeating the entire universe in a fight. It was completely surreal, but considering he was raised with a golden spoon and talent beyond absurd¡­ it still didn¡¯t justify it. His strength was far beyond what any being should possess."


    A man against an entire universe was something Kayden couldn¡¯t even comprehend. For the first time in billions of years, he felt a chill in his soul. Was this the maximum level of strength a being could achieve? What came after?


    "And what happened?" Kayden was genuinely curious this time.


    "Now you¡¯re curious, aren¡¯t you?" Athena gave a silly smile. For the first time since meeting Kayden, she had something to bargain with him.


    "What do you want?" Kayden already knew this would be an exchange. He had lived long enough with Athena to understand that.


    "I want you," the girl said with a smile.


    For the first time in a long time, Kayden found himself in a dilemma. He didn¡¯t want to take this step, as he understood what was happening, and that would mean getting too attached to this woman. However, his curiosity outweighed his fear.


    "Come," Kayden called her with one hand, and with the other, he went to her neck. If there was one thing he had, it was experience with women.


    As soon as their lips touched... Kayden realized he had made the worst decision of his life. It was as if a bolt of lightning had struck his soul, energizing it in an absolute way. He had never felt so alive and complete before. S~ea??h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Athena, likewise, in her long life had kissed thousands of lips, yet none made her soul resonate as if it were alive. The two lost themselves for a few seconds.


    "One cannot deny a soulmate," Athena smiled at the boy and continued kissing him as if her life depended on it.


    "No, my love," Kayden uttered his first sincere vow of love in his life as the two began the greatest carnal act of their lives.


    Author¡¯s note: I haven¡¯t gone mad, just trust me, my dear readers.


    **************


    A few days after the intense soul-shaking sex, they finally felt satisfied. Kayden finally understood the weight of what a soulmate meant. Athena absurdly played with his mind, and not only that, she made him feel more alive than ever.


    "In the end, Ares consumed the entire universe in a mad quest to break the gods¡¯ barrier, but he failed. Unfortunately, his failure also meant the end of the universe as we knew it. We spent an incalculable amount of time inside green and black bubbles, and one day, we were here, witnessing:


    The creation. The universe was born in an explosion of light and matter, but unlike other existences, in this cosmos, conscious life never flourished. Planets emerged in countless solar systems, each adorned with breathtaking landscapes, vast oceans, and mountains that touched the sky. However, no living beings emerged to contemplate these wonders. Winds blew across endless deserts, crystalline seas broke upon pristine shores, but everything remained in absolute silence, a harmony undisturbed by any form of life.


    The stars shone in their galaxies, creating a perfect cosmic dance, without the need for witnesses. Civilizations would never arise, and the secrets of the universe would remain untouched, like pages of a book that would never be read. Machines and matter followed the course of their natural development, building complex planetary structures, but devoid of conscious purpose. In this universe, the destiny was not evolution but the perfection of the inanimate, where time flowed without interruption, and beauty existed only for itself, in an eternal and silent balance."


    "It was simply one of the most beautiful things we had ever seen in our lives. This was true and absolute peace. A voice at the time warned us not to disturb the natural balance, or we would be killed. Many gods didn¡¯t take it seriously and quickly died within days."

 Chapter 473: The Yan Family

    An entire universe without any life was simply a terrifying thought, and at the same time, it reminded Kayden of the highest level of peace that something could achieve. Rational beings were not very useful in the harmony of great things.


    "Most of the gods of Olympus are dead; some are still alive today under different names. They mostly live in hiding. From another universe, we will never be fully accepted by the will governing this place."


    Kayden understood some deep secrets of this universe. Not only that, but he also discovered much more about Athena. His emotions were in chaos for the first time in a long time. He didn¡¯t quite understand just how strong this soulmate bond was until he became one with his beloved.


    "What happened to Zeus?" A being of that magnitude shouldn¡¯t disappear so easily from the universe.


    "Ares tried once again to destroy this universe to elevate himself. This time, Zeus and I interfered. His time had already passed, and he should not have cut the future of so many people again." Athena saw that Kayden had no idea about the Great War. She explained a little about what happened and continued the story. "Even without training, Zeus was still superior to Ares, even after so many years. He killed him at the cost of his own life in the process. I was able to be reborn by sacrificing my cultivation and laws. Zeus merely accepted his death."


    Athena tells how she ended up being Yan¡¯s daughter by pure luck and how that allowed her to have a much higher talent than what should have been permitted, just by having a foundation behind her. The woman¡¯s story was long, and Kayden understood that she was one of the most feared beings in this universe.


    "And you, Kayden Heart? Who exactly are you?" Kayden received the question and remained silent.


    "No one, just an ordinary person, but..." Then Kayden began to tell the story of his life and how he reached the top of this universe in talent after a time much longer than all the other wizards.


    The more Kayden spoke, the more Athena understood that she was in the presence of a true monster of willpower. Kayden never had great talent; in fact, he was well below average in most of the universe, but his effort surpassed everyone else¡¯s.


    Kayden sacrificed everything, absolutely everything, to achieve what he needed. From the very first moment of his life, Kayden understood things that 99% of people would never understand in their entire lives.


    A person with white hair and wrinkles hadn¡¯t lived for long; they had just existed for a long time. What Kayden learned in his first years of life, confined to a hospital bed, was something that few would ever come close to understanding in their entire lives.


    Kayden¡¯s life was impressive, but it wasn¡¯t anything surreal in Athena¡¯s eyes, at least not until the part where he entered Nyc¡¯s prison of souls. From that moment on, Kayden took his first steps toward becoming a legend.


    Living a bizarre time in soul form alone made it clear his capacity to manipulate souls. Besides that, Athena had never heard of any wizard who passed through the path of reincarnation and remembered it. She hadn¡¯t been reborn through the true path but rather through a method where she merely skipped her soul to the final stage.


    Kayden¡¯s life was filled with moments where he performed terrible acts that would turn the stomachs of normal people. Athena also couldn¡¯t understand how her soulmate was something so terrible. Kayden had no scruples; his actions were extremely heinous.


    While Athena was a good being who, even after living for so many years, still had certain feelings for doing good and harmless actions, Kayden was the complete opposite. He didn¡¯t care about killing or raping to achieve his goals.


    The soulmate connection made Kayden tell Athena everything, from the first day of his life to the present day. He had no fear of being exposed by the woman. He understood the weight of being a soulmate.


    The mere thought of hurting Athena caused a pain directly in Kayden¡¯s soul, in the same intensity as taking away his past lives. In fact, it was an even greater pain, almost like killing a part of his soul.


    "Han... that name isn¡¯t unfamiliar to me, especially with the time talent." Athena thought for only a second before reaching the truth. "Zeus had a disciple with that name, and it matches more or less the time when you were on your home planet."


    "I understand," Kayden murmured without much interest.


    "You should at least find him to thank him. Han traded his life for yours," Athena murmured while glaring at Kayden.


    "I don¡¯t care; it doesn¡¯t mean anything to me anymore. I have many goals to bother wasting time with that."


    "Idiot," Athena cursed at Kayden and watched the boy close his eyes to return to his cultivation.


    ***


    On a random day, years after Atlas had fallen into a coma, he finally woke up. The first monarch of the false gods had been born. The mere opening of Atlas¡¯s eyes sent a shiver through the souls of all living beings within trillions of kilometers.


    Fortunately, Yan was prepared and prevented any god from understanding what was happening. A false god was already a powerful being, but a false god monarch was something this universe had never seen before.


    Atlas¡¯s presence became completely surreal. Mana now came to him with frightening ease. At that moment, he found himself able to convert space itself into mana at will.


    Atlas had achieved what Kayden and Yan had fought their entire lives for in just a few thousand years. His conversion was practically 100% as well. Not only that, but the mana absurdly obeyed his will.


    He didn¡¯t even need to break his cultivation. Monarchy was the noblest path that existed, and the false gods followed, in a way, the same principles, which made him perfectly fit in.


    Atlas¡¯s aura grew frighteningly. He surpassed any fourth-realm wizard Kayden had ever seen in his entire life. Not even he was that strong when he was just a monarch. Only after spreading his soul could he go beyond.


    Without even needing to cultivate, Atlas rose to the fifth realm perfectly. His foundation was ridiculously stable after so many years of Kayden only strengthening him without letting him advance. As soon as he stepped into the fifth realm, his aura exploded once again. S§×ar?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Master, thank you!" Atlas knelt before Kayden, placing his forehead on the ground in deep gratitude. This was one of the strongest moments of his entire life.


    "We still have a long way to go, Atlas. You¡¯ve only just begun to tread the monarch¡¯s path." Kayden lifted him with his mana and smiled. Yan had disappeared as soon as his son awoke.


    The father of the false gods was overprotective, but he was also wise. He knew he couldn¡¯t suffocate a bird because, otherwise, it would never learn to fly on its own. This was one of those moments when he had to let Atlas be on his own.


    ***


    "What is he doing here?" Yan¡¯s second strongest son was named Matheus. He had a ridiculously strong rivalry with Athena, a shadow he had never been able to overcome, and seeing Kayden taking her away left a bitter taste in his mouth.


    "Kayden is my husband, so he is also part of the family," Athena replied to her brother, not caring much about her family¡¯s reaction.


    Everyone was outside Yan¡¯s estate to welcome Atlas and Athena to one of the family gatherings that took place once a century. This time, many surprises were present, the first of which was Kayden¡¯s presence.


    "Husband? Explain yourself now, you crazy woman," Jasmine jumped at Athena with a curiosity that everyone there shared.


    All of Yan¡¯s children wanted to understand what was happening. Only the god and his wife already understood. The two shared a similar bond, so they knew that Kayden and Athena were destined to be together, regardless of their intentions.


    "We are soulmates." As soon as Athena spoke, silence fell over the environment. It was a very strong piece of information for them to process. Finding a soulmate was something extremely rare.


    "Congratulations!" Jasmine jumped at her sister with frightening enthusiasm. She was genuinely happy. The girl also received some congratulations from her brothers.


    "Now you can¡¯t intimidate us anymore, Kayden, so behave yourself," Jasmine said jokingly, but unfortunately, Matheus continued.


    "Yes, or you¡¯ll get beaten like a dog." Kayden didn¡¯t even look at Matheus while responding to Jasmine.


    "You are still weaker than me, and besides, my wife can beat you up for me." Kayden smiled in a false display of social skills.

 Chapter 474: A new business

    I will make a bonus chapter tomorrow, incredible 280 stones, thank you readers


    Atena, who knew him, understood perfectly that this was a fake Kayden, existing only for those outside his close social circle. This made the woman happy because it meant that only she knew the true face of Kayden.


    "Stronger?" Matheus nearly had a meltdown at Kayden¡¯s words. The boy was the least stable among Yan¡¯s children, something Kayden considered a flaw.


    "Ask your father. I can no longer subdue them, but defeating them in a fight to the death would be possible." Kayden¡¯s emotionless tone and Yan¡¯s lack of words practically confirmed his statement.


    "We¡¯ll have to arrange a wedding! I want white flowers and black dresses." Amanda was also excited and pulled Jasmine and Athena to talk inside the house. Yan¡¯s other daughter, named Helena, joined the three of them.


    Only Yan, Kayden, Atlas, Matheus, and the other two sons of the false god remained outside. These two were the weakest, aside from Atlas. Their names were Lucas and Luis, identical twins, and they shared the same characteristics as their other siblings.


    "Did you finally surpass a realm, Atlas? I thought you¡¯d stay weak forever," Lucas and Luis started to bother their brother. Their words were sharp but spoken affectionately.


    "I¡¯m the strongest son now," Atlas smiled and unleashed his full monarch aura on the farm, suffocating his brothers with overwhelming pressure.


    He was a monarch and a false god at the same time, not to mention a nine-ray mage. Atlas was at the genetic peak and the peak of paths at that moment, and his aura was completely overwhelming.


    "What the hell happened to you!?" This time Matheus was the first to speak, unable to believe the strength his brother was showing. He then glanced at Kayden and swallowed hard.


    If the disciple had reached this level and was still a disciple, how strong could his master be? Kayden had some fame after his actions, but it wasn¡¯t yet something surreal. Just how far could his strength truly go?


    "I became a monarch," Atlas explained without any hesitation to his brothers. Meanwhile, Yan simply watched the interaction between his children as Kayden was teleported to his side.


    "Tell me, what do you think of my other children at this moment? I left them free for a few millennia so they could grow in strength and will," Yan spoke in a way that only Kayden could hear.


    "Their egos have grown considerably, their souls carry arrogance and some feelings of envy that didn¡¯t exist before. They remain strong but, at the same time, weak in some ways," Kayden didn¡¯t elaborate much, but Yan understood.


    "They¡¯re strong to the point where they can¡¯t find decent opponents in mortality. Their backs are too strong for them to fear any god in this universe. In the end, I¡¯ve only created failures," Yan commented in a sad tone.


    "Yes, they will never reach divinity. Atlas and Athena have a great chance, but the rest of your children have grown like flowers in a greenhouse. Talent has pushed them to this point for the most part, but they will hardly be able to take the leap to divinity with the requirements that their current powers carry."


    "What do you think I should do?" A god who had lived for millions of years was humbly asking a mere mortal in the sixth realm, with not even 1% of his lifespan.


    "Create a world with only nine-ray people, throw your children in there, and pretend that you and Amanda died. They will experience the greatest shock of their lives, and at the same time, they will be trapped on an isolated planet. Once they escape, they will face millions of enemies. The pressure will either set them on the right path or mentally break them."


    Kayden didn¡¯t even need to think much about what to answer, as this was the world he sought for Atlas, an ideal place for the boy to train and learn about the dangers of the universe alone.


    "Do not help them at all. Don¡¯t heal them in moments of danger, don¡¯t interfere if one of them is about to die, just remove them from that world at the exact moment and replace them with an identical body to fool the others. It must be a complete and absolute shock." Yan understood what Kayden was suggesting.


    "This will take some time," Yan had many things to arrange to create such a world, especially needing to talk to countless other beings.


    "Hurry up, God Yan. I don¡¯t want to be the one to bring you bad news, but probably when all the gods disappear, your children won¡¯t have the strength to remain at the absolute top. They are geniuses, but they are not unique."


    Kayden had a phrase that inspired him greatly when thinking about levels of strength. It came from his first planet: on a battlefield with 100 people, there are 89 who don¡¯t know why they are there, 10 who are capable and trained warriors, and only 1 true warrior, the one who can change the course of the battle alone.


    The two remained silent as they watched their children start fighting in the middle of the farm. Atlas was eager to show off his new strength, and it was indeed impressive. He wasn¡¯t able to defeat his brothers easily, but he wasn¡¯t far from their strength either, considering he was two realms below them.


    "You did an insane job with Atlas. Do any of my other children have this potential?" Yan repeated a question already asked, hoping the answer had changed. sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "No, Lord Yan, none of them have that potential," Kayden replied without any mercy, "but..." Yan¡¯s eyes lit up. "I¡¯m going to start a soul-cleansing business in the next few years. The price will be astronomical, but you should be able to pay with some effort. Additionally, I¡¯ll give you the right to two free cleansings as a thank-you."


    Kayden had a plan to open this business in the universe, but he first needed a flagship to draw attention to his actions, and surely having Yan speak highly of him would be excellent.


    "I helped you a lot. Two cleansings, isn¡¯t that a bit ungrateful?" Kayden heard this question from an excellent negotiator.


    "Each cleansing should increase your children¡¯s strength tenfold. I believe it¡¯s a number you won¡¯t be able to reach with your resources, so I think it¡¯s a great thank-you," Kayden truly knew the value of his soul cleansings.


    When someone had 30% of their past lives removed, their strength increased by 4 to 6 times, which was already a terrifying doubling. At 50%, they reached an incredible number of tenfold, which was the absolute peak for people, but most would stop at 30% due to a weaker mind.


    "What do you want in return?" Yan wasn¡¯t an idiot; he knew there were no free lunches in this world.


    "I will need you to take me to some universal event and help introduce my soul business," Kayden¡¯s request was simple and wouldn¡¯t require much effort from Yan.


    "That can be done. What is your goal with this?" Kayden answered without hesitation.


    "I want to build an empire for when the gods are gone. I don¡¯t care about politics or power, but such a massive change will force those who don¡¯t interfere in the balance of power to be governed by those who do."


    Those who dislike politics are destined to be governed by those who enjoy it. This phrase belongs to Plato and was older than Kayden himself, but its wisdom was able to transcend decades.


    "In just a few thousand years, do you think you¡¯ll be able to create an organization of that size?" Yan understood how difficult it was to place a group at the top¡ªit took billions of years.

 Chapter 475: Class A

    "More or less, I will be able to create many monsters in this time. I will create an organization where its pillar will be high-level mages and the base will be average to low," Kayden was going against the basic principles of an organization. The base should be as important as the type, for it was the foundation that would support the organization over time; it would be from there that new blood would emerge. At least, that was what everyone thought, and it was what Yan asked him.


    "A nine-ray mage is better than millions of seven or eight-ray mages in the same realm, and this ratio becomes even more terrifying as we go down the realms. You understand this; this organization is only to protect me in the future, nothing more," he explained.


    "Indeed, the dynasty of false gods will crumble. Those with strength equivalent to a god¡¯s will be expelled from this universe. I will leave the entire base prepared for Matheus to assume the throne," Kayden raised an eyebrow.


    "Wouldn¡¯t Athena be a better choice?" Kayden murmured his doubts.


    "I don¡¯t know exactly what secret she hides, but it¡¯s clear to me that she cannot appear in public. Besides, she doesn¡¯t even care about that. Matheus is the strongest, but..."


    "...the least prepared of them," Kayden finished what Yan had no correct words to express.


    "Exactly. His psychology is unstable, and depending on how things go in the future, I may have to replace him," an unstable king was the same as an unstable kingdom.


    "I can alter his soul and make him a perfect king," Kayden communicated the offer to Yan, who then entered into a great debate with himself.


    "Wouldn¡¯t that be changing who he is? He wouldn¡¯t stop being Matheus?" Yan engaged in an ethical debate with Kayden.


    "No, because his memories will be the same; I will only alter a few things that make him reactive in his soul."


    "Even so, it wouldn¡¯t be his soul."


    "His memories would be the same; he would still be the same person," Kayden replied, consistent with what he believed. The two debated for several more minutes until Yan understood Kayden¡¯s point.


    "Let¡¯s eat," Yan clapped his hands, and a table with the exact number of seats appeared in the air.


    ********************


    Every millennium, a unique event occurs throughout the universe. In the past, it was held by the heavens, and each person received a number, but after many events, it began to be organized by the gods who were in this universe.


    Each planet could produce one warrior from each realm, and each organization received a certain number of spots depending on its size. This event involved the participation of trillions and trillions of candidates, and a ridiculously large number of gods was necessary to organize everything.


    The battles lasted for months until the number was reduced to just a few billion people, each representing one of the peaks of their realms. The average was seven rays; those with eight were an absolute minority, and those with nine didn¡¯t even appear in the spotlight.


    Although Kayden was always surrounded by people with nine rays or eight, they were an absolute minority in the total number of the universe; it was such a small amount that it couldn¡¯t even fit into a percentage; the numbers became infinite.


    The world where the event took place was a territory dominated by grass of various colors, with each organization having a space that varied with the size of its strength. It was an incredibly vast world with an astronomical number of slaves and establishments where everything was free. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Those who arrived here had the right to enjoy only the best. The amount of resources invested in the infrastructure was astronomical and could only be achieved when the council of gods gathered. There were millions of kilometers of cities built with billions of slaves to keep everything organized.


    The cities were organized based on the strength of the group that held authority over them. Each organization had the right to a few cities; the only rule was that they could not mistreat mages without an organization, nor could they alter the grass on the ground. Additionally, they had to deliver a minimum standard of quality.


    The cities closest to the central arena of the planet were those of the great organizations; it was here where most powerful individuals stayed, and this was also where the mages linked to the gods were.


    The central arena was an enormous stage that lay in a vast ravine; thousands of chairs and platforms floated around this arena, and at its bottom was a sea of red lava capable of impressing even the gods, as it was lava made entirely of laws¡ªa way to demonstrate power and strength.


    The intermediate fights took place in the surrounding cities over several weeks, with only the main fights happening in the main arena. This was where the entire universe¡¯s attention would focus; the intervals between the battles were only 30 seconds, but each second cost an astronomical price to be used.


    Atlas was one of the mages who was able to enter the stage while in the fifth realm; his strength was superior to anything this universe had seen in recent times. The path of the monarch, combined with his genetics, allowed him to reach an absurd level.


    To Kayden¡¯s surprise, another of his disciples was also in this competition. Han Heart was among those in the sixth realm; indeed, the path of the monarch was far superior to everything, and Han¡¯s path was still a complete path, unlike any other.


    "My name is Kayden Heart. I have two disciples in this competition as finalists: Han Heart and Atlas, the son of the Father of All," Kayden floated above the gazes of an infinite number of people, his voice being transmitted to every point in the universe.


    The boy wore an oriental outfit reminiscent of the cultivators from ancient novels of his first world. The colors were black and purple, and a drawing of a man with a sun on his back was emblazoned on the back of his shirt.


    "I offer a service that only gods can purchase. I promise to improve the strength of a mage by up to ten times without any sequelae in just one century. My words are backed by the trust of the Father of False Gods."


    Kayden dropped a bombshell that left everyone in silence. Ten times was an enormous improvement; this was practically the difference between one or two rays depending on the individual. Moreover, his next words made everyone covet his service even more.


    "The best part is that this directly elevates the mage¡¯s talent; this is an improvement that will carry through to the next realms with it." Kayden had released something too good, but by guaranteeing his words with the honor of the false gods at stake, no one doubted him.


    "But not every meal is free. The resources to purchase my services are equivalent to a Class A planet," Kayden dropped another phrase that left the environment in silence.


    In the entire universe, there were hardly a few hundred Class A planets; only large organizations owned one of them. The resources required to build one were entirely absurd.

 Chapter 476: World kaizen

    Here is the English translation with corrected grammar and spelling, keeping the word count consistent:


    In the entire universe, there were barely a few hundred class A planets, and only large organizations owned one of them. The resources to construct one were completely absurd. Truly, it was a service that only gods could enjoy; no mortal was capable of managing such vast wealth anywhere in the universe, as it simply required too many resources.


    Now Yan somewhat understood how Kayden could create an organization from scratch and still dominate a portion of the universe. As soon as Kayden¡¯s announcement ended, he received hundreds of questions from other gods, all eager to confirm the boy¡¯s story. Once the story was verified, something unprecedented occurred.


    Kayden stood on Yan¡¯s platform, alongside Athena and other children of the gods. Outside, dozens of gods began to gather, all wanting to step in and grab Kayden by the throat. But Yan stood by his side and would not allow that to happen.


    "The strongest god, please come forward first," Yan¡¯s platform was large enough to give Kayden a separate room, and his words shocked the gods when they realized they were being treated like mortals waiting in a bread line.


    The god that appeared was the Dragon King God. Though small in size, he emanated a colossal presence. His figure, covered in shimmering deep golden scales, slithered gracefully through the air as if constantly dancing with the winds. His eyes, glowing like ethereal flames, observed the world with ancient wisdom, while his short but powerful wings radiated divine energy, making the air around him vibrate. Despite his diminutive stature, his strength was immeasurable, and each subtle movement of his tail and sharp claws was enough to alter the very order of space around him.


    "Hello, child. I desire your services and am willing to pay for the resources for them. How would you like them delivered, and when can I send my dragon to you?" The Dragon God was direct and wasted no time, as Yan¡¯s presence made it clear that no games would be tolerated.


    "I would like people capable of managing a class A planet, nothing more." Just that was already an outrageous request, as that number of people equated to several billion well-trained mages performing thousands of tasks. "The dragon can arrive in my kingdom as soon as this event ends. My payment must be made in one year, and at most within ten."


    "Consider it done." The dragon moved away from Kayden and vanished. The negotiation lasted only a few seconds, and Kayden had just acquired a wealth no mortal should possess so easily.


    The next gods that appeared all exchanged incredible things with Kayden. The boy requested different resources from each god that showed up, ranging from treasures to enhance the masses to techniques for mass training.


    All the requests made it clear that Kayden wanted to organize a planet of elites. The resources he gathered today were enough to manage ten class A planets. Some gods tried to negotiate, but Kayden cut them off from any further dealings directly.


    At this moment, Kayden gained fame throughout the entire universe. Everyone knew his full name, but his title was even more impressive: "The Monster Creator," a legendary man capable of producing nine-ray mages.


    "I would like to request space in the solar system of the false gods to create my world, God Yan. I offer half of my organization to Athena," Kayden smiled, setting a very obvious trap for Yan.


    If Yan accepted, his family would gain a little more power now but would gain far more in the future. When no gods remained here, Kayden¡¯s organization would be a powerful barrier. Furthermore, by making Athena the owner of his organization, Kayden secured another layer of protection, this one far beyond contracts¡ªit was a blood bond that could not be broken.


    "Of course." Kayden thanked Yan and sent the message to the god who would build the world for him.


    In the very next moment, an immense world began to be constructed according to all of Kayden¡¯s specifications. The first factor was the ideal temperature, followed by all the elements no mortal would be able to regulate on their own.


    The god had to carefully think about how to shape a world, meticulously adjusting the temperature to ensure climate stability and uniform seasons. He set an ideal level for the seas, balancing the water masses with the land areas to prevent flooding and guarantee efficient irrigation. Mountain altitudes were calculated to optimize moisture capture and the formation of microclimates, while the distribution of forests and fertile fields was designed to promote biodiversity. Each ecosystem was crafted with precision, with trees chosen to adapt to the local soil and fauna, creating habitats that foster interaction between species. For humanity, he allocated minerals deep within the earth, ensuring that resources would be both accessible and sustainable. The perfect balance of every element was crucial, ensuring that the world functioned harmoniously, fostering life in all its forms.


    The factors were so elaborate and distinct that Kayden couldn¡¯t even comprehend them fully. He had only given rough estimates of what he wanted, but there were so many variables to be considered in creating a perfectly regulated world that no mortal could enumerate them all.


    "You¡¯ve gained many resources today; all the gods are now aware of your existence," Yan remarked to Kayden as they watched the final battles of the universe¡¯s greatest event.


    Kayden had to admit that most of the beings present were ridiculously powerful, with absurd strength. Many were unique beings with nine rays and a perfect path, but few truly caught Kayden¡¯s attention. Most of them seemed to possess only great talent, not a strong will.


    "It was necessary. My organization will grow immensely after this. I will open recruitment for new talents only after a few thousand years," Kayden responded.


    "Why so long?" Athena, who was sitting with the two of them, asked. Amanda was with her children at another part of the platform.


    "The foundation of our organization will come from our world. We¡¯ll close it off from external influences. I want to create a unique mentality within this world, free from external contamination," Kayden answered. It was similar to what he had done in his kingdom.


    "Atlas still has a lot to improve. His performance needs refinement. He has strength, but he doesn¡¯t have perfect proficiency over it," Kayden murmured after his apprentice lost a battle.


    The following fights were equally impressive. In the end, the best were chosen¡ªindividuals far superior to most of the mages Kayden had seen throughout his life. He would probably struggle or even be unable to defeat them in the same realm.


    S~ea??h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 477: world kaizen[2]

    [Bonus]


    While everyone was getting ready for the final part of the great event, Kayden and Athena were heading back alone to their new planet. Yan had thrown them directly above the planet, and the god only needed a few movements to create a spatial portal between Kayden¡¯s realm and the new planet.


    "Incredible," Kayden commented to Athena. The feeling of having an entire planet as his property was pretty cool, while Athena had already controlled constellations and galaxies, so she didn¡¯t care much.


    "What¡¯s the name of this planet? Give it its baptism." Kayden thought for a moment and came up with the answer. It would be named after the philosophy of life he had followed every second of his life.


    "Kaizen."


    ****************


    "You will all be able to create a city and claim your space. This planet has far more resources and superior things than our current one," Kayden was addressing the city leaders of his realm.


    They were in a vast clearing with a few hundred chairs, each person there governed a city and answered directly to the government. Kayden was at the center, communicating the gains the realm had achieved.


    "For 500 years, no wars between the cities will be allowed. You must prepare for a massive war when the time ends. Those who best explore the resources and expand their city will be rewarded with more land and, consequently, a better position in the future."


    Kayden set several baits while simultaneously sending signals to the souls of those around him. Most trusted him blindly after so many years under his rule, but it was always good to plant an extra idea in their minds.


    "What will happen to those who don¡¯t want to go? Many of my people won¡¯t leave their native lands," asked Kum, an elderly mage, during the Q&A session.


    "They will have to move to other realms after swearing not to share any information about their lives in my realm. That space will be destroyed and given to another false god."


    "How much land will we gain? What are our missions?" The government had always set minimum goals for each city, and this time was no different.


    "Ten times the size you currently have and 100 times the resources. Your primary mission for now is to grow the population by at least 100 times over the next 500 years," Kayden gave them a big goal but also provided plenty of resources and space.


    "What is our priority regarding new members?"


    "There will be no new members for a few thousand years. After that, you will have only a basic priority for being natives."


    "Can we merge cities or negotiate with them?"


    "No, you must remain isolated and increase your strength. After 500 years, a total war with few rules will occur. At that time, only the strongest should survive, and the lazy ones will be eliminated."


    Kayden spent the next few hours addressing the leaders¡¯ concerns, all of which were genuine questions that would shape how everything would function in this world. There were many resources and things to be adjusted.


    In the following days, a massive operation took place when thousands of spaceships appeared to transport the people of Kayden¡¯s realm. Using spatial jumps was out of the question due to the cost, so only the leaders and a few chosen individuals could go first.


    They went ahead to prepare the land and build thousands of structures and spaces. The journey would take a total of two years to reach the planet, quite a long time stuck on a spaceship, but necessary for their development.


    This time would be enough for those who arrived earlier to organize their cities as they saw fit. Some built houses directly, while others merely explored the land without worrying about their people. Kayden didn¡¯t care; he only wanted results.


    "A little engagement gift," were Amanda¡¯s words when she ordered the construction of a massive palace made of black and purple stones at the world¡¯s most mana-rich point. It was utterly enormous and could easily accommodate a few million people.


    With just a few words, Kayden managed to gather a full staff to care for the mansion, all trained to the extreme and descendants of palace guardians.


    In this palace, Kayden received around seven mages from different realms. They had come to participate in his miraculous training, and most weren¡¯t foolish; they knew not to be disrespectful toward Kayden under any circumstances, as he was someone they couldn¡¯t touch.


    Each of these mages received a special place in the palace and the right to bring a few dozen people to join their daily lives. Since it was a new planet, there wasn¡¯t much to do, and they were forbidden from interacting with the natives.


    Kayden didn¡¯t want the slightest external influence on his people, as it could disrupt his carefully laid plans designed to last for millennia. Interaction with Kayden only occurred a few times per decade, and each session was excruciatingly painful.


    A century later, Kayden¡¯s world began to take shape. The cities had already developed on a large scale, accommodating millions of people each. Moreover, the average level had decreased considerably, as everyone¡¯s life had become easier.


    At least during the first century. When Kayden noticed this, he began releasing thousands of magical beasts into the cities, just enough to kill a few people and instill fear in their minds. The pressure would make them grow.


    Kayden also continued recruiting for his elite organization and, over time, began assigning tasks to eliminate dead weight and untalented individuals in the cities. After just a few brainwashing sessions, none of them had any issues with this.


    Each city organized itself differently. Some were republics where popular votes decided matters. These were the weakest, as opinion differences often led to delays in decision-making, and the decisions weren¡¯t always consistent with previous ones. However, in some places, there were fake democracies where only one person ruled from the shadows. These grew quickly. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Many saw government by multiple people as the most ethical path in modern times, but it was also the most foolish. It hindered proper decision-making, as everyone wanted to defend their personal and selfish interests. When only one person held power, this problem didn¡¯t exist, as they would always make decisions with the best development in mind.

 Chapter 478: War

    ### English Version


    Kayden had to kill some leaders a few times; they just focused on themselves and forgot about the missions they had received. These were merely rats that Kayden quickly eliminated, replacing them with others in power.


    As the average force decreased, the strength of the elite rapidly increased because those who came from Kayden¡¯s old kingdom already had a much more prepared mindset to advance through the ranks. Their wills were much stronger, and they grew even more powerful with the constant animal attacks.


    Moreover, total war was approaching. Kayden made it clear that it would be a lawless mess¡ªno act would be punished, no rules would exist, and no desire could be fulfilled. Heads would roll for absolutely nothing.


    This total war would last 100 years, which would be enough time for all the chaos to settle into the right places, with each city being occupied only by the elite of the elite. The weak would be eliminated over time.


    As time passed, Kayden had already finished training his first batch of mages. In just 100 years, he increased their power between 6 and 10 times. The results were completely insane, and his fame skyrocketed to another level at that moment because it was now clear that none of his words had been spoken lightly.


    During these 100 years, Athena managed to recruit some research groups and a few large sects to move to the planet. All of this was done in the most isolated parts of the planet, ensuring the native population would have no contact with them.


    In addition, enormous farms cultivating rare treasures were set up on the planet¡¯s outskirts. These tasks were left entirely for Athena to regulate, and she did so with complete mastery, creating a sustainable ecosystem capable of generating revenues equivalent to more than a dozen class-A planets.


    Kayden did not reopen opportunities in exchange for resources; he wanted to develop his planet first and focus on his cultivation. He had no desire to acquire more resources as he could no longer place any more resources on his planet.


    At this point, the only thing he needed was time. Kayden could no longer add more resources to his planet. Dozens of mechanisms had been put into place, such as a tower that circulated mana at high speed, creating small holes that were automatically filled by the universe. This caused the world to have an extremely high mana density.


    In the entire universe, not a single world had been as developed as Kayden¡¯s. Beasts could naturally reach the ninth realm here, which was utterly absurd, but considering the amount of resources, it was almost normal. No god had ever concentrated all their riches in one place like this before, so everything Kayden was doing was a mystery.


    Kayden¡¯s planet was an absurd concentration of wealth, likely surpassing many entire galaxies in this universe, only outclassed by those with gods superior to Kayden.


    Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, 500 years had gone by. Societies continued to grow at an absurd pace with government support. Each family had 2 to 5 children due to the government¡¯s encouragement. Most of the children born were weaker than the previous generations in terms of willpower.


    The average strength stabilized after dropping slightly. The resources were enough to suppress the difference in willpower between the generations. Still, this was merely a stopgap measure, as talent also increased, but over time, it would decline to a pathetic level.


    Fortunately, Kayden had instituted the Great War. In the first few years, the cities developed independently without any contact, but then Kayden allowed spies and such things to happen, making it easier to gather information.


    500 years was a relatively long time, and this allowed everyone to know who to attack and from whom to defend. They also secretly formed alliances. Everything was perfectly timed and planned.


    As soon as time passed and the Great War broke out, unprecedented chaos descended upon Kayden¡¯s world. 15% of the population died in the first few days from the clashes between cities. The traps laid by alliances wiped out entire cities in just a few days.


    The previous generations didn¡¯t know how to act. Most were well-trained for this event, but to say they were prepared would be a big lie. Most didn¡¯t even know how to kill another human being. Peace had exacted its toll just as much as it had offered its harvest.


    The older generations had a better idea of how wars worked. They weren¡¯t as desperate, especially since, due to their strength, most weren¡¯t used as cannon fodder¡ªat least the majority weren¡¯t.


    As the weeks passed, the death tolls began to balance out. The weak were being slaughtered by the thousands every day. In a few months, everything was relatively stable. Wars were still happening, but only among the stronger cities, while the weaker ones had been entirely dominated. S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    In the first few weeks, the weaker cities were completely eradicated. Their people were enslaved, and their resources were shamelessly stolen without any repercussions. The government only intervened to prevent all cities from being wiped off the map.


    Only a tiny fraction of resources was left for the vast majority of people. In just a few days, the strongest among this group were also chosen. They carved their way through blood, fighting, and killing for power. This time, no sheep rose to power¡ªthe strong blazed the trail after being decimated.


    These cities were given a short grace period of a century to stabilize. Afterward, when the wars resumed, only low-level cities could fight against them. This was a way to ensure that the most powerful didn¡¯t annihilate these cities. After all, Kayden wanted the development of his kingdom, even if it meant slightly altering the law of the jungle.


    The larger cities entered a prolonged war of attrition, where the strongest fought only a few times a year. At this point, at least in most cities, brute force could no longer be used. However, in one southern city, a mage with eight rays appeared.


    His power disrupted the entire balance for a few days, which was enough time for him to conquer a small empire of cities. Fortunately, Kayden noticed this and removed him from the scene with a fake death. Afterward, he quietly added the mage to his organization.

 Chapter 479: discipline

    If Kayden allowed the world to follow a completely natural course without any interference on his part, it would likely end with the strongest completely suppressing the weakest with an overwhelming difference that could never be overcome, and this would be against what Kayden preached in his government.


    "What is the strongest weapon in rational beings?" Kayden asked Atlas after a lesson on divine mana. The content had no relation to his question, leaving Atlas lost for a few seconds while he thought of a decent answer.


    "Hate or love." Atlas¡¯s response wasn¡¯t bad at all; in fact, it was perfect. These two emotions were capable of driving beings to commit immense acts for their goals. Hate could provide strength and fuel to a mind for a very long time, but it eventually ran out. One day, the reason for the hatred would disappear or be killed, revealing that hate was merely a motivation, not a true fuel.


    Love was incredible and capable of making people move mountains. A mother could fight with strength that didn¡¯t even exist in her mind to face a threat to her children. An example was everything Yan did to reach Amanda again; the god literally turned entire universes upside down for it. But in the end, Yan was an exception and couldn¡¯t be considered the rule.


    When Kayden had to place one of the two feelings as stronger, he would probably choose love because it was more lasting and had stronger motivations, while hatred was fleeting and purposeless.


    There was a difference between motivation and fuel. The two were practically the same, but the motivation was more momentary, with its actions ending in themselves once the motivation ended. Fuel, however, was a bit different; it burned and left its marks regardless of what happened. Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Neither. For ordinary beings, hope is the strongest. Give wealth to a man and watch him forget his grief. Beings forget the death of a loved one faster than the loss of wealth." Kayden had known this phrase for a very long time, and his long life only confirmed it in his view. "Hatred is strong, but kill its source and watch it lose its purpose." Revenge without someone to avenge was absolutely nothing. "The only emotion capable of making a rational being step out of their comfort and fight to improve is hope."


    This was the reason Kayden always heavily invested in providing opportunities for everyone in his society. Even someone born into the weakest family in the kingdom could develop into a monstrous mage if they worked hard enough.


    Moreover, the government always showed that social layers were movable. Kayden never left the same leader in power for long, only if they were truly doing a good job. Otherwise, they would be quickly killed and deposed.


    At the slightest sign of hope, people gave their all for days, weeks, months, years, or even decades. But this was still only fuel; it was just more potent and with a much longer duration.


    Only discipline could truly elevate a mage. On bad days, getting out of bed and doing the same as on good days, on days with pain, doing the same as on normal days¡ªthis was the mentality that would take a mage to the top. On some days, this was simple. In some months or years, maybe, but to do this for centuries? For millennia?


    This was the hardest part. This discipline for that amount of time was incredibly difficult, and it was what Kayden instilled in the minds of the people in his organization. For ordinary people, it was very difficult, and he wasn¡¯t even willing to waste time trying. This mentality was unique to only a few individuals.


    Talent could take a person to an absurd level, but it wouldn¡¯t place them at the absolute top. The absolute top was 99% dominated by people with both talent and mentality combined. Only this kind of person could reach the top. But there was that 1% who rose purely on talent, rare exceptions where the universe blessed them from birth.


    Usually, some people were able to achieve this discipline, but there was something called success. Unfortunately, the ultimate goal of discipline was also its downfall. People became comfortable with their success and became ordinary again. Perhaps a small degree of success wasn¡¯t enough to change the mind of someone stronger, but over time, it would normalize.


    "Why?" Atlas interrupted Kayden¡¯s narrative.


    "Your surroundings. Tell me who you walk with, and I¡¯ll tell you who you are," is one of the most famous phrases in the universe and also one of the truest.


    A person with a high level of discipline would achieve success at some point and elevate their social circle. But how many times could they elevate their circle until they were surrounded by people weaker than them? It was at this moment that even the strongest of beings would ruin their mentality and become ordinary¡ªat least in most common cases.


    The hope of advancement died along with any emotion strong enough to elevate the mage. They became prisoners of mediocrity due to the lack of external support. Only a minority managed to survive solely with their minds.


    *****************


    After so much time together, Kayden and Athena had fully accepted each other. Their soulmates resonated when they were together, and anything done as a pair was more pleasurable.


    Kayden had never experienced something like this. Throughout his entire life, Kayden had never had a true partner; they were always just tools for him to use, especially when he could gain something in return. But with Athena, there were no ulterior motives¡ªhe simply loved her from the bottom of his soul.


    Both were feeling true emotions after a long time. In Athena¡¯s case, not as much, since she truly loved her family. But for Kayden, it was the first time in his life since Han that he was able to love another person. That had been a long time, an incredibly long time, in fact.


    The mere thought of hurting his beloved made his soul feel unbearable pain. Kayden couldn¡¯t imagine his life without her. At that moment, he understood why Yan did everything just to get Amanda back¡ªit was only to feel complete again.


    "Are you ready?" Amanda was beside Kayden in bed. The boy simply put on a kimono from his organization, the one with the man carrying the sun. Amanda¡¯s outfit was identical to his but in the female version.

 Chapter 480: Marry

    Aqui est¨¢ a vers?o em ingl¨ºs do seu texto, mantendo a contagem de palavras original e sem alterar a hist¨®ria:


    ---


    The wedding took place in a vast stellar ocean, where there was no ground but rather an invisible field of magic that sustained everything. The sky around was a sea of pulsating stars, colorful nebulae, and distant planets that slowly orbited like celestial guests. Floating chairs, made of crystal and wrapped in soft light, stretched for thousands of kilometers, suspended in the void, forming perfect rows that seemed to disappear into the horizon. The tents, made of translucent veils glowing with arcane energy, floated like magical clouds, sheltering small constellations that flickered and shifted as the atmosphere responded to the moment. Floating above everything, a gigantic golden ring of magical energy rotated slowly, illuminating the space with a warm glow, almost like a distant sun, blessing the ceremony. Between the chairs and tents, floating flowers of light, small and delicate, danced to the rhythm of cosmic currents. In the center, an altar made of pure energy radiated a soft glow that echoed the eternal promise of the vows about to be exchanged.


    The guests were incredibly diverse, ranging from mortals of the first realms to entire rows of gods, this was the second most populated event in the universe, only losing to the competition held with all the geniuses.


    The number of gods was also quite overwhelming, hundreds were sitting in different tiers, each of these circles representing different levels of power, only a few chairs separated entire tiers of gods, and most of them were very sociable with each other. After being alive for so long, they ended up knowing most of each other and exchanging interactions, which made these events lively with rare conversations between beings of such level, but at this moment, everything was silent. Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The mortals invited came from different organizations, but they numbered in the trillions. An event built to accommodate trillions of people with high quality was something completely surreal, a number that even planets sometimes couldn¡¯t support. Each mortal there had some relevance in universal economy and power, even if minimal, no matter how small they were, they were invited to the most important event in millions of years.


    Yan was floating beside an altar at the front of the event, beside him was only Amanda, and no other presence was tolerated. For the first time in trillions of years, the god was nervous, not even when he fought life-or-death battles did he feel like this.


    Amanda, next to him, was much more relaxed, but it was still possible to see signs of nervousness on her face. The god¡¯s anxiety could be felt by everyone, as his pressure was preventing any conversation in the environment, strong enough to affect even the gods.


    No sound should be able to travel in space, but the density of mana and some space-weaving spells made it possible. Only the sound of stars crackling could be heard, an intentional sound that was eerie and profound.


    This was the strongest moment Yan had experienced in millions of years. Only the emotion of having his soulmate could compare. His love for his children was only surpassed by his love for his wife.


    Kayden and Athena appeared at the opposite end of the god, the sound of the stars and the vacuum of the universe were the only things accompanying their movements as they flew toward Amanda and Yan. Each step of the duo took them hundreds of kilometers forward, in a scheme of beautifully crafted spatial spells. Not even the greatest madman would dare to utter a word, Yan would instantly kill anyone who tried something like that. In fact, some people had even disappeared simply because the god became suspicious.


    At some point, musicians, whom no one knew where they were, began playing angelic sounds, the finest melodies each person in that place had ever heard. The universe itself seemed to resonate with these songs, and the sounds came directly from the void. The one playing was one of the most esteemed musicians in the universe; her path was music. She had virtually no talent for cultivation and had barely reached the seventh realm with immense resources, kept alive through donations that extended her life.


    All the elements started to fall into place perfectly¡ªthe lights, the sounds¡ªeverything became perfectly aligned for a perfect moment, each little detail was thought out by thousands of minds and executed flawlessly.


    "Kayden."


    "Athena."


    Amanda and Yan spoke their names together; their voices were indistinguishable, like one single entity. The divine mana filled the entire environment and took everyone by surprise; it was an overwhelming amount, perfectly accentuating the event.


    When Kayden and Athena reached the center, standing before Yan and Amanda, the atmosphere seemed even more charged with divine energy. Yan, with his imposing presence, looked at both with a mixture of serenity and power. Amanda, beside him, exuded a deep calm, her eyes shining with almost tangible affection.


    "Kayden, Athena," Yan¡¯s voice echoed like a soft thunder, filling the vast space around, "this is a moment beyond time, where the universe bears witness to the eternal bond you are about to forge."


    Amanda, her voice delicate yet equally powerful, added, "In the presence of all that exists, we ask that you repeat the sacred words, a vow that will seal your love forever."


    Kayden already knew what he had to do. It was a vow all false gods used in their weddings since ancient times. Legend has it that it was the first declaration of love Yan had made to Amanda.


    "I, Kayden, before the stars, the gods, and all the cosmos, swear to you, Athena, that my heart will always be yours. That my soul, in all its forms, will walk beside you, whether in the glow of the constellations or the silence of the void. I promise to protect your dreams, bear your pains, and be your shelter in all the worlds we traverse. May our union be as infinite as the universe itself, as strong as the magic that surrounds us, and as eternal as the love I feel for you at this moment. Just like the stars that never stop shining, I will never stop loving you."


    Next was Athena, with a vow that had the same origins. Their voices were enchanted at this moment, and the very heavens were witnessing this ceremony. When two soulmates fully surrendered, the heavens blessed the union with their presence.


    "I, Athena, before the same stars that guide us and the gods who bless us, swear to you, Kayden, that my heart, mind, and soul will always be intertwined with yours. I promise to be your strength when you falter, your light when darkness tries to separate us, and your companion in all the paths we choose to walk. Whether in the vast emptiness of the cosmos or the warmth of the worlds we will come to know, I will be by your side, building our dreams, facing our challenges, and celebrating our victories. May our union resonate beyond time and space, and may the love I feel for you be as eternal as the light of the stars. Just as the magic that connects us, I will never weaken, and I will never stop loving you, in all moments and all forms."

 Chapter 481: Time

    For a few seconds, nothing happened, but then the universe began to resonate. The mana seemed to be singing, celebrating this moment. Everyone could feel the joy of the universe in witnessing the union of two soulmates.


    Kayden and Athena sealed the moment with a kiss, and it felt as if it were the first time they had met. Their souls resonated, recognizing each other in one of the strongest displays of love in the entire universe. S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Everyone stood up and began to applaud. The sound of trillions of hands clapping at the same time was completely overwhelming. Even the very spells trembled with the vibration of the air.


    "For seven days, the universe will celebrate," Yan clapped the final applause and ordered all the people to be served the most exquisite dishes the universe could offer.


    ***************


    A few thousand years later, Kayden was finally taking the last steps in his world. By this time, everyone had been properly disciplined through wars and diseases capable of destroying the weakest cities to pieces, and the average strength was once again rising on an upward scale.


    The average talent increased each year, and the number of available techniques was relatively large. Even the biggest fool in the world could receive divine-level techniques capable of sparking wars between worlds, all for free. The difference was that when everyone had access to such power, it became something commonplace.


    Most people there had no idea how powerful the techniques they were receiving were, nor how their wealth of resources could cause envy among kings of smaller worlds. Everything was greatly magnified compared to the universal average. In fact, it even surpassed the wealthiest worlds in this universe. Kayden had simply invested the resources of ten class-A planets into a single planet.


    Thanks to the wars, the weak were constantly eliminated. Kayden would not allow any lazy person to rise in the ranks of political power. As soon as a city began to fall far behind the others, he would simply kill its leadership and appoint new people. It wasn¡¯t uncommon for a mage with absurd talent to be born and conquer a city in just a few centuries.


    Athena had also made a great cultivation point for rare materials. The class-A planet was able to produce treasures of the same value as another class-A planet, despite having an infinitely smaller population and far less time to develop than others.


    In addition, Athena and Kayden had already succeeded in creating several organizations that were also producing elite mages in different fields¡ªsuch as medicine or even music, something quite random but which they had been able to create.


    These organizations recruited talent directly from the open world, and their selection process was open to anyone willing to try. They just needed the necessary talent. These people lived in another part of the world and rarely returned to the normal world.


    They received better resources and techniques, without the absolute pressure of killing or being killed, and could even receive private lessons from members from outside the planet. Some were allowed to return to the world, but only a few, and they were strategically placed in positions that had systemic effects on society.


    Atlas had finally reached the seventh realm, becoming a complete monarch with a full monarchical path. He was truly at the pinnacle at that moment, and Kayden was no longer able to defeat his disciple in a direct battle.


    Logically, all this advancement would have been impossible to achieve under normal circumstances. However, Yan had invested an absurd amount in his son. With the resources he placed into Atlas, Yan could have built a planet on the scale of Kayden¡¯s. But for a son, this was never considered an excessive expense.


    Atlas had surpassed all his siblings by a frightening margin. The second strongest wouldn¡¯t even be able to scratch him. In the end, Kayden showed that effort surpassed talent by an astonishing degree.


    He just couldn¡¯t defeat Athena¡ªthat was an impossible mission. In fact, none of Yan¡¯s children included the girl in their battles or rankings of the strongest. She was simply far above them all by an incalculable margin. None of them even knew where their sister¡¯s peak of strength was.


    The End Knights had already exceeded a thousand members with eight rays and were becoming one of the most fearsome organizations the universe had ever seen. Their strength was equivalent to many elite organizations in the universe. Creating eight-ray mages was an insanely difficult process, relying mainly on the luck of having someone with great talent born in the organization¡¯s territory.


    Meanwhile, Kayden could create an eight-ray mage every few years with his soul cultivation methods, which were refining more and more each day. Reaching 50% without any side effects now took Kayden about 50 years of intense effort, but for lesser percentages, it didn¡¯t even take a decade. Fifty percent was reserved for the elite of his knights; the rest had to settle for percentages between 30 and 40%.


    It was only a matter of time before Kayden began to extend his claws beyond the universe. The power he was accumulating was ridiculous, and it had already become clear to all the gods that Kayden would take part in the universal war that would break out after the gods departed.


    The problem was that Kayden¡¯s power had not grown much during this time. In fact, it had been advancing at a snail¡¯s pace. He had practically made no gains in the last thousands of years. Kayden needed to find a way to reach the seventh realm.


    In the past, his goal was quite simple. He would just elevate his path to the degree of semi-law. But along the way, he changed his mind after learning a few things about the laws of the universe.


    "I¡¯ll take care of everything here, just don¡¯t worry," Athena reassured Kayden for the last time that day.


    The boy had received an invitation from the organization of natural gods to enter a spatial plane governed by the raw laws of the universe. It was one of the greatest anomalies in the universe, as anyone had a high chance of learning a law there after spending a few centuries inside.


    The biggest problem was that Kayden didn¡¯t want to be away from his world for so long. This place would be his base for the future, and he couldn¡¯t afford to lose it due to momentary greed. Fortunately, he had Athena¡ªa person he trusted with his soul and who would never betray his trust.


    "Hold the plans until my return, just develop at a slower pace. Reduce the recruitment of lesser talents," Kayden gave several more instructions before stepping into a spatial portal located in his room.


    He appeared directly above Yan¡¯s farm. It looked the same as every time the boy had come here¡ªthousands of kilometers refined with the highest quality resources and mana. Kayden didn¡¯t need to wait even a minute for Matheus to appear in front of him.


    "Welcome, Master Kayden," the boy bowed in respect. He had been chosen by Yan to undergo Kayden¡¯s soul-cleaning process, and after just a few decades, the boy had completely changed.


    It didn¡¯t take much for him to realize that Kayden was on the same level of monstrosity as Athena. This meant there was no direct competition between them, as they were on two vastly different levels of power. This small realization made him understand that there was no reason to hate Kayden, and he should only be grateful for the power he received from the boy¡¯s teachings.


    Logically, this personality change wasn¡¯t natural. Kayden had made thousands of small soul insinuations in Matheus¡ªso small that Yan hadn¡¯t been able to notice, even after observing his son for thousands of years, looking for the slightest sign that Kayden had done something.


    NT: bonus tomorrow , thx for suport

 Chapter 482: The laws

    The level of mastery Kayden had reached in manipulating souls was completely surreal; he could easily fool a god while being just a mortal. Of course, if it were a god focused on souls, things might have been different, but that was not a concern Kayden had to worry about. People capable of dealing with souls were incredibly rare.


    "How is your world, Kayden?" Amanda asked politely as they waited for their children to gather. Like Kayden, they had also received an invitation from the natural gods.


    "It¡¯s developing, but there¡¯s still a long way to go to reach the ideal point," Kayden responded, and they chatted for a bit. A few minutes later, everyone was gathered, and Yan teleported them directly to the meeting point.


    Kayden found himself floating in space alongside a few hundred people, mostly mere companions. Very few could receive an invitation from the false gods.


    The people around them were the peak of the universe. Almost every person was accompanied by a god at their side. This was the pinnacle of the universe, representing the absolute future in terms of strength.


    "Hello, God Yan, and welcome to everyone," a false god appeared to greet Kayden¡¯s group. He wore an outfit made of a white material that looked like clouds. His voice was indistinguishable and left no artistic impression of himself. In fact, it was just that mortals weren¡¯t capable of perceiving it. "The other plane will open in a few minutes; we just ask that you read the rules first." The god left a small piece of paper for everyone and disappeared.


    The rules were relatively simple and also explained what exactly they should expect in this environment. It was a flat world with four directions, practically the inside of a cube, with the four planes being dominated by different factions and laws.


    The average level in that place was the seventh realm. Most of the inhabitants inside could manipulate incomplete laws with relative ease. Those capable of manipulating complete laws had been killed by the gods to make this visit easier.


    They were free to do almost anything but could not kill certain beings or certain organizations that would be there to offer them support and had connections with the natural gods. Furthermore, the space was vast, so many areas had no idea or connection to the fact that they were living in a special spatial plane.


    Each side of the cube had an environment focused on specific laws, making wars between the planes rare because each plane was superior in its territory. The laws were very different and had all been numbered.


    The first plane was entirely focused on natural and basic laws¡ªlaws of fire, water, and related elements. This was an environment where the simplest and least talented individuals would seek, as mastering these basic laws granted great power, but they would never put someone at the top of the gods.


    The second plane already contained slightly more specific laws¡ªlaws that combined with the basic ones to take effect. For example, the law of the storm is a combination of water and wind laws. It was a world of entirely different difficulty, and this was the environment that those with true talent would seek. Here were found mostly mages with eight rays.


    These laws represented most of the gods in the universe. They were strong but incapable of taking you to the top. You would only be a median god among thousands, above many but below a few.


    The third plane was where the complex laws resided¡ªlaws that required learning at least a dozen incomplete laws to manipulate. Here was the absolute peak of the universe. Weaker mages here held nine rays. An example of a law in this environment was the law of space, the laws of time, and the laws of destiny. These were laws with no explanation; they were laws you had to have absurd talent in just to have a chance at reaching.


    These last laws were capable of placing you at the top of the universe. You would be above nearly all beings in the universe, with only a few exceptions, barely numbering a few dozen. But, of course, these estimates were only for beginner gods because, after an incredibly long life, most were able to ascend with far more complex laws.


    Yet, something was amusing¡ªjust like a building could not grow infinitely with a weak foundation, so were the gods. Time could give you many advantages, but it wouldn¡¯t easily fix all the mistakes of your past.


    The fourth plane... were the nonsensical laws. These were laws that could not be learned randomly. They were generic and baseless laws. For example, the law of madness¡ªwhat was that? Only those who had learned it knew. Another law would be the law of the oppressed¡ªwhat was that? Only the oppressed knew.


    These were extremely specific laws that were not part of the universe¡¯s natural laws. They were laws that appeared over time, along with the forms of life. These laws were something entirely random¡ªthey could create one of the greatest monsters the universe had ever seen, but they could also create a weak god, one who could die at the hands of a mortal with a lot of luck.


    "I recommend you go directly to the third plane; you have enough talent to reach the top, but it depends on your will," Yan had stopped giving orders to his children a long time ago; now, he only advised them at this stage of their lives.


    "And the fourth plane, father?" Matheus asked, and everyone paid attention to the answer.


    "It¡¯s too great a risk. You could spend thousands of years in that place and learn absolutely nothing. There¡¯s a 99.99999% chance of failure and only a minimal chance of success."


    Everyone there knew what it meant when their father said something¡ªit was always true. Yan didn¡¯t err easily. They would all go to the third plane, as their father had chosen. They would emerge ridiculously stronger. S~ea??h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Master, where are you going?" Atlas asked. Kayden had taught him well, and Atlas already knew where he and his master were headed.


    "I¡¯m going to the fourth plane." The other children and Yan couldn¡¯t understand Kayden¡¯s actions; it was too much of a risk. Only Atlas understood because he had been directly taught by Kayden.


    "Why, Master? This plane will never be opened again. Don¡¯t throw away this chance," Matheus intervened this time. The next time this plane could be opened would be in dozens of millions of years, and by then, there would no longer be any gods around. That¡¯s why the natural gods had notified me that this was the last adventure of this plane.


    "Indeed, Kayden, it¡¯s not worth the risk," Yan commented. He actually understood Kayden¡¯s decision because he would have done the same, but he didn¡¯t want his children to risk their lives and their future for something uncertain. He preferred to see his children weaker than dead.


    "If you¡¯re going to fight, fight for the top," Atlas said, and Kayden just nodded in agreement.

 Chapter 483: The plans

    AN: bonus chapter, I¡¯ll have to postpone it a bit, I ended up getting lost in studying for tomorrow¡¯s test, my tests end on Wednesday, I¡¯ll pay for two bonuses, sorry


    There was no sense in fighting for something and not aiming for the top. Settling for mediocrity just because the risks were infinitely higher? That was ridiculous, something only weaklings would do.


    The siblings and Atlas tried to convince the two, and even Amanda joined in. They knew their intentions were noble, but reality was very different, at least that¡¯s what they thought. The only one who didn¡¯t interfere was Yan because the god understood Kayden¡¯s mindset. He knew that to have such a philosophy, one had to follow it at every moment and at every opportunity.


    "We will open the plane now. Remember the rules and good luck to all." A voice appeared in the middle of the crowd, and a white hole materialized. Those who were closest just jumped in without hesitation.


    Kayden was the first to move, followed by Yan¡¯s children. He leaped into the white hole, and this time it felt very different from the space portals he was used to. It took several seconds in a pitch-black world, devoid of any mana or life signs, before he finally saw the new world.


    Kayden and dozens of other mages found themselves in a completely deserted place, made of black sand. There were some mountains around, made of dirt, and trees atop them. The trees were entirely green with large trunks made of glass, and most living beings there were in the sixth realm. The lowest-level beings were in the fifth realm; only infants were at lower levels.


    The horizon seemed like an infinite abyss, the black sand absorbing light in an almost unnatural way, creating a disturbing contrast with the mountains looming in the distance. These mountains, made of dense and strange earth, seemed to pulse with life while towering trees grew atop them, their glass trunks shimmering under the light of distant stars. The vibrant green of the leaves appeared out of place in such a gloomy setting, as if nature itself were in conflict.


    This place was the perfect example of natural selection. Only those who could integrate more easily with the laws could stay at the top and pass on their genes, while the weaker ones were killed.


    Most of those present already had everything they needed to move forward and simply began heading in directions they were already familiar with. Each one knew the laws they wanted to learn, and that was not something people would easily share. Meanwhile, Kayden¡¯s group began saying their goodbyes.


    "Are you sure? Just come with us and stop chasing impossible laws," Matheus tried for the last time, but all he got in return were two apologetic smiles.


    "Good luck," Kayden said, then began flying, with Atlas following closely behind. They just had to follow one of the three signals.


    Each plane had a central point with a symbol floating above the middle of its territory, representing a physically materialized law. In the first plane, it was a basic fire law; in the second plane, it was a rain law; in the third plane, it was a forest law, while in the fourth plane, it was the law of space.


    Each physical law was of immense help to those searching for something similar. It was a pity that there was only one of these laws for each environment. There was no way to describe the physical materialization of a law. It was something far beyond mere words; they simply existed, unshakable across the horizon.


    "Which law are you looking for, master?" Atlas asked without hesitation. He had no shyness around Kayden at this moment.


    "Something related to the Monarch¡¯s path, though I¡¯m still not sure exactly." The truth was that Kayden already knew, but he was struggling with his decisions.


    "What do you think I should seek?" Kayden understood many things about Atlas¡¯s soul and knew his disciple very well, but this was a question he could not answer.


    "I don¡¯t know. That¡¯s something only you can answer," Atlas had expected that response; he hadn¡¯t received answers about what to do for a long time.


    The two traveled for several days without speaking, both lost in their thoughts. It was a calm and silent environment they had built together; neither of them was very talkative. They had traveled millions and millions of kilometers over those days.


    During the journey, the landscapes changed slowly, like a painting in motion. Vast golden plains stretched for thousands of kilometers, with grasses that swayed gently under the touch of warm and constant winds. Bluestone mountains rose in the distance, their peaks covered by eternal mists that reflected the soft glow of two suns on the horizon. Occasionally, they passed through dense forests, where the trees were so tall that their branches disappeared into the orange sky, and their leaves varied in shades of copper and silver. Crystal-clear rivers wound through the land, their waters so pure that one could see the precious stones at the bottom. The silence was absolute, broken only by the occasional distant sound of ancient creatures watching from afar, almost imperceptible. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    None of these creatures dared approach; the aura that Kayden and Atlas exuded was too overwhelming. While Atlas radiated an ancient and dangerous aura, Kayden exuded only one emotion¡­


    A king. Whether in the jungle or the swamp, Kayden was a king. The strongest recognized this instinctively, like a wolf recognizing the alpha of the pack. The difference was that all creatures could feel this directly in their souls when they gazed upon or sensed Kayden with their spiritual senses.


    Most of the beasts were in the sixth realm, but it wasn¡¯t at all uncommon to see creatures in the seventh or eighth realms. In fact, it was incredibly common, so much so that they stopped a few times for Atlas to fight these beings. His battles weren¡¯t easy; Kayden chose only beasts with more than three incomplete laws under their belts.


    A single law was already something insane, increasing a mage¡¯s strength to a crazy magnitude. But three? That made it so that even beasts with seven or eight rays could almost fight Atlas at the same level. The gap was enormous.


    At no point did they encounter beasts with more than three laws. That seemed to be the limit of the second plane they were in. Most likely, when they reached the fourth plane, that would increase considerably. At that point, they would need to pay close attention to their surroundings to avoid being caught off guard.


    It took them several months of flying at high speed, without stopping for anything, to reach the third plane. The moment they entered, they immediately felt the difference in the environment. If the average level before was the sixth, here the average level was the seventh. Not only that, but it wasn¡¯t hard to find creatures with four or five incomplete laws.

 Chapter 484: Laws

    The difference in strength was far superior. At that moment, even Kayden had to be cautious with his movements, as a surprise attack from a random beast could kill them both in the blink of an eye. S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    A few months later, they found one of the first cities on this plane. It wasn¡¯t as big as the normal cities that Kayden and Atlas were used to; it barely reached two hundred kilometers and had only a few million people within it. The difference was that most of these mages possessed an absurd amount of strength.


    Each adult mage was at least in the sixth realm, and most of the population was in the seventh realm. Kayden saw the presence of many children among them, but few could survive the pressure of the laws without any prior study, which meant that only the strong would proliferate.


    Most people had a high number of rays, with a minimum average of seven, and the strongest had eight rays. Additionally, Kayden noticed the presence of some beings with strength far superior to eight rays; this was a city composed of giants.


    "We¡¯re not going in; it¡¯s not worth the risk," Kayden wasn¡¯t going to throw his life away. He knew he was strong but against a nine-ray mage with multiple laws? He would die with just a wave of the mage¡¯s hand.


    Atlas only agreed with Kayden; even though there were numerous agreements between the natural gods and the residents of this spatial plane, neither of them wanted to risk their luck on something with no chance of bearing fruit.


    They continued their journey at high speed. Kayden¡¯s sixth sense was huge, allowing him always to sense enemies before they could even perceive the duo¡¯s presence. Besides that, Kayden and Atlas left not the smallest particle of mana escaping from their bodies; they were like two inanimate objects flying in the environment.


    Only a few beings were able to find them during this time, and most were conscious beings with nine rays and a high realm. This made them part of the agreement with the gods, and no one would go against the gods without a good reason.


    There wasn¡¯t any decent reason to go against the gods. They were ridiculously powerful, and there wasn¡¯t a single mage capable of facing them in this plane. The best geniuses were taken directly by the natural gods and sold to great organizations.


    It took years to cross the entire third plane; it was bizarrely larger than anything Kayden had ever traversed. He needed a lot of time to cover this distance, and they didn¡¯t even stop along the way.


    "It will take a few more years heading toward the center. I think this is where we say goodbye, Atlas," Kayden told his disciples as soon as they entered the plane.


    "You really won¡¯t come with me? Random laws might be much better, Master," Atlas was looking for something that resonated with his path, while the law Kayden sought was that of space.


    Kayden had no intention of learning any laws from this place, as he already had an idea of what he needed for the seventh realm, and he wouldn¡¯t find it here. For that reason, Kayden decided to try learning the incomplete law of space. He spent a lot of time manipulating space and a lot of time in soul form, which was perhaps the third thing he understood best, directly behind mana and souls.


    "No, Atlas, our paths diverge here. Good luck," Kayden patted his disciple on the shoulder and simply left toward the signal in the center of the plane. Atlas waited a few seconds and then went in another direction.


    ****************


    Kayden spent a few months flying, only focusing on the central point. He covered an insanely vast distance in that time. Kayden didn¡¯t stop for absolutely anything, not even for a second. Some beasts tried to stop him, but only those in higher realms were capable, and most were repelled by the gods¡¯ amulet.


    The boy saw beautiful landscapes along the entire journey. He saw mountain ranges that easily spanned tens of thousands of kilometers, volcanoes over thousands of kilometers, and ravines millions of kilometers long.


    Everything was large and complex in this plane. Kayden witnessed the direct effects of the laws; some trees reached thousands of kilometers in length and absorbed divine mana like a sponge, which created an enormous mana vacuum area.


    Kayden saw animals that defied the laws of nature with sizes of hundreds of kilometers, which completely went against the laws of physics. How could such a being generate energy for its functioning? It was simply too big.


    There wasn¡¯t even food for it to stay alive. They had to live entirely and exclusively on mana; anything else wouldn¡¯t generate enough energy for the beast to survive.


    Time passed, and Kayden went months without any contact. He hadn¡¯t even fought with other people or beasts; he just continued heading toward the center of the plane, and the strength of the beings progressively increased as he advanced.


    The proper time would be a few years to cover this entire distance, but now that Atlas wasn¡¯t with him, Kayden could simply fold space and jump with his sixth sense in the blink of an eye. He was traveling billions of kilometers every day; this plane was something insanely large.


    Kayden¡¯s speed was ridiculously high, something that hardly any mage below the ninth realm could keep up with. Some might even be able to travel at a similar speed, but they would have to be entirely focused on speed alone.


    A light-year was approximately 10 trillion kilometers; it was an absurd number, but perhaps after a few more realms, Kayden would be able to reach it. It was completely absurd considering he was just a mere mortal, but Kayden was slowly overcoming the laws of physics.


    Kayden¡¯s familiarity with space increased even further after so many months. As he moved toward the center of the fourth plane, things began to get a little scarier. Kayden saw beings in realms below the fourth manipulating incomplete laws, and the strength of these people easily eclipsed those with nine rays at the same level.


    The law of space was becoming more evident as Kayden approached the center. The strength of the beings was expected to increase, but the law of space wasn¡¯t something Kayden expected to feel capable of sensing. He wasn¡¯t sensing the law itself, but rather its alterations in the surrounding space.


    AN: These days have been hell, I¡¯ll try to upload three more chapters in the next few hours

 Chapter 485: Han

    Space began to become more complex as if the threads of the web that held existence were more tangled in some places and completely loose and unsupported in others. Kayden had no idea how to manipulate space at certain points. In some areas, thousands of kilometers were compressed into a single point, and leaping in that space resulted in staying exactly in the same spot.


    There were places where space was stretched hundreds of times its normal value, making a few steps that should cover a few meters barely move a few centimeters. In contrast, in other places, a few steps would propel Kayden forward by dozens of kilometers. It was an impressive phenomenon.


    Some ideas started to form in Kayden¡¯s mind at that moment. He already had a concept of how to incorporate the incomplete law of space into his arsenal of abilities. The main challenge was to learn it first. In the past, this would have been a major problem due to his low talent, but now? After cleansing his soul, he had become one of the most talented individuals this universe had ever seen.


    With each day that Kayden spent in the altered space, he consciously and subconsciously absorbed more. His leaps became easier, requiring less energy to manipulate space, and everything was starting to fall into place.


    Everything was going perfectly for Kayden¡ªuntil he encountered a space dilated along with dilated time. It was something he had never experienced before. He could think at a normal speed, but his body and spells were slowed down immensely¡ªat least ten times slower.


    The fact that only his body was affected revealed many hidden secrets to Kayden. At that moment, his body was merely a shell of flesh, no longer directly connected to him. His soul was now linked to the universe, implying two things: either souls were superior to the laws or the universe itself was untouched by the laws.


    Laws could change fundamental things, practically altering the essence of life¡ªa skilled god could even turn an old man back into a baby. But why weren¡¯t the laws of space and time altering the universe itself? Shouldn¡¯t laws be untouchable?


    Kayden formed a hypothesis and divided the laws into three levels in his mind. The first was incomplete laws, which could momentarily alter life¡¯s essence according to the mage¡¯s interests. These were the laws that most mortals could learn, though they were fixed in nature. For example, a fire law could only burn; it wasn¡¯t malleable. Additionally, its effects could be suppressed by brute force or other techniques.


    Complete laws were quite different; their effects were far greater, capable of permanently inverting the essence of life¡ªat least while their effects lasted. This was something Kayden wasn¡¯t entirely sure about, considering how strong such a law might be.


    And finally, there were the definitive laws. These were the laws created by the universe itself; they could not be altered and were eternal. Once the effects of the complete laws wore off, the definitive laws would resume their governance. This likely explained why Kayden¡¯s soul continued to function normally.


    The laws of space and time were altered by a complete law, but the laws governing souls remained completely intact. This allowed Kayden to think clearly, as the laws of souls were definitive and had not been tampered with.


    What sort of being could manipulate these laws? It was likely something beyond the divine level. But what came after the highest peak? Was this what Thoth had been searching for all this time?


    Although Kayden uncovered countless secrets, he was also faced with numerous questions regarding his discoveries. New levels of strength and understanding began to open up in his mind.


    Kayden spent many long years in that dilated space-time. He could have tried to leave sooner, but he still had much to learn. It took a long time before he started noticing how similar time and space were, almost like two sides of the same coin. Unfortunately, no matter how much Kayden tried, the laws of time remained too strange for him to comprehend.


    "Kayden?" A voice that Kayden never expected to hear again in his life called out while he was in that space-time point.


    "Hello, Han." The old man had visibly changed¡ªfirst, he now sported a long white beard and equally long white hair. Moreover, he appeared taller, and his eyes had turned white.


    Kayden would never have recognized him physically, but his voice was the same as billions of years ago. Kayden would never forget the voice of someone who had been so important in his life, even if he no longer held any feelings for the old man. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "It¡¯s been a while; you¡¯ve grown far more than I ever dreamed," Han recognized Kayden because his name had become a legend throughout the universe¡ªthe true creator of monsters.


    "And I didn¡¯t expect you to still be alive. Thank you for saving me back then. I didn¡¯t kill my brother as you asked, but I did kill David for personal revenge." Kayden held no feelings for the old man, but he knew that showing gratitude was the least he could do.


    "He died trying to defend Earth from invaders. Can you believe he reached the ninth realm with eight rays? He grew a lot after betraying us; it was a regret he carried until his final days."


    Kayden genuinely didn¡¯t care about this anymore. It was a choice Heimer had made, nothing more. There was no grudge on his part against his former brother. Given his current priorities, he would have made the same decision Heimer did.


    "Quite impressive for that small world," Kayden commented, unsure of what else to say. "What happened to you?"


    "A god saved me at the last second and has been guiding me toward divinity ever since." Kayden hadn¡¯t expected such a response, but he didn¡¯t press the issue further. "And you? Did you lose your way in the end?"


    Kayden would have given a positive answer to that last question in the past, but nowadays he had a completely different view on getting lost or on madness. What was considered crazy? Someone who deviates from the norm? Most people would say no, but to be very precise I would need more details, but just by wearing something different you would be labeled an idiot or crazy in most places.

 Chapter 486: Time

    The fact that Kayden was only chasing his goal without caring about anything else, was it considered being lost? For most, it would be. He was throwing his entire life away in pursuit of a final goal that wouldn¡¯t even reward him with anything.


    "I didn¡¯t get lost, in fact, I found myself during this time, that¡¯s all." The two remained silent for a few seconds; it was a long time they had spent apart, and they didn¡¯t even know each other well anymore.


    "I see, do you want some help in this place?" Kayden just shook his head.


    "No need, thank you." Han gave Kayden a nod and disappeared from the place. In the end, the two no longer had any connection; their relationship had died over time.


    Kayden refused his help for the simple reason that receiving help to understand law was practically the same as not learning it at all; nothing that came from others was truly his, and Kayden fully embraced this mindset, even when facing a specialist mage to solve his problem.


    After a few more years, Kayden finally emerged from this temporal lapse. In the end, he learned very little or almost nothing about time, only learning about space itself and how it could be bent at different points by the force of time. It wasn¡¯t an amazing learning experience, but it wasn¡¯t wasted time either.


    Kayden had the option to return to this rift, but it wouldn¡¯t be very useful; he couldn¡¯t learn anything about the laws of time in just a few years¡ªhe would need at least several tens of thousands of years studying this area.


    Without any hesitation, Kayden moved forward. He wanted to reach the center of the fourth plane as quickly as possible; it was already taking too long in his view, and his planet was going unsupervised. However, on the other hand, he didn¡¯t really care. The more he gained in this environment, the better it would be.


    The years slowly began to pass, turning into decades, then centuries, and Kayden still hadn¡¯t reached the center of this place. It was simply too immense for him to do so quickly.


    Kayden had never spent so much time flying and teleporting before; this place was just enormous¡ªprobably the four planes together were larger than an entire high-level solar system.


    During this time, Kayden faced many problems with beasts and other high-level beings. Most of them had mastery over strange and absurd laws. Some sixth-realm mages were on the same level of strength as Kayden, which was completely insane¡ªthe laws were truly crazy.


    Kayden participated in many events occurring on the fourth plane; he witnessed the birth of many laws randomly. He saw beings rise from the lowest point of strength to monsters merely by mastering a law that was perfectly suited to them.


    During all this time, he never met any acquaintances again, nor even talked to other people. Kayden didn¡¯t want contact with random people without any profit; he was already accustomed to solitude.


    The environment was always strange¡ªthe closer Kayden got, the more madness he witnessed. He even saw a bird tens of thousands of kilometers long; it was completely insane. Its wings were large enough to cause something akin to night, even during the day.


    Kayden saw ravines millions of kilometers deep; he crossed cities where giant beings resided¡ªhumans over two hundred meters tall lived comfortably in a massive space.


    He saw mountains that were just gigantic anthills, used as a massive hive for ants, even though they were only a few centimeters in size. Their population was completely absurd.


    At the moment, Kayden was sitting on a mountain while analyzing an enormous ten-kilometer-long platform at the lowest part of the valley of mountains where he was. A few hundred people were around him; every mage here possessed ridiculous strength and wasn¡¯t just another fool in this world.


    The platform was entirely made of spatial laws; it didn¡¯t have any matter, just space compacted into a physical form. Kayden first began studying this platform before attempting to descend to it.


    At the center of the platform was a man nearly two meters tall, with yellow skin and black markings on his body. He was in the ninth realm, and his strength was absurd, yet he seemed like just an ordinary middle-aged man. He wore a white tunic and had red hair¡ªa great variety of colors. S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    It only took Kayden a few hours to understand what this event was: anyone could descend and try to reach the man. The platform was a completely chaotic space, with spatial webs entirely distorted. Kayden had never seen such a disordered space in his entire life.


    In a small area of just a few centimeters, there were dozens of different types of spatial dilation; it was completely crazy and deadly. Any mistake could kill the person, as at one moment, half of their body could be compressed while the rest was stretched, or their heart could be taken elsewhere.


    To reach the person at the center, the mage would have to walk all ten kilometers¡ªnot just walk them in a straight line, but cover every centimeter of the platform. When walking in one spot, they would quickly find themselves in another. The confusion of the spatial webs meant they had to traverse all points.


    After a few days of studying the entire environment, Kayden got a sense of the difficulty of this test, and... it was one of the most absurd things he had ever seen in his entire life. Those ten kilometers contained at least several hundred million kilometers in total.


    The man at the center had mastered the law of space in its entirety. This wasn¡¯t something that could be achieved with an incomplete law, but he was not a god. Kayden¡¯s mind became a bit confused after this realization.


    Not a single mage had been able to reach the mage at the center. Most gave up after a few days; they only needed to fly upward to escape the spatial tangle. Some people seemed to have been there for a long time¡ªKayden overheard conversations about people who had been there for decades. It was a long time, but it was also great training.


    Every second there, one had to be able to manipulate space in different ways. Anyone who reached the end of the course would likely be considered high-level¡ªpractically a genius in spatial manipulation.

 Chapter 487: Space King

    Kayden entered and began. The first steps were smooth; they were just raw space distortions without much difficulty, but they became insanely difficult after that. These were minimal alterations that caused immense changes when combined. At one point, Kayden felt like he was crossing the equivalent of all the space he had traversed since entering this place.


    It was billions of kilometers in a single step. Kayden¡¯s head should have been spinning, but fortunately, he was just a soul living in the universe at that moment, so it had no effect on him. Initially, Kayden was merely passing through the challenges, but the more time he spent on this platform, the more he realized how marvelous it truly was. This was a perfect work of art of space laws.


    Every centimeter of this place was perfectly balanced, without any spot devoid of spatial alterations. Kayden couldn¡¯t even feel things around him properly. His spiritual sense was in a completely insane state, as in some directions, he was tens of kilometers away from a centimeter in front of him, while in others, he was right next to the other side of the platform.


    Days slowly turned into months, and Kayden continued without much progress, at least about the platform, but his ability to manipulate space grew exponentially. It was as if Kayden was training his weaknesses every second spent here. It was funny how Kayden always felt like a frog in a well; if he had known this place would be so useful, he would have come without hesitation. His strength was increasing at an absurd speed, and he was learning about space almost as intensely as someone born with the gift.


    After a few decades, Kayden was already one of the most advanced people, but he had only progressed six kilometers. It had literally taken him decades to achieve a six-kilometer advancement, but in reality, he had traversed billions and billions of kilometers in this place.


    With each passing day, he reached a higher level of understanding of space. Kayden even wondered if he could incompletely grasp the law of space, as he already had a perfect idea of how to incorporate it into his path. After a few centuries, Kayden reached the last kilometer, being the first in many millennia to reach this point. Moreover, he was the only sixth-realm mage capable of doing something like this. Most of the people competing here and managing to advance were ninth-realm individuals. Below that, they lacked the life experience needed to master space, except for a few cases where someone was born with this talent in their body.


    Those who were at the same level as Kayden had already given up a long time ago. The reason for the withdrawals was due to a very specific kilometer. Kilometer eight was a total hell; it had pressure and difficulty that made pain a constant in every moment.


    If it took Kayden a few decades to reach kilometer eight, it took him centuries to surpass it. It was a kilometer and the pressure forced him to cross it entirely on his knees. If it were just a kilometer, it would have been fine, but Kayden probably traversed a few trillion kilometers within that single kilometer, which was why most gave up halfway.


    The penultimate kilometer was merely a mental test, as its difficulty lay in its absurd distance combined with its crushing pressure¡ªnothing extremely complex, but the accumulation of factors was enough to make most people give up after a few years.


    "What the hell???" Kayden was surprised upon stepping into the last kilometer and almost expressed his shock.


    From one kilometer, it stretched into billions, and every few thousand, there was a floating figure. This figure had the strength of a first-realm mage, but each subsequent one increased gradually in power. It was absurd, as there were thousands of figures, and with each one, their strength increased significantly.


    "Candidate, only spatial magic is allowed to face your opponents. No physical magic is permitted. Good luck," Kayden received this message directly in his mind and looked at the man.


    His eyes locked onto the man at the center. He could sense him only because his sixth sense was far superior to an ordinary spiritual sense. He just needed to throw it up and feel the direction. This action made the man staring intently at Kayden, trying to understand what the hell had just happened. This was not something that should have been possible.


    The first figure rushed towards Kayden at high speed, at least considering a first-realm mage, but to Kayden, it seemed like it was in slow motion. At that moment, Kayden understood why spatial mages were so feared. The space around him began to break and close in a position that would not lead him to the void or the space between worlds. This was an attack that could truly kill him.


    A mere being in the first realm launched an attack capable of making Kayden lose his life. It was unbelievable to him. The crazy thing was that Kayden could withstand a direct attack from a first-realm mage on his body and doubted that it would even scratch the natural mana running around him.


    Kayden kept dodging over the next few days and trying to learn a bit about the spatial attacks being used against him. It wasn¡¯t too difficult, considering his experience and the degree of talent he possessed at that moment. What the figure was doing was very simple¡ªit broke space only to a certain point, causing the universe to rebuild it quickly. It wasn¡¯t enough to open a portal, which meant the universe didn¡¯t interpret it as magic but rather as an error, fixing it almost instantly. The closing of the gap was where the real attack lay.


    After grasping all of this, Kayden simply crushed the figure with space. It was as if the universe itself closed in on the creature. This was an attack completely unlike anything the mages here had ever seen. It seemed as though the universe itself was performing Kayden¡¯s attack and obeying his will. In truth, that¡¯s exactly what was happening, but none of the mages present here would believe it¡ªthis was a degree of talent that shouldn¡¯t exist. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 488: The time

    Unlike Kayden, most people who came to this place already understood the reason for its existence. It was one of the access points to the law of space, floating in the center of the realm. However, this was a challenge that only those with talent or experience in spatial manipulation dared to overcome. That¡¯s why it was extremely specific and rarely had the presence of mages from other classes. Each person in this place was a true spatial mage with high talent.


    Kayden began to pass through the figures as if they were nothing. He only learned a bit from their techniques and then completely crushed them without any difficulty. This continued for dozens of figures; he even reached the figures in the ninth realm and crushed them as if they were absolutely nothing. If before the mages had any doubt about Kayden being a genius, now they were certain he wasn¡¯t; this was not something a genius could achieve¡ªhe was, in fact, a true monster.


    After going through the cycle of figures from the first to the ninth realm, Kayden started facing figures in the first realm again, but this time with greater strength. He quickly concluded that it was the attacks of the figures that were different; their techniques and strikes were also different.


    Kayden meticulously studied the movements of the figures, absorbing every detail of the spatial techniques. One of them involved localized distortions, where the figures created small areas of compressed space that, when released, exploded in almost imperceptible shockwaves. Kayden realized it wasn¡¯t just about crushing with brute force, but rather manipulating the surrounding pressure to turn space into an invisible weapon. He began to use this technique to fragment the defenses of the figures effortlessly, breaking their structures so discreetly that it seemed they simply disintegrated.


    Another crucial technique he learned was the "Stealth Passage." The figures utilized a slight dimensional fracture that, although visually insignificant, created a path for instant and imperceptible teleportation. Kayden refined this skill, using micro-cracks in space to move between the attacks of the figures like a shadow, becoming intangible and unreachable. He didn¡¯t just copy the techniques; he perfected them, adding nuances of control that the figures lacked, making him appear as a master of spatial laws.


    The Stealth Passage was entirely different from the teleportation techniques Kayden had used previously, as back then, he had to literally open a portal the size of himself in front of him to cross over. But now, he opened a portal smaller than his finger, which followed him entirely and threw him to the other side instantly. Kayden had an immense sixth sense and could now appear anywhere in the area without difficulty and instantaneously. At that moment, his power grew absurdly. If he had once feared ninth-realm mages, now he was 100% confident in his ability to escape from any of them.


    Space was becoming Kayden¡¯s strongest weapon as the days passed. He was beginning to fight using space as if it were a second arm. His entire sixth sense was undergoing a significant change, but something was still missing. Kayden was fighting against the figures with nine attacks, and at that moment, the situation had become much more challenging. He was talented, but Kayden had never been a mage who fought using spatial magic, and that was the frightening part. In the beginning, everyone saw Kayden using brute strength to win his battles, but as time passed, his techniques became more and more refined.


    The growth that Kayden was experiencing as a spatial fighter was the same as what someone would have after spending a lifetime training in spatial combat. The difference was that the boy was accomplishing this in just a few months, which was utterly frightening. It didn¡¯t take long for them to recognize Kayden after all the points closed in.


    "The creator of monsters is actually a monster." Kayden¡¯s fame had reached every corner of the universe. As soon as an outside mage stepped in, he recognized Kayden. The mages around began to ask for information, but they didn¡¯t believe a word of what the outsider said.


    "He is the ¡¯master of masters¡¯; each of his disciples has reached at least eight levels, with most easily attaining nine levels. Moreover, the base level they arrived at never mattered."


    Throughout his intense battles against the figures, Kayden absorbed complex techniques of spatial manipulation that elevated him to an incomparable level. One of these techniques allowed him to alter the very composition of the space around him, creating anomalies that distorted not only gravity but also the perception of time. By applying this ability, Kayden could trap his opponents in a web of distorted space, making their movements slow and uncoordinated while he moved with total agility. This manipulation was so precise that it defied the laws of physics, making him nearly invincible in combat. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Another technique Kayden mastered involved fragmenting portions of empty space, creating energy holes that absorbed attacks and redirected their force against the enemies. By utilizing this ability, Kayden could not only deflect powerful attacks but also concentrate the absorbed energy into devastating explosions, causing unimaginable damage.


    The time spent here was incredibly beneficial; Kayden finally mastered the basics of time manipulation. At that moment, he elevated himself to a completely different level compared to everyone else here, a fact acknowledged even by the man at the center. The manipulation of time, even if basic and minimal, was the pinnacle that a mage could achieve when manipulating space.


    It took more than a whole millennium on this platform for Kayden to be capable of something like that, but after trying like a madman, he managed to do what few, if any, had even come close to achieving in the last millions of years. Even though his learning about time was practically useless at the moment, as he could barely handle first-realm mages, it was still a basic manipulation of time.


    Kayden opened the first door to becoming something beyond what he had ever been, the laws of space were a step, but that step was greater than trillions of miles, but it was only a matter of time, the boy¡¯s strength had already grown to a completely different level than what he was, in the past I had no confidence in facing Atlas directly and winning, but at this moment? He had no fear at all.

 Chapter 489: The silver plain

    Space had practically become a second skin for the young man, yet, unfortunately, he still hadn¡¯t had time to fully train and cultivate the exact technique he wished to incorporate into his path, one that would turn him into an even greater monster.


    As soon as Kayden mastered the basics of spatial comprehension to the point of altering time, all the training dummies vanished, and he found himself face-to-face with the man who had been standing at the center of the platform this entire time.


    "Congratulations, what¡¯s your name?" This man had been here for millions of years, completely cut off from any news from the outer universe.


    "Kayden Heart," Kayden understood that the test had ended at that moment, and he had reached the end of this journey.


    "Do you know the purpose of this platform?" the man asked, noticing that Kayden hadn¡¯t reacted since entering.


    "No, I came here just to train a little," Kayden¡¯s voice sparked resentment in many, as everyone here saw this as a purpose of life, while it was just a pastime for him.


    "I see," the man was somewhat skeptical at how casual it all was. "Anyway, this is just one of the many tests for those seeking contact with the space-time law at the heart of the plane."


    Kayden was surprised; he had thought he would still have a long way to go, but this fortunate encounter provided a very welcome alternative. After so much time flying, he was finally about to reach his goal.


    "I understand," Kayden showed no reaction, leaving the man with a sense of intrigue.


    "There are a few things you need to know," the man said, changing the setting with a wave of his hand. Now, he and Kayden were flying above a vast plain of silvery grass. "Once you step in here, you¡¯ll only be able to leave after achieving full mastery over the incomplete law of space, or the law of time, or perhaps even the space-time law."


    At this point, Kayden was wary, as this meant he could be trapped here for the rest of his life. When the natural gods left, there would be no way to exit this environment.


    "How much time do we have left on this plane?" Kayden already understood that this person was in service to the natural gods.


    "A few millennia, but don¡¯t worry about that. Time doesn¡¯t flow the same in there as it does here. In fact, time doesn¡¯t pass in there; it¡¯s frozen. You may even encounter beings older than gods within this plain."


    Kayden hadn¡¯t realized that this plane was the core of the plane. He no longer saw the law floating in the skies, but it was probably due to their proximity. The words of the false god shifted Kayden¡¯s perspective; a power boost without losing time would always be welcomed in his eyes. S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Any more tips?"


    "Don¡¯t fight anyone, don¡¯t get lost in the charms of time, and don¡¯t believe the voices of time." Kayden raised an eyebrow but said nothing further as he descended toward the plain.


    The silvery grass plain stretched as far as the eye could see, gleaming as if reflecting an invisible, calm, and ethereal light. Each blade of grass shone with a subtle silver glow, and the ground seemed to emanate a profound energy, as though it were alive and watching. Here, time and space intertwined unusually, giving the impression that the horizon could unravel and reassemble in the blink of an eye at any moment. The boundaries of the plain seemed in constant flux, so each step forward took Kayden to different places without him truly moving.


    Within this time-space distortion, time had a peculiar presence. The sense of freezing was almost absolute as if each second were crystallized and preserved. Objects that appeared distant an instant ago could suddenly appear nearby, and echoes of past sounds reverberated like whispers of forgotten ages. Space wasn¡¯t fixed; it shaped itself around those who inhabited it. Kayden felt the weight of the ages upon him, yet, at the same time, the liberation of being in a place where time didn¡¯t flow as it should.


    As soon as Kayden entered the plain, he felt everything change; nothing was as it was before. Space here existed and did not exist at the same time. His sixth sense was returning an absurd amount of information to him, stretching for millions of kilometers instead of a few hundred thousand, all due to the distortion, while in other areas, it barely reached a few meters.


    Time here was also very different. Kayden saw a tree grow at an accelerated speed, only to return to being a seed moments later. This chaotic interaction of time was utterly frightening, but the strangest part was the voices; Kayden could hear echoes of voices and ancient battles.


    These echoes told incredible stories, or they were merely trivial gossip. Kayden understood why one might get lost in these voices; he could spend an eternity seeking the secrets of beings long buried, only to realize that minutes had passed rapidly.


    Kayden walked carefully across the silver plain, observing every detail around him. The grass, glistening silver, swayed subtly as if alive, greeting him as he advanced. At times, he saw distant figures that appeared to be past or future versions of himself, moving in sync before fading like smoke. With each step, the scenery seemed to rearrange itself; mountains, trees, and rivers would momentarily appear on the horizon before dissolving like shadows.


    Time around him remained unchanged, as though the entire world were suspended in an eternal pause. He felt the weight of eternity on his back, yet the absence of temporal movement brought a quiet calm, where there was neither haste nor fatigue. Why would he strive for anything if there were no future here?


    The urgency or desire to progress in this place could easily fade, as he could make advancement within a few thousand years if he pushed himself beyond his limits, but he could also achieve it in billions of years if he were lazy. This was the true danger of the time.

 Chapter 490: The silver plain[2]

    Finally having enough time, Kayden began to put his idea into practice. The environment made things somewhat more challenging but also easier because he would have much more time to work on it. The spatial laws surrounding him were almost in a pure state; Kayden could feel that with every breath, he was learning something new. It was an entirely different level from anything he had ever seen. The spatial laws were all around him, free to be grasped.


    For the next few thousand years, Kayden simply sat on the plain, observing his surroundings and testing ideas for his path. Although he hadn¡¯t had much success initially, his familiarity with space grew at an impressive rate; he hadn¡¯t even known he could progress beyond his current level.


    After tens of thousands of years, Kayden had mastered techniques that placed him at the pinnacle of spatial manipulation among mortals. He learned to create separate spatial planes within objects, similar to spatial rings, leading him to a revelation he hadn¡¯t considered before. Spatial rings were extremely common, yet people with spatial abilities like his were rare, so these rings were probably made using much simpler methods than his own.


    His method involved creating a small spatial tear between the void and reality, a tear that wouldn¡¯t close or collapse. The void pushed on one side, and reality on the other, creating a perfectly stable opening. Kayden only needed to inflate it like an air pocket to control its size. Interestingly, the larger the tear, the easier it was to maintain its stability due to the balanced pressure on both sides.


    There had been no progress in mastering time or incorporating space fully into his path, but Kayden wasn¡¯t worried in the least. He still had an infinite amount of time, quite literally, and while it seemed like a good trade-off to him, most would find it maddening. The mana here flowed strangely due to the influence of time and space laws, making it almost impossible to cultivate standard mana techniques or progress in realms, leaving law comprehension as the only option¡ªand transforming this place into a radiant prison.


    Kayden hadn¡¯t encountered another soul during all that time; in truth, he wasn¡¯t even sure if he¡¯d know if he had. He hardly reacted to external stimuli, often finding it difficult to distinguish illusion from reality. At times, he even found himself conversing with past versions of himself, which was completely unsettling.


    One thought emerged after this experience: what made him himself? If a copy of him from a second ago appeared in the world, which one would be the real Kayden? The memories, techniques¡ªeverything would be identical. But then, he realized one key difference: the soul made each individual unique. Even if a copy of him gained a soul, it would never be an identical match to his own. This was impossible. A soul is a combination of trillions of unique points, a number so vast that no two souls could ever be the same. It was one of the universe¡¯s most extraordinary phenomena.


    After hundreds of thousands of years, Kayden finally encountered other beings. Mostly, they were lonely souls who stopped by to chat briefly after so much time without meeting another living, sentient being. Most were incredible mages in the eighth and ninth realms; not one of them was as low in rank as Kayden. How many of them were real people? Kayden didn¡¯t know or care; they were merely conversations with no future. He likely spoke to mages who were once kings of vast empires but were now trapped here by their immense egos.


    Only after ten million years did Kayden feel ready to integrate his goal into his path, reaching a level of genius beyond what could be considered monstrous. He transformed his sixth sense into a spatial sense, extending it for thousands of kilometers around him as his personal space. Kayden could manipulate this space effortlessly, without any expenditure of mana or energy, making space as integral to him as he was to the universe.


    Within this space, he could manipulate time freely, though not to a great extent, but it was still remarkable. Kayden could traverse any point within his sixth sense as if every kilometer was just a single step away. There was no delay; he didn¡¯t even need to open a spatial tear. He only had to think, and he would appear at the other end of his sixth sense.


    It was amusing yet easy to explain. Imagine a creature composed of only two organs, separated by thousands of light-years, yet the information exchange was instantaneous because distance meant nothing when they were part of the same entity. That¡¯s what Kayden had accomplished. Every meter of his sixth sense became a single entity, simultaneously a single point and countless points¡ªa feat only possible after grasping an incomplete understanding of spatial law.


    Kayden had taken an insane amount of time, but he succeeded in grasping the law of space, which seemed to seep into his mind naturally after so long. His soul absorbed it with ease, especially considering all he had learned and his deep familiarity with space.


    Unfortunately, he learned little about the law of time, only the bare minimum due to its relation to space, but nothing he could use in battle or incorporate into his techniques.


    Author¡¯s note: I posted the chapters of the days I missed posting and last week¡¯s bonus, sorry for the delay.


    The spatial domain did not just become aware of everything around him; he could, with a thought, manipulate and rearrange space. With every meter of his sixth sense, Kayden gained the ability to "shorten" distances to absurd levels, controlling space without the slightest resistance. Every place within his field was, for him, a point that he could access without barriers, as if there were no real distance between them. This domain is, at the same time, a state of total control and harmony with the universe, where space and being become indistinguishable. S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 491: Back to home

    The comprehension of the incomplete law was vastly different from grasping a mere concept. Kayden was absolutely certain he could never forget this law because, in reality, it didn¡¯t exist; it was simply a profound understanding of space¡ªso deep that he no longer needed mana to manipulate it. He only needed to move certain points, and space would follow his commands. It was as if he could see the threads that comprised space, holding it together, and by making minimal adjustments to these threads, his will would be enacted.


    This knowledge was impossible to forget because Kayden realized his very soul had absorbed the understanding of the laws. It was embedded deeply within his soul, no longer a memory, but a part of him. After comprehending the law, the environment seemed to have changed for Kayden. He noticed many things that didn¡¯t exist before and then...


    The floating symbol was a form impossible to describe with ordinary words. It seemed to be composed of thin, shimmering lines interwoven into complex patterns, resembling a constantly moving, three-dimensional web. These lines gleamed faintly, as if they carried fragments of starlight, and shifted their structure according to a subtle, almost imperceptible rhythm, giving the impression that they were alive. The symbol, though ethereal, held a nearly palpable weight, an imposing presence that asserted itself over the space around it.


    As the symbol floated, its lines bent and realigned like a perfect, mysterious mechanism, following invisible patterns that transcended common logic. It conveyed a sense of absolute stability as if it maintained the natural order of the territory in which it resided. With each gentle pulse, the symbol seemed to harmonize the space around it, connecting dimensions that would not normally intersect. It was a living expression of the essence of the law, unshakeable and eternal, radiating a silent yet irresistible power.


    Kayden finally understood that this was not something a mortal could create; not even a god had this capability. It was likely the work of nature or a being far above anything encountered in present times. The symbol was a complete and living law, pulsating and shaping everything around it. Kayden could see all the threads being exchanged and moved without any being broken¡ªa flawless and automatic exchange. Witnessing something so powerful was terrifying, and Kayden could feel the pressure of the law weighing on his mind.


    After this realization, Kayden floated upward and set off in a random direction, having finally achieved his goals in that place. His strength had risen to a completely different level compared to when he entered, and his life was now divided into a "before" and "after" understanding the law. After flying for several days, Kayden came upon a point in space that seemed different¡ªthreads that weren¡¯t being altered and threads that had a distinct shape. This was his door out of this place. After making a few adjustments to the threads, a hole opened in the fabric of space, and with a single step, Kayden found himself once again standing on the silver grass.


    "Congratulations, boy. How long did it take you?" the same man from before was standing beside Kayden as he exited. To Kayden, a ridiculous amount of time had passed, but to the god, it was only a few seconds.


    "Ten million years," Kayden murmured, and the god was surprised. It was a long time, but not excessively so.


    "Congratulations. You can either leave now or continue exploring the realms." Kayden had nothing left to do here; a few more thousand years wouldn¡¯t bring him any further gains.


    "I¡¯d like to leave," Kayden replied. He found himself floating in space outside the territory, back at the same point they had entered. After a few seconds of drifting, he was teleported to the false god¡¯s estate.


    Outside, a table was set with several dozen chairs, and some of the god¡¯s children had returned. Atlas was not among them; only Matheus had come back. Kayden could see immediately that the boy had achieved a strength far beyond what was expected¡ªhis aura was much more menacing than before.


    Several false gods and a few ordinary mages sat in the chairs. They all appeared to be high-level beings; this wasn¡¯t a mere gathering but a banquet for the most powerful of the false gods. Many of those present held little faith in Kayden. His accomplishments were incredible, and he was a true monster, but many resented the way he had entered high society¡ªthrough a marriage that brought little direct benefit.


    "Kayden!" Athena appeared above him and hugged him tightly. Kayden smiled without even realizing it and returned the hug with all his strength. He hadn¡¯t realized how much he missed her until he saw her again.


    The two stood for a few moments, simply looking at each other, without any other reaction. Athena¡¯s actions caught everyone by surprise, and some of the mages felt a tinge of jealousy¡ªnext to her beloved, the Ice Princess seemed just like a little girl.


    "Was it worth it?" Athena asked after they exchanged glances. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Yes, love. I became much stronger," Kayden responded, without providing too many details. It was far too absurd to speak of openly.


    "What law did you grasp, master?" Matheus appeared beside them, almost like a younger brother they had adopted.


    "The law of space," Kayden answered without hesitation, but his words stirred an uproar among the gods. It was a highly complex and ridiculously powerful law.


    "Incredible, but how does it fit with your path?" Kayden had never revealed his path to anyone; only Yan and Athena knew. The rest could only speculate.


    "Perfectly. It¡¯s just a secondary enhancement," Kayden replied vaguely, but anyone who felt his aura¡­ felt nothing. Kayden didn¡¯t even seem to exist.


    After hearing Kayden speak of his law, the surrounding gods focused on the environment. Initially, they thought it was just something Yan had done when bringing his son-in-law here, but now things had shifted in their perception. The space for hundreds of thousands of kilometers around seemed a little strange, yet no one could pinpoint exactly what it was.

 Chapter 492: The world

    After a few hours of dinner, Kayden finally returned with his beloved to their world. On the way, neither of them spoke. When they arrived in their rooms, they first made up for their longing and then began talking about the development of the world.


    "A few thousand years was a good amount of time. The average strength increased to the fifth realm, and many reached the sixth realm in old age. Furthermore, the population is constantly growing," Kayden was slightly surprised, but not too much.


    "Institutions?"


    "The educational ones have reached the maximum size they could. Mercenary guilds have become popular, and all of them are controlled by the government. Besides that, we hold the entire monopoly of the black market and sell many prohibited items in that place. In addition, we provide techniques and things that are not found on the surface."


    "Economy?" S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Investment in shipbuilding and related things. We will open exports as soon as the world opens up. We are not suppliers of raw materials. Moreover, all our mages have a minimum understanding of magical devices and runes. The cities themselves do not have a defined function yet, but most have specialized in certain things. We made sure wars do not directly impact economies. In addition, we inform everyone about job opportunities and the like. So, companies that remain stagnant are closed in a few years."


    "Leaders?"


    "A few names emerged and established themselves with an empire. They were all instructed to continue the wars. Some tried to stop, and we killed them after several refusals. Currently, there are only 10 major cities with over 500 billion inhabitants, and all of them have a leadership group that is unlikely to fall."


    "And the opportunities?" Kayden didn¡¯t want the same people in power forever.


    "Smaller cities have much higher turnover. The promise sold is that everyone can always leave their cities and try their luck elsewhere. Those at the top are not allowed to directly harass the weaker ones. Additionally, the fights are only between city leaders and their challengers, with a maximum size for each group challenging each city."


    "The laws?"


    "We follow the law of the jungle with strength numbering. Most places hide their heinous crimes, but they are present in most areas. The weakest continue to be constantly oppressed through various means. In some cases, this escalates, and the city develops. The major cities have their laws, which we permit. Only a few chosen among them have free access to the law of the jungle, and most do not have that permission."


    "Techniques?"


    "We continue to provide all high-level techniques for free. Those in a major city have the same opportunity to learn as those born in a remote area. The only difference is having qualified people around, but that is natural. Libraries are neutral grounds where no one can fight or destroy."


    Kayden fully understood the need for the strongest to go to the major cities. One could only surpass their environment to a certain extent; after that, they would need to change their surroundings or risk being stagnant for a long time. That¡¯s why the strongest only sought out major cities after some years in smaller cities.


    "Geniuses?"


    "We have about 100 thousand people with eight rays. We stopped counting those with seven rays centuries ago. With nine rays, we have only 7, and 5 of them were already with us previously." Kayden was impressed; his wife had indeed done an excellent job.


    As soon as all these people started to grow, the strength of his organization would undergo another revolution. But Kayden still had much to do. He wanted to place many more people with Nine Rays within his ranks. Among those 100 thousand, there should be some thousands who, after many soul sessions with Kayden, would be capable of increasing their rays.


    In the future, Kayden would need to raise his forces to a level where he could hold a slice of the universe in his hands and not be easily threatened by any organization. But this sort of¡­ became a secondary plan at that moment. After comprehending the law of space, Kayden¡¯s strength had risen another notch, and he hadn¡¯t even reached the point he desired yet.


    After taking the step he was waiting for¡­ Kayden couldn¡¯t even comprehend where his strength would reach. He would hardly fear entire organizations hunting him like a madman. Ninth-realm mages with nine rays would only be a mild nuisance, at most forcing him to retreat. Only a few beings who also reached a terrifying point would be able to make him fear for his life.


    The two exchanged a few more hours discussing all the points Kayden wanted to fix or improve. There weren¡¯t many after Athena¡¯s impeccable work, but he always wanted more. Kayden would only be satisfied when the average level of his world was the seventh realm, with mages who climbed there on their own and not those pushed up by resources.


    "The situation is very simple," Kayden was floating above more than 100 thousand people in a vast green plain that stretched to the horizon¡¯s edge. "Those who want a chance to reach greater strength, stay and fight for your lives in my challenge. Those who don¡¯t, just leave."


    As soon as Kayden¡¯s words ended, he released an immense pressure with his killing intent. At that moment, everyone understood they would be fighting for their lives; it wouldn¡¯t be simple¡ªit was all or nothing.


    At that moment, more than 90% of the people took a step back. The pressure everyone felt was overwhelming. Some of the mages there were in the eighth realm and still felt Kayden¡¯s pressure directly in their minds, like a hand gripping their necks.


    "Very well," the other 10% had a fortified mind, "this was just a test; there will be no life-threatening risk. I will only apply pressure on you, and those who manage to fly up to me will qualify for the next phase."


    The pressure Kayden applied was strong but not overwhelming. Most thought it would be easy, at least until it all began. Kayden released all his killing intent directly into the souls of those around him. The majority couldn¡¯t even catch their breath afterward¡ªthey could only stare at Kayden, unable to comprehend what was happening.

 Chapter 493: Test

    Author¡¯s note: yesterday I had unforeseen events at my college, tomorrow I will make up for the chapter that was missing from yesterday


    The worst part was that it didn¡¯t stop growing; despair assaulted the minds of most, and the agony of being unable to move only amplified all the problems of the situation. Even so, a few could think and move, few among many.


    After just a few minutes, all those who would proceed to the next phase of Kayden¡¯s tests were in the air; the rest lay on the ground, completely disoriented and broken, their minds utterly crushed.


    "You have ten minutes to leave this region, or I¡¯ll kill you for being incompetent," Kayden released a slight touch of his killing intent and watched as those who didn¡¯t pass flew like mad in every direction, even those in the Eighth Realm felt like ants before Kayden.


    A few minutes later, the plain that had once been crowded to the edges with people now had only a few thousand left; in fact, there weren¡¯t even 2,000 left, just over a thousand.


    "The next stage is simply to face me. Those I find worthy will advance to the next phase. Who¡¯s first?" Kayden issued this challenge among the best mages in his world.


    These were people who had grown accustomed to being at the top of the world; they had no opponents and were absolutely the strongest in their circles. Moreover, they were very confident in their strength, so when Kayden, a Sixth Realm mage, challenged some who were in the Eighth, their minds didn¡¯t even consider that he had just made a million kneel.


    "I¡¯m ready, Your Majesty," an old man in the Eighth Realm appeared in the air to everyone. He was a mage specialized in speed, and most couldn¡¯t even sense him moving. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Perfect, just come at me, do your best," Kayden smiled, and the old man felt slightly disrespected. He mastered three laws of wind that gave him an absurd speed.


    The old man used his laws at maximum speed and charged at Kayden, closing the distance so fast it seemed like he had teleported. Wielding a sword, he brought it down directly on Kayden¡¯s neck, but¡­


    "Fast," Kayden commented while standing above the mage, leaving everyone astonished. If before people couldn¡¯t even sense the old man moving, with Kayden, they had no idea what happened.


    The old man, at least, had left a trace of mana in his path, even if this trace appeared long after he had passed, it still existed, but with Kayden¡­ he simply appeared above his opponent.


    "Damn it!" the old man finally realized that his arrogance had cost him dearly; Kayden didn¡¯t even care about his attack. This time, he chose a different path, using the power of the wind laws to break all the space around him, making it much more flexible and short.


    "Impressive," this time Kayden genuinely found it incredible. The old man didn¡¯t have support or talent for space, but using the power of his laws, he was able to fold space and shorten his steps. His speed practically doubled, and it was already incredibly high.


    The old man rushed at Kayden and this time didn¡¯t hold back, attacking as if he were facing someone who had killed his mother and laughed at her corpse. Unfortunately, all this was in vain, as all the space around him became strange, and in a second, he found himself back in the crowd, but on the opposite side of it.


    "Congratulations, you passed," Kayden dismissed him as if dealing with a child. No one could understand what had happened or what the criteria were for him to pass. In reality, Kayden was only measuring potential, not strength.


    The combination of three incomplete laws was impressive, and for the mage to use them to manipulate space was proof of his capability, which is why Kayden let him pass. The crushing defeat wasn¡¯t entirely the mage¡¯s fault¡ªKayden was just infinitely superior.


    All of Kayden¡¯s movements were through space combined with his path and his precise senses. Across thousands of kilometers, he could simply appear without any difficulty, moving much faster than anyone else.


    "Next," Kayden called them one by one without any interval between them. Most were strong, but that was it¡ªKayden didn¡¯t see real talent or determination in them. After a few days, all the battles were over.


    Kayden managed to separate around 130 mages who would go through his cleansing sessions perfectly without compromising their future in exchange for immediate power. These weren¡¯t the strongest; they were simply those with the best potential.


    Kayden wanted to select only the best to continue creating elite units. Nine-Realm mages equate to many miracles of Eight-Realm mages, meaning it was better for him to take great care of a few hundred rather than mediocre care of a few thousand.


    Without any break, Kayden put everyone through an initial intensive session. It wouldn¡¯t be enough for an immediate result, but after a few dozen years of careful nurturing, they would likely become Nine-Realm mages with strong talent. This would be enough to elevate their world to a completely different level from the current one.


    "How strong does our organization need to become exactly?" Athena asked Kayden when he returned to the palace. They were already strong, but not yet to the point of dominating a portion of the universe.


    "I want us to be able to withstand attacks from other major organizations without much difficulty. I want a peaceful place to continue my tasks without worrying about being ambushed by thousands of mages." Kayden knew he would attract the attention of the universe sooner or later¡ªit was only a matter of time before they tried to kill him out of fear of his power.


    Kayden knew that as soon as the gods disappeared from this place the universe would become true chaos and mainly there would be people who were about to become gods taking power, at least in the first centuries, but according to Thoth¡¯s promises this would not happen, so the force would be assumed by different groups and organizations, the universe was very large and would not support the organizations continuing to have their current sizes without the presence of gods.

 Chapter 494: Atlas

    Currently, each organization dominated a ridiculously large space in the universe; most had members in the hundreds of trillions, which couldn¡¯t be sustained without a peak of absolute power¡ªcurrently held by the gods, though this wouldn¡¯t last in the future. Most organizations would ultimately collapse from internal conflicts.


    **************************


    "What did you learn?" Kayden asked, surprised when Atlas returned home; this time, he had created a monster. The presence of Atlas¡­ was on a completely different level.


    Kayden had thought he had already created a monster, but now Atlas was beyond his wildest dreams. In a fight, he couldn¡¯t even predict who would win between them, which was frightening considering his strength.


    "The Law of Masters, an inexplicable law that only a few people have witnessed," Kayden raised an eyebrow at his disciple¡¯s response; this law explained many things, and the power Atlas gained was immense.


    "With your current strength, you could contend for the title of leader of the False Gods in the future," Kayden commented, but Atlas¡¯s response showed he had truly created someone decent.


    "I don¡¯t aspire to political power, Master. It would be useless in my hands," Kayden smiled at Atlas.


    "When are you going to advance in your realm? At this point, you should be able to challenge the Ten Rays," Kayden¡¯s words caught both Atlas and Athena off guard; she was someone who had seen the power of the Ten Rays up close but didn¡¯t think her brother was capable of it.


    "He doesn¡¯t have the strength for that¡ªyet," Atlas and Kayden looked at Athena. "Don¡¯t risk your life yet; you should be able to defeat me before facing the Ten Rays." Athena was just being protective; being able to defeat her was more than enough for the Ten Rays.


    "I want to challenge you then," Atlas¡¯s confidence was at its peak, fearing no living being. S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Come on," Athena smiled. They were in Kayden¡¯s palace garden, but she treated Atlas as if he were a child. Kayden didn¡¯t even move as the fight exploded; it was a good opportunity to learn a bit more.


    Atlas had reached a perfect path with the False Gods and a perfect law with his path; for a million kilometers, all mana ceased to be mana. Kayden raised an eyebrow as he tried to understand exactly what this was, but mana was no longer mana.


    Kayden could probably control it, but it would require much more strength than he would normally have. Moreover, this type of mana seemed to be a single entity, existing in one place yet everywhere¡ªit was surreal.


    Atlas¡¯s attack consisted of manipulating the mana, transforming it into a kind of black mist capable of killing anything in its path. It was similar to an acidic mist, but the difference was that the density of mana in it caused even space to melt into fragments. Atlas released dozens of mist balls that would explode toward Athena.


    Unfortunately, Kayden and Atlas were very mistaken if they thought Athena was someone simple; she had literally been at the absolute peak of the universe for a time they couldn¡¯t even dream of living.


    Space and time froze entirely on the planet; not a single living being could move. She calmly rose and broke each of Atlas¡¯s attacks, calling them poorly made, merely finding the broken fragments to shatter the spell completely.


    "You¡¯ve grown, but you¡¯re still far from ready," Athena clapped her hands once, and everything returned to normal as she sat back down, leaving each with their thoughts. After a few minutes, Atlas asked for permission and left.


    Kayden remained a few more minutes, just studying what had happened; thousands of ideas and insights began to emerge in his mind. The notion of time as a mere formality, able to be freely controlled, was entirely absurd.


    "The strength you demonstrated is far beyond what¡¯s required for the Ten Rays given Atlas¡¯s age and power," Kayden had come to some conclusions about the Ten Rays; first, that it was a parameter that assessed much more than just strength, directly evaluating a person¡¯s potential.


    "Yes, but I don¡¯t want him to rush and end up getting himself killed. Facing the Ten Rays is much more than just about strength, and he¡¯s not ready," Athena murmured, lost in her thoughts.


    **************************


    A few thousand years later, Kayden¡¯s world opened up to the universe, and now anyone from anywhere could come to his world and live in it. But, of course, there were some conditions for this; first, they needed to pass a test that the government-administered.


    Anyone interested in coming to this world needed to have strong talent in at least one area; they didn¡¯t have to be strong in combat, but they needed to be a genius in at least one field. Mages with less than Seven Rays weren¡¯t even allowed to face the challenges. Kayden only wanted the best of society; the rest he left for other planets.


    In the early years, the flow of people was insanely high¡ªtrillions arriving every day, but trillions also leaving daily. On the very first day, Kayden realized he had underestimated his planet¡¯s fame, so on the second day of opening, he changed the test to something easier that could accommodate a much larger number of challengers.


    Kayden asked Yan to create a complex system of runes that would cast an illusion on anyone stepping into a certain point of the test. There, they would face three mental tests: the first was their greatest fear, the second was a high-level test in their specialty, and the last was a simple spiritual pressure test. All of this was powered by colossal resources, requiring the equivalent of half a Class A planet to keep these runes functioning.


    Luckily Kayden had a virtually infinite resource generator within himself, he was always able to create a few more genies and ask for a few class A planets, it only took an official announcement from his planet for gods to rain down on his doorstep, Kayden was probably the only mortal capable of something like that in the entire universe.

 Chapter 495: Amanda and Yan

    After his planet opened up to the universe, its population grew rapidly. The average level was still the same for now, but it would soon increase quickly. Those who didn¡¯t push themselves to their limits would simply be left behind by others who put in more effort.


    Along with opening its doors to the universe, Kayden also reduced the amount of resources available to people on the planet. This created a scenario where there were more people than resources. The former peace was gone; now, each person had to fight for even simple things like food.


    The previous pride no longer existed. With scarce resources, the world became a hellish place for the weaker individuals, and it only worsened as more capable people appeared in different parts of the planet daily. This drove the world into a fast-paced cycle of development.


    The laws remained the same, so when combined with the reduced resources and lack of punishment for those in power¡­ the world became a literal hell where the strongest dominated and oppressed the weak at every turn.


    ****************


    Time continued to pass quickly. Kayden hadn¡¯t improved his strength in the next hundreds of thousands of years; he was merely waiting for the right moment for his plans. Unfortunately, this would take a while, but given that he had already waited far longer, he would simply wait as long as necessary. His patience was infinite for his objectives.


    Atlas hadn¡¯t advanced in rank either. His confrontation with Athena had left him completely paranoid about reaching a perfect level of strength in his current rank before attempting to advance. This was different from his siblings; besides Athena and Atlas, the others had already reached the Ninth Realm and were now facing the curse that all False Gods faced.


    The strength of a god was achievable for False Gods after billions of years of cultivation and improvement, but, unfortunately, the level of a god was impossible for them to reach. It was a double-edged sword¡ªthey had the power of a god but would never be able to become gods.


    With each passing year, time was running out. Yan refused to teach any of his children the path to divinity; the only person who had received his teachings was Amanda, but she didn¡¯t seem capable of achieving divinity. The truth was that her soul wasn¡¯t capable of it yet; the soul of a god had to be completely stable, and hers was still being repaired after being taken from another timeline.


    In the end, Yan was fated to lose everything due to other gods, but he wouldn¡¯t leave this universe without fighting for his family. This was obvious to all the gods, so as they prepared to leave the universe, they were also preparing to face Yan with all their might¡ªat least, that¡¯s what everyone expected.


    "What¡¯s the purpose of this invitation, God Yan?" Kayden and Yan were sitting in armchairs floating above the clouds on Yan¡¯s farm; Kayden received the invitation on a random day.


    "To what extent has your soul manipulation reached, Kayden?" Yan replied with another question as he took a sip of his tea.


    The liquid they were drinking was equivalent to nearly half a Class A planet in just a few liters, a type of tea made from leaves of the true World Tree, hidden from all and known only to a few madmen familiar with its secrets.


    "I can¡¯t say; I have no master and no one to compare to," Kayden replied honestly to Yan¡¯s question.


    The two fell silent for the next few minutes. Yan was contemplating billions of scenarios and possible variables within seconds, while Kayden simply enjoyed the taste of the tea.


    "Do you know what makes a False God become a god?" Kayden received an unusual question and remained silent, signaling he had no idea. "We are beings with souls but no paths; that¡¯s the problem. I am the only one who has grasped a path and was able to convert my soul into true divinity."


    Kayden wasn¡¯t very surprised; he had already suspected that divinity had something to do with souls since it was simply the only thing strong enough to propel someone to the level of a god, in his view.


    "Your path is the path of monarchs, isn¡¯t it?" Yan looked a bit surprised at Kayden, who had reached this conclusion effortlessly, a discovery that had taken Yan an unimaginable amount of time.


    "Yes, only the path of the monarch and its variations can perfectly align with False Gods and allow us to solidify it into a soul path toward divinity." Kayden finally understood why Yan had been able to become a god upon studying him.


    "You¡¯ve seen many monarchs, so why only when you studied me could you reach divinity?" Kayden asked and received an answer he didn¡¯t expect.


    "I don¡¯t know; I have no answer to that question." Kayden stayed silent; if even a god couldn¡¯t answer this, there was no reason for him to waste time pondering it.


    "I understand¡ªyou want help with Amanda, don¡¯t you?" Kayden again hit the mark, seeing in Yan¡¯s eyes emotions he should have been fully capable of suppressing, but when it came to his soulmate, he couldn¡¯t.


    "Yes, her mind isn¡¯t strong enough to become a monarch, and her soul is still somewhat broken." Kayden understood this was a desperate request after millions of attempts.


    "Why wasn¡¯t I your first choice? I made Atlas a monarch." Kayden asked, already knowing the answer. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Atlas hasn¡¯t been the same person since becoming a monarch; I can¡¯t imagine Amanda in any way other than how she is." Even with every precaution taken, Atlas had undergone radical changes in his personality and soul, though they weren¡¯t entirely Kayden¡¯s fault.


    "Amanda won¡¯t be the same either, but you don¡¯t have time, do you?" Kayden understood the pain Yan was feeling at that moment, he knew what he was capable of doing for Athena after all.


    "Yes, it¡¯s only a few million years away and I don¡¯t think she¡¯ll be able to heal her soul and then move on, there¡¯s not enough time." Kayden understood that messing with souls was something delicate and couldn¡¯t be rushed.

 Chapter 496: Class S

    "I can try, but her soul will change, and her personality might undergo slight adjustments, though nothing drastic," Kayden offered directly to Yan, leaving the god deep in thought.


    Yan had already contacted dozens of people skilled in soul manipulation, but each had focused on a unique area, leaving them unable to help Amanda. Moreover, most weren¡¯t trustworthy enough; some might even manipulate Amanda into betraying Yan without him realizing.


    "What¡¯s the price?" Yan knew Kayden wouldn¡¯t do this for free.


    "What¡¯s the limit?" Kayden grinned like a wolf; even in the presence of a god, he felt no fear in negotiating.


    "There are no limits; just name your price, and it¡¯s yours." Yan would give up his entire organization if necessary to take Amanda to the other universe with him.


    "I want you to upgrade my planet to class S," Kayden proposed, making an ambitious demand. A class A planet stood among the universe¡¯s top, but class S represented the absolute pinnacle.


    Class S planets were usually the size of an entire solar system, and only a handful existed across the universe. Creating one required enormous resources and effort and would demand the expertise of several gods in planetary development.


    "Perfect. How long will Amanda¡¯s treatment take?" Yan didn¡¯t even blink. To him, Kayden was asking for common resources, albeit at an extreme cost. But it was manageable since they weren¡¯t rare resources, which simplified the process for Yan, albeit at a high price.


    "A few thousand years, I think," Kayden responded after a moment of thought. He needed to do this perfectly, as any mistake would lead Yan to kill him, even if it meant the god¡¯s own life.


    They discussed more details of their agreement, and Kayden¡¯s organization was about to receive an unprecedented increase in space and resources. Yet this would also require significant work; Kayden would have to reopen his training doors to acquire resources. Considering he was also training the other mages on his planet, his free time would be practically nonexistent for thousands of years. But he saw it as necessary¡ªevery effort would be repaid in time.


    *****


    In the following years, Kayden¡¯s world began expanding rapidly. The gods gradually extended the lands and seas, introduced life, and adjusted laws in perfect harmony; it was an incredibly delicate task.


    If it were simply about creating a solar system-sized world and setting it in motion, it could have been done in days. But the true challenge was in refining the laws to ensure that the mana density and ease of learning would be far superior to other worlds.


    Temporarily, Kayden closed the world off from external influence. He didn¡¯t want new people settling there; instead, he planned to halt wars for a few thousand years and instruct each family to have at least ten children¡ªa remarkably high number to accelerate repopulation.


    Kayden selected several dozen individuals for soul cleansing, all of whom came from influential organizations capable of paying the steep price he demanded for his services, which allowed him to pour even more resources into his world. Each trainee was required to contribute resources equivalent to a class A planet¡ªsubstantial, yet modest relative to a class S planet¡¯s scope. This led him to gather resources from dozens of entities at this level to meet the minimum requirements for class S.


    With all these tasks piled up, Kayden had little time for personal training, dedicating every second of his life to this planet. His power had stagnated for some time, but he didn¡¯t mind; the planet was both an investment and a pastime while he awaited the right time to advance realms. Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Thousands of years passed as Kayden¡¯s intensive repopulation campaigns filled his world with people. Eventually, he had to open it to the outside, as the planet had grown beyond his initial expectations, requiring this additional measure. Opening the gates further accelerated the repopulation rate.


    This time, Kayden established strict criteria for external recruits: only those below the third realm could enter. He also significantly lowered the minimum quality standards for entry; quantity was the focus, with quality to be developed later. These steps caused a substantial decline in his planet¡¯s average power level, but Kayden knew a peaceful world was doomed to stagnate. Yet, without peace, the planet wouldn¡¯t grow quickly enough to repopulate a class S world.


    Amanda¡¯s treatment proved much more complex than Kayden anticipated. Her soul was incredibly aged, with hardened sections that he could see clearly. But the real issue was her soul¡¯s apparent dislocation in time, seemingly anchored to two points in space-time at once, causing rapid shifts that shouldn¡¯t have been possible for a soul.


    He followed the same procedure used with Atlas, conducting several soul-cleansing and mental conditioning sessions. Additionally, he implanted several of his own memories as foundational memories within Amanda¡¯s soul¡ªperhaps the key to helping people withstand the soul-cleansing process.


    Amanda had a resilient mind, though her soul seemed broken. Kayden doubted she would ever reach divinity without continuous sessions, yet, piece by piece, he was refining her soul, gradually turning her into a vastly superior version of her previous self.


    His soul had few details of his past life, at least compared to normal people, this was because his current life was extremely long, making it incredibly easier for Kayden and at the same time more difficult, as he needed to take away the past lives and at the same time preserve the current one.


    Adding his memories to Amanda caused her to become slightly altered, her personality was starting to have small, minimal changes that only Yan was able to notice, but fortunately, they were so small that he didn¡¯t care much.


    Kayden and Athena¡¯s relationship was getting better every day, soulmates were truly incredible things, she was able to make Kayden have feelings that he had already considered buried inside him, things like jealousy and compassion were practically new emotions for Kayden, but Athena was able to make him awaken them.

 Chapter 497: Time

    In the blink of an eye, time passed at high speed; hundreds of thousands of years went by in a flash. During all this time, Kayden was solely focused on cultivating his world and honing his skills in his free time, still waiting for certain things before he could advance to the next realm.


    Amanda needed an astonishing 200,000 years of soul sessions to finally reach a point where she could advance and become a monarch. At the moment, she had been in a coma for several decades, and Kayden had no idea what her future would be, nor did he care¡ªat least not about her. Yan would still serve as his protection for the next few million years.


    Kayden¡¯s world reached a completely insane level, practically becoming the number one planet in the entire universe. Its growth rate created significant concerns among all the gods, prompting them to start investing in their planets purely out of ego.


    The average power level of Kayden¡¯s planet reached six rays, which was far more impressive than the old seven rays of his Class A world. At this point, it was ridiculously larger and held an absurdly higher number of people, yet its average quality remained remarkably high.


    With a world of this size, Kayden changed many things. Firstly, although cities still followed the model where the strongest ruled, they could now all unite under one flag to form a country. Later, these countries could merge into an empire, and even further down the line, they could unite as a world.


    Wars now happened on multiple scales. In the cities, mages below the fourth realm gave their lives to thrive and grow stronger. Among countries, the mages ranged from the fourth to the seventh realm. The empires¡¯ wars were decided only by the geniuses, with very simple rules: the strong crushed the weak but couldn¡¯t destroy another empire, only change its leadership.


    The war between worlds was much more complex and involved thousands of variables. First, these wars were fought between empires but managed between worlds. In truth, Kayden did not allow worlds to rule multiple empires openly; they could only rule from the shadows, but everyone knew who truly held power.


    World battles involved an economic level and dozens of other factors. It was no longer just a pastime, as worlds could indeed crush all their opponents without any repercussions from Kayden. This was the race happening at this moment: Kayden made it clear that he wanted a general ruler for the Class S world, and only the one who dominated everything could attain that position.


    A Class S world, with all the resources Kayden was injecting and all the soul-altering sessions he was conducting in populated cities, had a massive effect. Kayden now had hundreds of nine-ray mages, surpassing almost all the great organizations in the universe, which was completely absurd¡ªa single world had more nine-ray members than organizations that had traversed the river of time to reach their current level.


    Kayden maintained strong control over these mages. All had their souls modified to be loyal to him at an extreme level; even a god could not sway them, no matter how many resources were offered. Each mage held at least a country or empire, though most preferred not to participate directly in global politics, instead just maintaining a territory.


    This situation made global control extremely challenging. How could one mage dominate dozens of other nine-ray mages? They were ridiculously powerful and absurdly numerous across the planet. Kayden knew this, and he set this objective precisely to push everyone to strive much harder than usual.


    Seven-ray mages were as common as grass on plains¡ªat least one in four people reached seven rays. This was an absurdly high number and put Kayden¡¯s world directly at the top of the worlds. Eight-ray mages were not as rare either, with about one in every few million. This might seem like a small number, but considering the trillions of mages in the world, it was remarkably high and common. These were the top figures everywhere, while the nine-ray mages operated from the shadows.


    Atlas surpassed all his siblings except Athena by a vast degree. He still hadn¡¯t left the seventh realm; Kayden wanted him to reach ten rays, but he needed to first pass Athena¡¯s blessing, and she was making this incredibly difficult.


    The other siblings had all reached the ninth realm, yet Atlas remained superior to all of them, crushing them with ease. It was a direct contest to see who could control the most mana, and given Atlas¡¯s lineage, his path as a monarch, and his incomplete laws, it was practically a pointless struggle among them.


    Fortunately, Yan had raised the siblings well, and there was no conflict among them. Matheus was set to become the next leader of the false gods. Atlas and Athena had already declined the position and fully supported their brother with no reservations. They didn¡¯t want the leadership role; this was solely Matheus¡¯s dream, but¡­


    "What do you think I should do, master?" Matheus was having tea during one of Kayden¡¯s rare free moments. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "You¡¯ve finally understood, haven¡¯t you?" Kayden smiled. He had explained this situation to Matheus many years ago, and finally, Matheus was beginning to grasp Kayden¡¯s words.


    "Yes, the leadership of the false gods means nothing. I¡¯ve reached the peak of power in the realms, and there¡¯s no further to advance. Leadership no longer brings me any relief; it isn¡¯t an achievement¡ªI simply acquired it." Kayden spent a long time shaping Matheus¡¯s mind while purifying his soul.


    Power was always pursued by everyone, but few understood its true beauty. Most sought it to satisfy basic desires and greedy impulses; only a minority pursued power for themselves. Kayden was one of those people and always instilled this mentality in his apprentices. Some took time to realize the truth of his words, but it always dawned on them at some point in their lives, and this time, it had reached Matheus.

 Chapter 498: Millions of years

    "Go out into the universe, fight in isolated places where even the weakest beings exist in high realms, live a bit away from the wings of your father, have your own experiences, seek a purpose for your life," Kayden said to Matheus, looking directly into his eyes.


    These words were exactly what Kayden would say to everyone he mentored. There was no use in having strength without purpose. Even Kayden, who was entirely controversial, had a purpose. Living without direction was utterly depressing.


    A few hundred years later, Amanda managed to ascend to divinity, becoming the second false goddess to turn into a true god. Her strength was insane, although not as overwhelming as Yan¡¯s. In the end, she was strong, but only enough to be considered a high-level god, not a unique god like Yan.


    At the moment she reached divinity, Kayden received a promise from Yan in front of the heavens, a vow that he would be treated like a son by the god until the end of his days; Yan¡¯s gratitude would be eternal.


    Kayden¡¯s world finally reached a point where he no longer needed to interfere every hour to ensure progress. The world had become self-sustaining, moving toward progress on its own.


    The worlds and empires were now firmly established; it was no longer so easy to overthrow their leaders, though not impossible either. Kayden arranged it this way so that even those at the bottom could rise to the top, but only after significant effort.


    There was a step-by-step path in this world that could not be skipped. First, someone had to conquer small cities, then medium, then large ones. After that, they would conquer states in the same progression, then countries. Beyond that came empires and, finally, worlds. It was a long and arduous journey to power, and no one could skip stages¡ªat best, someone might leap over a few cities or countries if they were exceptionally talented.


    However, this talent had to be monstrous, as eight-ray mages weren¡¯t uncommon, and many were among the leaders of countries and kingdoms. To make such power leaps, one had to be exceptionally strong.


    One aspect that remained consistent throughout this world was the public libraries. Kayden forbade any form of restriction on knowledge, ensuring it was accessible to all. In every corner of the planet, people had equal access to high-level techniques.


    Time passed quickly. Kayden went on several excursions and related ventures, but nothing overly extensive or special. The universe was undergoing radical changes in its organizational structure. The gods increasingly distanced themselves from universal politics, leaving mortals to organize themselves.


    Many organizations simply collapsed due to internal wars. External wars were nearly non-existent, as all the major organizations fought to decide who would dominate the top of their chains of command. Most lacked someone strong enough to subdue everyone else; there were always at least two high-level mages in each organization, with the largest organizations holding dozens.


    Matheus never returned from his journey; he had truly taken Kayden¡¯s words to heart and disappeared into the universe to find himself. Jasmine took over the leadership of the false gods. The woman had grown in strength to the point of ranking just behind Matheus in terms of power, logically excluding Athena and Atlas.


    Since most divine-level false gods were required to accompany Yan to the other universe, only low- and mid-level false gods participated in the power dynamics. Given their small number, Jasmine found it easy to gain absolute control over the organization, especially considering she had the support of her siblings, all high-level mages.


    Kayden¡¯s world continued to grow silently, taking a generous share in the power dynamics. They had no internal conflicts and held a phenomenal amount of resources. Kayden continued his soul sessions, accumulating resources, and within a few hundred thousand years, he gathered enough to rank among the thousand largest organizations in the universe.


    Being in the top thousand might seem like a high ranking, but in reality, it was utterly insane, as no organization at that level was younger than 10 million years. Additionally, all of them possessed a wide variety of mages and enormous territories.


    Kayden owned only a single S-class planet, but this planet had been elevated to the absolute peak of what could be achieved in a single world. His people were honed to the perfect limits possible. He invested heavily in mages specializing in runes and artifacts, making his world one of the main traders of magical equipment and runes.


    After a few million years, the universal dynamics shifted once again. This time, a strange peace spread across the universe as everyone awaited the gods¡¯ departure. By this point, everyone knew what was going to happen; it was just the calm before the storm.


    Matheus returned, far stronger than when he had left. At this point, Atlas could no longer suppress him with ease, as Matheus had surpassed the seventh realm and reached the eighth, with an insane level of power.


    A few centuries earlier:


    "Are you sure about this?" Athena asked for the tenth time. Atlas had finally reached the point of receiving approval to attempt the challenge with ten rays. All his siblings, including Matheus, were on the farm to witness this event.


    After Yan explained the significance of a ten-ray mage, they all understood that this was a unique phenomenon in the entire universe. None of them had ever seen, and would probably never again see, the ascension of a ten-ray mage. Even Yan wasn¡¯t a ten-ray mage.


    What allowed Atlas to reach this level were numerous factors. The first was his nearly divine talent, shared by all his siblings. The second was his inheritance of the false god genes. The third was becoming a monarch. The fourth was having his soul purified and his talent elevated to the absolute mortal limits. The fifth was the resources he received. Yan, as the peak of the gods, had no resources beyond his reach for his son. All these factors combined created this monstrous figure. S~ea??h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 499: Ten

    The vastness of the universe did something insane to probabilities. The inherited talent involved the genes of both magical progenitors, while natural talent was something only nature could bestow. Because of the universe¡¯s size, the number of noble families was ridiculously low compared to the general population.


    "Absolutely certain," Atlas said with iron determination. He wouldn¡¯t turn back. Everyone stepped aside to give him space to advance, and the skies began to close with a golden hue.


    The first bolts came down like a joke before a giant; these bolts didn¡¯t even make Atlas raise his hand. He merely had to manipulate the mana around him, keeping it inert. It gathered and completely destroyed the bolts.


    Even the eighth bolt couldn¡¯t make Atlas break his calm posture. Things changed only when the ninth bolt descended; this was an entirely different level. At that moment, the sky opened, revealing the celestial beings throwing the bolt directly onto the challenger. S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The ninth bolt fell from the heavens as a herald of absolute power, tearing through the golden clouds with an intensity never before seen. The air around was distorted as if every particle reverberated with the presence of raw energy. The light emitted was nearly blinding, bathing the world in a glow that oscillated between golden and white, like a celestial forge being stoked. The accompanying sound was a thunder, something that could shake the very foundations of space itself. For a moment, it seemed even the universe paused, but then motion resumed¡ªthough now, the surrounding space lay shattered.


    For hundreds of thousands of kilometers, space shattered into countless fragments from the sheer remnants of the ninth bolt¡¯s power. It was far stronger than anything a seventh-realm mage should have been capable of summoning.


    Atlas fully activated his path. The broken space was completely crushed and transformed into mana; the normal universe, the space between the universe and the void, and the void itself turned into mana under Atlas¡¯s control. Everything lay at his feet, yet something was different, as the mana had transformed into something else. It wasn¡¯t exactly mana, and Kayden couldn¡¯t identify it.


    "Holy crap," Kayden took a few seconds, but he finally understood exactly what Atlas was doing, and he was utterly impressed. Not even in his wildest dreams had he imagined a spell of such power.


    Atlas had transformed all the mana into an extension of his soul; his soul was entirely open to the outside. Kayden had never seen anything like it; Atlas¡¯s control over mana far surpassed anything Kayden had ever approached simply because controlling one¡¯s soul was a level of depth that was insane.


    Controlling external situations was entirely different from controlling the things within oneself, and that was the distinction between everything Kayden had learned and what Atlas was doing. Kayden¡¯s soul was a part of the universe, yet still his own. What Atlas had done was turn the universe into a part of him. Kayden¡¯s mind began working through countless possibilities from this knowledge.


    The bolt fell onto Atlas at an insane speed, completely destroying his soul-mana barrier, but, incredibly, this mana regenerated and rebuilt Atlas¡¯s barrier within seconds. His soul seemed to take no damage; Kayden had no idea how the boy managed to do it, but it was utterly insane.


    New questions emerged in Kayden¡¯s mind at that moment, for Atlas had great talent¡ªa completely insane talent¡ªbut he would never have reached even half this strength without Kayden¡¯s resources and training. This implied many things, one of them being that Kayden might find monsters hidden in anyone. How many mages at Zeus¡¯s level were hidden in this universe, lacking only opportunity?


    After a few minutes, Atlas¡¯s defense emerged entirely unscathed. He had overcome the nine bolts as if it were a walk in the park, his body untouched. He was on a completely different level, which was now clear to all his siblings.


    "I want to face the ten bolts," Atlas said before the invitation could be offered. The skies with golden clouds fully opened, showing clouds of a completely different color, a translucent golden hue. There were no words to describe these colors.


    The illusion that was always present in ascension trials with more than five bolts disappeared entirely. Nine chairs appeared, floating in the heavens. Each chair seemed to carry the truth of the universe, casting an utterly insane pressure on everyone present. Even Yan felt like a complete before these chairs.


    A god at the absolute peak of this universe felt like a child before a true god, and no matter what he tried, he couldn¡¯t even look directly at the chairs. Each throne was different from the other, each entirely unique, radiating an aura of power and strength never before seen by those present.


    On one of the chairs, a transparent, golden, immaterial body appeared. No features were visible¡ªabsolutely nothing could be discerned about its gender or race. It didn¡¯t even emit an aura; the chair¡¯s presence was greater than its own. Most there didn¡¯t understand this situation, only Kayden and Yan truly comprehended what it signified.


    That being was beyond the universe itself, making it impossible for anyone to even sense its aura. The universe could not propagate its aura because it lacked the capacity. This realization sent a cold shiver down both Kayden¡¯s and Yan¡¯s spines.


    The mere lifting of that being¡¯s finger caused space to be torn apart, his body was stronger than the very fabric that supported space, he raised it above his head and a ray came out of it, a ray without any color or shape, everyone could only feel that it was a ray, it was a law in its living and pulsating form, no one knew or had any idea of ??what exactly that ray was, not even Yan could understand.


    The lightning began to descend¡­


    Author¡¯s note: we didn¡¯t have any chapters yesterday, but don¡¯t worry, I will pay for each overdue chapter as the days go by.

 Chapter 500: Win

    It was an abstract law that Atlas learned in the realm of natural gods, but it took him millions of years to organize it into a complete, omnipotent law. Once he achieved this, he became a true monster.


    The lightning struck Atlas¡¯s mana and was suppressed¡ªfor just a few seconds. The mana was completely destroyed but reconstructed at an absurd speed, taking less than the blink of an eye to return to peak strength, like an unrelenting sea that endlessly pursues the shore.


    With each passing second, the lightning destroyed things farther away. For millions of kilometers, everything began to collapse, and even tens of millions of kilometers away, space was extremely fragile. It was a demonstration of power beyond all sense.


    The lightning continued to descend with an indescribable fury, consuming everything in its path as if the very concept of existence was being obliterated by its presence. Invisible waves of energy swept through space, dissolving even the most resilient particles and leaving an absolute void in its wake. Nearby stars flickered and dimmed, unable to withstand the insane pressure of that impact. The fabric of reality shattered into visible fragments, with cracks in the very space-time, like a splintered window. Any trace of ordinary mana evaporated before even coming close, making it clear that this was far beyond normal laws.


    The world¡¯s orbit would be completely altered, and the effects would extend for trillions of kilometers if it weren¡¯t for Yan¡¯s intervention. The god could only do a few things to hold back the effects; too much interference would result in an attack from the heavens, and he would undoubtedly be unable to withstand even a single true move from those mages seated on the thrones. Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Those beings were far beyond divinity; they were vastly above the universe¡¯s power itself. They were literally above the universe in terms of strength¡ªthe universe could not maintain their bodies in a physical state. Yan didn¡¯t even comprehend the scale of that power.


    The lightning split into thousands of smaller bolts, and Atlas¡¯s mana divided into thousands of pieces. It was as if a web of mirrors appeared, each displaying a different battle between mana and lightning. In some places, mana achieved absolute victory; in others, there was no sign of it even having a chance.


    It took a few minutes, but most there realized what was happening¡ªspace-time had completely shattered. These were points in the future and the past happening all at once, without any intervals. In each situation, time was proceeding differently.


    Kayden had never seen time itself breaking. Atlas was fighting dozens of battles simultaneously without any interval between them. His consciousness existed in thousands of points at once, and nowhere, an utterly insane feat only achievable by someone who had mastered the laws of time. Complete mastery was a minimum requirement.


    Only Yan there had achieved such mastery, and to him, what was happening was even more terrifying. Time was shattered an infinite number of times, with each second splintering into dozens of seconds endlessly. In each scenario, the lightning struck differently; in each moment, Atlas had to fight differently and use mana in a unique manner.


    Kayden couldn¡¯t even comprehend what was happening, but the difficulty of the ten bolts grew even greater in his eyes. At that moment, he truly understood that a ten-bolt mage was a mortal capable of reaching a god¡¯s level of strength.


    Logically, a god would still be capable of killing a ten-bolt mage; that was a vast barrier to surpass. Even if a mage had the strength of a god, they would never wield it with the same proficiency, and that was the fundamental difference in this situation.


    As realms progressed, raw strength mattered less. It was always the quality of techniques and the mage¡¯s understanding of their abilities. Strength mattered only in simpler realms or among mages with few bolts, as a nine-bolt mage could cause the same destruction as a seven-bolt mage with only a tenth of the power.


    Atlas¡¯s body was destroyed in dozens of points in space; in some, he won outright, while in others, he couldn¡¯t hold his life or even survive a few seconds against the lightning. This scenario repeated itself in thousands upon thousands of points, taking hours for all points to reach equilibrium.


    Finally, Atlas stood in the majority of the mirrored worlds. He had defeated the ten bolts. In some worlds, he achieved complete victory, but as each second passed, the worlds converged. Slowly, an image formed of an Atlas missing an arm and a leg, with burns covering his body, but worst of all were his eyes¡ªthey were lifeless.


    It seemed the boy had received all the thoughts from those battles at once, and that¡¯s exactly what had happened. His mind was strong, but he faced an incalculable number of battles. Without even remaining conscious, he collapsed to the ground with no sign of life, only a faintly beating heart visible.


    The skies became calm and the entire space was magically reconstructed, not even an inch revealed the enormous event that had just happened, the same being who had thrown the lightning got up from his chair and pointed his finger at Atlas, a lightning bolt came out of him, this time they were different laws with different effects and even so no one there was even able to understand what was happening.


    The lightning struck Atlas and in the blink of an eye his body was completely remodeled to a perfect degree. There were no more flaws. His body reached the same level as a god¡¯s body. There were no mistakes. Everything was perfect down to the smallest detail. Then his mind was put back together. His soul was in tatters, but even so, it returned to the peak of its strength.


    As soon as Atlas opened his eyes... the entire universe seemed to tremble. Every god in the universe was able to sense that someone of immense power had been born. It was like a warning to all living beings that their god was being born. The pressure that Atlas was exuding was out of this world at that moment.

 Chapter 501: Honor

    Not even Yan could exert as much pressure on Kayden as Atlas was causing at this moment. It was a pressure that came directly from the soul and the pressure of a superior being, one capable of transcending mortal limits while still in mortality.


    The first ten-ray mage of this universe had been born. The universe would have to kneel before his will. There was no mage capable of brushing against his robes, not even all the nine-ray mages of the eighth realm together would be able to come close to him.


    After the event when Atlas reached the tenth ray, Kayden freed him from the master-apprentice relationship. At this moment, there was nothing more he could teach Atlas; he couldn¡¯t even be his training partner. Fortunately, millions of years of manipulating the boy¡¯s soul had made him develop an appreciation for Kayden without any limits. There would never be a betrayal from Atlas, at least not until he was capable of altering his own soul.


    Time passed quickly. Kayden was simply stalling and gaining strength on the sidelines while waiting for the right moment. No one could defeat the patient man, and if necessary, Kayden would wait billions of years for the right opportunity.


    His S-class world continued to grow at an absurd speed. He would probably surpass all the other worlds in the next few million years. This was due to two factors: first, his ability to manipulate the souls of large numbers of people was getting better and better. He constantly made visits to countries and asked for the majority of the population to be gathered.


    Kayden, most of the time, injected pieces of his memories into the subconscious of all these people. This had a terrifying effect on their mentality. Most of them went from being lazy to being tireless workers. Furthermore, he continued distributing resources without any reluctance to all the inhabitants of the planet, from techniques to mana stones. Everything was available to those who worked hard enough.


    The general administrative part was taken care of by Athena and a team of mages offered by some gods to whom Kayden offered his services. Logically, he wouldn¡¯t trust these people blindly, at least not at first, but after a few dozen sessions of playing with their souls, everything changed. He now had hunting dogs loyal at all times.


    The number of nine-ray mages in Kayden¡¯s world kept increasing at a terrifying speed. Almost one appeared every few centuries. They had already passed five hundred at this point. This was more than any organization in the entire universe. Not even the false gods had as many nine-ray mages in their ranks. It was a completely terrifying number.


    On a random day, Kayden received an invitation directly to his palace. It came in the form of a black letter, without any details or traces of mana. It could only reach Kayden because of a god. No other mortal should have been able to place it there without difficulty. This meant that Yan was aware of what was happening.


    "Welcome to the new world order, Lord Kayden Heart. We are the next leaders of the universe, and we invite you to join our ranks and become one of the Honor. Just tear the letter, and you will be transported to our meeting right now."


    This is what was written in the letter. Just these few lines that carried insane secrets about the future of the universe. Kayden debated for a few seconds in thought and then called out for Yan.


    "God Yan?" A god was able to sense his name being called anywhere he could place his senses. In the blink of an eye, Yan appeared next to Kayden, sitting in an armchair and drinking ancient nectar.


    "Hello, Kayden. What can I do for you?" Yan asked this question, but he already knew everything that was happening in this place. Kayden simply showed the letter in his hands, and Yan smiled. "I cannot interfere in this, per the orders of the superiors."


    "Superiors?" Kayden looked surprised at Yan. Who was the god capable of being superior to the father of the false gods, the man who broke the timeline to make the impossible happen?


    "One day you will find out, but not now. Know that you will be safe at this meeting. That¡¯s all." Yan disappeared and left Kayden thoughtful. Considering that this was very important and that he would be safe, Kayden simply tore the letter.


    Kayden appeared in a completely dark environment with dozens of people wearing masks with eyes of various colors. The eyes of each person seemed to burn like fire because of the mask¡¯s effect. They all wore black cloaks with no distinguishing marks. Furthermore, these cloaks protected from spiritual senses, but¡­ not from Kayden¡¯s soul sight.


    While everyone there thought they were hidden and anonymous, Kayden could identify each person in the room because of their soul signatures. Souls never lied. They were not the same, nor could they be hidden by common means like these.


    The room was a round environment made of purple and black stone. Kayden was in the center of everything, and the people were seated in chairs that grew around him in a constantly increasing circular pattern. All the chairs were made of dark wood with an ancient aura, carrying strong symbols and runes whose meanings Kayden couldn¡¯t even begin to fathom.


    The room was in a silence caused by runes in an unnatural manner. The sky above was filled with stars, but the main feature was a red sun that did not emit light, standing imposingly with millions of white stars around it.


    In the room, there was a main direction. There was an extended table coming out from the circular area. It was above all the others. There were four people there. They were not wearing masks. There were three men and one woman. Below them, there was another extended table, but this time with about ten people.


    At the first table, in the center, was a man with austere features and silver hair that fell in fine strands over his shoulders. He had deeply red eyes, like embers that seemed to pulse with an internal flame, and his stature was tall and imposing. He wore a dark cloak with golden details, marked with ancient arcane symbols that seemed to flow over the fabric like rivers of mana. His presence emitted an overwhelming aura as if he mastered the secrets of time and destruction. Every movement he made seemed to carry a millennial weight, suggesting that his wisdom was as vast as his power. Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Beside him was a woman with pale skin and a glacial gaze, with long black hair that moved subtly, as if whispering secrets in a forgotten language. Her eyes, a deep blue like the night ocean, were hypnotizing, and around them, small runes would form and disappear, showing her mastery of manipulating the space around her. She wore a silver cloak with edges that shimmered as stars and small sparks of energy danced between her delicate fingers, revealing her ability to manipulate the laws of magic with absolute precision. Her presence was ethereal, cold, and calculating, like a silent force watching everything around with immense insight.


    The other person was someone Kayden knew very well but was hidden under a heavy cloak like everyone else. The difference was that her cloak was black with gold, but even that was not enough to prevent him from recognizing her.

 Chapter 502: Honor

    ---


    Besides her, Kayden also recognized another person, but this individual was seated at the lower table with about ten members, whose power was a bit weaker¡ªexcept for this particular individual. Kayden suspected this person was likely stronger than everyone else in the room combined.


    "Welcome, Kayden Heart," said the man with silver hair, his voice imposing. Then, everyone else greeted him. "My name is Ryan Dias, the first moon mage of this universe and currently the leader of the Honor, the most distinguished among mages."


    "Welcome, Kayden Heart," the woman introduced herself next. "My name is Leona Hay, one of the mages who holds the laws of the stars and is currently the vice-leader of the Honor."


    The other two did not introduce themselves to Kayden. One of them he had known for quite some time, but the other remained a mystery. Spells of time cloaked their soul, and Kayden could see thousands of different souls from various eras. He simply nodded and waited for the leaders¡¯ next words.


    "Since you don¡¯t know anything about us, let us introduce you to the organization that will govern the universe when the gods leave. We currently have about 400 members; only the most powerful and brilliant mages from across the universe were invited to join our ranks. We already control approximately 80% of all the major organizations," Ryan explained. Kayden had expected something like this, so he showed no surprise. "Your planet has grown to the point of becoming a real threat to our organizations, and you are also one of the strongest mages in the universe, despite being stagnant for many millennia."


    Most people believed Kayden was trapped at his current level as if he had reached his potential limit. Most gods merely saw him as a monster-maker, not a true monster himself. But little did they know that Kayden was currently at his absolute peak.


    "Our organization is divided into five ranks: the top four, followed by the next ten, then the top 100, and finally the remaining members. We¡¯re offering you a place among the outer members," Ryan concluded his speech without elaborating much more.


    "What can you offer me?" Kayden asked without fear. The presence of these people did not even send a single shiver down his spine; he felt no fear of these mages, especially considering who else was present.


    Silence filled the room. None of the mages who had been in Kayden¡¯s position before had shown such attitude. None of them were crazy enough to do so, especially under the natural pressure all the mages were exuding towards Kayden. It felt like he was facing a god, with all their combined auras.


    "Do you realize the magnitude of our organization? You¡¯re just a mere nine-ray mage from an isolated corner of the universe. Let me teach you a lesson." Kayden almost laughed at this typical line from a second-rate drama.


    Obviously, no mage reaching this level of power would act like a fool from a second-rate drama. Kayden had noticed the slight signal Ryan had made; it was all a grand act to gauge his reaction against a nine-ray mage from the eighth realm¡ªa vast difference in power. S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Clap!


    Kayden snapped his fingers, and the nine-ray mage... simply vanished from existence. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared into thin air as if he were dust. An eerie silence filled the room, with racing hearts audible from every direction; even Ryan could not fully comprehend what had happened.


    Fear struck many of the mages present in a way they hadn¡¯t felt in a long time. Fearing someone was normal for most mages, but feeling true terror was entirely different. Fear was merely respect for a more powerful being, but the fear Kayden had instilled in them was insane, as they had no idea what he was doing.


    Seconds passed without anyone making a move. Kayden had caused an intense silence in the room, which lasted until he finally spoke again, ending the situation.


    "What can you offer me?" Kayden repeated the question, and this time, no one dared to stand against him. He had made a mage two realms above him vanish from existence without any explanation.


    Ryan began listing all the benefits of the organization. Initially, Kayden was merely a powerful recruit they were trying to attract, whether by hook or by crook. But now, he was a strong ally who could assist them in many ways. It was now obvious that Kayden was more than just a monster-maker.


    The primary benefits that attracted Kayden included details about the remaining organizations in the universe and an extensive support network for trade and security they offered, one that would encompass the entire universe. Kayden could sell his items anywhere in the universe without much difficulty.


    Other benefits were also offered, such as resources to elevate his realm, access to temples, and unique planes. Naturally, most of the truly useful planes would disappear from the universe along with the gods, their secrets buried within the timelines.


    "What is the process for advancing ranks? What are the benefits of each rank, Master Ryan?" Kayden began to speak more politely, yet still made sure to ask the right questions.


    "Your voting power within the organization increases considerably, as do your resources and influence, though the obligations grow at the same rate," Ryan spoke for several more minutes about the bonuses and obligations of each rank. It didn¡¯t take long for Kayden to realize it would be a mistake to enter higher ranks¡ªit was too much work for too little reward, at least in his case.


    "I accept the offer to be one of the externals," Kayden¡¯s words surprised most people in that place. His strength and resources should have been enough for him to reach higher positions.


    "Take a soul oath," Ryan began the oath. "I pledge my soul and strength to the purpose of Honor. I swear to seek the pinnacle of the universe under this banner, dedicating my existence to the defense of our ideals and the protection of the members as I would protect a brother or a father. May my every choice be a pillar for Honor and my every step, an advancement for our cause."


    Kayden repeated, his voice firm and unchanging, reflecting the solemnity of that commitment:


    "I, Kayden Heart, pledge my soul and strength to the purpose of Honor. I swear to seek the pinnacle of the universe under this banner, dedicating my existence to the defense of our ideals and the protection of the members as I would protect a brother or a father. May my every choice be a pillar for Honor and my every step, an advancement for our cause."

 Chapter 503: Orn

    Kayden felt the soul contract binding directly to his soul like a sword; at the slightest sign of disagreement with its terms¡­ he would die, his soul torn apart. Fortunately, it was just a soul contract and not an oath sworn by the gods. Likely, it was because swearing by the gods was far superior to this; moreover, only deities could enact such contracts. Practically no mortal in the universe was capable of manipulating souls, an ability reserved mostly for the gods. The ability to manipulate souls was rarer than the ability to manipulate time. Now, with the gods departing, most organizations would avoid making oaths to the heavens to avoid bad luck.


    "Perfect," Ryan said. Athena, who had been masked this whole time, lowered her hood. The other man did as well, while his wife was someone Kayden had expected to see. He did not expect to see Han again in this life. Another person Kayden noticed in the crowd was Atlas, but he did not remove his garment and simply remained in the top ten with no expression. The technique Kayden used to kill his opponent was very simple, at least simple for someone who could observe souls.


    The person there was very old, and his soul was practically destroyed from his prolonged life. Kayden guessed he was the same age as Yan but in a much lower realm; this was a mystery he would never uncover and didn¡¯t care to pursue. He only needed to give a few subtle signals to let his soul enter directly into the river of reincarnation while still alive. Kayden couldn¡¯t do this with just anyone; the conditions had to align perfectly, and it was likely that Athena had arranged all of this to help him enter with a better reputation. What only Athena knew was that this old man was, in truth, a genuine parasite, a mortal capable of crossing entire eras without any improvement in strength or decent confrontations. He simply lived on, one of the extremely rare cases where someone was born with a completely abnormal luck strong enough to alter a few lines of destiny.


    Time continued passing, and the signs of the gods¡¯ existence faded slowly. Many generations arose without even knowing about the gods¡¯ existence. In some smaller worlds, the ninth realm was considered the absolute peak a mage could reach. The organizations kept fragmenting; few could maintain a size close to their glory days, with most experiencing at least a 50% reduction in size. Yet slowly, power stabilized, with the Honor ruling in near absoluteness; barely one million people even knew of their existence, an absurdly low number given the size of the universe.


    Kayden¡¯s world took full advantage of the benefits brought by the Honor, from small actions like receiving resources from unknown sources to offers to work with large organizations. Athena had already arranged with Kayden to make his world one that only supplied high-quality technologies. They weren¡¯t raw material suppliers; his planet was responsible for producing highly refined spaceships and treasures, their main contribution to the universe.


    Kayden did Atlas a favor by removing the soul contract after just exchanging a few words with him. Athena could do this on her own, and his intervention wasn¡¯t needed, but with his disciple, it was better to act than to see him held hostage by the Honor in the not-so-distant future. Atlas was a mage who could kill everyone in this universe at that moment. If no god intervened, he could simply eliminate all life in this universe after a few million years of traveling and launching attacks. The Honor couldn¡¯t restrain him, not even enough to place him only in the tenth position; this was all his choice.


    At the moment, Kayden was traveling with Athena to one of the most coveted planets by all organizations in the universe, the planet of Condor, one of the places with the highest amount of high-level resources in the entire universe. The planet was practically a treasure floating in space, with tens of billions of spaceships around it, all just waiting for the right moment. Inside this planet was a single mage holding together all the guilds of secondary professions, known as alchemists and blacksmiths. There were also rune writers and dozens of other variations. Unfortunately, they were all lambs awaiting slaughter.


    This mage was known as Orn, a divine-level blacksmith but of mortal grade, currently one of the strongest mages in the entire universe. He was at the absolute peak of the nine realms and nine rays and supported by divine-level weapons, the only known mortal capable of wielding such a weapon. The issue was that his life was coming to an end. He was burning his life force to wield divine-level items, which had finally cost him his last breaths. None of the major organizations were there to seize the planet; they had all come for the brilliant minds, the geniuses who could turn small organizations into medium-sized ones.


    Kayden had scheduled a meeting and visit to this planet thousands of years ago, and only now did his turn come. Fortunately, he wasn¡¯t in a hurry and had waited patiently. He knew he would be the one to recruit the greatest number of brilliant minds; manipulating souls had its advantages, and persuasion was one of them. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    At that moment, not a single organization in this world changed its base; while their mortal god lived, none of them would dare offend him in front of his eyes. It was a minimal respect everyone owed their master. Furthermore, the god was preventing these organizations from being forced to unite through contracts or threats, making sure everything flowed correctly as he departed from this universe.


    As soon as Kayden and Athena passed a certain point, they were directly transported to the largest city in the world. Either of them could have resisted, as it was merely a standard automatic portal, but it would make their journey here much easier.

 Chapter 504: Runes wolrd

    The mountains were connected by enormous wooden bridges or other materials, depending on the organization¡¯s choice. These bridges could span thousands of kilometers, and some even reach millions of kilometers. Everything depended on the organization¡¯s influence on that mountain; the number of bridges reaching it was directly proportional to its strength. The mountain of the master of this world received an incredible number of 10 million bridges. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The clouds spread between the mountains, creating a sparse mist that, mixed with the sunlight, gave the buildings an ethereal glow. The long and sturdy bridges stretched like arteries, connecting the vast mountains, while diverse architectural forms, from ancient temples to shining metal towers, rose on every slope. Stairs and walkways wound around the mountains, blending with the irregular terrain, and adapting to the heights with structures ranging from illuminated caves to floating palaces. The most influential mountains had an impressive number of bridges and a constant flow of people, goods, and exotic animals crossing the pathways in an unceasing movement.


    The lower part was a vast, untouched, wild world. Kayden could feel millions of animals with his spiritual sense, and there was a forest that seemed untouched by rational beings. Everything flourished on its own, without external influence. There were abundant resources that would hardly be seen in other parts of the universe.


    It seemed like an agreement among all the rational living beings of this world: it was forbidden to touch the world below the mountains. It was a world clean and untainted by thinking beings, practically a perfect paradise.


    "Mister Kayden," a voice pulled Kayden from his thoughts. As he turned, he saw a middle-aged man, devoid of any hair on his body. His race was evident by his height of around 4 meters and a single red eye.


    "Hello," Kayden greeted him and waited for his next words. The man expected an elegant introduction or an air of arrogance, but Kayden simply said a single word and remained silent.


    "Our world is open for you to go anywhere, as long as you¡¯re in my company. I am your guide to all the organizations of this world. The rules are the same as the ones sent to you earlier. My name is Maco."


    Kayden had received these rules long ago. They were relatively simple, with no exaggerated requests. They only asked him not to carry out massacres or kill without reason, and to respect each culture. The main point was that he could not step on the pure ground below the mountains.


    "I would like to go after the largest rune-crafting organization you have. Use the name of the god Yan to announce my presence if they refuse to meet me," Kayden doubted it would be necessary, as he had already made a name for himself across the universe.


    "Of course, just come with me," the four-meter-tall man started heading toward a specific bridge at high speed. He was in the ninth realm, but Kayden and Athena had no trouble keeping up with him; Kayden simply jumped through space.


    Minutes later, they arrived at one of the largest mountains in the world. It spanned millions of kilometers and had a population of billions of people. Moreover, its organization was completely different from the others. Runes governed every inch of this place, and a massive rune bubble protected the mountain.


    As Kayden and Athena passed through it, something strange happened. The runes seemed to embrace them. They stood still, and some questions began to appear in their vision. They were basic things like name, realm, race, and age, and there was a space left for a title or introduction.


    "You just need to place a bit of mana in your hands, and this introduction will be shown to everyone," Maco explained to the two of them and continued flying. As they floated, the mountain slowly began to change.


    Kayden and Athena saw enormous cities entirely shaped by runes. There were heating and cooling systems to simulate climates. There was even public transportation in the form of high-speed trains. Kayden had to admit that probably no mage below the seventh realm could achieve such speeds. This made the service useful to most mages in this world. The further they went, the more incredible the runes became. Some cities were flying, while others moved across the land.


    The average power level was relatively high, with most mages reaching the fifth realm. Nearly everyone was a rune mage, with only a few specializing in other fields. This made the place peaceful, with most fights occurring in the shadows.


    Among the rune-shaped structures, small floating markets could be seen, connected by aerial platforms that smoothly glided between areas of the mountain. Specialized artisans worked at movable stalls, imbuing objects and artifacts with runes, while more experienced mages guided apprentices through training complexes where giant stones floated in the air, controlled by intricate rune systems. In the distance, streams of energy flowed down the slopes like magical rivers, powering the buildings and illuminating the surroundings with an almost ethereal glow.


    Large arches and passageways between the cities were decorated with symbols that seemed to respond to each person passing by, glowing intensely when they detected higher mana levels. Below, fields and forests adapted to the rune environment stretched across the base of the mountain, where magical creatures roamed, drawn to the constant energy flowing from the mountain.


    The main city made Kayden and Athena feel like country bumpkins in their world. This place represented the absolute peak of runes in one world, with practically every inch made of runes. All transactions were made with runes. There was a payment system attached to every person like an artificial intelligence that performed everything a cell phone did, but the difference was that it was embedded within the people.


    The mana density in this place was one of the highest Kayden had ever seen in his life. Mana seemed to flow into this environment as the sea rushes to the shore. But the most impressive part was that all of this didn¡¯t weigh on the minds of weaker individuals. Runes made the distinction of each power level and regulated the mana around people. Not only that but the temperature around each person was also adjusted to their desires.


    A world apart, where all electricity was replaced by mana. From small actions like using showers to large-scale movements such as transporting large populations through high-speed public transport, this entire rune system was integrated into the main system. The entire city was a single, incredibly complex rune.

 Chapter 505: Recruitment

    NT:I owe two more chapters in the next few days to upload the ones that are missing.


    "Impressive, isn¡¯t it?" an old man with a red beard and white hair appeared beside the two. Kayden hadn¡¯t noticed him until he was just a few meters away. After thinking for a moment, he realized it was the main rune that had brought this person there so quickly.


    "Indeed, I didn¡¯t even know a rune could be this complex," Kayden murmured. This mountain was easily the size of a medium-sized planet in the universe, and yet every inch of it was interconnected by runes, which, in fact, were all part of a single rune.


    "This has been the work of my life. I spent the last billions of years just perfecting this masterpiece of runes." Kayden had to admit that it truly was a masterpiece, one of the most complex things he had ever seen in his entire life.


    "What brings you to my mountain, Mr. Kayden? I¡¯ve already told countless mages that I will not join any organization and will only maintain my services for those who pay." The old man seemed tired of repeating these words, and indeed he had been¡ªthousands of times over the years.


    "I¡¯ve come to make you an offer," Kayden showed no discomfort, even with the old man clearly seeming annoyed.


    "Nothing you offer will make me change my mind. I¡¯ve been offered entire worlds, and I still refused. What do you think you have that would make me change my mind?" Kayden was just buying time while he continued casting subtle influences on the old man¡¯s soul, so slight that he didn¡¯t even notice.


    "I only want to offer a safe haven. Bring your organization to my world, and I will protect it from any threat. You can continue to operate as an independent world." Kayden threw his bait and intensified the bombardment on the old man¡¯s soul.


    "This... no," the old man hesitated a little; others had already offered him this, but Kayden¡¯s soul influence was working a little magic on him.


    "Why?" Kayden sensed there was more than just a casual refusal in this answer. The old man remained silent for a few seconds and chose to keep his refusal, forcing Kayden to keep pressing while bombarding his soul.


    "My masterpiece cannot be taken with me, so I prefer to stay here with it." Kayden didn¡¯t take long to hear these words. He perfectly understood the old man¡¯s reasoning and realized that it would be very hard to sway him at that moment.


    It was a very simple matter¡ªno matter how much he bombarded the old man¡¯s soul with positive intentions about him, the old man was fixated on his work for his entire life. It was an attraction a million times stronger than anything he could impose.


    "It can¡¯t be taken with you?" This mountain was massive, and its runes extended far beyond the mountain itself. Kayden couldn¡¯t think of any way to take all of this, especially considering he¡¯d need a spatial mage with far greater power.


    Asking for help from the gods, like Yan, was completely out of the question; the gods had decisively withdrawn from the universe¡ªthey no longer participated in any battles or took any interest in conflicts.


    "I have a way to improve your masterpiece and even take it to other places," Athena spoke these words as casually as someone would comment on a sunny day. If it were anyone else, the old man would have raised his voice with latent anger.


    The thing was, Athena wasn¡¯t just any mage; her aura was completely overwhelming. Not even against gods had the old man felt such a natural pressure emanating from her. It seemed as though the universe itself stood by her side, supporting her words. She was simply far beyond what any common mage could do. In fact, she was far beyond what any genius mage could achieve. And beyond all that, she had her fame.


    The greatest genius ever born in the universe¡ªthe daughter of Yan. Some legends say that when she was born, the heavens closed in gold across entire constellations, just to celebrate her birth.


    "Forgive my arrogance, Miss Athena, but I have studied runes for billions of years. I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anything you could teach me," the old man replied politely yet with a hint of pride in his words.


    Athena merely laughed and began to speak about this masterpiece. In just a few seconds, she pointed out dozens of points and detailed them to the old man. He might have had billions of years, but she had far more¡ªa literal universe of lifetime behind her.


    Almost 70% of all the foundational elements used here had been studied by Athena. It was funny that she was practically a secondary master of this masterpiece. The old man started listening with disdain, and each minute, his pride fell lower and lower. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    It was exactly like a frog at the bottom of a well; when he finally met someone who knew more than he did, he could hardly believe it. It was extremely rare to find people with his level of knowledge in runes, but above him? He had seen barely three in his entire life.


    "Finally, you need to put this entire rune system into a spatial rune capable of manipulating all the space in these millions of kilometers, making it into a pocket city," Athena gave a few tips and dropped that bombshell at the end.


    "How could I do that? How insane is this?" Athena sometimes forgot that this universe was still practically a newborn; it had only produced the birth of a single ten-ray mage¡ªit still had a long way to go before it even became minimally decent.


    "This is one of the next steps to becoming a divine rune master, even though you are just a mortal. But it¡¯s not something I could do for you," Athena replied and stepped away, leaving only the old man with Kayden.


    The old man fell into deep thought, reflecting on everything Athena had said. The young man simply waited; he hadn¡¯t stopped bombarding the old man¡¯s soul at any point in the conversation. This was the perfect moment to strike.

 Chapter 506: Leave

    "I believe we¡¯ve offered far more than anyone else, haven¡¯t we?" Kayden smiled as he saw the old man struggle to find a response. "Gather a few thousand mages with proficiency in spatial laws and move your city to my world. We will provide all the resources needed for this task. Additionally, Atena will personally guide you in achieving your goals."


    This was Kayden¡¯s trump card. At this stage, he had laid all his cards on the table. The old man likely wouldn¡¯t refuse, but¡­ Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "No, I won¡¯t abandon this world."


    "You¡¯re willing to lose your life¡¯s work and keep fighting for it? Because once your master dies, everyone will descend upon this planet like madmen. They won¡¯t come as allies but as slavers. Your work will most likely be destroyed." Kayden¡¯s words, a mix of veiled threats and calculated truths, planted seeds of fear directly in the old man¡¯s heart.


    "Give me a few days to think it over," the old man finally replied after several moments of intense deliberation. Kayden and Atena nodded and left, heading toward the next master of unique professions.


    Over the following days, Kayden visited dozens of mages, systematically recruiting many of them to his cause. His overwhelming spiritual presence was too much for most to resist. Masters of potions, who had spent millions of years perfecting their craft, were reduced to impressionable apprentices in his presence.


    Kayden gathered experts in diverse fields: arcanists specializing in ancient curses, weavers of mana, manipulators of memory crystals, enchanters of living artifacts, and engineers of battle golems. Each of these individuals was a pioneer in their respective crafts, with knowledge that challenged even the laws of the universe.


    Within a matter of days, Kayden had assembled the foundation he needed to secure his world¡¯s dominance. These individuals didn¡¯t realize they were stepping into one of the most sophisticated traps ever conceived. Once the gods departed from this universe... Kayden planned to modify their very souls. He would gain absolute control over their wills without them ever realizing it.


    Ethics and morality had long been stripped from Kayden¡¯s mind over the millions of years he had lived. His goal was to transform all these talented individuals into instruments of his ambitions¡ªit was only a matter of time. Atena¡¯s contributions have been pivotal in achieving this. Kayden found himself constantly surprised by the depth of her knowledge.


    Whether it was alchemy, runes, or forging Atena¡¯s expertise was vast and unmatched. Nearly every secondary profession in this universe bore traces of her influence from her past.


    "I accept your proposal. I, Ryan Runic, hereby form an unbreakable partnership with the Master of the World," declared the first mage they had visited, finally yielding after days of consideration.


    Time passed, and Kayden¡¯s world transformed into an inexplicable powerhouse. Every individual within was far above the universal average in terms of strength. The number of nine-ray mages was dozens of times higher than any other organization in the universe. Furthermore, the secondary arts practiced within his world were the most advanced across the cosmos.


    The mages Kayden had recruited eventually migrated to his world. Some arrived within the first few days, others took centuries, and a few required millennia, but all arrived over the years that followed. Kayden¡¯s offer was too compelling, and his manipulation of their souls ensured compliance.


    Kayden built an elite force of nine-ray mages, each with nine realms. At this point, his organization ranked among the top ten in terms of refined power. However, in sheer numbers, he didn¡¯t even make the top 1,000, as his world¡¯s limited population couldn¡¯t compete with the nearly infinite legions boasted by other organizations. While others controlled thousands of worlds, Kayden had only one.


    But this limitation was something Kayden had foreseen. From the beginning, he had discussed it with Yan, prioritizing quality over quantity. His strategy was clear: to cultivate an elite force rather than mass armies. Now, Kayden could rival almost any organization in confrontation. Moreover, the secondary arts within his world continued to progress at an extraordinary pace.


    Numerous geniuses emerged¡ªindividuals who had previously lacked the opportunity to showcase their potential. In Kayden¡¯s world, every mage could pursue their aspirations without the burden of survival. Rune knowledge was freely accessible, and the recruitment of local mages by various organizations significantly simplified development.


    Kayden¡¯s world was sealed from the rest of the universe. Only select individuals, specifically chosen, could enter¡ªand only with a special invitation. These invitations were issued solely by the nine-ray mages Kayden had recruited long ago. Eight-ray mages were no longer even counted; their numbers had grown too vast to track.


    If one considered all the eight-ray mages within the top 100 universal organizations, Kayden¡¯s world alone accounted for roughly 20% of them. This level of power was unprecedented, and the growth showed no signs of slowing.


    At this moment, Yan stood before all his children and Kayden. Matheus had found his soulmate¡ªa petite woman under 150 centimeters, with black hair. Though an ordinary mage, she had reached the ninth realm entirely supported by the resources Matheus provided.


    "The time has come, my children," Amanda said, clutching Yan tightly, unable to stop her tears. To some, this might seem like a display of weakness, but even Yan¡¯s eyes glistened with unshed tears. "In a few hours, we will leave. This is goodbye."


    Each child reacted differently to this moment. Only Kayden and Atlas remained unaffected, their expressions stoic. Both had altered their souls to such an extent that even moments like this failed to stir their emotions.


    "After much thought over these millions of years, I have decided to leave a part of my inheritance to each of you." At that moment, Kayden was surprised. When Yan was talking about inheritance, he was referring to the treasures he had conquered that were of divine level or almost at that level. They were not just riches that would be easily found, they were items that would help him on his new journey. "Mathew, I will leave you my legacy. You grew from an arrogant brat to a true leader. You cared about your brothers first rather than your title. I hope you will honor my memory."

 Chapter 507: Leave[2]

    Yan dropped the biggest bombshell of all right at the start, without any hesitation. His legacy consisted of all his techniques and abilities; Matheus would receive everything that a man who had lived through two universes was capable of comprehending.


    "Thank you, Father. I won¡¯t disappoint you." Yan gave a sad smile; this was one of the hardest goodbyes he had ever faced in his life.


    "Jasmine, you were able to reject a perfect path in favor of one you chose for yourself. This is one of the greatest proofs of courage I¡¯ve ever witnessed in my life. I will leave you the Crown of Illusions."


    The Crown of Illusions was a legendary item once thought lost. It was an immensely powerful defensive artifact, capable of shielding even a mere mortal from the mental attacks of a god. It was utterly beyond reason, bordering on the impossible.


    Jasmine couldn¡¯t even manage to thank him as she wept. This was an incredibly difficult moment for her and all the other children. It wasn¡¯t natural to say goodbye to parents while they were still alive.


    "Lucas and Luis," Yan turned to the other two sons. "You have dedicated all the years of your lives to creating a technique never seen before. You are the weakest mages of your generation, yet you have persisted regardless."


    These two were the Mages of Light and Darkness, identical twins on opposite paths. They had grown from being merely resource-driven to the point of sacrificing millions of years of their lives to achieve a level above everyone else. Even Kayden had to admit he was entirely wrong in his judgment of these two. They had risen from mediocrity to become geniuses with incredible success.


    "I will leave you the possession of the Star of Laws." This was an insane gift. The star was actually an enormous rune that controlled opposing laws, such as fire and water, light and darkness. Combining such laws was nearly impossible, yet this rune made it happen. This gift was on the same level as Jasmine¡¯s. S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Thank you, Father," the two said, their gratitude exceeding what words could express. It was far beyond what they had hoped for.


    "Athena, I don¡¯t know what to offer you. You are far beyond anything I possess. Therefore, I will give you the one thing you might never have been able to achieve on your own¡ªI will grant you the memories of when I manipulated space-time on a global scale." Yan threw a purple crystal radiating an utterly insane aura toward Athena.


    This was indeed a gift she could never have acquired herself. It represented something she had long struggled to achieve, even at her divine level. It wasn¡¯t simple; it was one of the greatest feats ever accomplished by a god in the history of magic. The woman merely thanked him and stored the crystal for later.


    "Helena, I will leave you control over the Elite Mages¡¯ Plane. You will have the same influence and control over the main rune as I did." The Elite Mages¡¯ Plane was the very place where Kayden had battled other mages millions of years ago.


    It was a tremendous gift, equal to the others, as this plane had only three owners. It produced most of the resources and high-level mages across the universe. Helena had already reached her limit as a mage, unable to advance further. Thus, she had retired and was simply living a comfortable life.


    "And finally, to Kayden¡ªyou have helped me greatly, in every sense. You helped elevate my wife to a divine being and raised my children¡¯s levels to utterly insane heights. I will leave you one of this universe¡¯s mana gems." Kayden was surprised to receive something as well, though he didn¡¯t fully understand what this mana gem was.


    Yan threw a rounded, jagged stone. It was completely blue and seemed to possess a truly insane density. Kayden almost dropped it when he caught it in his hands. It easily weighed several billion kilograms. The mana within this gem surpassed all the billions of kilometers surrounding Kayden, leaving him completely unable to respond.


    This gift was on the same level as Matheus¡¯s. None of the others fully grasped what Kayden had received¡ªexcept Athena, who recognized it and understood just how insane this gift was. The truth was that Yan¡¯s gratitude for being able to take his wife with him exceeded even his love for his children. It was madness, but that was the level of a soulmate.


    "Thank you, God Yan," Kayden said, bowing respectfully.


    "Atlas, I will leave you knowledge that will make you want to keep growing¡ªone of the universe¡¯s greatest secrets. It will reach you in a few days." Yan had decided to tell Atlas about Thoth and others¡ªthe truth known to only a select few across the universe.


    "Thank you, Father."


    After this session of gifts, they began eating and chatting casually. It was the family¡¯s last moment together. After a few hours, Yan and Amanda said goodbye simultaneously and disappeared.


    No one spoke for the next few minutes. It was all so sudden. None of them were ready for something like this. There was no real farewell, just a simple goodbye, and suddenly they were in a universe without gods¡ªonly mortals fighting for supremacy without any divine oversight.


    "The end of an era and the beginning of another," Matheus murmured.


    "What exactly is this mana gem?" Kayden and Athena had returned to their planet through several spatial portals. Without Yan to send them directly, the journey had taken a few hours.


    "It¡¯s a law of mana condensed into an intensely minuscule space by nature. After billions of years, the law condenses into physical form and becomes a mana reactor capable of generating unlimited mana. The only problem is that this mana is toxic to mages, ultimately killing them after a few millennia."


    Obviously, it would be toxic mana, as it came directly from a law. No mortal was meant to manipulate laws directly, especially laws they had no understanding of.

 Chapter 508: The end

    "Is there any way to use it without the toxic effects?" Kayden tried to manipulate the mana slightly, but within seconds, he felt the source of its toxicity¡ªit directly affected his soul, contaminating small fragments of it with mana.


    This contamination was like a residue of ink. The soul remained mostly the same, but small portions of it became intoxicated. A tiny fragment could recover after a few years, but survival became increasingly difficult as more fragments were affected.


    Kayden ran several tests and found no way to cleanse his soul. He couldn¡¯t even make it recognize the contamination¡ªit was as if the ink didn¡¯t exist for his soul. This rendered him unable to cleanse it since it¡¯s impossible to clean something that isn¡¯t perceived as dirty.


    "Only if you fully understand the law of mana. But by then, you¡¯ll be at a divine level, and this mana won¡¯t matter to you anymore." Kayden grew more curious. Nothing was truly impossible; he just hadn¡¯t discovered how to use it yet.


    The following days were some of the worst in Kayden¡¯s life. He spent every single moment with Athena, savoring every second they had together. It was an incredibly painful time. The universe was calm before the storm; relationships would soon dissolve, and wars would break out across every corner. Without the invisible pressure of the gods, mortals felt free to do as they pleased.


    Kayden ignored everything for three weeks. For 21 days, he lived with Athena as if no other soul existed in the entire universe. He didn¡¯t even step out to meet the artisans who had come to his planet, leaving everything in Atlas¡¯s hands and isolating himself from the world.


    "I¡¯ve known what you¡¯re planning for a long time. I¡¯ve watched as you fought against it, but in the end, your mind prevailed over your soul, didn¡¯t it?" On the day Kayden had marked as the end, Athena spoke these words.


    She caught him completely off guard. They knew each other better than anyone else, every minuscule detail about one another. But Kayden believed he had hidden his intentions well. He simply looked into Athena¡¯s eyes¡ªone reflecting a colossal pain of acceptance, and the other a torment of doubt.


    "I told you from the beginning what my goals were," Kayden replied, feeling the situation grow increasingly difficult.


    "And what now? Are you going to fight me?" Athena smiled at him, seeing the person she loved most break her heart once again.


    "You can¡¯t bring yourself to attack me." The woman lowered her head and began sobbing quietly. This was the unvarnished truth¡ªattacking one¡¯s soulmate was impossible. She would rather have her soul shattered than do that.


    Most would call it a foolish decision, but it was nearly impossible to harm a soulmate. One¡¯s soul would rebel against such an act. Only someone utterly insane could do something remotely like this. Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Hug me?" Athena looked at Kayden and made her final request. It was the saddest sentence Kayden had ever heard in his entire life. For the first time in billions of years, he began crying alongside her.


    "Are you not angry?" Kayden couldn¡¯t understand how Athena remained so calm.


    "You¡¯ll be condemned to spend the rest of your existence feeling alone. Even in death and rebirth, you¡¯ll feel incomplete. There¡¯s no punishment worse than that." Athena smiled at him.


    This was undeniably true. Those who had experienced the love of a soulmate would never feel complete again if it was lost. This would be a burden Kayden would carry to the end of time.


    "I understand. Thank you for these years; they were truly the best of my life." Kayden smiled at his wife, listening as she thanked him in return. They spent a few more moments reminiscing about the past.


    At a seemingly random moment, Kayden began infiltrating Athena¡¯s soul without her noticing. She had already shut off all her senses and was merely awaiting the inevitable. Kayden ensured that her final moments were the best of her life. Even though it would haunt him for the rest of his existence, these moments would replay in his memory for an unimaginably long time¡ªlikely until his last breath.


    Kayden thought long and hard about what could elevate him to become a true ten-ray mage, something that would make him utterly unique, capable of challenging the ten rays. It took him an enormous amount of time to develop this plan and even longer to summon the courage to carry it out.


    In all the universe¡¯s history, it was likely that no one had ever been capable of killing their soulmate. The mere thought was insane¡ªso much so that Kayden was sure no one would ever suspect him of it. Even if they did, they would never believe it. It was simply unthinkable for one soulmate to kill another.


    Kayden didn¡¯t say goodbye to Athena; he couldn¡¯t bring himself to. He simply shattered her soul the moment he gained access to it. The eyes of the person he loved most in the universe grew lifeless, her body going limp and void of any signs of life. It was done¡ªhe had killed his soulmate.


    Without hesitation, Kayden began pulling Athena¡¯s soul toward his own. He slowly stripped it of all its memories and fractures, purifying it into a clean soul. The process took years. Fortunately, Kayden had already informed everyone that the two would be absent, so no one disturbed them during this time.


    Kayden cried every second of the process. His mind was a chaotic mess, his soul aching at an unimaginable level. None of the pain he had ever endured came close to even 1% of what he was feeling now. If someone had asked Kayden whether he would rather endure this or live with all the pain of his entire life combined, he would have chosen the latter without hesitation.


    After Athena¡¯s soul was cleansed of memories, Kayden began to remove her abilities and everything that made her unique, the process again took a long time and he cried every second with one of the most difficult actions of his entire life.

 Chapter 509: The end[2]

    While the universe fell into chaos outside, Kayden continued slowly carrying out the greatest feat of his life. His world remained at the absolute top, as with Atlas on his back, no one dared even think of attacking him. This allowed him to develop freely in an era of total chaos.


    The Honor continued ruling the shadowed universe, but they were merely mortals. It was incredibly difficult to control the entire universe without a god among them, as the vastness of the universe was simply too immense.


    After decades of refined work, Kayden finally reached the perfect point of Athena¡¯s soul. At this moment, he began to move his soul, and the pain this time was insane, but it wasn¡¯t even 1% of the pain from killing Athena. This made him not even tremble while performing the procedure, as opening his soul was much faster and took only a few years.


    At this point, Kayden was ready to do what would make him unique among all the mages who ever lived: he was going to merge Athena¡¯s soul with his own. He would become the only complete soul in the entire universe¡ªsomeone without a soulmate, someone who had their soul in its entirety.


    The process was ridiculously smooth. Kayden felt the two souls accepting and merging in seconds. It was as if he was born to do this. It was literally like two halves coming together after being separated. Mixing two cups of water into one, you still have just one cup of water with no signs of separation, and that was what was happening.


    With each passing second, Kayden felt his strength growing at an insane rate. He felt more and more complete. His soul was literally tripling in size. The right thing would have been for it to double, but this was far beyond a mere doubling of strength. It quickly tripled, then quadrupled, and it didn¡¯t seem like it would stop anytime soon.


    Being a complete soul was an experience that defied any description. Kayden felt his existence in layers he never knew were there, as if every cell, every thought, and every emotion were part of a silent, perfect symphony. There was no emptiness, no missing parts¡ªonly an overwhelming fullness that engulfed his mind and soul. Each heartbeat seemed to pulse in unison with the universe, a perfect balance between what he was and what existed around him. At that moment, he was no longer divided; he was whole, complete as if he had always been meant to be this way.


    The force that rose within Kayden was like an endlessly growing tide, a continuous flow filling every corner of his existence. It was an energy that didn¡¯t just come from power but from the absolute harmony between two halves that had become one. He felt his soul expanding in soft, yet irresistible waves, like a river overflowing, nourishing everything around him. Each moment seemed to amplify his essence, as if the universe itself were pouring its strength into him, without resistance, without limits. It was overwhelming, not like something external, but as a force that had always been there, finally unleashed.


    The pain of killing Athena slowly faded. The emptiness he should have felt didn¡¯t exist. Kayden was the most complete being that ever existed. Every inch of his being was complete and in perfect rhythm with the universe itself. His achievement did not go unnoticed. The very universe resonated around him, proclaiming his existence. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The first perfect being, the first complete man in all existence. His strength grew in seconds, reaching ten times what it had been before. His soul was raised to the absolute limit of its existence. There were no more imperfections. There was no single detail that could be improved.


    All the negative points in one soul were the positive points in its soulmate, and this became clear to Kayden when he saw his soul becoming perfect. Details he had never even considered were fixed. Small and medium imperfections were perfected. His mind was practically reborn at that moment.


    Kayden¡¯s spiritual sense broke every humanly possible barrier. At that moment, he saw his senses growing at an insane speed. In a few seconds, it increased by thousands of kilometers. In a few minutes, it grew by millions¡­


    Kayden broke every metric present in the universe at that moment. His sixth sense grew to over ten million kilometers. He became omnipresent in a few seconds. Not even a seventh-realm mage could have a spiritual sense so vast. It was completely insane.


    He had no difficulty transforming this entire range into pure mana. At this moment, he could simply erase a small-sized planet from existence, and probably even medium-sized planets would be completely obliterated with a few movements of Kayden. He had practically become a world destroyer.


    His control over mana and his soul took unimaginable leaps. Controlling mana at this point became simply an extension of his soul. It was practically the same as what Atlas had done, but the difference was that Kayden didn¡¯t have to exert any effort for it. It just existed there, without distinction. His soul was mana, and mana was his soul.


    For ten million kilometers, Kayden was the lord of all things. His path allowed him this. His mastery over the law of space made everything even more insane. At that moment, he could make the distance from Earth to the Sun in just a few seconds. Kayden had surpassed one of the most insane things in the universe. He was beyond the speed of light. The fact that he could teleport freely with his sixth sense made him faster than light at that moment.


    Kayden doubted that any mage in the ninth realm could even chase his shadow at that moment. He was intensely fast in his teleports, and the distance was simply colossal. He had become a true monster.


    Across the entire universe, there was probably only one person capable of rivaling his strength at that moment¡ªAtlas, and no one else. Any other mage would be destroyed by his raw power and with no more gods left in the universe¡­


    He had reached the top, the true top. There were no more enemies to overcome. He had reached the absolute pinnacle of the universe at that moment. Kayden could simply rule for the rest of time without any difficulty. He would only need to prevent the birth of gods, and he would become the ruler of the universe without resistance.

 Chapter 510: Seventh realm

    At least in an ideal scenario, but that wasn¡¯t going to happen. Atlas would probably pursue his sister¡¯s killer to the end of time. It would take him a while to identify Kayden, but it would likely happen eventually. He just needed to consult the right people.


    A time mage would probably be able to study the entire event and understand that Kayden killed his soulmate. Even with all the modifications to Atlas¡¯s soul, this would not stop him from chasing after Kayden. The boy had instilled ridiculously strong principles into Atlas¡¯s mind¡ªhonoring his family came before all other obligations.


    "No, no, no, no," Jasmine was beside Athena¡¯s body, unable to do anything. Kayden had simply informed Atlas and then sat down, staring at Athena¡¯s corpse. He answered no questions; he just kept looking at his beloved¡¯s body.


    No one dared to shake Kayden out of his state. His eyes¡­ seemed to reflect the sorrow of an entire universe. There was no emotion in them. The aura spanning ten million kilometers around Kayden¡¯s palace was insanely heavy. Even breathing was difficult¡ªit was completely oppressive, as though the universe itself was suppressing everyone. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Thousands began to die without any resistance; their minds simply collapsed. This triggered a massive exodus. Billions of people fled the center of the Class-S world. No one understood what was happening, but no one wanted to die.


    As much as Kayden believed that having a complete soul would solve his emotional turmoil¡­ it didn¡¯t. He still felt Athena¡¯s absence as though it were a physical part of his body. It was a pain that clenched his heart with every breath. Thankfully, it was much less intense than before, allowing Kayden to ignore it most of the time. But in this moment, he would grieve the loss of his wife as she deserved.


    "I want her buried in the Land of the Gods," Kayden murmured these words, and everyone looked at him the way one looks at a madman. The Cemetery of the Gods was a place reserved solely for deities and a few rare souls capable of attaining that recognition.


    The gods had departed many years ago, but some places continued to function independently, sustained by what they left behind¡ªseveral highly skilled caretakers who would maintain their foundations until the end of time.


    The Cemetery of the Gods was probably guarded by dozens of Ninth-Realm mages with eight rays and maybe one or two with nine rays. But that wasn¡¯t the main issue¡ªit was that the place was practically sacred. Approval from the Honor organization would be required before anything could be done.


    "I will summon the Honor. The meeting should happen in a week." Without the gods to shortcut paths, it took an enormous amount of time for people to travel from dozens of places to convene.


    Fortunately, spatial portals still existed, so it would probably take only two days to travel from the most distant points in the universe to Honor¡¯s headquarters¡ªassuming portals were available. Otherwise, it could take billions of years to traverse some distances.


    "Leave me alone, please, and take Athena¡¯s body. Also, start an investigation into how she died. Consult everything you can. I¡¯ll pay any price," Kayden lied masterfully, without anyone noticing.


    "I¡¯ll be back soon," Atlas muttered a few words during this meeting. He, too, would do everything possible and impossible to discover who killed his sister. A few minutes later, Kayden was alone again in his palace.


    It was finally time to elevate his realm¡ªnot only that but also to face the ten rays. He had prepared for this for an insanely long time, one of the mages who had spent the most time in the lower realms in existence. Kayden had lived for billions of years, yet he still didn¡¯t believe he had achieved perfection until this moment.


    The universe had been pressuring him to advance for a long time, but Kayden had been holding back¡ªat least until now, the moment when he could turn his soul into an incomplete law. This was the project he had spent billions of years refining.


    Kayden would merge his path and soul into an incomplete law that didn¡¯t yet exist. He would create his law. Learning the incomplete law of space had caused his understanding of laws to advance immensely. It was only because of this that he could take this step now; otherwise, he would have had to go through the entire process of understanding what a law was.


    In Kayden¡¯s understanding, a law was something that didn¡¯t exist. It was impossible to explain a law to someone because a law encompassed all the fundamental knowledge of a certain category. A complete law was all the intermediate knowledge of that category¡ªor at least that¡¯s what Kayden had learned. Laws were just superior understandings of knowledge.


    He understood his path and soul to an insane level at this point. He still couldn¡¯t place them on par with a complete law, but forming an incomplete law was ridiculously easy. Kayden began the procedure on his soul, altering its basic form. It took only a few minutes for insane pain to set in, but he ignored it. After Athena, no pain was truly strong¡ªthey were just passing sensations.


    His soul was transformed. Kayden would never reincarnate, and he had known this for a long time. His soul had already been altered too much; it was far beyond purified. His soul was completely unique. The universe would not allow him to reincarnate¡ªit would simply erase him from existence.


    In just a few minutes, Kayden intertwined his soul with his path and the universe. He also incorporated the law of space into it all, but it was logically subordinate to his path. As soon as he finished, the heavens darkened with a golden hue. As much as the universe had waited all this time, there was no more delay. Kayden had to advance, and he knew it.


    Author¡¯s note: I will be releasing chapters in the next few hours to make up for the one from last week that is missing.

 Chapter 511: Ten rains

    He had reached a level of strength that no longer aligned with the realm of mortals and was fully aware of it. At that moment, the universe itself was compelling him to ascend to a higher realm; the pressure was far greater than before.


    The first bolts didn¡¯t even tickle Kayden. He merely commanded the universe to block them, and they were neutralized¡ªthere wasn¡¯t even a meter¡¯s expansion from the point of impact. The first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth bolts¡ªall of which had once been excruciatingly difficult for Kayden¡ªwere utterly destroyed.


    He didn¡¯t even need to lift a finger. He commanded, and the universe responded, erasing the existence of those bolts. These were once Kayden¡¯s greatest challenges, bolts that had brought him to the brink of death. Now, they couldn¡¯t even make him glance at the attacks.


    The ninth bolt was different. It came with a power far beyond all the others combined. It was easier for a one-bolt mage to face an eighth bolt than for an eight-bolt mage to contend with the ninth. All around Kayden and the descending bolt, space began to fracture.


    The ninth bolt descended from the heavens like a herald of absolute power, tearing through the golden clouds with an intensity never witnessed before. The air distorted as if every particle reverberated with raw energy. The light emitted was nearly blinding, bathing the world in a glow that oscillated between gold and white like a celestial forge ignited. The accompanying sound was a deafening roar, shaking the very foundations of space itself. For a moment, it seemed the universe paused¡ªonly to resume its flow, with the surrounding space utterly shattered.


    Kayden, however, remained unshaken. Fixing his gaze on the storm, he channeled the laws of space embedded in his soul. Instead of resisting directly, Kayden began deflecting fragments of the bolt, bending space around it and redirecting its destructive energy into parallel dimensions, thereby reducing its impact on himself. His mastery of space was so advanced that he fragmented the bolt into millions of pieces, effectively disassembling it.


    Some fragments fell into the void, while others landed in normal reality. Each piece of the bolt triggered explosions that tore through space for thousands of kilometers, while some barely managed to destroy a meter around them. Many fragments collided with one another, neutralizing themselves. Kayden¡¯s ability to manipulate space was flawless. No mage had ever managed such a feat, as none had attained Kayden¡¯s level of spatial control.


    There were countless mages with an infinitely superior understanding of space and far more advanced spells or tools related to its laws. However, none of them possessed what only Kayden had developed¡ªa soul fused with the universe and the laws of space. This fusion granted him control over space that no mortal had ever achieved in the entirety of history. And now, with his soul fully complete...


    The ninth bolt continued its assault, destroying everything around Kayden, but it couldn¡¯t come within a thousand kilometers of him. It was utterly mind-boggling¡ªhis control had reached the threshold of a demigod. Kayden had surpassed mortals but hadn¡¯t yet ascended to divinity. He was a complete enigma.


    The damage to the world was insignificant compared to its scale. Kayden had literally suppressed the ninth bolt entirely. The space was fractured only in a few regions, not across thousands of kilometers. It was a feat beyond anything ever witnessed.


    "He shouldn¡¯t be allowed to remain in this universe," the gods muttered as they observed Kayden¡¯s ascension. Though they had been expelled from this universe, they were permitted to witness its unfolding events.


    This privilege had only recently been granted. Most gods ignored it, seizing opportunities in the new universe instead. However, some began checking on their descendants and organizations, eager to return once allowed. When the next wave of gods emerged and stabilized, everything would change again.


    Logically, no one knew how long this would take, and mortals had no idea of such developments. This information was presented to the gods by an ancient being who welcomed them into the new universe. No god was foolish enough to question this entity capable of manipulating even the gods themselves.


    "Since when could a mortal become this powerful?" Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "The creator of monsters turned out to be the greatest monster himself," the gods remarked as they watched the events unfold. The only one unsurprised was Yan, who knew Kayden had been hiding far more than he let on.


    Amanda and Yan scanned all their offspring in mere seconds, furious at the state of Amanda¡¯s body. Neither could comprehend what had occurred. Amanda was likely the second strongest being after Yan in the entire universe¡ªor so they had believed. Now, it was evident that hidden monsters lurked in the shadows. For a moment, they even suspected a god had been left behind.


    At no point did the two gods suspect Kayden. The idea of a soulmate killing their other half was sheer madness. Unfortunately, they could only observe this other universe. They weren¡¯t allowed to alter their laws or act to uncover the truth.


    "I wish to face the tenth bolt," Kayden declared, teleporting to the void immediately after speaking. The golden skies followed him but, in the blink of an eye, transformed into a transparent golden hue. Nine thrones then appeared in the heavens.


    Each throne bore the heaviest weapons Kayden had ever sensed in his life. Even though it was his second encounter with them, their sheer intensity remained overwhelming. Even the gods felt the pressure from their distant universe¡ªa force so great it made them want to kneel. It was far beyond their level.


    A god at the absolute peak of this universe seemed like a child before a true god, unable to withstand the overwhelming presence emanating from that place. No matter what he tried to do, he could not even look directly at the chairs. Each throne was unique, radiating an aura of power and strength never before witnessed. Those thrones were more than simple seats; they were symbols of transcendent authority.

 Chapter 512: Ten rains

    A god at the absolute peak of this universe seemed like a child before a true god, unable to bear the overwhelming presence emanating from that place. No matter what he tried to do, he couldn¡¯t even look directly at the chairs. Each throne was unique, radiating an aura of power and strength never before witnessed. Those thrones were more than mere seats; they were symbols of transcendent authority.


    In one of the chairs, an immaterial, translucent, and golden figure appeared, completely devoid of discernible features. No gender, no race, not even a perceptible aura could be identified. It was as if the being present was an existence impossible to comprehend by any logic. Paradoxically, the chair in which it rested exuded a presence greater than its own, something beyond the understanding of most present.


    Some gods and Kayden understood what this meant; that being was superior to its throne, but the throne could still be felt in this universe, as it was still at the level of the universe, while that being¡­ was far beyond the level of this universe. Its strength couldn¡¯t even be felt by others; merely the aura of its manifestation in this universe was already superior to everything these gods had experienced throughout their lives. S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The mere raising of the finger of that being tore space apart. Its body was stronger than the very fabric that held space together. It lifted it above its head, and a lightning bolt shot out from it¡ªlightning with no color and no form. All that could be felt was that it was lightning. It was a law in its living, pulsating form. No one knew, nor had any idea of what exactly that lightning was, not even a single god observing it could understand.


    The lightning headed towards Kayden. The boy looked up and smiled. He had trained his entire life for this moment. By feeling himself challenging something that was beyond the universe itself, he understood that all of his sacrifices had been worth it. Every second he spent training was worthwhile in that very moment, a mortal against a true god. That old adrenaline of facing the impossible flooded Kayden¡¯s body. It had been billions of years since he last felt this.


    "Existence is my domain," Kayden declared, then demonstrated everything he had prepared for billions of years. All the mana, all of reality, all space, all matter for ten million kilometers ceased to be natural.


    Mana was no longer mana. Space was no longer space. Trees were no longer trees. Water was no longer water. Reality itself was no longer reality. Everything stopped making sense, everything became a complete domain of Kayden. There was no longer any distinction between Kayden and the ten million around him. Everything was him, and at the same time, nothing was him¡ªtrue absolute control.


    The tenth lightning was completely surreal, infinitely superior to anything most gods had ever witnessed in their entire lives. It began to destroy all of space-time in seconds. Kayden felt one of the craziest sensations of his life. He was facing the lightning in just one facet of space-time but knew he was facing it in a practically infinite number of alternatives.


    Without any fear, in all the alternatives, Kayden did the same thing. He converted everything to his domain and formulated a lightning bolt. This lightning was no longer part of the basic elements. It was simply an incomplete, perfect law, as it was the mixture of all reality within Kayden¡¯s reach in a single movement.


    After this, Kayden converted all the void into lightning. It was completely insane again. It was no longer lightning, but an extension of himself, an extension of a law that came from him. Kayden had practically incorporated himself into a law. It still didn¡¯t have a name.


    After that, he converted all the space between reality and the void into a lightning bolt of ten million kilometers. Again, another insane lightning appeared. Kayden now had three lightning bolts within his reach, each holding a power he never could have even dreamed of. In one of the most insane demonstrations of control over his abilities, Kayden merged the three lightning bolts into one. Kayden¡¯s new lightning was completely insane. Just as the tenth lightning could disrupt the timeline, Kayden was now doing the same.


    The difference was that Kayden was not the heavens and could not maintain changes to the timeline in the same way. He simply couldn¡¯t hold the time from passing, and it would soon return to normal. It was much like space, which always reconstructed itself. The difference was that any common mage could modify space to some degree.


    In all the timelines, Kayden rose against the tenth lightning. It was the same movement in everyone. The same action in all of them. A perfect soul that, no matter how many times it was divided, would perform the same action. It would always be the same in different timelines. In a million events, he would do the same in all of them. It was something beautiful to behold.


    The tenth lightning fell with a force that did not match the level of mortals. It was simply too insane. Kayden had never seen anything so powerful before, not even Atlas¡¯ at the time seemed so strong, probably because it was not Kayden who was facing the lightning directly.


    The tenth lightning was not just a manifestation of absolute power, but a total rupture in the foundations of the universe. Wherever it touched, space fragmented into prisms of pure energy, creating cracks that expanded like endless webs, each carrying echoes of alternate realities. Time, fluid and fragile, shattered into fragments that revealed glimpses of the past, present, and future, before reconstituting itself in a chaotic and relentless dance. Even the heavens, witnesses to countless ages and battles, seemed to hesitate before the magnitude of the impact. Each pulse of the lightning carried a pressure so overwhelming it threatened to disintegrate the barriers between dimensions, while waves of pure energy resonated, leaving invisible marks on the fabric of space-time. The tenth lightning was more than a test; it was a cosmic event, proof that the fundamental forces could be challenged, shaped, and surpassed by those who rose beyond their mortality.

 Chapter 513: Win

    Those capable of passing this test were unique mages who rose above all others. They would etch their names in the annals of history without any shadow of a doubt. Each mage with ten rays was strong enough to change the entire universe on their own.


    Kayden¡¯s ray ascended against the tenth ray in an insane display of power. These were two attacks that shouldn¡¯t have been possible for mortals to unleash in their lifetimes. Time seemed to stop as Kayden¡¯s attack faced the ray in the same way across all timelines; in each one, Kayden did the same thing.


    The true meaning of perfection had been reached by the boy. He performed the same action in every second, as if the time being shattered meant absolutely nothing. Even when the rays in different points had different characteristics, Kayden did not alter his approach.


    Atlas had been a mage who, for each specialty he faced, changed his form of attack and defense. In some, he excelled; in others, he faltered. But Kayden maintained total confidence in himself. Across all points in the timeline, he remained the same person with the same actions.


    The two rays collided in all timelines. In some, Kayden was directly crushed by laws he could not even dream of comprehending; he simply died without ever understanding what had happened. In others, he won without even being injured. But these were absolute minorities in the grand scheme of things.


    For the most part, it was an insane battle between the two attacks, culminating in the destruction of space across hundreds of millions of kilometers. It was mass destruction that even a ninth-realm mage couldn¡¯t achieve. Even mages with nine rays couldn¡¯t destroy hundreds of millions of kilometers with such ease.


    "Is this even possible?" the gods wondered, witnessing Kayden¡¯s strength in action. This shouldn¡¯t have been possible for mortals. It wasn¡¯t a level they had seen in all their lifetimes, and they had lived for billions of years.


    Kayden¡¯s body began to be destroyed by the pressure of the attacks in most timelines. He was simply being undone, yet he smiled as he watched the attack. He didn¡¯t care in the slightest; his body was merely a cocoon. His soul had been Kayden¡¯s true form for a long time.


    Kayden had entered the void to avoid damaging his planet. But even that wasn¡¯t enough to save his world from suffering some collateral damage to its crust. For one, its orbit was being altered and shifted, even as the battle raged in the void. The remnants were strong enough to kill ninth-realm mages as if they were children.


    Slowly, second by second, more and more versions of Kayden emerged victorious over the tenth ray. Most lost their bodies entirely, with significant parts of their souls utterly destroyed, leaving Kayden in an almost comatose state. Yet, he remained alive.


    Destroying Kayden¡¯s body no longer had any effect on him; only his soul mattered. Even killing his soul was terribly difficult, as Kayden¡¯s soul was directly connected to the universe and possessed an extremely accelerated recovery rate. In mere seconds, he was recovering. But for the most part, the damage exceeded a quick recovery, requiring millions of years for him to heal fully. S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The lifestyle and principles Kayden had developed throughout his existence were evident in this moment. He trusted himself so completely that he used the same attack against anything he faced. Slowly, he began to prevail across all points in time. Kayden was solidifying his legacy.


    The tenth ray was insane, but Kayden had reached an insane level as well. He triumphed, prevailing in most timelines, far more points than Atlas. Kayden trusted himself in all of them. It took only a few minutes for all the timelines to conclude. This was insanely fast, especially because he did the same thing in all of them.


    In most timelines, Kayden¡¯s mind was comatose. But magically, he recovered. He didn¡¯t even blink before absorbing all the memories from all the timelines directly into his mind. At that moment, he gained one of the greatest benefits of the ten-ray test. His knowledge advanced by millennia in just a millisecond. The number of different battles he faced was completely insane, and the clues allowed him to absorb everything without any harm. This new knowledge was simply placed directly into his mind.


    In the blink of an eye, Kayden found himself floating in a completely different space. He was in an enormous starry universe. Before him stretched a golden mana path lined with statues on both sides. Each statue bore the figure of an insanely powerful individual exuding a completely unique aura. The moment Kayden laid eyes on a statue, he received some information.


    "George Thoth, the first mage of divine water, the first ten-ray mage across all universes¡­" It went on to describe more of his story. Kayden was impressed by the last name of this figure and¡­


    "Luis Thoth"


    "Maria Thoth"


    "Yone Thoth"


    There were many people with this surname. The more Kayden walked, the more such names appeared. They were still a minority but were present in great numbers. Kayden had no idea there were so many ten-ray mages. The path was so extensive it took him days to traverse it¡ªor so he thought. He had no idea how long he had been inside.


    The number of ten-ray mages confirmed two of Kayden¡¯s theories. The first was that there was much more than just one universe. There had to be thousands there must have been an infinite number beyond Kayden¡¯s ability to quantify. There were no other explanations for such a large number of ten-ray mages.


    A tremendous number of possible scenarios were required to create beings at this level for the birth of monsters of this magnitude to occur. A ten-ray mage was nothing less than an almost non-existent chance of happening. Kayden understood this after analyzing Atlas¡¯s birth and his own as a ten-ray mages.


    Author¡¯s note: I owe a chapter, I¡¯ll pay it this week

 Chapter 514: Three questions

    It was impossible to create a ten-ray monster. What Kayden did with Atlas was merely to give him the necessary opportunities for it. Logically, Atlas would never have reached this level on his own. Still, with everything Kayden taught him and all the resources he received from Yan, his chances increased significantly, making it all possible.


    Finally, Kayden reached the end of the path. The last two statues¡­ were his and Atlas¡¯s, side by side. The statue was identical to Kayden¡¯s; he couldn¡¯t spot even the smallest error. Moreover, its story was similar to his.


    "A mage who rose from absolutely nothing and achieved the tenth ray, the first perfect soul of the universe, and the first monarch of himself." Kayden appreciated his description. He spent a few minutes observing his statue before moving forward.


    As soon as he took a step forward, he found himself outside the starry space, in a completely different place. Kayden was in an enormous green plain with perfect grass and some apple orchards. Additionally, there was a small stream cutting across the space.


    This place was eerily strange, as it was too perfect. Kayden couldn¡¯t identify any visible flaws in the laws of this place. The way he assessed this was somewhat peculiar, but the harder it was for his path to convert the space into mana, the more perfect it was. It was an almost flawless metric he had been using for a long time, and this place, according to his path, was nearly impossible.


    "This is paradise in the eyes of some mortals. To me, it¡¯s just an illusion," a voice broke Kayden out of his thoughts. He couldn¡¯t locate its owner with his sixth sense¡ªit was practically impossible.


    Using his eyes wasn¡¯t too difficult. In just a few seconds, Kayden found a being sitting on a chair near one of the apple trees. The shadow fell on his table, creating a comfortable and perfect environment. The question was: who was this person? Kayden would recognize him in any timeline without difficulty.


    "Hello, Lord God," Kayden said, staring at a being he shouldn¡¯t have been able to observe. The characteristics of that being were visible to Kayden but also weren¡¯t. He could not describe what he was seeing. It was like a 2D being trying to comprehend a 3D being. The reason Kayden couldn¡¯t sense him¡­


    "I am one of the representatives of the heavens. Come and learn a bit about the truth of the universes." Kayden promptly accepted the invitation. If he were meant to die, he would already be dead by now. Without hesitation, he sat opposite the being.


    Being near someone so powerful was insanely strange. Kayden couldn¡¯t even tell at what level this man stood. He was beyond the universe itself. He was practically ignored by the universe. In truth, the universe couldn¡¯t impose its laws on him or make him one of its members.


    "This is a conversation that all ten-ray mages receive," the being said, pouring Kayden a transparent liquid. "Your idea that there are an infinite number of universes is true. They exist in incalculable numbers, divided by strength and potential. Natural selection itself carries out this division. All these universes have only one goal: to prevent the birth of absolute gods. But what is an absolute god? That is something you¡¯ll have to discover on your own in the future. I will answer three questions, no matter what they are."


    Kayden had already received ridiculously valuable information that most people would never obtain in their lifetime. He found himself lost when the entire knowledge of the universe was offered to him without reservation. He could ask for a perfect path, to know the future. He could ask for countless things and simply get answers to all his questions.


    "How can I reach a universe where the average level is far superior to mine?" Kayden would always focus on himself. He needed a high-level environment to develop better. He had already reached the pinnacle of his universe, and there was nothing left to gain from it.


    "You need to be able to manipulate space-time at a high level to sense the presence of other universes and enter them. But that isn¡¯t your goal, so I recommend you simply break space in a way that creates a black hole. Enter it, and you¡¯ll end up in another universe¡ªbut it must be black holes born of a lack of space, not natural ones. Also, do this with the highest amount of mana possible." The being then provided Kayden with dozens of recommendations.


    There were dozens of instructions: the time, day, year, and precise moment for him to do it. Logically, the god wanted to place him in a specific universe and therefore gave all these instructions without reservation. Moreover, he made it clear that Kayden didn¡¯t yet have the strength for this and would need to wait several million years to reach the ninth realm. S~ea??h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Who is Thoth?" Kayden¡¯s next question was something he would never find the answer to outside this place, and he felt it was one of the most important things in his life. He wouldn¡¯t deny his instincts.


    "He is both a god and a mortal. He is a one-ray mage and a ten-ray mage. He is the first and possibly the last. He exists in millions of universes, living trillions of lives simultaneously, seeking a completely insane goal that has yet to succeed. He is the strongest being in any universe he steps into, but also the weakest. In short, he is a madman without identity or history."


    The god¡¯s words left Kayden surprised. Kayden only needed to think for a moment to understand what he had said. All those people he had seen when he encountered Thoth were attempts to achieve his goal. Thoth was living trillions of lives at the same time, searching for his purpose. He must have failed an almost infinite number of times, yet he continued his search tirelessly. At that moment, Kayden understood a bit more about what it truly means to pursue a goal relentlessly.

 Chapter 515: Information

    This realization was utterly insane. Kayden had never considered anything remotely similar. How many times had Toth reached the divine level only to start over again? How many lives had this man lived? How many universes had he stepped into? These were questions Kayden would probably never find answers to in his lifetime.


    "What should I do next?" Kayden asked this question without expecting a concrete answer, and he knew it. He just wanted as much information as possible. S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "You¡¯re already on a completely new path. Even I can¡¯t say exactly what you should do. The laws of chaos are very strong in people like you, making the future uncertain. However, I recommend elevating your soul to a related law. Considering you already know the answer to this question, I¡¯ll let you ask another."


    The god was extremely benevolent. Kayden had asked, hoping for something different from his current goals, but in the end, he received the same answer he already knew. This was his objective from the beginning, and the god¡¯s response didn¡¯t help him. At that moment, Kayden became pensive. He didn¡¯t know exactly what to ask; there were so many options and, at the same time, none.


    Kayden could ask to see the future easily. He could request legendary techniques or the locations of mythical resources, but all of that seemed like a waste. They were things he could find in time with effort. He needed to ask something he would never be able to discover on his own or that was far beyond the knowledge available in his universe.


    "What are the heavens?" Kayden believed in himself with absurd confidence and knew that one day he would probably challenge the heavens for the last time. It would be a battle where only one would remain at the top, and having such information would be completely insane.


    "That is beyond your comprehension. Ask another question." The god refused him directly without hesitation.


    Kayden didn¡¯t know what to ask. There were many questions, but none that would truly make a difference in his life. He already had a goal, and outside of that, he cared about absolutely nothing.


    "How can I become a god? What is the process? What are the requirements?" Kayden chose to invest in himself rather than uncover the truths of the universe.


    "Divinity is an extremely difficult process to achieve. There are a few methods in your universe. The most well-known is through the energy of worship or soul mana. When many mortals worship your presence, a tiny fragment of their souls is lent to you. It¡¯s up to each mage to figure out how to incorporate these fragments into their abilities and their soul." Kayden had never heard directly about this process before.


    "Why is it so difficult, then?"


    "Soul manipulation is already difficult, but not to such an absurd degree. The main challenge for most people is harmonizing the soul fragments with their laws and their soul. Most have to do this blindly because they don¡¯t know how to manipulate their soul correctly."


    Kayden understood a bit of this. Manipulating souls was ridiculously difficult. He himself had taken billions of years to learn, even in the best possible environment for it. A mage who had never interacted with souls wouldn¡¯t even be able to perceive their soul. That¡¯s why it took so long for a ninth-realm mage to ascend to divinity¡ªthey needed to learn a lot before even thinking about such a feat.


    "And the other method?" The god had mentioned there were two ways to achieve divinity.


    "This one is not very common, and you¡¯ll rarely see gods opting for it. You must elevate your law to a perfect grade and incorporate it into your path. After that, you need to merge your path and your law into something unique, something only you can do. When that¡¯s achieved, the heavens will test you in the same way as with the other method. If you succeed in withstanding the same number of rays, you¡¯ll be elevated to the divine level."


    Kayden furrowed his brows. So there was yet another test to reach the divine level. Not only that but the changes to his body and soul would be carried out by the heavens again. No god would reach divinity without the touch of the heavens. Kayden hated this. He didn¡¯t want anything from another being; all his progress had to come solely from him and no one else.


    "I understand. Thank you for the information," Kayden said, growing reflective. The god gave him a few minutes to think before continuing.


    "As a ten-ray mage, you¡¯ve reached an exclusive level that few beings have ever attained. This grants you certain rights and obligations beyond those of normal beings. First, you are no longer capable of dying from time. Additionally, no god can kill you unless you initiate the attack." Kayden received some additional benefits he hadn¡¯t expected.


    "What are my obligations?" Kayden didn¡¯t understand this part.


    "It¡¯s not something you need to worry about, but if you become stagnant and choose to live peacefully without striving for improvement, the heavens will kill you for your lack of will." Kayden didn¡¯t quite understand why the heavens placed such pressure on ten-ray mages, but he didn¡¯t care. This wasn¡¯t a problem for his way of living.


    "That won¡¯t be an issue, Lord God," Kayden assured the god.


    "Additionally, you are bound to fulfill any promise you make to the heavens with your life. There¡¯s no chance of breaking them or resisting the heavens¡¯ attacks. However, your promises are only valid against other ten-ray mages. Any being below that is irrelevant."


    Kayden found this last benefit perfect for his manipulations and was amused by how the heavens viewed any being with less than ten rays as insignificant and undeserving of real consideration. He had already concluded that this man was the same being who conducted the ten-ray test¡ªor at least he had an intuition about it.


    The god smiled, and Kayden felt his consciousness descending into darkness.

 Chapter 516: Time

    Kayden awoke in the void, his entire body reconstructed. An infinite number of battles flooded his mind. Infernal pain should have accompanied the assimilation of so much information, but fortunately, there was none. It was as if Kayden had fought a battle every few minutes for billions of years.


    A vast knowledge of his techniques and abilities blossomed in his mind. It felt as though he had spent an immense amount of time training. Moreover, he could now see many flaws in his techniques, as in numerous timeline variants, he had been completely destroyed by lightning.


    Neither his body nor his mind had improved, yet something seemed to have changed. Kayden could feel that his potential had increased an infinite number of times. Previously, he felt there was a strength limiter for each realm he entered, and every time he reached it, he was pushed to the next realm. This time, however, there was none. Kayden could no longer sense the ceiling of the seventh realm. sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    He had gained no direct enhancements. Kayden would literally stick to his life philosophy without compromise: he would never allow any living being to improve his body against his will. He was the master of himself, and only he could make such changes. Without much thought, he realized his sixth sense could now easily reach hundreds of millions of kilometers. His power was truly reaching a terrifying level.


    Kayden returned to the real world and unleashed his entire aura upon the universe¡ªnot out of free will, but as if the heavens themselves demanded it of him. Furthermore, the boy was curious to extend his aura and see how far it could reach.


    In a mere blink of an eye, everything within ten million kilometers of Kayden fell under his control. Moreover, his aura simply destroyed everything. The pressure was so immense that all matter was crushed into heaps of mana. Kayden flattened mountain ranges as if they were nothing but jelly. Entire cities vanished without leaving any trace of their existence, and living beings were reduced directly into clumps of mana.


    His aura was so heavy that it could alter the planet¡¯s trajectory if he kept pressing it down for an extended period. When Kayden expanded his reach further, he could simply erase planets from existence as if he were a god. It was utterly insane.


    "Congratulations, Master," Atlas appeared near Kayden, emanating the aura of a ten-ray mage. When their eyes met, they both understood they were facing a fellow ten-ray mage. Which of them was stronger was an enigma.


    "Thank you, Atlas," Kayden merely replied, looking around. He had finally reached ten rays but found himself completely alone in the universe once again. As complete as he felt at this moment, he had grown used to having Athena by his side.


    "I found a time-space specialist mage. He¡¯ll reconstruct Athena¡¯s death, but it will take him several thousand years to gather all the fragments across the timeline. Let¡¯s get the one who did this." Kayden simply smiled and nodded at Atlas.


    The fight between the two was only a matter of time, and Kayden knew it. In fact, the entire universe would likely come after him. Atlas had far greater influence than he did, given who his parents were. Furthermore, no one would want to provoke all the false gods. This would render Kayden a pariah across the entire universe.


    Kayden also understood that his power would frighten most beings. The strong are only admired when they cannot be touched. At the first sign of weakness, ants would unite to topple an elephant, and that was precisely what would happen throughout the universe. Everyone would seek to destroy what instills fear, and Kayden would undoubtedly be that figure.


    "Congratulations, Honor Kayden," said the Honor leader, appearing alongside the vice-leader. As the woman arrived, the stars shone brighter, and the moon glowed with a completely different color, evidencing that the laws of the place had shifted. Kayden did not feel the pressure of a ten-ray mage emanating from these two.


    The silver-haired man radiated a strong aura, but it was incapable of exerting any oppression over Kayden. Both used the strongest portable spatial portals they possessed to reach the birthplace of the living legend before them. This was a friendly relationship they couldn¡¯t afford to lose.


    "Thank you, Leader Ryan. I appreciate everyone coming, but I¡¯ve just lost my soulmate and don¡¯t wish to have any contact with other beings at this time." Ryan and the vice-leader were unaware that Athena had died.


    This new information came as a complete shock to the two. Losing a soulmate was utterly insane, yet Kayden still stood, displaying clear signs of rationality. Any other mage would have been on the brink of madness. The pair merely nodded and left with Atlas, leaving Kayden alone.


    Kayden would have a few thousand years before it was discovered that he was Athena¡¯s killer. During this time, he would elevate his power to an entirely superior level. Without hesitation, Kayden sat down and began cultivating. He didn¡¯t want to be disturbed and simply let his oppressive aura ravage the ten million kilometers around him. No one could step near without Kayden noticing.


    The space around him was completely sealed this time. Not even Atlas could teleport close without Kayden reacting in time. Kayden was fully dedicated to his objectives.


    As time slowly passed, Kayden began to extend his sixth sense without much difficulty, growing several thousand kilometers every few days. His growth speed was far superior to anything he had ever witnessed. His talent had reached an insane level. Kayden could simply sit and breathe, and his sixth sense would naturally grow effortlessly.


    It was madness, but Kayden hardly needed to think to solve problems in his cultivation. He simply observed a problem, and the solution appeared in his mind automatically. At this moment, Kayden was undoubtedly the most talented individual in the entire universe.


    Perhaps only a mage like Zeus could rival him, though Kayden still doubted it. Zeus might be able to manipulate a law, but he couldn¡¯t easily comprehend others. Kayden was confident he could now learn anything¡ªany technique, any law. Everything was entirely within his reach.

 Chapter 517: Atlas

    Your mind had truly reached the absolute peak of what a mortal is capable of achieving. At that moment, no treasure in the entire universe could even slightly enhance your talent by 1%. It was the absolute pinnacle in every possible mental aspect.


    Time passed slowly, and Kayden grew stronger each day. With each passing moment, he became more monstrous. His growth rate should have declined over time, but the more he learned, the easier it was to grasp new knowledge. In the blink of an eye, a thousand years he had passed.


    Kayden had reached the insane radius of 100 million kilometers during this period, surpassing any value remotely common for the Seventh Realm. It exceeded the sixth sense of many Ninth Realm mages. Only a handful of individuals could achieve such a range, and they were exclusively those focused on spiritual senses.


    At this point, Kayden could effortlessly destroy Class A planets as if they were nothing more than clumps of space dust. It didn¡¯t even require much effort¡ªhe merely needed to think, and everything turned into mana. No one could surpass his control.


    His ability to teleport freely across his sixth sense made his mobility utterly insane. He could traverse distances that would take spacecraft months in just seconds. Kayden needed only ten jumps to cover one billion kilometers. In combat, he had become an omnipresent god. Within 100 million kilometers, any mage would be attacked without even being able to react.


    There wouldn¡¯t even be a pause between attacks. Kayden could condense the mana within 100 million kilometers into a single centimeter and convert it into a beam of equal intensity. This beam could pierce entire planets in mere seconds. No mortal could withstand a direct attack from Kayden.


    There were no hidden old monsters at this point¡ªor, rather, there were, but they were only a few Ninth Realm mages. They were immensely powerful, yet they could no longer rival Kayden. His power had simply reached a level far beyond anyone or anything.


    Kayden enjoyed a total of five thousand years of peace. He maintained an utterly insane growth rate, extending his sixth sense to a radius of 700 million kilometers. Kayden could literally cross entire star systems in the blink of an eye, but it still wasn¡¯t enough for him to travel the entire universe alone.


    At a speed of 700 million kilometers per second, Kayden would still need over 40 million years to traverse from one end of the universe to the other¡ªassuming the universe¡¯s size matched what scientists on Earth had estimated, though it was certainly far larger. This revelation made Kayden feel like an ant once again.


    Despite growing his strength to an utterly absurd level, the universe remained unimaginably vast. To shake the universe itself, he would have to grow to the level of a god. This only made Yan¡¯s achievements seem even more insane¡ªthe reach that man must have had, combined with the mana he wielded.


    Kayden couldn¡¯t even put it into words or conceive of something similar. It was simply too far removed from anything he had ever seen. He would need to extend his sixth sense to several trillions of trillions to achieve something comparable. To be exact, Kayden would have to move at speeds exceeding sextillions of kilometers to accomplish such a feat.


    It was an utterly insane number. He hadn¡¯t even come close to a maximum limit within the Seventh Realm. He felt no boundaries imposed on him. Furthermore, with his talent, everything was progressing ridiculously smoothly. He needed only a few more millennia to reach even greater heights. Unfortunately, he wouldn¡¯t have that time. Kayden sensed Atlas¡¯s presence within his sixth sense.


    "Hello, Master," Atlas appeared beside Kayden after traveling through his entire sixth sense. It wasn¡¯t very difficult for him since Kayden offered no resistance. This confrontation was inevitable.


    "Hello, Atlas." Kayden and his disciple simply stared at each other from a few meters apart. Each gaze carried the weight of the entire mountains. On one side was a look of sadness and hatred¡ªa man who had been betrayed by the person he trusted most in his life. Atlas trusted Kayden more than his father.


    After discovering the identity of his sister¡¯s killer, he spent a long time in denial, unable to believe it. He asked the mage responsible dozens of times whether what he saw was true. Gradually, he accepted the reality. In the end, he had been betrayed in the worst way possible and knew it. It was one of the deepest pains of his life. The only person he truly trusted had looked him in the face and lied.


    "Why?" Atlas finally spoke after several minutes of silence. Kayden sighed, thought for a moment, and, without any emotion, looked Atlas in the eyes and said, "Power." S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Power?" Atlas repeated, confused.


    "Yes, just power. From the beginning, I taught you my principles, Atlas. Power comes before everything. It comes before family ties, before wealth, before influence. Power is both the means and the ultimate goal." Atlas looked at Kayden as one would look at a monster.


    He understood perfectly what it meant to pursue power without reason. He understood forsaking peace and setting aside relationships for power. He had done all that for years. But soulmates were not so simple. That was a completely different level¡ªit was like cutting off a part of one¡¯s soul in exchange for power.


    "She was your soulmate, my sister, and Yan¡¯s daughter. How can you have the audacity to remain here after all of this?" Atlas released his full aura but saw that Kayden didn¡¯t even flinch.


    "With Yan gone from this universe and no gods left, I fear no being¡ªincluding you." Kayden saw no reason to continue this conversation. They would never share a friendly relationship again.


    "Out of gratitude for all you have done for me, I will let you tire your own life and preserve your honor." Atlas offered a path that nobles always offered to their opponents, an ancient way of preserving an opponent¡¯s honor.

 Chapter 518: Felix

    "You know I won¡¯t do that. This was just a farewell, Atlas. Your last lesson as my disciple: power is above everything, boy, and trust should only ever be placed in yourself. Never fully trust another rational being." With those words, Kayden teleported dozens of times in an instant to the furthest reaches of his sixth sense. The speed was so overwhelming that Atlas couldn¡¯t even react.


    Although the boy possessed an extraordinarily sharp spiritual sense, it was far inferior to Kayden¡¯s. His ability to traverse such distances was a mere fraction of Kayden¡¯s, hardly a tenth of his master¡¯s speed. Teleportation was inherently faster than any natural movement, even for beings far above average in strength.


    Kayden merged his teleportation with the void itself, traveling immense distances in mere minutes. By the time he stopped, he had put himself so far from Atlas that it would take the boy months to catch up. This marked the conclusion of the current chapter in Kayden¡¯s life. His next priority was clear: to reach the level of divinity or, at the very least, acquire the power of a god. If he didn¡¯t achieve this soon, the rise of the first god would almost certainly initiate a hunt against him, fueled by Yan¡¯s lingering influence.


    Kayden had abandoned his planet entirely without hesitation or regret. The people and resources there held no value to him anymore; they were merely contingencies, a backup plan for a scenario that no longer applied. Now that everything had unfolded as planned, Kayden required no further protection. He stood as the universe¡¯s strongest mage, a direct rival to Yan himself for the title of supreme power.


    At this moment, Kayden could have ventured to countless places. Every region of the universe offers unique characteristics and challenges. His abilities were overwhelming¡ªhe could manipulate 99% of ordinary beings using nothing but his soul manipulation. Even mages of the Ninth Realm were susceptible, as defenseless against his influence as children before an adult.


    Kayden spent months traveling through various spatial points. He chose to remain within the vast emptiness of the void for its many strategic advantages. Its sheer expanse made it an ideal place to hide, and the abundant mana in such regions further bolstered his power. The immense scale of the void made mana conversion far easier and more efficient than in denser regions.


    Eventually, he came across a planet located in a remote corner of the void, sparsely populated and unremarkable. Kayden decided to settle there temporarily for the next few millennia. He aimed to cultivate without interruption until he reached the absolute limits of his current realm. Moreover, avoiding detection was a priority¡ªencounters with others would only complicate matters.


    Despite his overwhelming strength, Kayden knew he wasn¡¯t omnipotent. Countless unknowns still posed threats to his existence. Ignorance could lead to his demise¡ªwhether through a legendary technique or the combined efforts of peak mages wielding powerful runes. Too many variables remained, and even the most calculated mind couldn¡¯t account for them all.


    His sixth sense, encompassing the entire planet, allowed him to monitor everything happening there. Yet after a brief survey, he dismissed the inhabitants entirely. There was nothing noteworthy: a few Sixth Realm mages, one-Ninth Realm planetary overseer, and little else. The planet lacked any geniuses or advanced development, making it an isolated and unremarkable world.


    Kayden took a seat atop one of the planet¡¯s towering mountains. The void¡¯s distinct culture meant a constant flow of ships arriving and departing from the planet, despite its isolation. Being under the jurisdiction of a Ninth Realm planetary master gave it some activity, though its significance was negligible. Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Time began to pass rapidly, and Kayden¡¯s strength continued to grow without interruption or difficulty. His progress was astonishing¡ªany problem he encountered was resolved with mere contemplation. At this point, his advancement bordered on the absurd.


    He had initially planned to enter a state of cultivation hibernation, disconnecting entirely from the world around him. Unfortunately, his fugitive status across the universe made this impossible. Almost every mage sought him out, driven either by alliances with the false gods or pressure from the Honor faction.


    When forced to choose sides, Ryan naturally allied with Atlas. Having been within Atlas¡¯s sphere of influence for so long, and given Atlas¡¯s significantly larger base of support, the decision was inevitable. The disparity in influence between Kayden and Atlas was immense, sparking the largest hunt in the universe¡¯s history.


    Within two centuries, mages arrived at Kayden¡¯s planet. They had no concrete knowledge of his presence; it was merely part of a routine inspection. Fortunately, Kayden¡¯s vigilance paid off. The moment he sensed the hunters approaching in their spaceships, he retreated into true reality, vanishing undetected for several years. Floating silently in the void, he eventually returned, undisturbed and calm.


    It was clear these hunters wouldn¡¯t find him. Only individuals with extraordinary tracking abilities or prophetic gifts might have a chance¡ªand even then, such a search would demand millennia of dedicated effort. The universe was vast, and the void even more so. Locating Kayden in such an immense expanse was a near-impossible task.


    Kayden expected to be discovered occasionally, whether by specialized hunters or those gifted in foresight. Yet fate often unfolded in unexpected ways. In the end, he was found by the last being he anticipated¡ªa meeting orchestrated by sheer chance.


    "Hello, Felix. It¡¯s been a while." The creature emerged from the shadows, perfectly camouflaged as a Ninth Realm, Nine Ray mage. Kayden was taken aback by the sight. The Felix before him had reached an entirely different level of power.


    "Hello, Kayden. Indeed, it has been a long time. How did you find me?" Felix had mastered over five incomplete laws, including the Law of Shadows, the Law of Stealth, and the Law of Absence.


    Felix had evolved from a modest and relatively weak beast into one of the strongest mages the universe had ever produced. Perfecting five incomplete laws, he was only a step away from merging them into a unified path, creating something entirely new and unprecedented.

 Chapter 519: Felix[2]

    "Your soul, it shines in this place with no living beings," Kayden responded after analyzing the cat for a few seconds. He was happy it had grown, but it still wasn¡¯t a worthy opponent for him.


    "I thought it would be a surprise. What are you doing here? Where have you been for these billions of years?" Felix lazily lay down and stretched his entire body in a small spot where sunlight fell.


    Kayden thought for a moment, then analyzed Felix¡¯s soul. The cat had grown a lot, but its personality and soul hadn¡¯t suffered many blows. It was practically the same, and besides, its questions were sincere with no trace of deceit.


    "I kind of became famous in the universe. How have you not heard of me?" Kayden asked the cat.


    "Really? I haven¡¯t left the void in a few dozen million years. I¡¯ve been studying my path and my laws. I also made a name for myself in the void. How have you never heard of me?" This time, it was the cat¡¯s turn to ask.


    "I haven¡¯t been to the void in billions of years," Kayden answered honestly.


    "How strong have you gotten? I can only feel your realm. You shouldn¡¯t be that strong," Felix asked directly, without any fuss.


    "I¡¯ve reached ten rays in the seventh realm, Felix," Kayden smiled and released all his aura. For over 100 million kilometers, it felt like everything had stopped. The pressure was so immense on space itself that time passed a little slower. Felix could only look at Kayden in terror, not knowing what to say.


    He hadn¡¯t been able to feel Kayden¡¯s aura until that moment, but as soon as Kayden released it, everything changed. It was as if he were standing before a true god. The pressure was intensely high, there were no gaps, no weak points¡ªit was as if Kayden were a mountain billions of kilometers high, and he was just a first-realm mage.


    Felix had grown a lot. He was easily one of the strongest mages in the entire universe at that moment. His laws, combined with his path, should have placed him at the absolute top. But before Kayden, he was nothing more than a child without any strength. In the blink of an eye, the pressure disappeared.


    "And you? How strong have you gotten?" Kayden asked the cat and received a response far beyond what he expected.


    "I¡¯m a ninth-realm mage with a path integrated into five incomplete laws. I¡¯m trying to integrate five more laws to become a god. I¡¯ve already started gaining recognition from most mortals with my fame. I¡¯m becoming a living legend," Felix responded to Kayden while puffing out his chest proudly.


    "What¡¯s your fame?" Kayden still didn¡¯t fully understand that part of Felix¡¯s words.


    "I¡¯m known as the World Devourer. That¡¯s what I¡¯m going to do with this one in a few months. My path grows in strength, and at the same time, I gain fame by leaving some mages alive," Kayden looked at Felix in astonishment.


    Being able to devour an entire world was completely insane. Furthermore, Felix¡¯s soul was in its raw and primitive state. Kayden couldn¡¯t see how the cat had reached this level of strength without refining his soul. It was probably due to his effort and resources¡ªthere was no other plausible explanation.


    The two exchanged more hours of conversation. They had a lot to settle between them and, at the same time, plenty of free time. Just as Kayden had years of craziness to reach where he was, Felix also had his share of unique moments¡ªopportunities he seized with all his might. S§×ar?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "How about I help you travel through the void, and you help me clean my soul?" Felix was able to move much faster in this universe than Kayden because he had many laws supporting his path, making it possible. He didn¡¯t have as great a sense of direction as Kayden, but he could leap billions of kilometers in a single spatial jump.


    Kayden accepted the cat¡¯s proposal, and after just a few minutes, he had already completed the first soul-cleansing session on Felix. The cat¡¯s strength grew directly, and on top of that, he felt much lighter. It was something completely insane that he never could have imagined in all his wildest dreams.


    "Finish off this world, and we¡¯ll move on to the next," Kayden no longer saw any reason to stay here. Since he had released his aura, he had already decided not to remain. Felix just nodded and began to levitate into the sky, with Kayden following him.


    The beast began to open its mouth, and it grew to several dozen meters. Where its throat should have been, there was only a huge black hole without any form, with an insane suction force. Kayden began to feel the entire planet being pulled toward it directly. The planet¡¯s orbit froze as entire mountains were devoured.


    In just a few seconds, thousands of kilometers had been consumed, and it didn¡¯t look like it would stop anytime soon. Anything that entered Felix¡¯s mouth would never see the light of day again, whether people or raw materials. Kayden saw millions of people die without even understanding what was happening, while the ninth-realm mage was fleeing the planet in some spacecraft with other people.


    Kayden understood how the cat¡¯s fame had grown. He usually accelerated at the beginning, then gave some time for important people on the planet to escape. The rest wouldn¡¯t be so lucky and would be killed as they entered the black hole. There was no mercy; this was simply the law of the strongest being carried out.


    The entire process took about two hours to complete, but Kayden believed all of this could have been done in just a few minutes, as Felix gave a lot of time to absorb information and learning. On top of that, he gave even more time for the mages to run for their lives in their mediocrity.


    In the end, only Kayden remained, floating in space with Felix. An entire planet had disappeared without any difficulty. Where there had once been a civilization, now there was absolutely nothing left but¡­ nothing. Not even dust remained in Felix¡¯s wake.

 Chapter 520: Aquiles

    "Impressive," Kayden had to admit, it was quite a remarkable sight. He could have done it much faster and in a far more extravagant way, but that didn¡¯t diminish his appreciation for the achievements of others.


    "Thank you, but that¡¯s not even the best part," Felix said. However, he didn¡¯t continue, as he... began to nap almost automatically. Kayden watched, astonished, as the cat disappeared into the shadows and then into a tear in space. The most remarkable thing was that he couldn¡¯t sense the cat with his sixth sense¡ªonly its soul¡¯s faint emanations gave any clue to its existence.


    It was an extraordinary form of hibernation, undetectable by any conventional means. Kayden simply cultivated and waited beside the cat; he had nothing better to do, and he doubted anyone would come to investigate. Felix must have built a terrifying reputation during this period.


    Time flew by, and Kayden watched a decade pass in the blink of an eye. He focused solely on cultivation, growing stronger with each passing day. The sensation of power surging through him was intoxicating, a never-ending rush.


    In the past, Kayden had heavily relied on the universe to propel his leaps in power. Every time he advanced his rays, he would receive a direct boost in strength. But now, everything was entirely in his hands. Kayden had no external crutches; it was all about his effort, and that was the best part. His path demanded improvement by his means, and his principles compelled him to adhere to this with unshakable discipline.


    "I¡¯m ready. We can go now," Felix said as he emerged from his slumber. The cat didn¡¯t need that much sleep, but he wasn¡¯t about to deny himself a few extra years of rest¡ªit was simply beyond his control.


    "You need to learn how to master your soul. That¡¯s the only thing keeping your stealth from reaching the next level," Kayden remarked while the creature opened spatial gates with its mouth.


    It was amusing how, with each gate, they would advance a few billion kilometers. Kayden couldn¡¯t quite grasp how Felix managed it, but he was confident he would figure it out after observing for a while.


    "I know, which is why I¡¯ve been consuming planets. My soul resonates every time I ingest large quantities of matter, making it easier for me to perceive it," Felix explained, clearly making progress. He was merely adding the finishing touches to his cultivation to become a god.


    The two of them traveled silently, covering trillions of kilometers. Kayden focused intently on Felix¡¯s methods. It didn¡¯t take him long to realize that the cat¡¯s ability was tied to some additional law beyond spatial laws¡ªmost likely the laws of shadows. S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden could feel Felix leaping from shadow to shadow. The impressive part was that these shadows were separated by utterly absurd distances. It seemed that Felix could sense them by entering the space between the void and reality. It was truly a remarkable ability, though Kayden knew it wasn¡¯t something he would be able¡ªor even willing¡ªto learn anytime soon.


    Eventually, Felix found another planet in just a few days. His sensitivity to his surroundings far surpassed Kayden¡¯s, likely due to the laws he had mastered. This realization made Kayden appreciate the potential of other laws. However, he also understood that he would need to carefully consider how to integrate such principles into his path and life.


    "Why don¡¯t you just devour random planets?" Kayden asked, curious as to why Felix seemed to take his time.


    "I first need to harmonize with the planet¡ªto feel its unique mana, the quality of its space, and all of its distinct attributes. Only then can I consume it and digest everything in hibernation. I devour planets to learn from them; they don¡¯t give me anything directly," Felix explained, and Kayden understood the reasoning behind his approach.


    Kayden found an isolated spot and stood as still as a statue for several years. Occasionally, Felix would appear to chat with him, but other than those rare moments, there was little else happening. Kayden continued to cultivate in solitude, avoiding any unnecessary actions.


    From time to time, mages would come to investigate the planet and his presence, but no ordinary mage could even detect his shadow.


    "Oops." Kayden heard someone slip and sit down a few meters away from him. It was a mere mortal with no cultivation¡ªa rare occurrence in this universe. Yet something about this person was peculiar. Despite his lack of cultivation, his strength seemed on par with a fifth-realm mage.


    Kayden opened his eyes and observed the teenager sitting before him. He hadn¡¯t even noticed this individual with his spiritual sense. The boy emitted no energy whatsoever, resembling an inanimate object. Kayden dismissed the mortal¡¯s presence, having already exerted pressure over several kilometers to ensure no living being would willingly approach him.


    "What are you doing in such an isolated place?" the mortal asked. It was a simple question, but Kayden¡¯s sharp gaze searched the boy¡¯s eyes, looking for any hint that he might be more than he appeared.


    Nothing. The boy had a completely normal soul, normal eyes, and a normal body. Something about the situation was irritably off, though Kayden couldn¡¯t immediately discern what. It only took a few seconds for an idea to form.


    "Thoth?" Kayden asked, almost certain of his conclusion.


    "You know that demon too? Fortunately, I am not him," the man replied with a sincere smile, his soul resonating in harmony with his words.


    "Who are you? You have ten minutes to explain yourself, or I will kill you," Kayden stated without a shred of compassion or interest in making new acquaintances.


    "My name is Achilles. I am a soul from another universe that reincarnated in this one. You should be able to sense that my strength is unusual," the teenager confessed, yielding to the weight of Kayden¡¯s threat, especially after looking into those dark eyes that seemed to embody an absolute abyss.


    NT: I¡¯ve reached a bit of a creative crossroads, I welcome tips and recommendations.


    "How did you find me, and what do you want from me?" Kayden asked, unimpressed by Achilles¡¯ words. Though they were truthful, the boy¡¯s power was far from remarkable in Kayden¡¯s eyes. It wasn¡¯t worth his time to learn anything new from him.

 Chapter 521: Aquiles[2]

    "I am a time traveler. A crazy god from your universe broke the timeline a long time ago. I received some unique opportunities and traveled a bit along the timeline. I have extensive knowledge of the future, and that includes your whereabouts. This would be your first legendary battle against the ten-ray mage, Atlas," Achilles responded with some information Kayden did not expect.


    The god Achilles referred to was probably Yan, who had broken the timeline to save his wife. Kayden had no idea that the breaking of the timetable had allowed events like this. However, upon reflection, he saw how incredible mana was and realized that even more insane things might have happened during that period.


    "Tell me more," Achilles¡¯ last statement piqued Kayden¡¯s curiosity. He didn¡¯t want to fight Atlas yet; he had much to improve, but he also wouldn¡¯t shy away from a fight. At most, he would abandon the battle if he saw he might lose.


    "I have absorbed vast amounts of knowledge from events. My strength has been growing since I awakened because of this. I can always be in the right place at the right time, and I came here to ask you to accept me as your disciple," Achilles stated directly what he wanted.


    "No," Kayden responded just as directly. A disciple would be a burden at this moment, something he absolutely did not want¡ªat least not without an excellent offer.


    "I can offer you something no mage will ever be able to," Achilles smiled. Instead of continuing to speak, he began demonstrating his offer... and time started running twice as slow around the two of them. But that wasn¡¯t the main point.


    Kayden was seeing golden threads everywhere. In every centimeter of existence, he could see golden threads. Each thread led to a point in the universe. It could be something nearby or something far beyond the millions of kilometers of Kayden¡¯s sixth sense.


    It took less than a minute for Kayden to realize that these were the threads of destiny. They were visible only for a few seconds before Achilles collapsed weakly to the ground, utterly drained. At that moment, he was as weak as a first-realm mage.


    "Is this enough to convince you?" Achilles smiled. He knew he had made a compelling case and had captured Kayden¡¯s full attention in just a few moments.


    "Yes, we can make a deal," Kayden threw one of his countless treasures to the boy to help him recover. Achilles needed only two bites of a special fruit to be back on his feet.


    Kayden didn¡¯t do this out of kindness. He just wanted to test whether the boy¡¯s exhaustion could be recovered by normal means or if it stemmed from another source, such as his soul.


    "You will teach me everything you know about time and destiny over a thousand years, and I will teach you everything I can during that period," Kayden offered without any preamble. Achilles had already foreseen this. In the end, he had seen it all before.


    "I swear by the heavens to fulfill my part of the agreement," Achilles swore immediately. A colossal lightning bolt struck him. As a mage capable of seeing the threads of destiny, it was obvious that the heavens would accept his oath.


    "I swear to fulfill my part of the agreement," another bolt struck Kayden, though this one was false. He felt the weight of the promise but could break it without repercussions if necessary.


    "Will Atlas find me on this planet?" Kayden asked directly. He wanted to avoid this fight for now; he truly wanted to reach his peak before appearing anywhere in the universe again.


    "The threads of destiny would intersect here because of a mistake Felix made, causing your presence to be noticed by some ninth-realm hunter mages. Atlas would come here on the advice of some seer mages."


    Kayden understood perfectly why Atlas would come here. Felix was a mage who could be recruited for many purposes. Not only that, but the cat could also be an excellent tracker against Kayden.


    "How much time do we have?" Achilles shook his head.


    "Unlike timelines, the threads of destiny have no time. They intertwine at many points and represent the past, present, and future simultaneously. It¡¯s a very strange concept, and I don¡¯t know how to explain it better. It could be tomorrow, or it could be ten thousand years from now." Kayden nodded.


    He would take no risks. Within seconds, he located Felix deep in an ocean and teleported directly to him along with Achilles. The cat was startled but relaxed upon recognizing Kayden¡¯s presence.


    "Atlas will find me on this planet. Can you consume the planet today?" Felix already knew Kayden¡¯s history at this point and knew exactly who Atlas was.


    "Not yet. I¡¯d need a few more decades," Felix said, flicking his tail against the ocean floor thoughtfully.


    "I¡¯ll have to leave this place. Will you stay?" Felix shook his head. He had no desire to be found by Atlas, and staying on this planet could make that easily happen.


    "No, but I need to consume this planet because my reputation cannot be tarnished," Kayden nodded, and...


    The three found themselves floating in space, with nothing around them. It seemed they had been teleported, but Felix, being incredibly sensitive to space, knew they were in the same spot as when the conversation began. S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The only one who didn¡¯t seem surprised was Kayden. This made the other two quickly understand that the boy had simply erased a planet millions of kilometers wide in the blink of an eye. In fact, it had been even faster than that.


    Felix could do the same, but not with such speed. At best, it would take him ten minutes to erase a planet of that size. But Kayden had done it in an instant. Not only that, but he had killed all the mages on that planet, leaving only those at the absolute peak of power, preserving Felix¡¯s reputation.

 Chapter 522: übermensch

    The first thought was admiration, but after a few seconds, it turned into fear. However, knowing Kayden and standing by his side buried that emotion. The final feeling that surfaced was sadness, a sort of depression. When we see a great strength, we aspire to reach it, to be on the same level. But when we encounter an insurmountable mountain, we¡¯re left with a veiled sadness and acceptance that we may never conquer it.


    "Guide us to the next planet, Felix," Kayden said, wanting to leave this place as quickly as possible. He needed to cultivate, and every second was precious. The cat began teleporting, and it was amusing to see how, during all this time, Achilles had been subtly manipulating the threads of fate.


    It took Kayden a while to notice. In truth, it wasn¡¯t easy to detect. After a few minutes, Achilles spoke certain words to Felix that caused the cat a slight mental delay, seemingly insignificant. But when combined with dozens of others along the way, it led the cat to a completely different planet. This was indeed a unique ability capable of inspiring envy, even among the gods.


    The planet Felix found was utterly immense¡ªfar too massive to sustain itself in the void, at least not without the presence of gods. However, Kayden soon discovered why. Dozens of ninth-realm kings resided in this world. For a moment, he was surprised, but he quickly understood that this was a gathering point. Additionally, there was a mana stone at the center of the world that elevated the mana here to an extraordinary level. There were also numerous runes and developed cities scattered across the planet.


    "I¡¯ll stay here. If you need me, just return to this spot," Kayden said. Once again, he chose a peaceful location to detach from reality. The two nodded in agreement and went off to pursue their training.


    Kayden had already conducted a soul session with each of them upon arriving on the planet. Furthermore, he gave Achilles specific recommendations for his training. Beyond that, everything else would depend on him. Kayden wasn¡¯t a hands-on teacher; his philosophy emphasized the independence of his students. Power, in his view, should be achieved through one¡¯s efforts.


    Time flew by once again. Kayden continued cultivating without interruption. His natural talent allowed him to divide his attention among many tasks. One of his favorite pastimes was observing the lives of ordinary people. Strangely, Kayden had become like an old man who spent his days watching grass grow in the summer¡ªa behavior that only someone who had truly attained the highest level of inner peace could exhibit.


    Mortals had individual lives, yet they were essentially identical to thousands of others. They were almost copies of people they would never meet in their lifetimes. Most pursued trivial goals, driven by arrogance and fame. Such behavior occurs everywhere on the planet. Only a minuscule fraction¡ªless than 0.01% of 0.01%¡ªaspired to something greater. Virtually everyone lived a mediocre life. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    A long time ago, a man who transcended mediocrity and was labeled a madman documented these observations, ones Kayden now witnessed. This so-called madman referred to these people as the "last men," those who sought only immediate pleasures and happiness, content to live a mediocre life without striving to surpass their circumstances.


    Unfortunately, these "last men" constituted 99% of all beings in the universe, and Kayden knew it. He saw how most thinking beings were satisfied with reaching superficial heights, living the rest of their lives as if they had reached the pinnacle as if they had achieved all they desired.


    This mindset was so deeply ingrained that any individual attempting to rise above through unconventional means was harshly repressed and branded insane. A simple act like deleting all social media and living in seclusion was considered madness. Pursuing success above the pursuit of pleasures was also viewed as absurd by society. Fortunately, a select few still chased these loftier goals, though most would fail without any real chance of success.


    One of the greatest hypocrisies Kayden had ever encountered was how these "last men" feared death. They dreaded the end of their lives and made extraordinary efforts to prolong them, even at the cost of time and energy disproportionate to what society deemed acceptable for other pursuits. Yet, for this particular goal, such effort was seen as perfectly reasonable.


    To Kayden, it was absurd. Their souls died long before their bodies, and they were oblivious to it. Most lived lives devoid of meaning or genuine purpose, deluded by fantasies of power and wealth that lacked any real substance. This was true of every planet Kayden visited: rational beings were doomed to fail.


    An absolute minority, however, fit the description of what the same "madman" Kayden referenced called the "overman" or ¨¹bermensch. These individuals truly understood how to live. They existed beyond societal norms and ethical values imposed by self-proclaimed arbiters of truth.


    Ethics were invented by the first man who thought of something that pleased him and declared it a universal truth. Good and evil were merely the subjective preferences of someone differentiating between what they liked and disliked¡ªnothing more than human constructs, devoid of absolute truth.


    The ¨¹bermensch lived according to their values. They were not necessarily victors in life; they could lead seemingly ordinary lives. The difference was that this ordinary life was entirely their own choice, rooted in their unique thoughts rather than external influences.


    In Kayden¡¯s view, humanity could be divided into three categories. The first, representing 99% of the population, were the camels or beasts of burden. They were born to fulfill society¡¯s basic functions. They would neither create nor challenge existing values; they would endure in silence, swallowing all the falsehoods presented to them.


    The second group consisted of lions. These individuals could reject traditional values and impose their will, living according to their thoughts. However, lions were irrational beings, incapable of crafting their life philosophies. They possessed the strength to deny and choose their paths but lacked the wisdom to create their own.

 Chapter 523: End world

    Finally, there were the children¡ªmen with free minds, men capable of rejecting and creating their life philosophies. Unique beings who could choose not only how to live but also why to live, beings who had reached the absolute limit of their own lives. Unfortunately, such individuals were extraordinarily rare¡ªso rare, in fact, that there wasn¡¯t even a percentage small enough to include them in statistics. Throughout his entire life, Kayden had barely encountered a few. He doubted they even numbered a full ten.


    Author¡¯s Note: I¡¯ve just summarized two of Nietzsche¡¯s major theories in a single chapter. I¡¯m curious if you¡¯d like to learn more about different philosophers. I¡¯m open to criticism.


    "Master, it¡¯s time for another session." Kayden snapped out of his thoughts. Without realizing it, an entire decade had passed in the blink of an eye. Time had lost all meaning to him. These days, a decade and a week held the same weight in his mind.


    He cleansed Achilles¡¯ soul and added a few supports to prevent the boy from breaking under his weight. Achilles was undoubtedly a genius, but his mind wasn¡¯t as exceptional as many Kayden had encountered throughout his journey. This made it necessary for Kayden to reinforce Achilles¡¯ soul to keep it intact. S§×ar?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    It took Achilles a few days to recover from the pain and effects of having his soul altered. Afterward, it was Kayden¡¯s turn to learn more about time and the threads of fate. For most, this knowledge was incredibly difficult to grasp. But for Kayden, it entered his mind as easily as water soaking into a sponge. At this stage, absorbing information was remarkably simple for him.


    Absorbing, however, was not the same as understanding. This was why Kayden only conducted these sessions over decades. What he sought to comprehend was intensely complex and required patience. Rushing would not help; he needed to take his time and fully seize this opportunity.


    Over the coming decades, Kayden and the others maintained this cycle: one moment Kayden would learn from Achilles and cleanse his soul, and the next he would focus solely on his own cultivation. It was a relatively peaceful life. Kayden sensed no imminent threats nearby, and Achilles had truly chosen an excellent world for them to settle on.


    Kayden¡¯s strength grew at a surreal pace. He had never advanced so rapidly before. New thoughts began to surface in his mind: What was his true limit? How could he break through it? Who, or what was limiting his power? These questions had no clear answers, and it didn¡¯t seem like he¡¯d uncover them anytime soon.


    Kayden¡¯s mind reached such a degree of perfection that he could divide his attention among multiple points without compromising the quality of any task. He was capable of cleansing Felix¡¯s and Achilles¡¯ souls from a distance, without even needing to approach them. Beyond this, he spent a considerable amount of time observing ordinary mortals. Many insights and related ideas emerged seemingly out of nowhere during these moments.


    Kayden lent a hand to a few individuals, performing soul cleansings and pulling strings here and there. He sought to nurture people who could surpass conventional measures, individuals who might inspire him to overcome the barriers he found perplexing. Yet, these were merely backup plans; most of Kayden¡¯s attention remained focused on his oultivation. He devoted only 20% of his mental capacity to other tasks.


    In the blink of an eye, several centuries passed. Kayden once again ascended to an entirely new level of power. Moreover, he was inching closer each day to understanding the Law of Time and the threads of fate. The latter, admittedly, was still far beyond his reach¡ªhe wasn¡¯t even close to perceiving the threads. However, the Law of Time no longer seemed like an unattainable dream.


    Kayden¡¯s next challenge was to integrate this law into his path in a flawless manner. It wouldn¡¯t be too difficult, as the Law of Space was practically a subset of the Law of Time. Similarly, the Law of Time was a subset of the Law of Space. Though they bore different names, they were essentially the same. This was a paradox only those who grasped both laws could truly comprehend.


    "It¡¯s time, Kayden. I¡¯m ready to consume this planet, but I¡¯ll need a little help." Felix stood before him. The cat only sought Kayden out when something truly important arose¡ªlike the end of their stay in this world.


    "What do you need?" Felix, too, had grown in strength at an astonishing rate. His understanding of himself improved with each soul session they conducted.


    "One of the mages here is a ninth-ray mage, and I¡¯m not sure I could defeat him in a battle¡ªespecially with my laws in such disarray." Kayden immediately understood whom Felix was referring to.


    There were dozens of ninth-ray mages on this planet, its size being utterly massive. However, the true leader among them was a ninth-ray mage whose mastery over the Laws of Fire was nearly perfect. He existed on a completely different level from the other mages. Kayden simply nodded at Felix.


    In an instant, he consumed the space between the void and reality¡ªa realm where his actions would bear no consequences. The amount of mana that surged toward him was utterly insane. Kayden condensed all of it into a single ray¡ªa ray that transcended anything a mortal should be capable of creating. The void fractured under the sheer pressure of the ray, its cracks spreading like spiderwebs. Even time itself distorted and flowed strangely around him.


    The power of this attack was felt by every mage on the planet. Even those incapable of extending their spiritual senses could detect an absolute peak of mana in a specific direction. In moments like these, ignorance was truly a blessing. All the ninth-ray mages fell into despair, fully grasping the weight of such an attack¡ªsomething no mortal should wield.


    Kayden¡¯s ray struck the ninth-ray mage in an instant. The mage had no time to react before he was utterly annihilated. The ray then continued toward the planet¡¯s core, piercing through millions of kilometers as though slicing through butter. Its force was so immense that the planet¡¯s orbit shifted entirely. Fortunately, no one would realize this, as Felix began his work.

 Chapter 524: Another planet

    While all the planet¡¯s mages descended into madness, trying to understand exactly what had just happened, something far worse began to unfold. They could feel the planet¡¯s very death, and everyone there knew who the being that had arrived was.


    "The Devourer of Worlds." As soon as the realization hit, panic ensued. Everyone began running for their lives. Some fled the planet immediately without a second thought, while others used ships to escape. However, the majority of the people couldn¡¯t manage to leave the planet in time.


    Slowly, Felix began to consume everything. Mountains, cities, nothing escaped his hunger. It was astonishing to Kayden, even though this was the second time he had witnessed it. It was literally a world millions and millions of kilometers in size, yet the cat was devouring it as if it were nothing.


    It took only a few minutes, but in the end, everything was gone¡ªpeople, civilizations¡ªFelix had consumed absolutely everything within this environment. The trio continued their journey, and once again, Achilles led them directly to another large planet, one with even fewer connections to the real universe. This one was even more powerful than the previous, home to two ninth-ray mages. However, they were old¡ªlikely fugitive mages who simply wished to remain anonymous for the rest of their lives.


    This was a common scenario. Many mages spent their entire lives in battle, reaching the top of the universe¡ªnot the absolute peak, because those who reached that point would never abandon the pursuit of power. But a minority reached the "false top" of the universe, becoming weary and choosing to retire. Their reasons were often shallow, their talents or resources had carried them to the top, and this created a fragile mentality.


    "This planet is far larger than the others. How is that even possible?" Kayden was stunned to see that this planet was literally a billion kilometers in diameter. That was an absolutely ridiculous figure. Not even his class S planet had such a size. The basic laws of the universe shouldn¡¯t allow something like this to exist on its own. Its gravity, combined with the accumulation of gases, should have turned it into a star.


    This planet defies all known laws of physics. With an astounding diameter of a billion kilometers, it is so colossal that its gravity should crush everything around it and collapse into a star or black hole. Its atmosphere consists of endless layers of exotic gases, some of which are unknown to science, glowing with intense auroras in colors never before seen. The surface¡ªif it can even be called that¡ªis a floating mass of giant continents and oceans of liquid plasma, seemingly defying logic by staying cohesive. Dust rings, fragmented moons, and even micro-planets orbit within its immense gravitational influence. It is a cosmic enigma, as if some higher entity had shaped something that should never have existed¡ªan intentional flaw in the fabric of the universe.


    "This planet was made by a god. Its foundation is far superior to anything I¡¯ve consumed so far, Kayden... it will take me tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of years, to understand the foundation of this world before I can consume it." Felix was thrilled, his tail swishing with visible excitement.


    "Alright, I¡¯ll find a place to stay. My senses can¡¯t cover the entire planet, so if you two go too far, you¡¯ll be completely alone." Kayden didn¡¯t take long to find an immense canyon filled with an absurd amount of mana.


    The two nodded, and Kayden quickly scanned the entire planet with a few space jumps. He confirmed that there were no high-level mages beyond the two of them¡ªat least not in the ninth realm. There were some ninth-ray mages in lower realms, but this was truly a god¡¯s planet. The concentration of geniuses was far beyond the norm.


    Time began to pass at an accelerated rate. In the blink of an eye, the first millennia had passed. Kayden¡¯s power continued to increase without pause, like a black hole accumulating everything in its path. There were no limits. All he needed to do was sit and cultivate, and everything would come to him naturally, without difficulty. His sixth sense was becoming something terrifying.


    One hobby Kayden had picked up was interfering with his environment. He often ended up creating small monsters and altering the souls around him. His subtle actions caused the region to begin evolving at a pace far greater than the rest of the world. Whether in terms of mages or resources, practically everything was developing at an accelerated rate.


    Felix¡¯s soul was now completely cleansed. Kayden had done an excellent job with him, and it took only a few centuries for the cat to have a pure soul¡ªat least pure enough that it wouldn¡¯t affect his future in any way. Kayden could have further cleansed Felix¡¯s soul, but unfortunately, Felix hadn¡¯t developed the mentality needed to handle the weight of having just one life in his soul. Kayden could have placed his memories and experiences, as he¡¯d done with other mages, but that would have drastically reduced Felix¡¯s chances of becoming a god.


    As for Achilles... his soul was proving to be a true challenge for Kayden. The laws of time were embedded within the man¡¯s body. His soul was a blend of fragments of the law of time and a shard of truth. These weren¡¯t incomplete laws. Achilles possessed the true and only law of time-integrated within himself. This realization was completely insane to Kayden. It was extremely difficult for him to alter this soul, as most of it was something he had no idea how to work with. It was one of the most profound experiences he¡¯d had in recent times. This kind of training allowed him to progress rapidly in his study of time. S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden was currently the most talented person in the entire universe, he had no doubt about that, perhaps there were people with a talent superior to his in some specific area, but only people at the level of Zeus would be capable of something like that, the rest would not be able to match Kayden¡¯s talent in any area of ??their lives.

 Chapter 525: Atlas vs Kayden

    He was absolutely certain that, if given enough time, he could master any subject¡ªwhether something simple or as complex as manipulating fate. There was nothing he couldn¡¯t comprehend; his mind was simply flawless.


    With each passing millennium, Kayden delved deeper into the mysteries of time. By now, he could make small alterations to the time around him. Countless new revelations had opened up to him, including the realization that mana transcended time itself, remaining unaffected by any distortions in space-time.


    His sixth sense now extended to 250 million kilometers. His growth rate was unprecedented, exceeding everything that had ever existed. No being came close to possessing such immense capability. He could effortlessly eliminate nine-ray, ninth-realm mages with a mere snap of his fingers. There was no competition. S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    In the blink of an eye, thousands of decades passed. Kayden spent this entire period cultivating. His sixth sense reached an astounding 500 million kilometers. He could have pushed even further, but he decided to shift his plans to focus on incorporating the law of time into his foundation.


    It was amusing how, upon acquiring new knowledge, he often felt like a frog at the bottom of a well. The laws of time and space, he discovered, were not two sides of the same coin¡ªthey were the coin itself. There were no distinct sides, only a singular entity where both laws existed as one, seamlessly complementing each other.


    Kayden required only a few thousand years to integrate the law of time into his foundation. This was relatively easy for him due to his earlier mastery of the law of space. His abilities grew significantly, but not as much as he had anticipated. The power of time was overwhelmingly potent, yet it came with a steep cost. To perform high-level spells, he needed to sacrifice his lifespan. Even as an immortal soul, he felt his time slipping away.


    After a conversation with Achilles, Kayden uncovered the truth of what was happening. It wasn¡¯t his lifespan being diminished, but rather his very destiny being unraveled. It was an insane thought, but it was undeniably the reality he faced.


    Because of this, Kayden decided not to heavily invest in the law of time. His focus shifted to understanding the laws of fate. However, this proved to be an even more arduous task than he had anticipated. Fortunately, his immense talent was no joke. It was only a matter of time before he reached this level of mastery.


    One seemingly ordinary day, Kayden sensed a presence that shouldn¡¯t have been there¡ªsomeone he had been avoiding for quite some time. This was the only mage capable of making him lift his gaze and acknowledge them. Nearly 150,000 years had passed since Felix began studying this world. By now, Kayden¡¯s sixth sense spanned 900 million kilometers, practically encompassing everything.


    Kayden felt like a god who could see everything. Instantly, he recognized Atlas¡¯s presence. Even before rising, Kayden felt the space around the planet compressing. This was the work of a divine-grade artifact, capable of manipulating such vast areas with unparalleled ease.


    "Felix, Achilles, this is where our paths diverge. Thank you for the moments we shared," Kayden said, already aware of what was to come. Achilles had warned him that they wouldn¡¯t remain together for much longer, and it seemed he had been right.


    Kayden rose and began floating toward the heavens. Atlas wasn¡¯t alone in the starry sky; all the Sons of Yan were with him, radiating their peak power as mages far beyond ordinary levels.


    When Kayden appeared within their spiritual perception, no immediate attacks ensued. Instead, there was only an exchange of silent gazes. On one side stood hatred and resentment; on the other, an unfathomable void devoid of emotion. For several minutes, no words were spoken¡ªuntil Jasmine broke the silence, unable to contain her fury.


    "You trash! She was your soulmate! How do you live with the weight of your actions? Death is far too lenient for you!" she spat venomously. The twins joined her in repulsion, their hatred for Kayden burning intensely.


    The ones who remained silent were Matheus and Atlas. They had suffered the most, losing not only a sister but also a mentor who had guided them since their days as the weakest mages in the universe. This betrayal would haunt them for the rest of their lives.


    "Why did you bring them here?" Kayden asked, directing his question solely to Atlas as he raised an eyebrow.


    "They deserve to witness your death," Atlas replied, brimming with confidence. He had spent countless years stabilizing his power to wield the full might of ten rays.


    "I taught you that ego is the downfall of every mage, Atlas," Kayden said calmly. Time slowed with his words. In an instant, Jasmine and the twins were reduced to pure mana. Atlas had no time to shield them¡ªthe attack came for him as well.


    The sensation was overwhelming, his body being torn apart. As a ten-ray mage, his mastery over mana allowed him to resist the attack, but it was impossible to protect his siblings. Kayden¡¯s assault originated from countless points across space-time.


    Atlas didn¡¯t hesitate. He launched a counterattack at Kayden, his mana infused with his soul surging in massive cuts that shredded the fabric of space-time around them. Kayden merely teleported away, but the attack pursued him as though space itself had ceased to exist.


    Kayden quickly realized that Atlas¡¯s strike surpassed the power of space. He would need to confront it directly to defend himself. In the blink of an eye, Kayden converted nearly a billion kilometers of planetary matter into pure mana. The sheer volume of mana generated exceeded anything a mortal could hope to manipulate in a lifetime.


    The ray of mana collided with Atlas¡¯s attack. The resulting explosion tore through space for tens of millions of kilometers. Even time itself showed signs of disruption, thrown completely out of balance in the wake of their clash. Everything had spiraled into chaos.

 Chapter 526: Patetic

    Atlas¡¯s cut recovered in the blink of an eye and went against Kayden once more. He seemed to have infinite vigor, something that shouldn¡¯t be possible. The cut kept attacking Kayden without any sign of losing strength. No matter how many lightning strikes Kayden hurled at it, the cut always regenerated until the moment Kayden clapped his hands, and Atlas collapsed.


    An unbearable pain assaulted Atlas¡¯s body; his cut dissipated without any sign of returning. He didn¡¯t understand what was happening. His control over his spells should have been absolute¡ªan extension of his very soul¡ªbut now he had no way of regaining control. He was paralyzed.


    "Pathetic. You truly have no idea how souls function, do you? A simple soul clash, and you were destroyed. Even a pathetic mage with a single lightning spell could kill you in these conditions. I didn¡¯t train you for this," Kayden said as he teleported in front of Atlas and slapped him across the face.


    "You¡¯ve grown, Matheus," Kayden turned to the last remaining member. "You have ten million years to reach a stage capable of killing me, or I¡¯ll go after your soulmate." Kayden also appeared in front of him and humiliated him with a slap.


    "See where your ego has led you, Atlas!" Kayden pointed around. Atlas and Matheus were completely stunned, unable to react properly. "Your ego killed your last brothers. I hope you understand that you will have to look your father in the eyes and explain just how pathetic you are."


    Kayden clapped his hands, and the three layers of reality shattered into mana. The void was instantly transformed into mana, the real reality was turned into mana, and the space in between was also converted. The amount of mana, almost a million kilometers multiplied by three, reached a completely surreal level. All of it condensed into a single lightning bolt without any delay. It was as if time itself ceased to have meaning before the speed of Kayden¡¯s spell formation.


    Kayden¡¯s lightning bolt was the absolute peak of power in this universe; no mortal could ever unleash something like this. It surpassed the explosion of a star. Space fractured into innumerable black holes¡ªa mixture of space and time without any coherent laws.


    The impact of the lightning wasn¡¯t limited to the surrounding space; it transcended the barriers of existence itself. Waves of pure energy emanated in all directions, dissolving matter and reorganizing it into patterns incomprehensible to mortal minds. The light emitted was so intense it seemed to erase shadows, illuminating even the farthest corners of the cosmic void. Every fragment of reality it touched was obliterated, becoming part of a chaotic maelstrom where the concept of order was nothing but a distant memory.


    Something beyond space itself was being shattered by the attack¡¯s pressure¡ªsomething no one present could see, though they could feel the fear emanating from an assault that defied mortal laws and the highest limits a mage should be able to reach.


    Then Kayden unleashed his attack. To say it was fast would be an understatement. Kayden¡¯s strike tore through the fabric of reality; time itself bent in its wake. It roared past Atlas like a cannonball, continuing for billions of kilometers. The entire region of space was fractured. Whole planets were knocked out of their orbits as the lightning passed nearby.


    The bolt traveled so far that none of them could sense it anymore, but it eventually struck an asteroid, disintegrating it completely. The problem was this happened dozens of times before it was stopped; each asteroid measured millions of kilometers in width.


    "Your ego killed your brothers. Your life could be taken with just a mere movement of my fingers," Kayden struck Atlas across the face again. This time, the boy was fully awake but still unable to react.


    Atlas felt utterly confused. He couldn¡¯t comprehend how Kayden possessed such power or how everything had unfolded. To affect a mind like Atlas¡¯s, the shock had to be ridiculously immense. But the moment it surpassed his limits, the boy¡¯s mind plunged into chaos. The same applied to Kayden; if something could affect him, he¡¯d never cultivate it again, as it would have to be a force far beyond what he could handle.


    "Hunt me to the ends of the universe, search for me desperately, but this is your last chance. Next time, I will take your pathetic life." With these words, Kayden disappeared with just a few teleports.


    He had no intention of killing Atlas at all. Atlas would be the final stone he¡¯d use to sharpen himself in this universe. There wouldn¡¯t be ten-lightning mages born anytime soon, and without them, Kayden would grow like a flower in a greenhouse. His battle with Atlas would be legendary, were it not for the ridiculous mistakes that made Atlas as strong as a child before him.


    Atlas¡¯s strength was insane, but his ego was something Kayden couldn¡¯t fathom. He had spent so much time honing Atlas¡¯s soul to make the boy a perfect being¡ªa man without morals or ethics, without ego or pride¡ªbut something had gone wrong along the way, and Kayden would never figure out what it was.


    Killing Atlas¡¯s brothers had been the perfect fuel to make him even stronger. Kayden knew that the next time they met, their battle would be far more intense, especially because Atlas wouldn¡¯t seek him out until he had achieved an insane leap in power. This allowed Kayden to return to reality for a while without being disturbed.


    As soon as Kayden stepped into the universe, he felt the presence of some beings around him. Fearlessly, he waited for the mages to emerge from their spatial bubbles. There were two of them specifically: one Kayden had known for a long time, and the other was someone he¡¯d never seen before. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Hello, Kayden," Han emerged from his bubble and greeted Kayden directly, without any fear. The aura this old man exuded sent a chill down Kayden¡¯s spine. His life was at risk, and he knew it. Kayden understood there was no point in running; if he were meant to die, it would happen the moment he appeared.


    Author¡¯s note: The next two weeks will be exams at college, so I apologize if I can¡¯t keep up with the usual frequency, worst case scenario I will release more chapters after this is ove

 Chapter 527: Julia

    "Hello, Han. And who might this be?"


    The woman standing beside Han was about 1.60 meters tall. Her body was flawless in the eyes of any being. Her straight hair was a blend of blond and brown tones, with every strand perfectly complementing her face.


    Her fair skin and slightly upturned nose gave her an air of arrogance, but this impression was quickly dispelled by her cheerful eyes and subtle smile. Kayden had seen many beautiful women before, but she easily ranked among the most stunning he had ever encountered. Her soul... S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    It was pure, the likes of which he had rarely seen in his lifetime¡ªa being devoid of ego. She did not live for appearances, but... she seemed to carry great sorrow, a multitude of small burdens weighing on her soul. She was like a ticking time bomb waiting for the right moment to explode. Yet, until that moment arrived, she shone brilliantly, like the deepest star in the universe.


    "She is my apprentice. Her name is Julia," Han said.


    Kayden raised an eyebrow, surprised. He didn¡¯t sense any time-related talent in the girl; she seemed more like a mage specializing in light magic.


    "I see. What can I do for you, God Han?" Kayden asked, the last part spoken boldly as he stared directly into Han¡¯s eyes. Only a gentle smile appeared on Han¡¯s face. He knew Kayden would quickly figure out his advancement.


    "I cannot remain in this universe for much longer. I wish to request your services in exchange for an absolute favor on my part," Han replied.


    Kayden raised another eyebrow. Likely, no new gods could emerge in this universe at the moment; any who tried would be expelled or killed by some higher force.


    "What do you need?" Kayden inquired, suspecting it had something to do with Julia, though he didn¡¯t fully understand the reasons.


    "My apprentice is the daughter of two gods from another universe. She is very close to advancing as well, but I want you to repair her soul and protect her for the next several thousand years," Han explained plainly.


    Kayden nodded. "Alright, you owe me one absolute favor for each service I provide."


    Kayden demanded an exceptionally high price. An absolute favor was not something a god could easily refuse; they would be compelled to fulfill it, no matter the request.


    "I swear to grant two absolute favors to Kayden Heart in exchange for two of his services. Otherwise, I shall pay with my life," Han declared, quickly making the oath. The heavens rumbled in response, sending a golden lightning bolt his way.


    In seconds, Kayden also pledged his part, and an agreement was sealed between the two. It was an incredibly random situation, but Kayden never turned down the opportunities life presented to him, and this was undoubtedly one of them.


    "I must go now, but you two will get along just fine," Han said, disappearing and leaving the two of them alone.


    Kayden said nothing for a few seconds, waiting for Julia to speak first.


    "Pleasure to meet you, Master Kayden. My name is Julia, and I will be under your care," she said, exceedingly polite.


    Kayden returned her politeness. "The pleasure is mutual, Miss Julia. I will cleanse your soul every ten years. At the moment, I have no fixed place to stay, so I ask that you simply accompany me to one of the nearby planets for a few thousand years."


    Kayden had no other plans at the time besides training.


    Julia didn¡¯t understand how insane Kayden¡¯s mind was¡ªno one ever did, really. But she would soon find out after a few centuries. While she faced one of the most tedious times of her life, cultivating without any entertainment, Kayden did nothing but the same. The difference was that she would at least visit various corners of the random world they were on; Kayden didn¡¯t even budge.


    He remained seated, not moving, even for the soul-cleansing sessions. His spiritual sense was capable of covering the entire planet. As soon as a decade passed, Julia would receive a message from Kayden, and another session would be conducted remotely, with no contact between them.


    The woman began to heal people in this world and alter its laws as a form of entertainment. The lives of the inhabitants became increasingly comfortable. There were no more deaths from disease; aging was the only enemy most people faced, and even that didn¡¯t concern them much, as they lived extraordinarily long lives.


    These changes began to catch Kayden¡¯s attention. Another amusing pastime had appeared on his path. Unfortunately, it wasn¡¯t truly useful. People simply lived in a false paradise with no real challenges. Wars still existed but were laughably rare, as Julia prevented any deaths that weren¡¯t natural.


    Julia even stripped living beings of their ability to take their own lives, condemning them to live every second of their existence without escape. The population exploded in the first few centuries but then began to decline rapidly as people stopped having children.


    Initially, most were happy, but the lack of struggle slowly became troubling. People began to develop various symptoms of depression. Their lives literally lost meaning. They had no motivation to live.


    Death was no longer feared. Hunger wasn¡¯t feared. The pain wasn¡¯t feared. Power wasn¡¯t desired. Leadership wasn¡¯t desired. Wealth wasn¡¯t desired. Pleasures ceased to be pleasures, simply because the value of things stopped making sense. Why fight for food if you wouldn¡¯t die without it?


    The world became a paradise on Earth, but this also turned it into true hell. There was no more good or evil. No one could freely cause pain to others, nor themselves. The only emotion they could feel was pleasure, which soon dissolved into meaningless repetition, eroding the sense of things.


    Death began to dominate the beings of this world. Even while alive, most ended up dead. The elderly couldn¡¯t bear to live in their bodies anymore. Many mages wanted to enter hibernation, especially those at higher levels, but they found themselves unable to do so. Not only that, but they also found themselves trapped on this planet, condemned to live this way until the end of their days.

 Chapter 528: God

    Most people began to vegetate, their lives devoid of any meaning merely. Kayden observed in a unique way how souls started to close off and slowly die while their bodies remained alive. In some areas, dozens of undead began appearing without any explanation. Their souls still existed but were broken and strange in form.


    The population gradually dwindled without any significant events. Within just a few millennia, most living beings in this world were eradicated. Only those in the highest realms managed to survive, though they suffered the most, as they had no purpose left in their lives.


    During this period, Kayden¡¯s strength continued to grow. He took the opportunity to study souls more deeply, uncovering several new nuances, especially when observing the undead with souls. It was strange, but it opened up a new world of opportunities for him.


    Kayden¡¯s battle with Atlas had also brought new things to ponder. Time became increasingly important to him. The laws of the time were undoubtedly an excellent investment and, in fact, would be indispensable in the future. When the real battles began, Kayden would need to go far beyond mere brute strength.


    On the other hand, Kayden also realized that brute strength was superior to technique in some situations. Once he achieved perfect quality with his spells, all he needed to do was pour more power into them, and this could be done freely. Kayden couldn¡¯t even fathom what it would be like if he extended his spiritual sense over dozens of trillions of kilometers. It would be utterly terrifying.


    "I¡¯m almost ready. I should be able to reach divinity in a few millennia. I just need to move to another planet," Julia informed Kayden, and the two traveled to another world.


    Once again, the same things happened. Kayden watched the entire planet transform into a paradise, only to slowly devolve into a hell. The inhabitants repeated the same actions, and once again, the undead appeared. It became clear to Kayden that Julia was using the soul energy of the undead to elevate herself to goddesshood. The planet they had moved to was smaller, and within just a few centuries, she had cleansed it.


    "What is your primary law?" Kayden asked one day.


    "The Law of Healing," she replied. Everything was both a remedy and a poison; only the dosage determined their true nature. The two continued this cycle for a few millennia.


    With each planet they passed, Julia grew closer to becoming a goddess. Kayden could feel her aura changing little by little. He could see how her soul was transforming and how the souls of others flowed toward her without resistance. The amusing thing was that she didn¡¯t have perfect control over this process; many fragments were left behind, failing to integrate with her.


    Another thing Kayden found amusing was how much damage they were causing to the universe, yet no one seemed to find them. In truth, it wasn¡¯t so strange, as Kayden was certain his battle with Atlas had become public knowledge among the strongest entities. This made him highly avoided by any powerful beings in the area, especially those who truly understood the dynamics of power.


    It took at least 30,000 years for Julia to finally advance to the divine level. Kayden was extremely disappointed by how she ascended. The heavens issued a challenge, but it was mediocre¡ªnothing that defied common sense in the way Kayden had expected. The process of becoming a ten-ray mage was far more intense.


    "I¡¯m ready," she told Kayden one random day, indicating her intention to attempt ascension. Kayden could feel her soul, heavy and full of small patches radiating an insane aura.


    Her law and her path seemed solidified within her soul. It was strange, but Kayden felt revitalized simply by being near her. It was a completely foreign sensation, and he couldn¡¯t fully understand what the fragments of memory within her body were doing. S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The heavens darkened with strange clouds. They weren¡¯t golden, nor did they have any color. These were formless, colorless clouds¡ªclouds that made no sense, composed entirely of pure laws. That was why Kayden couldn¡¯t perceive them properly, only to sense their existence above him.


    The ascension process was entirely normal. The lightning descended, but it was pure law. Each bolt carried the same intensity as some of the greatest attacks Kayden had ever seen a god unleash. Ironically, he couldn¡¯t truly measure the strength of these bolts, as they altered the laws directly. That was all. They had no systemic effect on the universe.


    Time and space weren¡¯t broken. There was no trace of dust, no residue at all. Only the laws were completely altered. Kayden couldn¡¯t explain it, but any one of those bolts could kill him. Even if he focused all his power on one bolt, he would still be completely destroyed. It wasn¡¯t something he could combat with brute force; it was simply beyond his understanding.


    His attack likely wouldn¡¯t even be negated or suppressed. It would simply pass through the lightning, pierce the clouds, and continue traveling until it reached some indeterminate point. The laws were on a plane beyond what Kayden could manipulate at this stage, allowing him only to sense them, not alter them.


    How he might do so in the future remained a mystery he wasn¡¯t yet ready to solve. Fortunately, he still had billions of years before it became a pressing issue. His biggest concern now was dealing with Atlas shortly.


    In the end, Kayden learned absolutely nothing from Julia¡¯s ascension process. Once she endured eight bolts of lightning, her ascension was complete. Kayden found it strange, as he distinctly remembered her being a nine-ray mage, but she likely couldn¡¯t maintain that level. It took some time, but Kayden realized Julia was a pseudo-nine-ray mage.


    Author¡¯s note: on the 26th I will participate in a launch event for ten chapters, lately the novel has been declining in readers, it¡¯s been a long time since I received any kind of resource ): , whoever can make a critique for new readers or thank me

 Chapter 529: Thoth

    It wasn¡¯t something particularly rare to witness. Athena had explained this phenomenon to Kayden several times before. It was extremely common among mages with weak mental fortitude; when trapped in the same situation for an extended period, most chose the easiest path. This tendency wasn¡¯t limited to physical limitations but extended to a lack of spiritual resilience and a shallow understanding of their potential.


    For this reason, the ascension process of Julia wasn¡¯t entirely surprising to Kayden, although it left him with mixed feelings. He had hoped to learn more from observing her transformation. However, as the process began, much of what unfolded was beyond his grasp. Still, there were moments of clarity. When Julia finally broke through into the divine realm, the shift in her being was undeniable.


    Her soul was utterly transformed. Kayden could see every intricate detail as the heavens worked at an astonishing speed. Her past lives were being erased in mere moments, fragments of memory burned away to make room for something entirely new. Her soul was being polished and restructured, piece by piece, into a state of perfection. The revelation struck Kayden like lightning: a god¡¯s soul was flawless by design.


    This realization caused a storm of thoughts in his mind. Suddenly, many aspects of soulcraft, which had previously eluded him, began to make sense. Dozens of seemingly insignificant details in Julia¡¯s soul were being meticulously reshaped, and Kayden watched in awe as these minor adjustments culminated in vital new functions.


    Then came the moment that left him breathless. He observed something he had never seen before Julia¡¯s soul appeared to be sealed alongside her memories,as if both were being eternalized simultaneously. A god, he realized, was a truly unique entity. There would never be another like them in the entire universe¡ªno identical memories, no parallel personality. This singularity was what made them divine.


    The eternalization of their essence also meant that gods could not reincarnate through ordinary means. They were barred from the rivers of souls. This was their final existence, much like Kayden¡¯s own current state. His soul, too, was beyond the cycle of rebirth. S~ea??h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Incredible," Julia said with a serene smile. With a mere wave of her hand, every living being on the planet turned into undead. There was no hesitation, no delay; her command was absolute, and the transformation occurred instantaneously. An entire world became the epicenter of one of the largest concentrations of undead beings Kayden had ever witnessed.


    Kayden studied the transformation with great interest. He could see how the souls of the living were altered to accommodate this shift. Although he had learned much about such processes over the years, this particular event revealed subtleties he had not encountered before. The change wasn¡¯t as radical as he might have expected¡ªit was as if these beings were simply living a different facet of their existence.


    "Kayden, thank you for your time and guidance. I¡¯ve learned so much from you, and I believe we owe each other an eternal debt. But our paths part here," Julia said, her tone calm but resolute.


    "Until we meet again," Kayden replied politely, watching as she vanished from his sight.


    And with that, another chapter of his life came to an end. Once more, Kayden found himself alone in the vastness of the universe.


    Solitude had been his companion since birth. It had only changed when he was with Athena. Even though his feelings for her had long since faded, the memories of their time together still stirred something within his soul. It was likely a wound he would never fully heal, a necessary scar that had shaped him into the person he was today.


    Kayden remained on the planet for several more years, studying the undead souls without any rush to leave. This was a rare opportunity to deepen his understanding. It was fascinating to consider that even beings considered "dead" could possess souls. This paradox often caught the ignorant off guard, but to Kayden, it was another layer of the universe¡¯s complexity.


    One significant insight he gained during this period was the realization that the undead weren¡¯t entirely dead, nor were they fully alive. They occupied a unique state of existence. Their souls were looser, less anchored, and lacking in the foundational stability of the living. This made their progression along the path of power turbulent and unpredictable.


    Some undead could, by sheer luck, become prodigies, growing at a pace that even the most gifted living beings couldn¡¯t match. Others were doomed to remain stagnant in the lowest realms, unable to progress at all.


    Life and death, Kayden reflected, weren¡¯t strangers to one another. Neither could exist without the other. Without death, life lost its meaning. This was the core flaw in Julia¡¯s approach to existence. By removing death from the equation, she had amplified life to an unsustainable extreme, throwing the natural balance into chaos. The universe itself sought solutions to this imbalance, one of which was the creation of the undead¡ªa fusion of life and death.


    The more Kayden delved into the study of laws, the clearer it became that they were all interconnected. No law existed in isolation. Most depended on others to achieve their full effect, forming an intricate web of relationships that defined reality.


    Kayden spent several millennia on the planet, using this time to fine-tune his soul based on the observations he had made during Julia¡¯s ascension. The adjustments were minor, as his soul was already near perfection. The primary difference between his soul and that of a god lay in its integration with the universe¡ªa stage he had yet to comprehend.


    Despite this limitation, his power saw a substantial increase. Kayden felt his strength surge by approximately 20%, a staggering improvement given the already astronomical scale of his abilities. This translated into an additional 200 million kilometers in his sixth sense, achieved with minimal effort. It was a testament to the untapped potential still within him, despite his previous belief that he had reached the peak of his capabilities.


    This experience served as another reminder that perfection was an illusion. Even if his soul was the most refined the universe had ever known, it still wasn¡¯t flawless. There were countless nuances yet to be explored, countless ways to ascend further. The only obstacle was his lack of knowledge¡ªa gap he was determined to bridge.


    By now, Kayden¡¯s sixth sense spanned an incredible 1.5 billion kilometers. He had surpassed the speed of light and broken free from the constraints of physical laws. The rules of the universe no longer apapplyo his existence. What was most astounding, however, was the absence of a visible ceiling to his power. He had no discernible limits.


    "Hello, Thoth," Kayden said abruptly, breaking the silence.

 Chapter 530: Thoth[2]

    "Hello, Thoth," Kayden greeted, already recognizing his oldest friend by a subtle fluctuation in their soul. Thoth carried a heavy burden in their mind at this moment. This was the most dangerous individual Kayden had ever encountered.


    "Hello, Kayden. I hope you¡¯ve been enjoying your days of peace," Thoth replied. Kayden raised an eyebrow, waiting for the enigmatic figure to continue. Oddly enough, Thoth had taken on a feminine form this time.


    Standing at an imposing height of over two meters, her muscular frame radiated power. Fiery red hair cascaded down her back, a testament to her nature as a fire mage with a pronounced inclination toward physical combat. Despite her intimidating presence, her soul was strikingly refined¡ªclean, polished, and at the absolute pinnacle of what was naturally attainable for a living being.


    "Things will change in the coming millennia. This universe is on a collision course with another, and they will merge," Thoth said, dropping the bombshell without preamble.


    Kayden¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly. "Do they have gods?" he asked immediately, knowing how much the presence of divine beings could disrupt his plans.


    "No," Thoth answered. "But they do have demigods. These are mages who have surpassed the ninth realm yet fall short of full divinity. Their techniques are... peculiar. They sacrifice the potential to become true gods in exchange for immense power while remaining mortal. Each of them wields strength comparable to yours¡ªor greater, in some cases."


    Kayden¡¯s brow furrowed. This revelation was both intriguing and troubling. A collision of universes would inevitably spark conflict. It was unlikely that either side would willingly submit to the other. Worse still, a war of such magnitude could destabilize everything, especially if these demigods proved to be as formidable as Thoth implied.


    "Atlas might be the only one capable of standing against them," Kayden muttered, more to himself than to Thoth. The idea of his universe being slowly consumed by the other left a bitter taste in his mouth.


    "What do you want me to do?" Kayden asked, his tone neutral. "I¡¯m not interested in these power struggles."


    Thoth nodded, seemingly expecting his response. "Don¡¯t worry. I don¡¯t intend to drag you into this. All I ask is that you allow Atlas to lead this universe. This will be the greatest trial of his existence¡ªhe will either triumph and ascend to something far greater or perish along the way. As for you..." Thoth paused, her fiery gaze locking onto Kayden. "You¡¯re an enigma, a being beyond comprehension. Even when I attempt to foresee the movements of this universe, you remain outside its web. You are no longer influenced by it, nor do you influence it. That¡¯s why I won¡¯t direct your path; I¡¯ll simply let you do as you wish. But I¡¯ll give you some privileged information."


    Kayden listened carefully, though he was beginning to understand the broader implications of what Thoth was saying. His power had grown to the point where he was no longer a mere pawn within the universe. His actions carried unimaginable weight. However, he had no intention of assuming any position of influence. Kayden¡¯s sole desire was to live out his remaining days in peace, free from the chaos of the cosmos.


    Still, the introduction of these new figures into the power dynamics of the universe would undoubtedly alter the landscape. These demigods presented new challenges¡ªopponents capable of sharpening his skills further. For now, he resolved to observe, to learn about his potential adversaries. Rushing into conflict could easily cost him his life.


    "Anything else?" Kayden asked, eager to return to his cultivation.


    Thoth began outlining the details of the 45 demigods who would soon emerge in this universe. She provided their names, strengths, and unique abilities, painting a vivid picture of the challenges ahead. Kayden absorbed this information with silent focus.


    When Thoth finally finished, Kayden found himself in possession of a comprehensive map of the universe¡¯s power structure for the next millennia. He knew exactly who to avoid, who to challenge, and who to leave untouched for the time being. Many of these individuals were far beyond his current capabilities, but with time, he was confident he could overcome them all.


    This newfound knowledge ignited a spark of determination within him. Collecting the heads of these 45 demigods became his new goal¡ªa personal test of his strength and resolve. Of course, he kept this ambition to himself. Thoth had carefully orchestrated this game to test everyone involved, from the demigods to Atlas to Kayden himself. It was an elaborate stage where Thoth manipulated the variables, letting the laws of chaos unfold with precision.


    "Good luck," Thoth said before disappearing as suddenly as she had arrived, leaving Kayden as the most informed individual in the universe.


    Not even a second later, Kayden sensed the presence of two other beings approaching. One of them he knew well, having guided them from the fourth realm onward. The other was unfamiliar, at least for the moment.


    "What do you want?" Kayden asked coldly as Atlas and Ryan appeared millions of kilometers away, hovering over the vast undead world. Both were powerful mages who commanded respect and caution. Sear?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "This is a meeting called by Thoth," Ryan said, his voice calm. "We¡¯re only here to talk, so don¡¯t be alarmed."


    Atlas, however, said nothing. He simply glared at Kayden with an intensity that radiated hatred. From the depths of his heart, killing Kayden had become Atlas¡¯s ultimate goal. He would achieve it, even if it cost him everything.


    "Speak, but be brief," Kayden said impatiently. He had no time for weaklings or distractions from his objectives.


    "Thoth must have explained what¡¯s coming in the next millennia," Ryan began. "Our universe will need every bit of strength to¡ª"


    "I¡¯m not interested in allying with you," Kayden interrupted sharply. "Your empire can burn for all I care."


    The hostility in his tone was unmistakable. Their paths had diverged long ago, shaped by forces that made him and Atlas natural enemies. Ryan¡¯s decision to side with Atlas was purely his own, but Kayden made it clear he had no interest in reconciliation or cooperation.

 Chapter 531: The kings

    Kayden had no reason to be friendly with these people. He and Atlas were destined to fight to the death someday in the not-so-distant future. Moreover, Kayden had no interest in forming ties with the powers of this universe or being dragged into their chaos.


    "You¡¯ll regret this. Our universe doesn¡¯t have the strength to withstand the invaders. We¡¯ll be consumed..." Ryan started, but Kayden interrupted him again, this time making his intentions much clearer.


    "You have three seconds to get out of my sight, or we¡¯ll fight to the death."


    This time, his words carried all the killing intent possible, and both men had no doubt that Kayden would attack in three seconds. In the blink of an eye, they disappeared from Kayden¡¯s presence. Their agreement with Thoth prevented them from fighting Kayden, or things would have turned out... very differently.


    Atlas had no confidence in facing Kayden yet. He still couldn¡¯t fully comprehend why he was so decisively defeated in their previous battle, causing a rupture in his confidence. Besides, Ryan couldn¡¯t even hope to reach Kayden¡¯s level and knew it.


    Kayden destroyed the planet he was on, erasing all forms of life. He wouldn¡¯t leave any trace behind. In a flash, he teleported into the void, traveling at incredible speed through a series of teleportations. Within minutes, he had crossed a distance that even the fastest ships in existence could never cover.


    His goal was simple: to find a deserted planet where he could continue cultivating. Kayden had no plans to involve himself in worldly affairs for the foreseeable future. For the next thousands of years, perhaps even millennia, he intended to remain a complete unknown, practically a dead soul.


    "The resistance still lives, and we won¡¯t die easily. Rise, brothers; today, we are the victors!" Atlas stood holding the head of a demigod in his hands after one of the most insane battles this universe had ever seen.


    Hundreds of thousands of years had passed since the integration of the two universes began. For now, only the weaker demigods had been able to cross over, but they were more than enough to overwhelm all the mages of this universe. Atlas and the Honor had gathered in a corner of the universe, the most heavily fortified location. The rest had already fallen into the invaders¡¯ hands without any chance of recovery. Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Atlas and the Honor created tens of thousands of plans and countless runes to protect themselves from the demigods. Atlas had killed one of them at the beginning of it all, which bought them tens of thousands of years of safety. That was one of the rules of the immense game in which they were all participants.


    The new universe required an emperor¡ªa mage capable of forcing everyone to their knees with sheer power. At least, that¡¯s what a voice had told everyone in their minds.


    The new universe was divided into 20 regions, each vast and rich with unique resources. The laws of existence had been altered in specific ways within each region, though mortals were mostly unable to sense these changes. Each region was governed by a mage. These mages were crowned with golden crowns that made all the inhabitants of their regions respect and follow their commands subconsciously. Additionally, these crowns allowed them to communicate with all living beings in their regions effortlessly.


    This struggle for power was open to everyone. The only requirement was to defeat one of the gods ruling a region. Of course, millions of fools would try without a chance of success. For this reason, the crowns also acted as clones, capable of fighting off these challengers effortlessly. However, the heavens recognized true contenders, and those could not be ignored.


    The voice promised that whoever managed to unite ten regions first would be deemed the true ruler of this universe and receive the key to becoming a god, even for those whose futures were previously burned. This was the dream of every demigod.


    As a result, the battle for power was fiercely contested. None of the participants would ally with the others. There would be no alliances in this place because everyone sought the ultimate prize.


    It was a desire so intense that not even the most deranged demigods would ignore it. That¡¯s why there was an ungoverned Zone 21, the largest region located at the center of the universe. This zone housed all those who had yet to become rulers of any area, making it one of the most chaotic places. Most inhabitants there had not yet decided how to join the power struggles, waiting for the next major events in the universe.


    This was a battle that would last tens or even hundreds of millions of years. Grabbing an entire region early on only to lose it after a few million years was pointless. At least, that¡¯s what most believed. Those who claimed a region were either ridiculously confident or recklessly ignorant. In most cases, they were the weakest, with only a few being true competitors.


    Ordinary mortals had little concrete understanding of what was really happening. However, the madness of it all had touched their lives in one way or another, directly or indirectly. Everyone understood that a grand and insane war was unfolding¡ªone in which everyone could participate.


    This realization ignited a spark of greed in the hearts of 99% of all rational beings. The amount of mana in every region had increased through mechanisms no one could explain. Moreover, new treasures and mysterious phenomena began appearing without warning, and new geniuses were born every day.


    The average strength was growing at high speed, progress was unstoppable when promises were made to beings driven by primitive emotions, even the weakest of wizards dreamed of becoming masters of this universe. Atlas currently held one of the zones and fought for it with all his strength, it was the second demigod he had killed in these hundreds of thousands of years, this was enough for him to gain a fearsome reputation.

 Chapter 532: The return

    No one dared to face Atlas without first studying the scenario thoroughly. The second demigod was, in fact, merely being used as a scapegoat to test the mage. However, unfortunately for him, Atlas¡¯s level was far beyond what they had anticipated. It was not something that low-level demigods could confront, and even mid-level ones had to exercise a significant degree of caution and precaution.


    "Who are you?" A demigod was kneeling in the neutral zone, staring at a figure with black hair and eyes of the same color. His aura was entirely unique and utterly oppressive; there wasn¡¯t the slightest trace of weakness anywhere in it.


    "I am Kayden Heart," Kayden smiled as he released the pressure he had been exerting on the demigod. Moments ago, the man couldn¡¯t even breathe and had no idea why he was being spared.


    He was a fool who had tried to destroy one of the oldest worlds in this area. Legends spoke of a mage who roamed the region, a mage as ancient as time and as powerful as the strongest of magicians. No one knew when the rumors began, but they echoed for literally hundreds of thousands of years. Over time, this evolved into a hunt for weaker mages, then stronger ones. Yet, despite the efforts, no one had ever found anything¡ªat least until now.


    This region was a cluster of planets aligned in a straight line. Each planet had its own unique characteristics and treasures, but what made the region special was the subtle alteration in the laws of space-time. The planets in the line exhibited increasingly pronounced effects of these laws. This made it one of the most mysterious and, at the same time, one of the most impressive regions in the entire universe.


    Kayden hadn¡¯t participated in any battles for power; instead, he merely observed the changes happening across the universe. Early on, he was fortunate enough to discover this peculiar region. He began traveling between the planets long before they were inhabited. For some unknown reason, mages were naturally drawn to this place. Within just a few decades, the entire area had become civilized.


    Mages born in this region displayed talent far greater than normal. The mana here was much denser than elsewhere. Not only that, but Kayden personally witnessed the birth of mages who could manipulate space-time¡ªa rare talent, but one that was dozens of times more common here than on other planets.


    Kayden killed thousands of mages who tried to tamper with the laws of this region. Anyone who attempted to destroy its planets faced his wrath, which was delivered without mercy. Most of the time, these mages died without even being able to blink. In rare cases, they managed to blink once before perishing.


    The law of time was completely assimilated by Kayden during his journey, and at the same time, it became fully integrated into his soul. He forced these laws into himself without hesitation, achieving a level of power that defied comprehension.


    His sixth sense had expanded to an astonishing range of 10 billion kilometers and continued to grow, as though there were no limit to his strength. His growth followed no consistent pattern; some years, it would increase by only a few dozen kilometers, while in others, it surged by tens of millions. Though irregular, his progress was undeniably rapid.


    The power of one of his attacks, when combined with the conversion of all three planes into mana, was utterly terrifying. Furthermore, Kayden accomplished something extraordinary with his attacks: he removed the element of time itself. In a straight line, the space-time continuum would collapse entirely, allowing his attack to reach its target instantaneously.


    This might seem like a simple concept, but it enabled Kayden to kill someone instantly in a way that made it appear as if they had merely vanished. Only mages with a deep understanding of spatial manipulation could even begin to comprehend the mechanics behind his attacks. Kayden could bypass all defenses before him because none of them were superior to the force of time. Explaining the strength of his attacks at this point was nearly impossible; it was akin to trying to explain the third dimension to beings that had only ever existed in two.


    Yet, this wasn¡¯t even the pinnacle of Kayden¡¯s plans. He had devised a method to harness mana in quantities millions of times greater than what anyone had ever imagined. It was a feat so grand that even a god would likely be incapable of manipulating such an immense amount of mana. However, this plan would take millions¡ªor perhaps even billions¡ªof years to come to fruition. S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    At this moment, Kayden had yet to unleash a full-powered attack. There simply weren¡¯t any opponents strong enough for him to test his limits. Furthermore, he avoided drawing unnecessary attention while he focused on learning all he could from this cluster of planets. When he finally felt he had absorbed all the knowledge available, the presence of a demigod bent on destroying these planets reached him.


    To any truly powerful mage, it was evident that the laws in this region had been altered. With a little study, one could see how everything was interconnected. All that was needed was to strike at the hive to draw out the queen bee¡ªand that¡¯s precisely what the demigod did. But¡­


    "Why are you hiding here? Someone as powerful as you could dominate an entire area alone..." The demigod couldn¡¯t finish his sentence because Kayden silenced him with a single, deathly glance.


    "Run." Just one word, and the demigod felt as though he had reverted to a first-realm mage standing before a god. He hadn¡¯t even fought Kayden; the boy¡¯s aura alone had utterly crushed him. He couldn¡¯t recall the last time he had felt such overwhelming pressure.


    The truth was that Kayden¡¯s sixth sense had reached a level so far beyond comprehension that even the wildest imaginations failed to grasp it. Ten billion kilometers was an almost absurd range. It allowed him to traverse the entire universe within a few decades, without the need for teleportation devices¡ªa feat that was absolutely terrifying.

 Chapter 533: The time skip

    "What would the message be?" Kayden laughed like a madman.


    "You." Kayden severed the demigod¡¯s two arms in the blink of an eye. The mage barely managed to raise a barrier before being sliced apart. As the arms were cut off and completely evaporated, Kayden vanished.


    The demigod spent long minutes screaming in agony. He couldn¡¯t remember the last time he had felt such excruciating pain, nor the last time he had been utterly destroyed in a battle¡ªboth physically and mentally. He couldn¡¯t even comprehend what had happened. The message Kayden wanted to send was glaringly obvious.


    The demigod himself was the message. Kayden had returned to the universe, and the best way to communicate that was by showing he wasn¡¯t someone weak who could be intimidated. The demigod¡¯s arms would never heal¡ªnot in his lifetime¡ªbecause Kayden had cut directly through his soul alongside the physical limbs. This made recovery impossible through conventional means. Only an absolute peak-tier healer could possibly restore them.


    The message was crystal clear: someone capable of wounding a demigod at that level wasn¡¯t just anyone. Within days, Kayden¡¯s name was on the lips of every being across the universe. The demigod sought help from everyone he knew to heal him, even consulting his enemies in exchange for substantial offers. Yet, despite his efforts, he couldn¡¯t restore his arms. Another problem lingered: constant, unrelenting pain.


    "Who is he?" Atlas stood before an old man holding a wooden staff with a mystical appearance. This seemingly harmless elder was, in fact, one of the strongest demigods to ever exist. Not only that, but he was also among the oldest. Atlas knew he had no chance of defeating him in battle and was fully aware of this fact. Fortunately, he was still within the peace period granted by the heavens as a reward for his last fight.


    "He is known as Kayden Heart, one of the oldest mages in our universe and one of the most insane we¡¯ve ever seen. We don¡¯t know the limits of his strength, nor do we fully understand his true abilities." Atlas spoke with complete honesty. The elder didn¡¯t seem to harbor any malicious intentions toward them.


    "Between the two of you, who is stronger?" Atlas¡¯s pride took a hit, but he knew lying now would squander one of the best opportunities to forge new connections in his life.


    "In our last fight, I couldn¡¯t even touch his robes, and he wasn¡¯t even trying." Atlas felt a bitter taste in his mouth as he uttered those words. The old man raised an eyebrow.


    "What is your relationship with him? Could you arrange for me to meet him?" The elder was deeply intrigued by Kayden¡¯s peculiar powers. As one of the wisest and most ancient beings, he was a researcher by nature.


    "He¡¯s my former master. We don¡¯t have a friendly relationship at this point." A faint tone of hatred could be heard in Atlas¡¯s voice.


    "What else can you tell me? How dangerous is he?" The old man¡¯s question wasn¡¯t limited to raw strength but extended to other types of threats.


    "I think he¡¯s the most power-obsessed person to have ever existed." The elder smiled, his ego swelling. He had pursued strength for billions of years with little success and doubted that Kayden could be more determined than him.


    "I doubt that, boy." Atlas looked at the elder with a sly smile and shared one of the universe¡¯s most infamous atrocities. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Kayden planned to kill his soulmate while living with her for millions of years. He took her life as if it meant nothing." The elder¡¯s smile vanished. This was too much, something he could never imagine doing, even in his wildest dreams. It wasn¡¯t something any being should be capable of. "He can alter souls as easily as someone changes clothes. He spent billions of years in the same realm and the same location in space, simply cultivating. He has no emotional attachments to anything or anyone. His path is an enigma, but it seems to be an elevated version of the monarchs¡¯ path, on a level far superior to anything we¡¯ve ever seen. He could convert reality itself into mana on a scale of hundreds of millions of kilometers; today, that scale must be in the billions."


    The more Atlas spoke, the more the elder grasped the weight of a ten-ray mage¡¯s power. Despite being a demigod himself, he wasn¡¯t a ten-ray mage. His strength was incredibly high, but it was consistent with his rank and his lifespan. In contrast, Kayden and Atlas were mere mages without any of those advantages.


    Atlas continued divulging everything he knew about Kayden. Unfortunately, it wasn¡¯t much. Kayden was a true mystery¡ªhis origins unknown, his strength immeasurable, and his goals a complete enigma.


    "Thank you for this information, Mage Atlas. My name is Netero Hayashida. Consider us indebted to one another." With that brief introduction, the elder vanished, leaving Atlas deep in thought.


    The boy felt even more determined to train and surpass Kayden. To this day, he still hasn¡¯t resolved the issue from their last fight. He understood that the problem lay in Kayden¡¯s soul manipulation technique, but he could not fix it for now.


    Kayden was merely traveling through the void and reality, searching for something to aid his progress. Throughout this time, he never stopped cultivating. Doing both simultaneously had become second nature to him. Dividing his consciousness into multiple parts, each performing a different task, didn¡¯t strain his mind in the slightest.


    The conclusion he eventually reached was that he would have to venture into another universe. Unfortunately, such opportunities were exceedingly rare. There was simply nothing left in his current realm of strength¡ªno treasures to pursue, no events significant enough to capture his attention.


    "Hello, Kayden." A voice echoed from a distance, emanating from a peculiar talking stone.


    "Hello, Thoth. How are you?"


    "How did you recognize me?" Thoth was astonished. Kayden¡¯s growth rate was utterly insane. With every encounter, the boy¡¯s strength had increased terrifyingly. It was amusing, considering Thoth had never picked Kayden as his first choice.

 Chapter 534: The laws

    "Everyone has their secrets," Kayden replied briefly, waiting for Thoth to begin talking.


    "One of the strongest demigods in the universe is looking for you, but your control over space-time is making it almost impossible for anyone to find you." Thoth was interrupted by Kayden at that moment.


    "Except for a god like you, isn¡¯t that right?" Kayden smiled, and Thoth smiled back. It was a question disguised as an accusation, but Thoth wasn¡¯t going to fall for something so trivial. He didn¡¯t even bother answering.


    "He wants me to mediate a meeting between you two," Thoth said. Kayden thought for a moment and shook his head. He had no reason to meet another powerful mage, especially since he wasn¡¯t yet strong enough to resist a fight against them.


    "I don¡¯t want contact with other mages for now. I don¡¯t have the strength to stand against the great demigods." Thoth didn¡¯t hesitate before answering Kayden.


    "I can guarantee your safety during the meeting." Kayden smiled. He wouldn¡¯t fall for something like that again.


    "No. I¡¯ve already fallen for something like that before." Kayden had lost his life the last time he trusted Thoth blindly and wasn¡¯t about to make that mistake again.


    "You know that if I wanted to kill you, there¡¯s nothing stopping me, don¡¯t you?" Thoth made a threat while smiling at Kayden.


    "You won¡¯t. I¡¯m your best bet for your goals. I used to be just one of your plans, but now I¡¯m the best in this universe," Kayden replied, smiling confidently.


    "Your confidence is disgusting. How can you be so sure? In just a few steps, I brought dozens of mages to the same power level as you. What makes you think I can¡¯t find even greater people?" It was chilling to realize how much of the universe was under Thoth¡¯s control.


    A being capable of manipulating all the gods in the universe to leave their homes and uniting everyone with a plan under the same cause¡ªThoth was truly the most frightening mage in the universe. Not even a god had power on his level.


    "Potential," Kayden replied with a single word.


    "Everyone has potential. I could turn any of the demigods into true gods, and they¡¯d probably be stronger than you," Thoth said, still pushing Kayden with a smile.


    "No, Thoth. They wouldn¡¯t have greater potential than mine." Kayden smiled but didn¡¯t elaborate. Thoth had no way to confirm Kayden¡¯s words, and this was one of his favorite amusements.


    Thoth was a ************. The problem was that if he **********, it would be impossible for the laws of chaos to function. His only tools were his ability to predict and manipulate. That¡¯s why he discarded Kayden long ago, and now Kayden was his greatest enigma. Thoth had no idea how vast Kayden¡¯s potential truly was.


    "What are your plans?" Thoth hated being left in the dark, but he also loved it¡ªit made everything more interesting.


    Kayden responded with nothing but a silent smile. He wouldn¡¯t reveal anything for free, and unless Thoth made a worthwhile offer, all he¡¯d receive was silence.


    "Come find me when you change your mind." Thoth vanished before Kayden could answer. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Time continued to pass at an accelerated pace. Kayden never stopped progressing. His power had reached an absurd level, and he showed no signs of slowing down. He didn¡¯t feel the constraints that realms typically imposed. There was no ceiling for his abilities within his current stage, which was insane.


    Meanwhile, a new problem arose in the universe. Events spiraled into chaos as a frantic treasure hunt began in the universe¡¯s center. Small comets started flying across the cosmos, carrying stones containing pure laws. Any mage who obtained them could learn the secrets of the laws. This sparked one of the largest migrations of mages in history.


    Previously, only 5% of the universe¡¯s population lived in the core. Now, over 60% had moved there. The remaining 40% were mages too weak to fight or too cowardly to try. Any mage with even a bit of courage or ambition chased after these stones, especially after Jonas.


    Jonas was an ordinary mage of the fourth realm with seven lightning marks. He was strong, but nothing extraordinary¡ªuntil he became the first to find a stone containing the Law of Wind. From that moment on, his growth was ridiculously fast. In just a few thousand years, he mastered the law completely, becoming a mortal capable of wielding it.


    This immediately placed Jonas at the top of the universe. His strength was beyond question. He was just one step below the demigods. Aside from them, Jonas was the strongest person alive. The weight of a law could only be countered by another law. Without one, any confrontation would be a massacre. When Kayden heard about Jonas, he was curious but quickly lost interest after some thought.


    Jonas had power, but he lacked talent. He would never be able to cause the same destruction as someone like Zeus, for example. He would never reach that level¡ªor, at least, the odds were astronomically low. Kayden wouldn¡¯t place his bets on him.


    After Jonas mastered the law and was coerced into revealing its secrets by some rather unpleasant mages, a new era began in the universe. A frenzied race for the laws ensued. Even the demigods joined the chase. Everyone wanted these laws. It was an opportunity that would never come again in anyone¡¯s lifetime.


    This included Kayden. He, too, was searching for the laws. However, he doubted he would integrate any of them into his arsenal. Doing so might ruin his own path, which was, in essence, its own law. Therefore, Kayden had to tread carefully when dealing with the laws. Still, the opportunity was too good to pass up.


    His heightened senses, combined with his ability to teleport through space, made him one of the fastest beings in the universe. Traversing vast distances was ridiculously easy for Kayden at this point. His spatial jumps far exceeded the speed of light.

 Chapter 535: Netero

    The more Kayden delved into understanding space and advanced his cultivation, the more he grasped the fundamental laws of the universe. One of these was the law of balance¡ªeverything tended toward a natural equilibrium. If life diminished too rapidly in one area, the universe increased birthrates elsewhere. If space was consumed, mana would surge in another location.


    Kayden began a small experiment... one that was far from ethical. He was destroying entire planets along with all life on them. His speed of destruction was astonishing¡ªhe was annihilating hundreds of planets per day without even focusing his full attention on it. Within just a few days, his name started spreading across the universe.


    Kayden was already famous before, but now he gained notoriety among the universe¡¯s newer residents. Fear gripped everyone¡¯s minds¡ªwould their planet be the next to disappear? The irony was that, despite his actions, Kayden couldn¡¯t feel a significant impact on the law of balance. It would likely take millennia of such destruction to create any measurable effect.


    The number of planets in the universe was staggeringly large, likely surpassing trillions with ease¡ªthis was a conservative estimate from Kayden himself. His actions had an almost negligible effect on the grand scheme of things. Still, he persisted; it was an excellent model for study.


    Another minor detail was that Kayden hypothesized he might be improving the quality of mana in the universe through this method. It was just a theory, but it seemed plausible. Perhaps he could achieve something akin to Yan, albeit on a ridiculously smaller scale. In the distant future, he might even reach the level of the Father God. His ultimate goal, however, was to devour the entire universe in order to truly study the laws of balance.


    A few years later, Kayden had yet to encounter even a single law drifting aimlessly through space. The stones containing laws had no detectable mana signature; they were ridiculously difficult to find, a matter of luck more than skill. By this time, Kayden¡¯s name had spread rapidly.


    The fame he once held as a "creator of monsters" was entirely replaced. Now, he was Kayden, the Destroyer of Worlds. Tens of thousands of worlds had been annihilated by him. During one extraordinary moment when he destroyed over a hundred planets in a single strike, he finally managed to sense the law of balance.


    In that moment, he felt the universe¡¯s mana flowing back at an absurdly high speed, almost instantaneously reforesting the affected area with divine mana. The ten billion kilometers of destruction he had caused were replenished within seconds. This heightened rate of recovery occurred because the combined destruction of life and consumption of space released a quantity of mana far beyond anything Kayden had ever manipulated before.


    This triggered the activation of the law of balance, albeit only for a few seconds. But Kayden¡¯s innate talent allowed him to perceive these alterations perfectly. What shocked him most was realizing that the law of balance wasn¡¯t a single law¡ªit was a composite of dozens of intertwined laws. The law of imbalance, the law of chaos, the law of weights, the law of mana conservation, the law of exhaustion¡ªthere were dozens more that Kayden couldn¡¯t even name.


    The truth was that the law of balance simultaneously existed and didn¡¯t exist. It was an enigma Kayden wasn¡¯t yet capable of answering. He would need to study extensively before he could fully understand this law. Nonetheless, it became his closest objective, as it aligned perfectly with his path and techniques.


    If Kayden could manipulate the laws of balance, he could use mana on an even more terrifying scale. He could convert the same space into mana dozens of times without difficulty. This would elevate him far beyond his current level¡ªby dozens of tiers. However, this was a plan that would take millions of years to achieve. S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Time began to pass rapidly. Centuries flew by in the blink of an eye. New mages capable of wielding laws started appearing frequently. Initially, they were suppressed and hunted by the demigods. But one of the demigods issued a universal decree, which was also a veiled threat: these individuals were to be left alone.


    Kayden shared this sentiment. Once a stone was used by a mage, it became useless to anyone else. It couldn¡¯t impart its secrets to another, making it a waste of time to chase after these mages. Furthermore, having more powerful individuals at the universe¡¯s peak was beneficial. It naturally raised the standard for those striving to ascend the ranks.


    "Finally, we meet," Kayden heard a voice just after obliterating an entire planet as if it were no more than air. He turned to his side and immediately realized he was in trouble.


    A few million kilometers away stood an old man holding a mystical-looking staff. At first glance, he seemed like nothing more than a harmless, ordinary elder. But his soul told Kayden an entirely different story.


    The old man appeared frail, with a slightly hunched posture and simple robes that floated softly in the void of space, worn and weathered by countless ages. His face was deeply etched with wrinkles that seemed to hold the stories of innumerable civilizations, and his eyes, though clouded, gleamed with an ancient and unfathomable knowledge¡ªas if they had witnessed the universe¡¯s birth. The staff in his hand, rustic and adorned with indecipherable symbols, pulsed subtly, emanating a mystical aura that distorted the space around it, as though reality itself feared to touch it.


    Despite his stillness, he radiated an overwhelming presence¡ªa force as silent as an endless abyss. Kayden knew that behind the man¡¯s ordinary appearance lay a power capable of challenging the very foundations of balance.


    Kayden quickly understood that running wasn¡¯t an option. He felt the runes surrounding the space locking his teleportation abilities in place¡ªat least without significant effort. No one should have been able to surpass his control within his sixth sense, yet this old man was creating an incomprehensible distortion around him.

 Chapter 536: Netero[2]

    "Who are you?" Kayden maintained his composure, showing no fear. The old man raised an eyebrow at Kayden¡ª not even Atlas had ever demonstrated such confidence when speaking to him.


    "I am Netero Hayashida, the First Demigod." Netero released his full aura against Kayden, a pressure eerily similar to what a god could unleash. Yet Kayden calmly continued the conversation.


    "If you sought me out, you already know who I am. What do you want?" His neutral, emotionless tone prompted Netero to withdraw his aura. This was no ordinary person, nor someone who would be intimidated by power. On the contrary, Netero could see clearly in Kayden¡¯s eyes that it would be a battle to the death if he started a fight.


    Kayden valued his life immensely, but if escape were impossible, he would fight to the very end. It was like the famous adage: What do you do when you see something stronger than you? Run. And if it¡¯s bigger than you? Run. But what if it¡¯s bigger, faster, and stronger? Die with honor.


    "I believe we could exchange some insights. Your path and the way you built your strength intrigue me greatly," Netero said, piquing Kayden¡¯s curiosity. For the first time, Kayden raised an eyebrow. He hadn¡¯t expected such a proposal.


    "What do you know about the law of balance?" It was the only thing Kayden wanted at that moment. What he didn¡¯t expect was that Netero actually knew something.


    "I know some of the 100 laws that compose it." When Kayden heard the number 100, his eyes nearly fell out of their sockets. It was an absurdly high number. This wouldn¡¯t be a project spanning mere millennia¡ªit would take tens or even hundreds of millions of years.


    "We can make this exchange. What do you want to know?" Kayden was willing to offer everything he knew in exchange for more knowledge. His entire life was built on that principle.


    "What can you tell me? How many secrets?" Netero was an avid hoarder of knowledge and had lost count of how many times he had asked this same question. Most mages tried to hide things from him or refused to share their deepest secrets.


    "Everything," Kayden replied simply. Netero tried to discern the catch, the trap Kayden was preparing. But there was none¡ªno word games, just one clear word with a straightforward meaning.


    Netero took a few more seconds, waiting for Kayden to finish his sentence. When he realized there was nothing else, he saw that Kayden was being truthful. His mana was completely stable, with not a hint of deceit.


    "Everything?" Netero repeated. sea??h th§× ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Yes," Kayden answered without hesitation. Netero smiled, thinking it was a joke, and began asking Kayden about the core aspects of his techniques. But...


    "I want a vow before the heavens first. In exchange for all my knowledge, I want everything you know and can teach me about the law of balance." At that moment, Netero finally believed Kayden was serious.


    "I swear before the heavens to answer all of Kayden¡¯s questions to the best of my ability. In return, he must do the same for me," Netero declared, and the heavens responded instantly with a thunderbolt, confirming his vow.


    "I swear before the heavens to answer all of Netero¡¯s questions to the best of my ability. In return, he must do the same for me," Kayden followed suit, and the heavens again responded with a thunderbolt. Although it was the same vow, Kayden didn¡¯t actually need to fulfill his side of the promise.


    "What is your path?" Netero asked the first question.


    "The Monarch of One¡¯s Self." This was the first time Netero had heard of such a path. He had encountered dozens of monarchs in his life, but most were simply rulers with titles, lacking anything beyond that.


    "What are the laws that make up the law of balance?" Kayden asked. He began to receive the names of laws, some of which he had never even heard of before.


    "The law of mana conservation, the law of exhaustion, the law of weights, the law of convergence, the law of flow, the law of harmony, the law of dynamic balance, the law of rupture, the law of compression, and the law of return..." Netero listed ten in a single breath. "These are the ones I know. The rest are..." The old man proceeded to rattle off 90 more laws as if they were nothing.


    Kayden fell deep into thought. This would be a project spanning billions of years. But in return, his strength would ascend to an unimaginable level. He couldn¡¯t even comprehend how powerful he would become, as mana would essentially become infinite for him at that point. There would be no limits on when everything could be returned to balance.


    The problem was that it was all a gamble. Kayden might have spent an unfathomable amount of time learning this law, only to discover it was useless for his path. It was an incredibly risky bet, but if there was one thing Kayden loved, it was risk. Great opportunities arose from great risks.


    "How does your path make you so strong?" Netero asked. Kayden had to think for a moment before answering.


    "I¡¯ve embedded at least two incomplete laws and modified my soul to a degree that no mortal could likely achieve in their lifetime," Kayden said. He continued answering Netero¡¯s questions without fear, and in return, he gained knowledge equivalent to tens of thousands of years¡¯ worth of study about the laws.


    Kayden learned everything from how to acquire the laws to the order in which they should be prioritized. Netero truly possessed an astonishing depth of knowledge. He was practically a living library.


    "Why do you share your secrets so freely?" Netero asked a question Kayden had been asked dozens of times in his life.


    "What makes you a master of something? Being the best at what you do because there are no competitors? Or truly being the best?" Kayden¡¯s words struck Netero like a bolt of lightning. "I am the master of my knowledge. It doesn¡¯t matter how many people copy me¡ªI am unique. I am a mage of ten lightning bolts."


    Kayden¡¯s tone carried no arrogance, but his words were filled with pride.

 Chapter 537: Netero[3]

    A man capable of rising from absolute nothingness to the point of annihilating the strongest mages in the universe as if they were nothing¡ªa man who created paths never before seen. Kayden was truly a unique warrior, deserving of his title. His achievements defied comprehension, and his journey was nothing short of legendary.


    Their conversation spanned years, a dialogue between two individuals with extraordinary knowledge. On one side stood Netero, a mage who had accumulated wisdom for hundreds of billions of years, studying the universe¡¯s deepest mysteries. On the other side stood Kayden, a mage who had defied all conventions, forging a completely new path and ascending to the peak of existence through his own efforts.


    Netero, known for his unparalleled teaching abilities, became an invaluable guide for Kayden during this time. Under his mentorship, Kayden swiftly grasped the basics of countless laws¡ªprinciples that many would spend millennia merely attempting to understand. What truly set him apart was his ability to feel the intricate web of universal laws at play. Among them, the laws of balance resonated with him the most, revealing the seamless and unaltered flow of the universe¡¯s rhythm.


    "This is terrifying," Netero muttered under his breath as he witnessed Kayden master the incomplete law of flows in just a single decade. Such a feat was unprecedented. For Netero, who had dedicated countless years to studying the nuances of universal laws, this achievement felt surreal. To master even a fragment of a law required intense focus, study, and adaptation. But Kayden? He did it as if the universe itself bent to his will.


    In that moment, Netero realized he stood before a being of extraordinary talent¡ªperhaps the most gifted this universe had ever produced. Kayden¡¯s intellect was matched only by his indomitable will. Across all their years together, not once had Netero seen him falter. Even in the face of the most challenging concepts, Kayden displayed unwavering determination, his mind as unyielding as iron.


    "Are you capable of doing the same with my soulmate?" Netero asked one day, a glimmer of envy in his voice. For the first time in countless eons, he felt the pangs of inadequacy. Kayden¡¯s abilities exceeded anything he had ever witnessed.


    "No," Kayden replied bluntly. "That is something only you can achieve." Manipulating soulmates was an extraordinarily complex task, one Kayden had no interest in pursuing. It required a profound understanding of both souls involved¡ªan undertaking that would span millions of years. To Kayden, the endeavor was an unnecessary distraction from his primary goal: mastering the laws of balance.


    Despite this, Kayden¡¯s mastery of the new law brought tangible improvements to his abilities. His mana manipulation reached an unparalleled level of precision. He could now create a mana flow so perfect that it became invisible to even the most perceptive mages. Space itself could be consumed under his influence, and yet, no one would detect the disturbance. The sheer perfection of his technique rendered him a ghost within the fabric of the universe.


    "I must bid you farewell, Master Kayden," Netero said one day, his tone resolute. Their time together had opened new doors for Netero, revealing paths he had never considered. Yet, he knew this journey was one he needed to continue alone. Though Kayden offered assistance in manipulating his soul, Netero declined. It was a task he believed he needed to complete on his own.


    "It was a pleasure meeting you, Master Netero," Kayden replied sincerely. He had grown fond of the old mage. Despite their differences, they shared an obsession with power and self-improvement. For both, knowledge and strength were inseparable companions on their paths to greatness.


    Their encounter, though unexpected, proved immensely rewarding for both. Kayden gained profound insights into universal laws, while Netero discovered new avenues to explore in his pursuit of ultimate understanding. It was a meeting that neither would forget, a convergence of minds driven by relentless ambition.


    With Netero¡¯s departure, Kayden resumed his solitary journey. His quest for answers remained unchanged. The universe, vast beyond comprehension, allowed him to continue his destructive experiments without disrupting its overall balance. By the time he returned to a previous location, entire planets would have been recreated by the universe¡¯s natural processes.


    Time became a blur as Kayden immersed himself in his studies. Thousands of years passed in what felt like mere moments. Isolated from the rest of existence, Kayden pursued the laws of balance with singular focus. His strength grew exponentially, but he remained oblivious to the turmoil brewing across the cosmos.


    Netero, one of the strongest demigods, had vanished in pursuit of his own objectives. His absence created chaos among the demigods, who now vied for dominance without a clear leader. The balance of power shifted, and the universe fell into a state of flux. Though a few demigods matched Netero in strength, most remained inactive, uncertain of the unfolding events. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Meanwhile, the mortal realm experienced an unprecedented surge in power. The merging of universes brought an influx of mana, accelerating the development of talents. Specific regions of the universe began producing unique treasures, allowing individuals with matching affinities to advance at remarkable speeds.


    Among these treasures were the mysterious law stones¡ªartifacts that granted insight into universal principles. Strangely, no demigod had managed to find these stones. Instead, they seemed to gravitate toward ordinary mortals. Though some of these mortals rose to rival the power of demigods, none were able to surpass them.


    The first mage to discover a law stone accomplished an extraordinary feat, claiming an entire zone by defeating a demigod. However, the victory came at a great cost. The mage perished shortly after due to exhaustion. This event underscored a crucial truth: strength alone was not enough to triumph. Experience and longevity¡ªa disparity that heavily favored the demigods¡ªplayed a pivotal role in such confrontations.


    The cycle of mortal life continued unabated. New geniuses rose, and countless others fell, their lives consumed by the relentless march of time. Meanwhile, Kayden remained undeterred, his focus unwavering. Year after year, he inched closer to mastering the laws he sought, his power growing with each passing moment.


    After millions of years, Kayden finally reached the absolute pinnacle of his realm. His size expanded to an unfathomable 20 billion kilometers¡ªa scale that defied logic. His mastery over teleportation was unmatched, allowing him to move faster than any mage in the universe. At this point, only a god could hope to rival his speed.

 Chapter 538: The Decimator of Worlds

    Even the fastest among the demigods could not fully keep up with Kayden¡¯s movements. At best, they could predict some of his shifts, but nothing beyond that. When Kayden reached the limits of his realm, an unsettling feeling took over him. He sensed that this was not his true limit, but rather something preventing him from further growth.


    In response, Kayden fell into a frenzy, consuming hundreds of worlds every day. He became an unavoidable presence throughout the universe, his name echoing like a shadow of destruction. His slaughter reached such scale that it began to destabilize one of the universal zones. Entire regions became dead zones, incapable of sustaining life or mana.


    The massacre reached colossal proportions, and the demigods could no longer ignore him. Eventually, two of them found Kayden during one of his bloodbaths. He made no effort to hide, and was easily found this time.


    Zarathar, imposing and menacing, was a figure who inspired both reverence and fear. His skin, black as obsidian, reflected the vastness of the cosmos, while his silver eyes pulsed with an ethereal glow. His living armor, seemingly with a mind of its own, throbbed like a heart, transmitting raw power. The space around him curved under the weight of his aura, reflecting the immutability of his strength.


    Lyssira, on the other hand, seemed to embody the perfect balance between creation and destruction. Her translucent blue skin glowed with an internal energy, while her eyes swirled like vortexes, devouring the light around her. Strands of golden mana and crystal fragments floated around her, forming an almost celestial halo. Her sharp aura seemed to trap everything around her in an invisible web.


    In contrast, Kayden was surprisingly ordinary in appearance, with no aura or discernible presence. He seemed insignificant compared to the majesty of the demigods who had come to confront him. But as he sensed the aggression of the auras emanating from the two, Kayden released his own presence, a movement that completely altered the dynamic of the encounter.


    Suddenly, his aura dominated the environment, expanding like an irresistible wave. All forms of life around him were instantly suppressed, and even the mana in the air became still, as if the very universe had paused to witness his manifestation.


    The faces of the demigods contorted in visible fear. They could not comprehend what they were facing. Kayden¡¯s presence was overwhelming, as if the weight of an entire world was upon them, taking away any possibility of escape or resistance.


    "What do you want?" Kayden questioned, his voice reverberating in a beam of mana that sliced through the absolute silence.


    Even under pressure, the demigods were not beginners in the ways of combat mages. Zarathar responded, though his voice carried a slight tremor:


    "Your massacres... they must be stopped."


    Kayden smiled upon hearing the words. It was a smile of disdain, from someone who knew exactly the position of power they occupied.


    "And who will stop me? You?" His response was laced with provocation, and a clear refusal to halt his destruction.


    Lyssira, regaining some composure, replied:


    "We have an extensive group of mages, Kayden. Not all demigods have the strength to claim a domain of their own. That is why we united forces to dominate the center of this universe. We may not be the strongest, but we are the majority."


    Kayden understood their intentions. With an ironic smile, he responded:


    "The worms that feed on the scraps."


    The response filled the two demigods with rage. Zarathar was the first to reveal his intent to kill.


    "We were about to invite you, but it seems that death is a better path for you."


    Kayden wasted no time with words. He channeled his mana, converting the three surrounding planes into pure energy. Before the demigods could react, he unleashed an attack in the form of a single, devastating lightning bolt. S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Mages of this caliber avoided direct conflicts whenever possible. The consequences of such battles were catastrophic, and the possibility of mutual destruction made any confrontation a last resort. However, Kayden ignored these conventions.


    The demigods raised a massive mana network, adorned with black and gold runes. It was a colossal defensive barrier, spanning millions of kilometers in the blink of an eye. However, defense was not their specialty. Both were primarily close-combat fighters, and the barrier, though powerful, was insufficient.


    Kayden¡¯s spell transcended space-time itself. Before they could understand what was happening, the bolt consumed Lyssira completely. She disappeared in the blink of an eye, with no chance to even react. One demigod had fallen, erased by a single attack.


    The space around them was shattered. The universe, in response, poured mana in a desperate attempt to restore balance. Kayden watched impassively, as he always did. To him, it was almost comical to see the universe reconstruct itself in mere minutes, reaffirming its incapacity to truly harm him.


    Zarathar, on the other hand, was paralyzed. The intent to kill him had disappeared completely. He knew his life was hanging by a thread, sustained only by Kayden¡¯s whim. When his eyes met Kayden¡¯s, he felt as though he were staring into an endless abyss. There was no emotion, no satisfaction, no anger in Kayden¡¯s eyes. He had killed Lyssira not for pleasure, but to send a message.


    "Next time, bring better mages." Kayden¡¯s words echoed through the void before he disappeared, leaving behind a devastated region and a humiliated demigod.


    Moments later, the universe finally restored balance, flooding the space with a new wave of mana. Zarathar, still stunned, tried to threaten Kayden, but before he could finish, he received a slap that sent him flying. He didn¡¯t even feel the space being distorted; it was clear what Kayden meant. One more word, and he would be dead.


    Millions of years later, as Kayden continued his slaughter and gained notoriety as "The World Exterminator," he encountered a familiar figure once again: Netero. After a long absence, the old mage appeared before Kayden.


    "Hello, Netero. How can I assist you?" Kayden greeted his acquaintance in a friendly manner, having faced no more unpleasant surprises since asserting his dominance over the weaker demigods. He continued to gain fame while laying waste to the universe.


    Netero, however, seemed frustrated. He had spent all this time studying the mysteries of the soul, yet had made no progress. Altering one¡¯s own soul was a Herculean task, filled with unimaginable pain and complexities that even his vast experience couldn¡¯t overcome.

 Chapter 539: The Event

    "The universe is starting some new things¡ªtournaments and events without risk of death. I wanted to propose a trade." Netero smiled at Kayden. "I¡¯d like some private lessons on souls in exchange for information on how to grasp a few of the laws of balance in just a few years."


    Kayden raised an eyebrow. It was, in his opinion, an extremely fair deal.


    "How much time?" Kayden asked, unwilling to spend thousands or millions of years teaching someone else.


    "A few decades at least. In exchange, I¡¯ll teach you one of the laws I know during this time," Netero replied.


    Kayden thought this was an excellent trade¡ªinvesting some time to take a significant leap in understanding the laws of balance.


    "What are these tournaments about?" Kayden recalled similar actions by the heavens in ancient times, but it seemed like they had disappeared in recent years.


    "Each area will send 90 of its best fighters to compete, with 10 additional participants chosen directly by the universe. Only demigods are excluded, as we are neither gods nor mortals. This means it will be a direct competition among mages who have mastered the laws of the stones¡ªand you two, the mages of ten rays."


    Kayden raised an eyebrow again.


    "I don¡¯t officially belong to any area. How will the universe allocate me?"


    Netero answered with something Kayden had already suspected.


    "The central area is where all unaffiliated mages are gathered. However, those who identify with a specific area can compete for their places there."


    "And the rewards?" Kayden had no interest in fighting for honor or recognition.


    "The best will receive incomplete law stones of their choice. The rest will get random treasures of lesser importance, but even those are extraordinary."


    At that moment, Kayden became extremely interested. There was nothing faster than this to achieve his goals. His realm¡¯s ceiling had been reached, but it could be broken. To do so, he would have to take some unconventional paths, one of which was mastering a law that perfectly complemented his current path.


    "This feels like an attempt by the heavens to regulate the power of mages in this universe," Kayden remarked.


    Netero nodded in agreement.


    "The demigods dominated this universe far too easily. That forced the heavens to react before everything here was lost."


    "How long did it take you to learn these soul-related abilities?" Netero asked Kayden on a random day, decades later.


    "A few billion years, maybe tens of billions," Kayden replied, unsure of the exact time he had spent in Licht¡¯s soul prison and the river of souls. His sense of time was extremely distorted and confused during that period.


    Netero raised his eyebrows. He hadn¡¯t expected Kayden to be so old, nor that his skill took so long to refine. Yet, it made sense. Soul manipulation was undoubtedly on par with space-time manipulation in terms of complexity and difficulty.


    "That¡¯s quite a long time."


    Kayden nodded in agreement. Their conversation was interrupted by a subtle change in the skies above. Golden clouds appeared throughout the universe, wherever living beings existed.


    The golden clouds hovered like a celestial veil, radiating an oppressive light that seemed to pierce through to the very bones. Their presence thickened the air, making it dense and suffocating, as though the universe itself was silently observing. Everything around seemed to bow to their majestic authority.


    "The heavens open to the brave. Those at the absolute peak of their zones who wish to claim the remaining ten spots may ascend toward the heavens," a voice echoed in everyone¡¯s minds.


    "Let¡¯s go. Demigods can observe the event," Netero said. He and Kayden began ascending through the clouds. The sensation was heavy as if they were confronting the entire universe. The clouds seemed like two immense eyes watching the vastness of existence. S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    As soon as Kayden and Netero passed through the clouds, they were teleported to another place¡ªa flawless world of perfect grass and a golden sky. Beyond this, there was nothing else in sight, just an infinite expanse of grass and the two of them.


    "This place is an endless prison," Netero murmured. Kayden nodded. His sixth sense, which was extraordinarily vast, couldn¡¯t perceive the edges of this world.


    "You have one year to leave this world," the heavens¡¯ voice declared. It spoke no more, offering neither recommendations nor rules to follow.


    "I didn¡¯t expect to compete for a spot among the top ten," Kayden murmured, showing no urgency to leave the place.


    "Probably the best were already selected. The weaker ones couldn¡¯t even fly to the heavens," Netero remarked.


    Kayden began studying the environment. After a few seconds, he opted for the simplest method.


    The space around him began to shatter mercilessly. Kayden acted like a colossal black hole, consuming everything in his surroundings. There was no pause as he caused the world to collapse entirely. The law of balance was absent, allowing him to devour space using only the law of space itself.


    The mana Kayden was accumulating was astonishing. He teleported in the blink of an eye, consuming even more. This was something he couldn¡¯t do in the normal universe, where the law of balance would draw from nearby areas to reconstruct what he destroyed. Here, however, everything was restored almost instantly.


    Kayden took advantage of this opportunity to experiment with his primary lightning spell and test the limits of his mana conversion. After several months of experimentation, he decided it was enough.


    In one final act, Kayden destroyed the planet¡¯s space in such a way that it became impossible to reconstruct quickly. Then, without hesitation, he leaped into the void he had created.


    Kayden and Netero appeared in another world similar to the previous one, but the difference was that the grass in this one was golden, in addition there were other people in this environment, there were about ten thousand magicians from different kingdoms and classes, many of them had a frightening aura, but not even one of them was able to make Kayden lower himself to using anything beyond his basic techniques.

 Chapter 540: Battle of areas[1]

    Merry Christmas my dear readers


    The time they had spent in the other world now seemed meaningless, as everyone here appeared to have arrived at the same moment. Most likely, a small temporal dilation spell had resolved that issue.


    "Welcome, everyone. The ten strongest mages will be selected for the next stages. The last ten standing will earn the right to progress in our tournament," announced a voice. The instructions were straightforward¡ªthis was simply a war among the strongest mages in the sector.


    Kayden watched as hundreds of spells were launched almost instantly. Many of these mages possessed the power to destroy entire planets with a mere flick of their fingers. It was then that Kayden truly grasped how far he had evolved. Among the chaos of spells being cast, not a single one posed even the slightest threat to him. His mana shield wouldn¡¯t even budge against their efforts.


    "Once we reach the top, it¡¯s hard to find anyone on our level," Netero remarked, observing the battle unfolding below them.


    "Indeed. It¡¯s like watching children pretend to fight," Kayden replied, his tone indifferent. He had no intention of joining the fray. His plan was simple: wait until the others eliminated each other, then defeat the last remaining mage to secure the tenth position. He could easily annihilate everyone in the arena, but that would be disrespectful to the event¡¯s organizers.


    As time passed, the weaker mages fell in the initial hours of battle. However, those with real power lasted for days, even weeks, without showing signs of fatigue. Kayden continued to wait, observing and studying everything he could. Occasionally, he intervened to assist a few mages who displayed unique abilities, ensuring they had a chance to showcase their potential.


    After three weeks, only ten mages remained standing. Without hesitation, Kayden eliminated one of them with a simple lightning attack. It was so swift and overwhelming that the target didn¡¯t even have a chance to defend themselves. The mage was utterly obliterated, leaving no trace behind.


    The remaining nine mages froze, their eyes scanning the battlefield in confusion. None of them understood what had just happened, but when they saw Kayden hovering in the air, they fell silent. S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    This wasn¡¯t a stealth attack. It was a blatant display of power so overwhelming that none of them could even comprehend the event, let alone counter it. The nine survivors realized they were only alive because Kayden hadn¡¯t chosen them as his target.


    Before anyone could utter a word, the world shifted again. They found themselves standing on another plain, similar to the first. However, this time, an enormous river split the terrain, separating two large groups of mages. On one side stood the hundred strongest mages from one sector, and on the other, another hundred mages from a different sector. It didn¡¯t take a genius to deduce what was coming: a team battle.


    "Congratulations to all who have reached this stage. The second phase begins now¡ªa simple battle of one hundred versus one hundred. Anything is permitted," the heavens proclaimed, their booming voice confirming everyone¡¯s suspicions. "Each team has one month to establish leadership and devise strategies."


    With that, the event officially commenced. Almost immediately, the mages in the area began to radiate their auras, asserting their presence and dominance. None of them were timid kittens¡ªthey were apex predators. The only one who did nothing was Kayden, who merely observed the unfolding situation.


    "I will take leadership," declared one of the mages who had already proven their worth in the earlier challenge. The other eighty-nine mages readily accepted his claim. The remaining ten, who were new additions to the group, had no choice but to follow suit. Of course, there was one exception: Kayden. He could have wiped out every mage present without breaking a sweat, but he chose to remain silent, allowing the group to proceed with their plans.


    Kayden had no intention of involving himself unless absolutely necessary. He would only intervene if his team was on the brink of defeat. That seemed like the proper course of action, ensuring that power and rewards didn¡¯t fall into the hands of fools who didn¡¯t deserve them. The heavens were watching everything, and even those who lost had chances of receiving rewards later.


    Netero remained with Kayden, both of them floating invisibly above the battlefield. The higher Kayden ascended in power, the less he concerned himself with the affairs of mortals. At this moment, he was merely a passive observer. Meanwhile, the mages below erected defensive runes and support structures across the area. Kayden had to admit, the chosen leader was a highly competent individual.


    The man conducted dozens of training sessions to assess the strengths of every mage. While the eighty-nine he had brought with him were already well-known, they still needed to be refined and integrated with the remaining nine. The group¡¯s overall strength was immense, but their ability to work as a team was laughably poor. However, the fear of the demigods was enough to compel them into cooperation.


    The central zone boasted the highest concentration of demigods, who had chosen this group to lead. These mortals were the pinnacle of their kind, meticulously trained by the demigods themselves.


    On the other side, things were starkly different. Leadership had been seized by a group of ten mages, resulting in complete disarray. There was no strong leader among them, and the ninety other mages had no familiarity or camaraderie with one another. This was shaping up to be a technical massacre.


    It didn¡¯t take long for the central zone team to notice the absence of one mage among their ranks. Kayden was nowhere to be found, and no one could locate him. Those who had witnessed his power during the previous challenge remained silent, unwilling to stir the hornet¡¯s nest.


    "The battle of the zones begins now. Good luck to all!" After a month of preparation, the heavens declared the event underway. For a few minutes, neither side made a move, both awaiting orders from their respective leaders.


    The opposing zone, identified as Zone 12, had undergone a leadership change just a few years prior. Their current demigod leader was notoriously negligent, exploiting the zone¡¯s resources while leaving its governance to mortals.

 Chapter 541: Battle of areas[2]

    Patience was one of the greatest virtues, and in moments of tension, it became one of the key factors. At this moment, the leader of Area 12 decided to go on the offensive. His arrogance was extremely high, but it was not without reason. Kayden was absolutely certain that this was the strongest hand in the two zones.


    "Forward!" A single word marked the start of the battle. All the mages from Zone 12 began their synchronized attacks, prioritizing the extermination of as many enemy mages as possible. S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    At the moment the leader of Zone 12 raised his hand and ordered the advance, chaos took form. The golden clouds, once a symbol of peace, became the stage for a spectacle of destruction. One of the mages started with a spell that twisted space-time itself, creating rifts that consumed everything around them like a hungry abyss. Another, next to him, invoked a shower of meteors wrapped in black flames, with explosions ripping the ground apart, reducing even mountains to dust. Mages from the rear launched waves of crystalline arcane energy, which surged forward like tsunamis, swallowing everything in their path, while complex runes glowed on their bodies, showing how deeply connected they were to the universal laws.


    Further ahead, another mage brought into existence an elemental dragon of pure lightning, which roared with such immense force that even the heavens trembled. Multicolored explosions swept through the battlefield as a young mage conjured ethereal blades that seemed to dance through the air, piercing enemies with lethal precision. Each spell seemed grander and more devastating than the last, demonstrating that these mages were not mere combatants; they were forces of nature in human form. Despite the synchronicity and the magnitude of the attacks, Kayden, observing from a distance, only narrowed his eyes, analyzing each movement.


    This was a battle of the highest level in the mortal universe. Each attack had the power to destroy a planet with extreme ease; each movement was the absolute peak of a zone. Each attack was governed by incomplete laws raised to a perfect degree. No mage here had fewer than nine rays in their resume. Moreover, there was not a single relatively weak mage in this environment.


    Space continued to be destroyed and remodeled by the heavens in an instant. The attacks were capable of destroying planets, but barely left a dent in the planet. It was a strange duality, for if the target were the ground, it would open easily, but if the target were the air, it would hold the side effects of the attack with relative ease. It didn¡¯t take long before the first mages began to die.


    A single wrong move was enough for a mage to be killed. Each attack was perfectly capable of killing anyone who let their guard down. One wrong step and the mage would be dead. A battle of such a high level shouldn¡¯t take long, for small mistakes cost every last breath of a mage. In the old days, the battles took longer because the number of mages was so high, and no one was giving their all at that moment, but here it was different. The winners would be revived for the next stage; there was no reason to hold back energy.


    Zone 12 quickly advanced into Zone 21. They were much more aggressive and seemed to be gaining ground with extreme ease. At least, that¡¯s what untrained eyes would report. It was funny how most of the mages here had almost no experience in high-level battles. Most of them were solo mages who had probably never faced this many nine-ray mages. This made many of them feel lost, but not all. The leader of Zone 21 raised his hand.


    "Runes 19." With a simple command, he activated a cascade of runes capable of destroying space for several kilometers. It was massive destruction, to the point of no recovery. The mages in this area couldn¡¯t react in time and were swallowed by the void of non-existence. Most of them could have escaped easily by using a bit of their knowledge of spatial laws, but unfortunately for them, the space for hundreds of kilometers was completely sealed.


    In a single movement, 20 mages from Zone 12 were killed without any chance of retaliation. The tide of battle turned completely in the blink of an eye. The leader of Zone 12 continued to fight as if there were no tomorrow. He saw his mages being killed, but there was no time for lamentation. Any mistake, and he would be dead. Cut off the head of a dragon, and its body will fall.


    "Runes 10." Next, the leader of Zone 21 activated a rune system. This system was capable of causing a divine mana short-circuit in an area spanning millions of kilometers. In this entire area, not a single mage could use mana. Kayden thought the technique was truly impressive. It was very similar to killing the will of mana but done using a kind of incomplete law of sedation.


    The problem was that the mages of Zone 21 were also unable to make any moves. This was remedied by other mages launching attacks from distances of over tens of millions of kilometers. These long-range attacks were extremely powerful, able to pierce through remaining defenses and easily kill more than 30 mages.


    Zone 12, even under pressure, began to demonstrate the strength that placed them as one of the greatest groups in the universe. Mages advanced in unstable formations, launching electric storms of planetary proportions that tore through the sky, disintegrating any obstacles in their way. Other mages invoked abysses of dark mana that consumed everything upon contact, turning the terrain into deep, inhospitable craters. Veterans from Zone 21 reacted quickly, overlaying colossal energy shields and launching precise counterattacks, such as pure light spears that pierced through the defenses of their opponents, reducing them to ashes.


    The leader of Zone 12, aware of his lack of experience, relied on long-duration spells to compensate for the lack of coordination. He raised a gravitational distortion barrier that hindered the movement of enemies, while an advanced group conjured explosive rune circles, covering kilometers. The impact was devastating, with explosions that seemed to tear apart space-time itself. However, the mages from Zone 21, better prepared, reacted by synchronizing their forces in a joint spell that summoned an ice storm capable of freezing even mana itself, temporarily disabling the spells of Zone 12.

 Chapter 542: Battle of areas[3]

    For seven days, the battles intensified. The battlefield had become an unrecognizable landscape, where unstable magic created fissures in the fabric of reality. Despite the efforts of Zone 12, the lack of cohesion and the overwhelming experience of Zone 21 tipped the scales. Slowly, the number of survivors dwindled, leaving only the most resilient and astute behind. In the end, Zone 21 secured its victory with precise strategies and devastating attacks, while Kayden watched from a distance. He knew that the real game had not yet begun and that his absolute power would not yet be needed.


    It didn¡¯t take long for the number of magicians on both sides to be reduced to a small handful, with Zone 12 having only four magicians remaining, while Zone 21 had fifteen. It was an overwhelming difference in strength, or at least it should have been until the leader of Zone 12 stopped playing around and began to show his true face.


    In just a few minutes, what seemed to be an inevitable defeat turned into an overwhelming victory. The magician unleashed a complete domain of the law of darkness, and everything vanished in a black sea that consumed even the air, turning it into a toxic compound. The fifteen remaining magicians couldn¡¯t even react before being completely killed. They didn¡¯t even understand how their lives had disappeared.


    The remaining magicians were confused, unable to connect the actions that had just occurred to their leader. He had never revealed this power at any point. After a few minutes of nothing happening, Kayden finally revealed his presence with a slow clap.


    "Congratulations on mastering the Law of Darkness," Kayden¡¯s presence startled everyone, but especially the magician who wielded the law. The fact that he hadn¡¯t even sensed Kayden¡¯s presence this entire time was a clear sign of his strength.


    "Who are you?" Kayden smiled and introduced himself.


    "Kayden Heart," his name alone was enough for his fame to precede him. Kayden had dozens of names among the strongest; among the weaker ones, he was known as the World Annihilator, but among the strongest, he was known as the monster who created monsters¡ªa living legend, the strongest man who had ever existed in the known universe.


    The change in the leader¡¯s expression was automatic. He understood that this would be a difficult battle. It wasn¡¯t as simple as charging forward and hoping for the best; this was the hardest fight he had ever faced in his life.


    "I am Johan Key, the holder of the Law of Darkness and the first of my lineage." Kayden smiled warmly; there was no need to make more enemies.


    "I look forward to a good battle."


    "I look forward to a good battle." As soon as Johan finished his greeting, he attacked with his darkness, consuming everything. From the smallest material to even space itself, everything was devoured in shadows. Darkness was an interesting law¡ªit was silent and fast, and there was nothing that could not be consumed by its webs.


    In seconds, the darkness consumed tens of millions of kilometers and continued to expand, reaching hundreds of millions. It was insane¡ª the more the darkness consumed, the more it wanted to consume. Black dragons began to slither through the darkness, millions of them attacking Kayden, each one as powerful as a ninth-realm magician with nine rays. It was far superior to anything a normal magician could do, but Kayden was no ordinary being. S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    With a simple movement of his hands, he consumed the entire space for tens of billions of kilometers. Johan couldn¡¯t even react when his darkness ran out of material to consume¡ªthere was simply nothing left. Fortunately for him, darkness was a law capable of sustaining its existence. The darkness began consuming itself, generating energy beyond its consumption, something that went directly against the laws of thermodynamics.


    "Congratulations to all who have advanced to the second group stage," Kayden¡¯s lightning, supported by three spatial planes, was far beyond what Johan could withstand. He had also been placed in a kind of time loop, allowing him to reach the magician instantly.


    There was no change in expression from the magicians as they died from Kayden¡¯s attack. The only person able to observe Kayden¡¯s attack was Netero, and at that moment, he finally understood where all of Kayden¡¯s nicknames and titles came from. This was undoubtedly one of the most impressive attacks he had ever seen in his life. He wondered how he would fare against this attack and how many times Kayden could use it.


    Netero could withstand such an attack; he did not doubt that. But it wouldn¡¯t be something he could endure many times. At most, twice¡ªand even then, his defense would be severely damaged. He would only be able to defend because of his basic understanding of the Law of Time. Any magician ignorant of it would struggle immensely to hold off such an attack, as they wouldn¡¯t even sense the lightning before it struck them.


    What was most frightening of all was that Kayden hadn¡¯t even reached the Ninth Realm yet. The moment he did¡­ Netero doubted he would even be able to touch his toes. The difference in power would be so vast. This made Netero finally grasp the weight of the Ten Rays, but not just any magician with Ten Rays¡ªKayden specifically. Atlas didn¡¯t even possess half the strength that Kayden seemed to have.


    "How did we win? Who was the last one standing?" The leader of Zone 21 began searching for answers. After long minutes of silence, none of them could understand what had just happened. This mystery would likely die with them.


    Without wasting time he began to set up his defenses and other tricks, this time they took zone 2, a strong zone with a consolidated past, they had been in the universe long enough for everyone there to know each other perfectly and learn to fight as a team, at least in part, it was practically impossible for wizards at that level to fight in teams, they were simply far superior individually, their similarities were minimal.

 Chapter 543: Battle of areas[4]

    Kayden once again remained merely observing the unfolding situation. He had no desire to interfere; it seemed like this would just be another normal battle with no ridiculously strong mage suddenly appearing out of nowhere. At least, that¡¯s what his sixth sense and soul scanning were telling him.


    A month passed in the blink of an eye. Kayden had lost all interest in these battles, as they were far beneath his level. He gave only minimal attention to the situation. His zone won after just a few days. This time, it was a much more balanced and difficult battle, but even so, his zone won with only three survivors remaining. It was a technical victory after many deaths and impressive spells.


    "Congratulations to all those who placed. At this moment, we will change the rules a little," the announcer declared. Instead of just a river, they now found themselves in an entire world spanning dozens of billions of kilometers. "All six remaining zones are now allocated in different points of this planet. Each year, you will receive the coordinates of all the living mages on this planet. Every ten years, several hundred million kilometers will be removed. Good luck to all."


    The situation changed completely. Kayden was surprised by the method of this phase. Moreover, the time required to complete it was much longer. This would be a large-scale war, not just a battle. The first weeks were merely for reconnaissance. Mages from all zones knew they were holders of laws. Not only that, but everyone was aware of a mage far beyond their strength¡ªAtlas. As for Kayden, no one had any knowledge of his presence; not even Atlas was able to sense him.


    Small skirmishes began when scouts encountered each other, but they were mere probing attacks. No zone wanted to strike without being prepared first. It took just a single year for the presence of everyone to be felt. This made the boundaries of the territories start to be defined more clearly. Not only that but now everyone was able to understand the distance between their opponents and which zones were being attacked and which were not.


    Slowly, the years began to pass. Only small battles occurred, with no significant involvement from the zones. There were a few deaths, but no more than a single dozen. This was a very important event to be lost due to impatience, so everyone was merely waiting, strengthening themselves, studying their opponents, and gathering information. They were also preparing for the upcoming reduction in space. No one knew whether it would begin from the edges in a classic narrowing system or if it would be something more complex.


    During this period, Kayden simply stood still. It wasn¡¯t difficult for him to identify all the mages who held laws, and without any surprise, he noticed that his zone was the only one without a mage who had a law from the stones. This was somewhat obvious, as once one of them was identified, they sought asylum in the named zones. Zone number 21 was a poorly organized system with few prospects. It was very hard for any mage to see a future there.


    "Atlas is the only real opponent for you right now. The other mages haven¡¯t had enough time to grow in strength," Netero remarked to Kayden after the two had observed for some years. Kayden simply nodded in agreement. S§×arch* The n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden and Netero continued exchanging knowledge during this time. They were two individuals with much to teach each other. While Netero learned more about souls, Kayden kept studying the laws of equilibrium. There were many laws, but slowly he was adding them to his understanding. At that point, he had mastered only seven laws, which took him a relatively long time to learn.


    As the years went by, the real battles began. Year after year, the number of mages dwindled through small fights and skirmishes. Around 25 years after it all started, the first major battle occurred when two of the six zones joined forces and destroyed another zone almost entirely with ease. This was the first significant move since everyone began this phase. From that day forward, everything accelerated.


    The remaining three zones lacked the diplomatic strength to unite their forces as the mages had. They were simply in a tacit agreement to not attack each other for a time¡ªsomething that could be broken at the slightest sign of weakness from any of the remaining zones. Atlas, the leader of one of the zones that had joined forces, merely had to show a little of his strength and promise some positions. After that, the conversation flowed much more smoothly.


    Kayden and Netero were found a few times during this period. Kayden¡¯s presence was always revealed after a year had passed, but he quickly moved, and no one was able to track him¡ªat least, none of the mortals were. On one of these occasions, one of the semi-gods finally found Kayden and Netero.


    "My respects to the Master of Masters and the World Destroyer," a woman appeared floating near the two.


    With silver hair that shimmered like falling stars and scarlet eyes burning with determination, her presence was as sharp as blades of pure mana. She wore a black cloak embedded with sparkling runes that rippled like a reflection of galaxies. Her staff, a spiral of crystal and steel, pulsed with such intense energy that the air around it vibrated. She exuded the authority of one who had shaped worlds with a simple gesture.


    "Hello, Luiza. This is my long-time friend, Kayden, one of the semi-gods who pursues the path of creation. Luiza, this is Kayden Heart," Netero made a simple introduction of the two. The woman merely smiled and tested Kayden¡¯s aura with her pressure.


    That was a rather foolish decision. Her ego was wounded when she felt as if she were trying to push an entire planet while being just a mere mortal. Kayden didn¡¯t even raise an eyebrow at her efforts. Out of respect for Netero, she didn¡¯t allow herself to go any further, though she was curious about Kayden¡¯s strength.

 Chapter 544: Battle of areas[5]

    "You¡¯re a ten-ray mage, aren¡¯t you? Just like Atlas," the woman asked after quickly making a few connections. Netero didn¡¯t associate with ordinary people; he only surrounded himself with mages at the absolute peak of this universe.


    "Yes," Kayden had never encountered another semi-god before. This time, he was able to observe the woman¡¯s soul. It was a little different from that of a mortal, yet at the same time, it was a soul that didn¡¯t exist in the traditional sense. Much of her soul was embedded within the universe itself, with her path supporting her very existence. He had never been able to see anything in Netero¡¯s soul, only what the old man allowed him to perceive.


    "Netero has been somewhat absent lately. Why don¡¯t you control any zones?" The woman¡¯s question was clearly directed more at Netero than at Kayden, but their responses were identical.


    "Waste of time."


    "Useless effort."


    It was frustrating to look at the two of them and see that they truly considered the heavenly rewards nothing more than an annoyance they could reach at any moment. While Luiza didn¡¯t entirely believe their words, she saw a small kernel of truth in them.


    "Which zone is yours?" Kayden asked, a question that had been on his mind the entire time.


    "Zone 1. We were the ones who allied with Atlas," Luiza replied. Kayden now understood this arrangement. This was a fight for second place, at least that¡¯s what Luiza believed, until she encountered these two in this place. The strength of Kayden was an enormous unknown, and unfortunately, she couldn¡¯t share that information with Atlas, as it was too crucial and could change the balance of the event.


    "So third place is practically guaranteed, then," Kayden remarked in the same tone as if he were commenting on a sunny day. There was no ego in placing himself at the top directly.


    The trio exchanged a few more words, and Kayden formed a high-level friendship with Luiza. She had a very unique understanding of things Kayden had never encountered. Her laws were literally focused on the laws of creation. All her abilities revolved around the creation of matter and related things. The only thing she couldn¡¯t fully create was life. She still hadn¡¯t understood the real reason behind this limitation, but Kayden perfectly understood it.


    Life was nothing more than the soul combined with a body, and few mages were capable of manipulating souls. Probably, there was no mage of high caliber other than Kayden who could manipulate souls with the same quality he could. This wasn¡¯t arrogance; it was simply a matter of statistics. Manipulating souls was something that took an extraordinarily long time to master. Kayden had spent more than five billion years in the most suitable environment possible to learn about souls. How long would a common mage take?


    Netero would likely take dozens or even hundreds of billions of years to reach the level Kayden had attained when he was reborn. It was practically impossible for a mage on the same power level as Kayden to manipulate souls in the same way he did. It was simply a statistical fact.


    After this meeting, they exchanged a few more words over the years. Kayden was also introduced to other semi-gods and was able to directly identify why they couldn¡¯t reach divinity¡ªit was simply because of their souls. Their souls were intertwined in such a strange way that they couldn¡¯t become gods.


    After 60 years, three more zones were completely eradicated. At this point, only Atlas¡¯ zone and Luiza¡¯s zone remained. No other mages from any other zones were left on the planet, which had now shrunk to just a few units of billions of kilometers. Atlas¡¯ zone still had 60 members, while Luiza¡¯s zone had only 30 mages.


    The world was now a vast expanse of desolation, where the cracked ground emitted heat and residual energy from the incessant battles. There were no mountains, rivers, or vegetation¡ªjust uneven and empty soil, tinged by a dark light leaking from the overcast sky. The scars left by the fights formed deep valleys and sharp ridges, as if the entire planet had been shaped by force. Every step echoed in unsettling silence, broken only by the distant reverberations of unstable mana still lingering in the air. S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Atlas had the humility to let the mages from the two zones fight without his interference, but the outcome was inevitable¡ªhis victory was simply a matter of time due to the massive difference in the number of mages. In the end, only Atlas remained with around 21 mages from his zone.


    While everyone was celebrating, Atlas was the only one who knew that the battle was not over. He counted the exact number of mages from each zone, knew the exact number of mages that had been killed in the battle, and realized that there was still one mage from Zone 21 missing. Only one mage in this universe could hide from him without difficulty.


    "Show yourself, Kayden." The moment Atlas¡¯ voice echoed, Kayden materialized in the air, along with around 14 semi-gods observing the unfolding situation. Atlas merely stared at Kayden while his zone remained in dead silence.


    The pressure that Atlas was emitting at that moment changed completely. It made even the semi-gods feel threatened by his presence. Only Kayden exuded absolutely nothing. He simply stood still, observing the situation. Against everyone¡¯s expectations, his first words were directed straight into the minds of all the semi-gods.


    "Swear an oath before the heavens that you owe me a favor, and I will allow you to witness this fight. Otherwise, I will ask you to return to the heavens." His words took everyone by surprise. Even Netero was stunned by Kayden¡¯s statement, but he perfectly understood the situation. It was information about two of the strongest mages in the universe.


    "I swear before the heavens a favor to Kayden after this confrontation as long as it does not directly affect me" Netero would not miss this opportunity, Atlas did not even notice this whole situation, because Kayden was camouflaging the entire area with his soul, it seemed like he was just with some random people.

 Chapter 545: Battle of areas[6]

    Atlas couldn¡¯t understand exactly who those people were, as he hadn¡¯t seen any demigods until that moment. His conversation with the other zone had occurred exclusively through their main mage, with doubts and questions flooding his mind without any answers in sight. Eventually, he gave up on trying to think.


    "Time has passed, and finally, we shall have our revenge..." Atlas was interrupted by a sharp statement from Kayden.


    "Quiet. Either attack me or wait," Kayden said. Atlas was not at all used to being treated this way. He stood there, stunned for a moment, but then began to inflame his aura. This was going to be a battle at full force.


    "I ask the heavens to expel all mages who should not be here in the next 30 seconds. Those marked are my allies," Kayden spoke these words to the heavens. None of the demigods took him seriously¡ªat least not completely. But after Netero made his promise, they started doubting their certainty.


    The heavens would never favor one individual alone, but there was also the possibility that they could not be there at that specific moment, which caused doubt in their minds. But those doubts quickly vanished with Kayden¡¯s next words.


    "I swear I am speaking the truth. Those who do not comply will be expelled in 30 seconds." The heavens confirmed Kayden¡¯s words. As soon as he said this, everyone began to think. There wasn¡¯t much time left, and Atlas had already started his attack.


    Atlas¡¯s soul expanded, infusing all the mana in the region into his control. The mage was even more refined when it came to his soul, but it still wasn¡¯t enough to defeat Kayden. Kayden was still perfectly capable of causing a short circuit in Atlas, as his soul, while immense in this state, was fragile at the same time. Atlas had progressed at a ridiculous rate, placing the more crucial pieces of his soul at various points of his spiritual senses¡ªbut that was all.


    Kayden consumed the space without any grand initiative and began to push back Atlas¡¯s attacks with a smaller force, almost as if this were an evenly matched battle. His lightning against Atlas¡¯s soul mana¡ªit looked like a battle of equals. The demigods were staring at the situation in disbelief. This level of strength was not something they had expected.


    Atlas¡¯s soul was converting space itself into more mana, which was utterly impressive. The universe didn¡¯t recognize Atlas¡¯s mana as valid, continuing to bombard the region. But every new mana that entered was automatically placed under his control. The space itself was cracking into huge fissures due to the pressure of his soul.


    Kayden had converted space itself into mana and launched a lightning attack at a strength far beyond what anyone expected of him. But then¡­ Netero finally realized he had been deceived. This wasn¡¯t even half of Kayden¡¯s true strength, and he knew it. A bitter taste filled Netero¡¯s mouth. It had been a long time since someone had outsmarted him like this.


    "I swear, before the heavens, I will owe Kayden a favor for observing this battle, as long as it does not affect me directly." All the demigods swore these words. In the end, it was just a favor in exchange for vital information about two of the greatest mages in the universe. Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Time has passed, but I am still superior." Kayden stopped his ruse as soon as the last demigod spoke. With a snap of his fingers in a display of tranquility, he destroyed the points of support of Atlas¡¯s soul, causing the mage to freeze just as he had before.


    The disappointment was evident in his eyes. The fear of failure assaulted his mind once more. The shame of the last battle came back to him. Being defeated was one thing, but going through that again after all the effort he had put into becoming superior was simply unacceptable. He watched as all the mages from his zone were killed by another snap of Kayden¡¯s fingers. The demigods couldn¡¯t understand what was happening.


    One thing became clear to all¡ªKayden had deceived them all in exchange for a favor. This battle had been decided from the beginning. None of them could understand how this ended with Atlas on his knees in the blink of an eye. They didn¡¯t even see what Kayden had done, what attack he had launched, or if they could even fight back. There was simply nothing.


    Kayden finished the fight quickly by killing Atlas with a lightning strike that barely had any power beyond the minimum required. Just like that, the event ended. What was supposed to be a battle between the two greatest powers of the ancient universe ended up being a one-sided massacre. There were no explosive spells. The space wasn¡¯t even destroyed to a point where it couldn¡¯t be quickly rebuilt. Everything had been so... strange.


    "Congratulations to zone 21 for their crushing victory over their opponents. Each member of the zone will receive a unique treasure as a reward for their actions. Furthermore, the main mage of this zone will receive a stone with a law personally chosen by them," Kayden said, before teleporting away to a cluster of golden planets in space.


    Kayden didn¡¯t even feel his presence being moved. In the blink of an eye, he found himself observing the dozens of planets where the competition stages had taken place. He wasn¡¯t able to extend his sixth sense even a meter outside his body. It had been so long since he had felt like this. It only took a few seconds before a voice pulled Kayden from his thoughts.


    "Congratulations, Kayden. Your performance, without interfering in the competition, has been recognized by us. Even though it was useless there, we will reward you with information of your choice. Furthermore, the law we will place in the stone is free for you to choose," the voice echoed in Kayden¡¯s mind and in reality, but he found himself unable to locate its source.

 Chapter 546: Battle of areas[7]

    The second reward was a surprise. Kayden had to remain silent for several days to think it through, and even then, it wasn¡¯t enough. Only after years of meditation did Kayden finally arrive at the best option for himself.


    "The creation of life is a realm I have never stepped into. What can you tell me about it?" Since speaking with Luiza, Kayden had come to understand that there was much more to this than he had originally perceived.


    "The soul is life. Souls cannot be created; they have existed in this universe and others since the beginning of time. A soul must be in perfect harmony with its flesh; it must be a degree of perfection that only one who understands the laws of creation and the laws of souls can achieve. The gift of creating life has been lost for several universes now. The ability to create life is incredibly powerful. One could easily create an army of ten-ray mages without any difficulty. But the most insane thing is the ability to annihilate existing life. That is beyond the ordinary. The ability to simply snap your fingers and wipe out an entire universe. You are a mage who already possesses the laws of the soul within your own soul, but the laws of creation are something you have never touched before. The heavens do not recommend that you pursue this path, for what you are currently treading is unique," the voice continued.


    Kayden nodded and began to contemplate the information he had received. He could have asked for other things, secrets the universe kept hidden, or how to transcend beyond a god, but all of that was just empty and worthless to him. The only thing that truly mattered was his own development, and the path of life seemed to be something of extreme benefit to him.


    The heavens offered their own opinion, one that Kayden didn¡¯t exactly understand in terms of origin or reasoning. But after some thought, he understood their arguments. It was simply a path very different from anything he had ever taken up until now. It didn¡¯t make much sense for him to change his course, especially since it became clear that someone had already walked this path before.


    "I don¡¯t want to ask for the law of balance. Could you give me the individual laws that make it up?" Kayden didn¡¯t want to receive this knowledge directly in his hands; it would go against everything he believed.


    "Yes," came the answer, and with it, Kayden woke up beside Netero, in the same spot where they had been before all of this began. It was easy to tell that not even a second had passed in reality. The heavens truly were the masters of time and all its circumstances. S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden felt a chain around his neck and immediately understood that this was his prize for winning the competition. There was no weight or anything of the sort in it, and Netero couldn¡¯t even sense its presence. However, Kayden knew exactly what its purpose was.


    "You tricked me well. Since when were you able to do that?" Netero wasn¡¯t angry; he had simply made a mistake and was now paying for it. Moreover, this mistake had granted him new information.


    "I created that boy. I¡¯ve been nurturing him to be a true opponent for a long time," Kayden didn¡¯t go into further detail about his story. "I will be leaving now. I hope you understand." Without waiting for Netero¡¯s response, Kayden disappeared with a few teleportations. It took him mere minutes to be in a terribly distant point in the void.


    Kayden found a planet and began to study the talisman he had received. It took less than a second for him to understand why so many high-level mages were suddenly emerging. The laws he wanted to grasp were coming to him at an insane speed. Within seconds, he had grasped the foundation of a law¡ªsomething that would have taken decades with his current talent¡ªhe had done in mere seconds. Kayden had expected his training to last several billion years, but it seemed it would only take a few million.


    Kayden took ten million years to grasp the foundation of all the laws. It was completely insane¡ªthousands of times faster than learning them one by one. Moreover, he didn¡¯t even have to move from where he was. No mage came to disturb him during this period.


    The reason was simple: the universe was in absolute chaos. Dozens of mages wielding laws were emerging without any supervision. Zone 21 refused to accept any law or order. The previous group attempting to dominate it was completely obliterated by other demigods. This was a space dedicated only to the unknown; organizations had no right to step here.


    This situation allowed new mages carrying laws to grow without supervision, and indeed, it happened. The emerging new mages were starting to stand out, consuming entire zones with their powers. Some of these zones were now entirely under the control of these mages. The majority of the lower-ranked demigods were killed without mercy. Weakness had never been, and would never be, tolerated in this universe.


    Atlas continued with his zone, unshaken. He faced some mages during this period, but none of them were even able to make him fight seriously. The same arrogance that led a mage to challenge him was the same arrogance that led a man to his death.


    Alliances began to form between the new mages and the demigods. The latter were primarily interested in winning the ten zones and being crowned emperors. The final prize was much more important to them than it was to the ordinary mages. For these mages, becoming gods was merely a matter of time.


    The truth was that these mages would never become real gods, at least that was what Kayden believed. All their laws were acquired in an incredibly easy and senseless manner. They hadn¡¯t fought for their strength. How could they elevate themselves to the divine level? At most, they would become gods without the strength of one¡ªpractically sacrificed gods.

 Chapter 547: Predistinct magicians

    Despite his belief in the limitations of the new mages, Kayden began to notice a disturbing pattern: the heavens seemed to tolerate, if not favor, the growth of these mages. It was as if the universe was shaping a new era of rulers, even if they were imperfect. He pondered this while watching distant battles, questioning whether the heavens were experimenting with a new balance, sacrificing quality for quantity. For Kayden, this was a fatal mistake, for true balance could only be achieved through absolute strength.


    "Master Kayden, I didn¡¯t expect to find you here." Kayden heard a voice above the planet where he was. It didn¡¯t take him a second to recognize the owner of this enigmatic voice. It was one of his disciples, someone he hadn¡¯t expected to see there.


    "Han Heart, I see you¡¯ve grown quite a bit." Kayden stood before a monarch of despair, holding an incomplete law of fear. His apprentice exuded all his strength so that Kayden could observe. Han was a true nine-ray mage in the eighth realm, and not only that, but he was also a monarch.


    "Enough to defeat you, master?" Kayden smiled.


    "Not even capable of lifting my foot off the ground." Kayden¡¯s response was filled with arrogance.


    "Can I?"


    "Feel free," Kayden replied.


    Han advanced without hesitation, his dark aura expanding like an impending storm. Each step cracked the space around him, while shadows emanated from his body, shaping into sharp spears that shot toward Kayden. The air seemed to vibrate with the overwhelming presence of the law of fear, which corroded even the light around him. Han manipulated his mana with mastery, creating grotesque illusions that appeared alive, ready to attack from all directions. His staff enveloped in pulsating black flames, launched explosions of dense energy that resonated like screams of agony. The battle seemed like a symphony of chaos, designed to subdue any opponent¡­ any opponent except Kayden.


    Kayden remained motionless, observing Han¡¯s attacks with an almost bored look. When the dark spears approached, they dissipated before touching him, crushed by an invisible barrier Kayden formed effortlessly. Han¡¯s illusions, no matter how realistic and terrifying, simply vanished once they entered the range of Kayden¡¯s overwhelming presence. With a slight gesture, Kayden converted a fraction of his sixth sense into pure mana, channeling it into his palm. A silver beam of light cut through the space in an instant, destroying Han¡¯s energy explosions and shattering the shadows surrounding him. Everything returned to absolute silence, except for the sound of Han¡¯s heavy breathing, while Kayden remained impassive, not even moving his feet.


    "How?" Han had given everything in his attacks, yet he couldn¡¯t even make Kayden move his foot.


    "Ten rays, it¡¯s a very different world., Kayden replied, after crushing any hope Han had left. The young man simply nodded, unsure of what more to say, other than to accept his defeat.


    "What do you have to say about me?" Kayden thought for a moment and gave his honest opinion.


    "You probably have the potential to reach ten rays, but with this law of yours supported by stone, you¡¯ll never be able to reach that level." Kayden didn¡¯t need more than a single demonstration of the law of fear to realize it wasn¡¯t something Han could have comprehended in such a short time. It was a mixture of at least two dozen separate laws, and it was obvious to Kayden that his apprentice had no idea how to utilize each of them individually, which made him incapable of unleashing 100% of his law, even if he understood it completely.


    "How do you know this?" Han hadn¡¯t shared this secret with any mage since discovering the stone millions of years ago.


    "You have mastery over the law of fear, but you have no mastery over the laws that compose it. This makes your strength much weaker than it should be." Kayden explained directly, and Han thought for a few minutes. Finally, he thanked Kayden.


    "The mages bearing the laws of stone are being called the predestined. We are organizing ourselves to take a specific zone just for us. Your help would be greatly appreciated." Kayden just smiled and shook his head. sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I¡¯ll be in the same place for the coming years. If you have a tempting offer, I¡¯m open to negotiations." Kayden wouldn¡¯t sell his services for free, but he was willing to offer his strength for a good proposal.


    "We have a law of firestone, freely available for use." Kayden simply nodded in negation.


    Han began throwing dozens of treasures, capable of creating a nine-ray mage with relative ease, in exchange for Kayden¡¯s strength. But Kayden dismissed them as if they were trash, for they were nothing to him at that moment. There was no greed for common things.


    "Check with your organization. I can secure a zone for you in exchange for a favor from each mage bearing a law in your organization and a future favor from anyone who joins your organization." Kayden made a heavy negotiation but also made it clear that securing a zone would be easy for him, something only a few beings could challenge.


    "I can¡¯t promise that yet. I need to consult with the leaders first and the other members." Han communicated to Kayden and requested a few days. Without hesitation, the young man burned all his movement and communication treasures to get the answer he wanted.


    Believing that a mage would be able to provide a zone for them as easily as handing out a piece of pie would be madness if Kayden didn¡¯t have a reputation beyond absurd. All the high-level mages at that moment knew his name and his strength. No one doubted that he could accomplish something like this.


    Author¡¯s note: Writing these two chapters in a single day was a bad idea on my part, but the Christmas holidays took up all my time lol, I hope yours was as good as mine, I wish you all a Merry Christmas again

 Chapter 548: Predistinct magicians[2]

    believing that a mage would be capable of providing a zone for them as easily as handing out a piece of pie would be madness, had Kayden not had a reputation beyond the absurd. At that moment, all high-level mages knew his name and his strength. No one doubted that he was capable of such a feat.


    A few days later, Han had negotiated with his entire organization. Kayden hadn¡¯t expected them to accept, but in the end, he ate his words. There was probably a far greater reason for holding a zone than he had initially thought, and this lack of information made Han¡¯s acceptance of his offer inevitable.


    Kayden didn¡¯t think he was doing something wrong in the end; this was an investment. Among all these predestined mages, there should be one or two capable of reaching ten rays and facing him head-on. It would be an investment for future training.


    "We accept," Han said directly to Kayden. "We¡¯ll make our promise with you. We already have a zone in mind that we want."


    "Point the direction and release your control over space," Kayden instructed.


    Han didn¡¯t understand the last part but did as Kayden asked. Within seconds, he understood why. The path that had taken him days to travel with his treasures was now covered in mere minutes by Kayden¡ªspeed beyond anything he had ever witnessed before.


    "There," Han pointed toward a golden planet. It resembled the planet they had visited for the Heaven¡¯s Challenges, with perfectly manicured grass that was identical, but at the same time, it was a clear copy¡ªnothing more than a cheap imitation in Kayden¡¯s eyes.


    The golden planet was a perfect replica, but it lacked soul. The grass, shimmering gold, covered the surface as if it were made of pure gold threads, but upon closer inspection, Kayden saw the falseness in its perfection. Each blade seemed like a static painting, devoid of any genuine life, as if the planet itself was a cheap copy, an imitation that couldn¡¯t compare to the vibrant environments Kayden had encountered in other places. The atmosphere felt suspended, without the natural weight he felt in authentic worlds. There was no scent of earth or sound of wind¡ªonly the unsettling silence of something trying to be real, but failing at every detail.


    The grandeur of the planet, however, couldn¡¯t be ignored. Its golden surface reflected the light of a distant star, creating an almost mystical glow, as if the world was covered in a layer of pure gold. But beneath that surface, Kayden knew the essence of this place was empty. The structure of its mountains and oceans was too predictable, like a programmed construction, without any unpredictability or chaos. It was a place built to appear perfect to those who couldn¡¯t see beyond its surface. S§×ar?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    There were about 90 predestined mages on this planet. Kayden was surprised by this number; for them to be here, there had to be many more on other planets and zones. The laws of stones had truly grown to immense numbers and were no longer something rare. The balance of the universe was truly in rupture. Kayden pondered what was happening¡ªwhy were they accelerating the development of this universe so much?


    Kayden released his aura across the entire planet, and quickly, all 90 mages came to check who the invader was. The anger of having their planet invaded and pressured by an unknown aura quickly faded as they approached Kayden and saw the source of all the pressure. Not only that, but they also noticed how calm he was in the face of so many mages. This was not a threat; it was a summons.


    Each of these wizards had a strength terribly strong for common wizards, in the past they would be at the absolute top of the entire mortal world second only to the gods, there would be no wizard capable of equaling them, but at that moment their strength was nothing more than something common without much specialty, in the past it would be enough for all the gods to fight tooth and nail to have them under their tutelage, but at that moment they were not even sought after by the leaders.


    "Which of you is the leader?" Kayden scanned the crowd with his gaze. Everyone there was a strong mage, but none of them were terribly powerful¡ªat least, most weren¡¯t. There were three mages, beyond Han, who were worth something.


    "We are a quartet, master," Han raised his voice, and as he pointed, the mages came forward to greet Kayden.


    Han stepped forward, calling the three leaders with clear respect in his voice, despite his unwavering confidence. "These are the pillars, Kayden. Meet them: the Lord of Perdition, the Queen of Eternity, and the Prince of Storms."


    The Lord of Perdition, the first leader, slightly inclined his head in greeting. His law was the Law of Absolute Annihilation, which granted him the power to erase not only worlds but the very essence of everything that existed. With a simple gesture, he could extinguish life, energy, and even the memory of anything he touched, as if he were the executor of the ultimate end. His smile was enigmatic, as if he knew that behind his serenity lay the ability to disintegrate anything real. "It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you, Kayden. I see that you¡¯re not a threat, but an opportunity." His voice was deep and imposing, carrying the weight of his power.


    The Queen of Eternity, the second leader, gave a slight nod, her golden eyes reflecting ancient, infinite wisdom. Her law was the Law of Temporal Stasis, which gave her control over the flow of time, the ability to freeze, distort, or even manipulate the very fabric of time itself. Nothing moved in her space without her permission; even time bent to her will. With every word she spoke, an air of eternal stillness seemed to linger, as though the moment would never pass. "Kayden, your presence is intriguing," she said in a serene voice, but one carrying wisdom beyond common understanding. "I recognize the strength you carry."

 Chapter 549: Thoth

    The Prince of Storms, the youngest but possibly the most unpredictable, slightly bowed his head, his eyes glowing with furious and untamable energy. His law was the Law of Elemental Chaos, granting him absolute control over the forces of nature, able to summon devastating storms, earthquakes, and explosions of pure energy with a mere thought. He commanded the elements with a visceral power, capable of turning a simple breath into a cataclysm. "It¡¯s good to see someone with such an interesting aura, Kayden," he said, his voice charged with a vibrant electricity. "I¡¯m curious to see how far you can go." He smiled, and a lightning bolt appeared for a moment in his hand, as if the energy around him was an extension of his will.


    Kayden smiled in greeting to each of them. It was clear to him that there was respect, but not to the point of submission. They were all mages trapped in a pit of ego and arrogance¡ªnothing unusual, considering that they were truly special. However, Kayden was several steps above their power. He was not on the same level.


    All three were special, carrying legendary laws, not to mention they appeared to have talent far beyond the normal mage. But¡­ Kayden couldn¡¯t see beyond that; it was just raw power with no true future.


    "You¡¯ve organized a good group, Thoth, but in the end, you needed my help, didn¡¯t you?" Kayden looked directly at one of the older mages among the predestined mages. He was just an ordinary old man holding a staff, with the only distinguishing feature being his golden eyes.


    The moment Kayden mentioned his name and pointed to him in the crowd, the aura of everyone shifted. They all became killers, releasing their full murderous intent toward Kayden. This was the greatest secret of their organization¡ªthe true leader behind all their success so far. Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!


    CRAAAAAAAAACK!


    Kayden directly converted the three parts of existence into mana and fused them into a single lightning attack. He launched it directly ahead, cutting through all the mages, but without striking any of them. The residual impact was enough to bring most of them to their knees, and the rest couldn¡¯t even react as they fled, their space being torn apart. In a single instant and with a single movement, Kayden brought 90 mages to their knees.


    Han had not understood the real difference in strength between them during their last confrontation, but at this moment, everything became clear. He wouldn¡¯t be able to face Kayden even in his wildest dreams. Even if he gave his all, he would be incapable of stopping an attack at that level. He would simply be obliterated. Kayden was far above the level of a mere demigod.


    "Don¡¯t kill any of them. They are just protecting the organization," Thoth finally spoke. "It¡¯s been a while, Kayden, but you were right. I need a little push."


    Kayden nodded and supported the universe with the law of equilibrium. With his aid, it took no more than ten seconds for the entire space to be reconstructed and return to normal. This was completely insane, as it meant Kayden could launch another attack of that magnitude in just ten seconds.


    It was an absurdly short time, yet at the same time, it was a long time. Ten seconds in a high-level battle could mean the difference between life and death for a mage. Kayden could have killed billions in that short span of time.


    "Is this favor coming from Thoth, the being of many existences? Or from Thoth, the leader of the predestined?" Kayden asked his question without any expectation of it being the first option. That was too difficult to achieve easily, but...


    "Thoth, the leader of the predestined."


    "That¡¯s enough," Kayden accepted without hesitation. This was the best deal he could hope for at the moment. The two disappeared into the skies, leaving all the other predestined mages lying on the ground.


    There was no word exchanged between the mages. Each of them was organizing their thoughts after the beating they had just received from Kayden. It wasn¡¯t a simple attack. In fact, it was something they hadn¡¯t even been able to feel. They simply found themselves suppressed and unable to react. The worst part was that the attack wasn¡¯t directed at any of them; it was just something Kayden threw at random.


    "What¡¯s your goal with these people?" Kayden asked Thoth directly, without hesitation. "Why are the heavens accelerating the development of this universe so much?" Both of his questions were sharp, and to his surprise, Thoth answered him honestly.


    "Nobody knows what the heavens seek, but they are an entity with many beings. Each universe is governed by some or by one. I¡¯m not sure. All I know is that this is a great game to them, and right now, the being leading our board wants to strengthen its pieces. My hypothesis is that this will lead to a larger battle for some objective in a few billion years."


    Kayden had already been considering this and the conversation with Thoth only made everything clearer. This invasion was probably not the end, nor was it the most terrifying thing that could happen. There would likely be worse things to come, perhaps even gods might appear in the mix.


    "What zone do you want? What information do you have about it?" Kayden was not going to underestimate his opponent, no matter his strength.


    "It¡¯s the next zone where the law stones will be born, but this time they are incomplete, smaller stones capable of supporting larger laws," Thoth explained. Kayden quickly understood that Thoth wanted to invest in what he already had, rather than seeking more mages to complete his ranks. "New stones will emerge in three other zones. These will be the main battle zones, because here, the laws will be greater."


    The heavens were truly not playing around with resources. They were going to place dozens, if not hundreds, of beings at the absolute peak of power in this place. The laws would quickly become something any mage with a stone could grasp. It was just a matter of time before this happened. Kayden still thought it was idiotic, as they were focusing on quantity over quality. But probably, his guesses were pointing to the birth of a god amidst many worthless beings¡ªsomething extremely rare, but which could happen with great luck.

 Chapter 550: Demigod

    "Who is her demigod?" Kayden did not want to engage in a lost battle nor face a mage who would leave him completely destroyed after a victory, at least not while his strength was still in the process of stabilizing.


    "This demigod is a true prodigy of fire," continued Thoth, his tone heavy with respect and caution. "He controls the element as if it were an extension of his will. His flames do not just consume matter; they burn even concepts, disintegrating illusions, magical barriers, and even traces of mana. In battle, he can manipulate the heat to create zones of instant death or summon firestorms that move like living creatures, hunting their targets. His resistance is equally terrifying, making him nearly immune to elemental and common physical attacks. Facing someone like this requires more than just brute force."


    Kayden understood perfectly; he knew who this demigod was. He was one of those who ranked between the middle and lower tiers of the demigod power scale. His strength was primarily in his fire form, capable of burning anything in this universe. This form was insanely resistant and could withstand any pure physical attack, which was one of the reasons he had easily secured a zone.


    "I understand. I want the promise from the heavens of all the mages, and then we can proceed with this negotiation," Kayden replied after considering it for a moment. This would be an excellent battle for him to test his newfound strength.


    A few minutes later, Kayden received dozens and dozens of oaths¡ªdozens of favors gained in just a few seconds. It was a great investment, where he came out ahead in all aspects, from having favors from powerful mages to entering a battle that would truly test how far his new strength could go.


    "Where is it?" Kayden asked, eager to settle this matter so he could return to cultivating. sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "We¡¯re on the edge of it. Just enter the zone and tell the heavens your intention," Thoth pointed in a specific direction for Kayden to understand. The boy simply nodded and began teleporting at high speed. In the blink of an eye, none of the mages could sense his presence.


    As soon as Kayden entered the zone, he felt the environment shift slightly. The laws of balance here were slightly different from those he had seen in the previous zone. It was something ridiculously small and meaningless, but after so much time training, he was able to perceive it almost irrationally.


    "I want to challenge the leader of this zone," Kayden threw his words into the void of space and received his response by being teleported to a place very familiar to him. Kayden found himself floating inside a vast golden planet.


    On the other side of the planet stood the fire demigod, a terrifying and majestic sight. His body appeared to be in constant combustion, with golden and scarlet flames dancing around his silhouette like a living crown. His eyes glowed like burning embers, radiating almost unbearable heat, while every step he took left charred marks on the space around him. He wore black armor with reddish hues, seemingly forged from solidified magma, pulsing faintly as if alive. His hair was pure fire, waving as if challenging gravity, and in his hands rested an incandescent scepter that emitted a bright glow, promising absolute destruction to anyone who dared to challenge him.


    Kayden had finally found a true opponent. The last demigods he had faced were mostly pathetic and lacked any peculiarities; they were just common mages with a bit more power. But this one was truly a unique warrior in his area of combat. There were no words of respect or anything like that. The demigod simply exploded into a sea of flames that grew for billions of kilometers, burning all existence in this area.


    Space itself was being burned with no resistance, creating massive holes and cracks at different points. The grass and air of the planet offered no resistance to the intensity of the fire. Everything was burning at an absurd rate, and the planet literally turned into a star. The temperature soared into the tens of millions of degrees Celsius, several times hotter than the core of the Sun. It was insane¡ªKayden felt as if he were inside a star.


    The fire demigod launched his attack with an intensity that caused the very air around Kayden to ignite. His flames took shape and life, transforming into creatures of pure fire¡ªflame serpents slithering through space with terrifying speed, incandescent birds diving from the sky like meteors, and blazing wolves charging forward, each step leaving a trail of destruction on the golden ground. The creatures seemed to possess an instinctive intelligence, hunting Kayden from all directions, and coordinating their attacks with lethal precision. Each strike they landed was followed by explosions, while the extreme heat disintegrated any common defense before it could even be touched. It was like fighting an entire living army made entirely of fire, with the demigod himself at the center, orchestrating the chaos with a simple wave of his hand.


    Fortunately, Kayden was no rookie. In seconds, he converted a large area into mana and generated several high-density shields. The density was so high that there was no space within the zone he created, a spell only a true monarch of ten rays could perform. The fire couldn¡¯t propagate¡ªat least not the common fire the demigod was using. Seeing this situation, he finally decided to take things seriously.


    The flames shrank at high speed and reduced to only a few hundred million kilometers, their temperature rising to a level of tens of billions of degrees. Then it decreased even further, reaching only a few tens of millions of kilometers. At that moment, the temperature surpassed tens of trillions of degrees Celsius, and the very fabric of space-time was being melted. Thousands of small black holes began appearing at various points. The fire lost its color and began to exude a dark aura.

 Chapter 551: Demigod[2]

    The light could no longer propagate in this medium. There were no solids, liquids, or gases; the concept of matter had ceased to exist as everything was consumed by fire. Black holes began to erupt, tearing the surrounding space apart and amplifying the chaos dozens of times over. Kayden hadn¡¯t expected to see something this extraordinary today.


    Without fear, he observed tens of thousands of shadowy figures rushing toward him, each carrying black holes embedded within their forms. At these temperatures, even the slightest touch on his mana would disintegrate it entirely. Kayden converted the three planes of his sixth sense into pure mana, preparing himself. This was about to become a battle worthy of legends.


    Unshaken, he began deflecting the attacks of the countless forms of black fire. Each strike carried unimaginable power, yet Kayden remained undeterred, his focus unwavering as he searched for the demigod among them. It didn¡¯t take long to find it¡ªits soul burned brighter than all the flames in this hellish dimension combined.


    The clash was a cataclysm of force, the likes of which Kayden had rarely experienced. Both combatants were offensive mages. There were no defenses, no barriers¡ªonly relentless attacks of incomprehensible magnitude. Neither held back their raw strength, but Kayden didn¡¯t launch a single full-powered attack. Instead, he fought with efficiency and precision, adopting a self-sustaining approach. Through his mastery of the laws of balance, he was able to recover mana from the environment thousands of times faster than normal.


    The battlefields were an endless storm of lightning and fire. The two forces raged across every inch of space, clashing in an eternal struggle. Kayden¡¯s lightning strikes were masterful and flawlessly focused. Not a single joule of energy was wasted. His attacks left no collateral damage¡ªno cracks in the surrounding space, no rippling auras of residual power. Each strike was perfect, honed entirely to extinguish the flames.


    This level of mastery was nothing short of astonishing. Even Kayden couldn¡¯t easily replicate such precision in his highest-level spells. His triple-plane lightning, a force of nature that could shred space-time itself, was under his complete control. Yet, wielding it demanded an extraordinary amount of focus and effort.


    Kayden hadn¡¯t felt this alive in centuries. Every moment brought the threat of being consumed by fire, and the sound of space tearing under the sheer pressure of the flames was a chilling symphony. Watching the void emerge beyond his sight was mesmerizing. His lightning raged like an endless, boundless storm, filling the entire planet. Everywhere his gaze fell, a bolt of lightning serpentined through the air, locked in battle against the flames.


    "What¡¯s your name?" the demigod asked, realizing Kayden was not a simple fool but a formidable opponent.


    "Kayden Heart. No need to introduce yourself; I don¡¯t remember the names of the dead," Kayden replied coldly, uninterested in engaging with someone who would soon perish.


    The demigod ignored Kayden¡¯s bluntness, caught on one detail: Kayden¡¯s name. It was not unfamiliar in the world of demigods. This was the man who killed demigods on whims, the one who had brought Atlas to his knees effortlessly. Known by many titles and infamous for countless feats, Kayden was universally regarded as a monster hidden in the cosmos.


    The fire changed yet again. The battle had raged for only a few minutes, but it was already escalating to its final stage. At this level, drawn-out conflicts were rare. Their most potent spells far surpassed the rest of their arsenals¡ªthere was no such thing as balance at the peak. As an experienced assassin from Kayden¡¯s old world once said: "Balance is the folly of fools."


    This time, white fire emerged, consuming everything within a ten-million-kilometer radius. Within that boundary, even the fundamental laws of existence began to falter. Kayden could feel the law of balance struggling desperately to restore order, but it was futile. The white fire obliterated the fabric of space, creating a new universe within existence where fire reigned supreme.


    Matter no longer held any meaning there. The laws of physics were irrelevant. Kayden felt trapped in a world entirely alien, a universe made of flames. There was no space to stand on, no pathways for mana to traverse. Everything had ceased to exist¡ªthere was only fire, stretching endlessly in every direction. Amidst the chaos, Kayden could only spread his arms and marvel at the sheer beauty of the destruction surrounding him.


    His body was completely obliterated, but it didn¡¯t matter. His physical form was merely a puppet, devoid of real significance at this moment. His soul expanded across his sixth sense, vast and unrestricted. For the first time in countless eons, Kayden was taking something seriously. His soul awakened in its entirety, merging with the universe and extending across all 20 billion kilometers of its reach. Kayden hadn¡¯t entered this state in ages.


    The sheer pressure of his soul, unleashed without restraint, caused space to tremble across the vast 20 billion kilometers. The demigod felt as if he were facing a god whose domain far exceeded his meager few million kilometers. The white fire scorched Kayden¡¯s body and attempted to burn into his soul. For the first time in ages, Kayden was surprised to feel his very foundations under assault. This fire was truly the life¡¯s work of a being neither mortal nor divine.


    Kayden stopped concerning himself with the demigod¡¯s presence, entering a deep trance. It had been eons since he¡¯d faced a genuine battle, and even longer since his life was at risk. If he remained in this fiery universe for just a few more minutes, a part of his soul would be destroyed and reshaped by the flames. Fixing such damage would take hundreds of billions of years, but Kayden didn¡¯t care.


    Instead, he focused entirely on his sixth sense, converting all three planes into mana. He accelerated the laws of time throughout his sixth sense, combining them with the laws of balance. In an instant, the three planes were restored, only to be converted into mana once again.


    Kayden entered a state of hyperfocus he had rarely achieved in his life, disconnecting from everything beyond his domain over his sixth sense and his laws. Within seconds, he amassed a level of mana that transcended mortal comprehension. No mage, not even a ten-ring archmage, could wield such power in reality.


    In this state, Kayden accumulated mana at a speed that defied reason. The sheer volume dwarfed anything he had ever manipulated before. All of this mana was condensed into a single lightning strike. A bolt of such magnitude that it eclipsed even his triple-plane attack, surpassing it by dozens of times. S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The battle had become something extraordinary¡ªa clash of titanic forces that defied all understanding. Yet, in his state of absolute focus, Kayden felt no fear, no hesitation. There was only the storm within him, building toward a crescendo that promised to shake the very fabric of existence.

 Chapter 552: Win

    All that mana was converted into a single bolt, a colossal energy beam that seemed to pierce through the fabric of reality. The luminous discharge exploded with an intensity that eclipsed all the stars around it, its expanse stretching for hundreds of millions of kilometers in an instant. The bolt was not merely light or heat; it was pure mana in its most condensed form, capable of shredding the universe¡¯s laws around it.


    Space trembled and fractured under the impact, black fissures spreading like cracks on a cosmic mirror while waves of distortion propagated in all directions. Subatomic particles danced in absolute chaos, creating a spectacle of colors and energies that no mortal mind could comprehend. The sound¡ªif it could be called that¡ªresonated like a symphony of thunder, reverberating across billions of kilometers of the vacuum and echoing in deeper dimensions.


    Wherever the bolt passed, time seemed to hesitate, gravity bent anomalously, and matter disintegrated into a breath of particles, returning to the primordial ether from which everything emerged. The demigod, who previously seemed unshakable, was engulfed by that cosmic fury, his imposing figure lost amidst the incomprehensible devastation that redefined the boundaries of existence.


    Kayden found himself floating outside the zone, in the same place where he had stood to challenge the demigod. The fight had ended just like that. His attack replayed in his mind and before his eyes, as if stuck in a loop. Kayden seemed almost insane, reliving that scene every second.


    He never thought he could achieve that level of mastery over all his incomplete laws and his path with his current capabilities. It was a true case of flow. While he had always been confident of victory, the cost to his soul would likely have been years of recovery. Yet, the flow he experienced... the way his laws balanced themselves... caused everything to explode in a way he had never imagined possible.


    The old feeling of being a frog at the bottom of a well assaulted Kayden¡¯s mind. It was remarkable how he always had room to grow. If he could reach that power because of a flow state, he should be able to achieve it naturally. He just needed to train more.


    Kayden had been so focused on his ultimate goal that he forgot the journey¡ªa classic beginner¡¯s mistake in this world. Strength without quality was useless. Kayden possessed extreme quality, but it was far from perfect. This situation proved that point to him. Once again, he would need more time to reach the peak of his power.


    A black crown adorned with red jewels appeared on Kayden¡¯s head. Instantly, he could feel the entire zone within his reach. Not only that, but he understood where every point of the zone and its treasures lay. Practically everything became visible to him¡ªwhere mana was most concentrated, where treasures and condensed laws resided. Everything was within his grasp. For the first time in his life, Kayden felt like a true god. S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden could sense every person in his zone. Moreover, they were categorized by their power levels and relationship to the zone. Some, for instance, were clearly marked as spies or invaders. It didn¡¯t take more than ten seconds for Kayden to locate the true mages of the zone. The elite resided on a planet made of red grass that strongly resembled fire, surrounded by dozens of stars burning at high density.


    "Thoth," Kayden called out to the mage as soon as he felt him crossing into the zone.


    "This favor is only your body, isn¡¯t it?" Kayden smiled.


    "He was never your opponent, Kayden. I gave you a true battle," Thoth replied, understanding immediately that Kayden was considering killing him, as the demigod had been much stronger than Thoth had let on, directly putting Kayden¡¯s life at risk.


    "What do you know about the state of flow? Tell me, and we¡¯ll settle our debts," Kayden decided to extort the mage a little.


    Thoth thought for a few seconds before accepting. Negotiation involves both losing and gaining. "The heavens sometimes reveal certain things in moments of some beings¡¯ lives. They provide a small glimpse of that person¡¯s hidden potential or unveil something they have sought for a long time. That¡¯s all."


    Kayden raised an eyebrow. He had expected something like a hidden power or some fantastical explanation, but it seemed to be just the heavens subtly manipulating the threads of destiny.


    "Can it be forced? Do gods experience it as well?" Kayden pressed with more questions.


    "There is no easy way to force it, and all living beings are capable of receiving it," Thoth explained.


    Kayden finished his questions and fell into thought. Thoth, noticing his distraction, made a request.


    "What are you going to do now?"


    Kayden didn¡¯t know if there was a way to pass the crown to Thoth without engaging in a life-or-death battle. "I need your help recruiting all the mages on the central planets for my group and establishing me as the administrative leader of this zone."


    As soon as Thoth said those words, a small yellow sphere appeared above his head. Kayden immediately received information from the crown that a simple gesture would grant Thoth the position.


    "Let¡¯s go," Kayden said, giving the position to Thoth and teleporting the two to the center of the zone, the place with the highest mana density and resources.


    This was an authentic SS-class planet, spanning hundreds of billions of kilometers. Finding larger planets in the current era would be extremely difficult. Without gods, such an extension was something that few mortals could adequately manage. However, with the zone¡¯s crown, it was exceedingly simple.


    Kayden teleported for a few seconds and was in the center of the planet, in this place there was only one city where the elite of the elite lived, the houses were just mansions full of riches, there were slaves everywhere, there were no low-class residents in this city, even the poorest were still merchants who owned interplanetary companies, this was where the truly strong ruled, as soon as Kayden appeared in the skies he released his aura for all the wizards to feel.

 Chapter 553: A fundamental law

    Kayden teleported for only a few seconds before arriving at the center of the planet. There, a single city existed¡ªa place where only the elite of the elite resided. The houses were nothing less than mansions adorned with unimaginable riches. Slaves were everywhere, and there were no lower-class residents in this city. Even the "poorest" individuals here were interplanetary business owners. This was where the truly powerful ruled. S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    As soon as Kayden appeared in the skies, he released his aura for all the mages to sense.


    There was no need for a second glance for them to realize Kayden was far beyond their levels. He was someone capable of challenging a zone leader, and with the demigod of this zone still absent...


    "My greetings to the new King," said the first mage to ascend and greet Kayden. He was an old man with a cunning appearance, his strength at nine rays in the ninth realm. He seemed like someone who had survived eras through sheer cleverness.


    "Hello, everyone. My name is Kayden Heart. I am the new owner of this zone. This is my second-in-command, who will organize everything from now on," Kayden announced, pointing to Thoth before vanishing, leaving the man alone to handle all the problems.


    Kayden cared little for the development of this zone. He wouldn¡¯t waste a single second beyond what was necessary at this point. Thoth should be more than capable of resolving all the issues on his own¡ªafter all, he was one of the greatest monsters to have ever existed.


    While Kayden sought a secluded place to train and process all he had learned from his last battle, the universe was thrown into chaos with the news of the Fire Demigod¡¯s death. The demigod had been considered one of the strongest mid-level demigods in this universe, and learning that he had been obliterated effortlessly by a mage who wasn¡¯t even a demigod elevated Kayden¡¯s fame even further. Old stories of his past deeds began to resurface.


    Kayden¡¯s reputation, already immense, now reached every zone, from the weakest to the strongest. Tales of how he had defeated a Lich in the Infinite Tower, destroyed planets as if they were nothing, and effortlessly driven away demigods, began to circulate. Stories also emerged of mages he had raised from obscurity to prominence.


    Just as Kayden had appeared out of nowhere, he vanished just as suddenly. For millennia, not a single mage could trace his whereabouts. Meanwhile, Thoth continued managing the entire zone as if it were a colossal chessboard. The mage was truly a monster who should have been barred from participating in universal events. When incomplete law stones began to appear, Thoth intercepted every single one, placing them in the hands of individuals he had chosen from the beginning.


    The original mages of this zone were quickly absorbed by Thoth¡ªat least, those with true strength. The weaker ones were cast aside or, in the worst cases, eliminated to avoid hindering the mage¡¯s plans. The zone¡¯s resources and assets were redistributed in a way that created periods of extreme scarcity followed by slight relief, cycling between depletion and progress without pause.


    The universe began to grow in strength once more. More law stones started to emerge, to the point where they became almost common, with a few appearing each year. This gave rise to mages capable of unimaginable feats, born uncontrollably. The zones where these laws manifested turned into chaotic battlegrounds, with invaders from multiple zones attempting to recruit mages and capture the stones. None of the zone kings could withstand the invasions of dozens of beings at their level and were forced to accept them in frustration.


    Kayden¡¯s zone was also invaded, but on a much smaller scale. Few wanted to waste resources on secondary laws. Furthermore, Thoth managed to eliminate tens of thousands of invaders annually using his cunning strategies. This turned his zone into a forgotten and avoided territory for those with intelligence, leading to absurdly accelerated growth among its inhabitants.


    One day, Kayden felt he had taken the first step toward truly comprehending the Law of Balance. In that moment, he could feel it entirely and understand its effects on the system around him. It was insane to think he had been a mere ignorant fool until then.


    Kayden laughed at himself; in the past, he had only forced the law to act by increasing imbalance.


    The Law of Balance, to Kayden, was not just an invisible force maintaining harmony in the universe. It was a living pulse, a constant frequency traversing everything, from the smallest particles to the largest cosmic structures. He could feel it as a perfect rhythm, interconnecting matter, energy, and time in an infinite dance of balance and counterbalance. Every deviation, every excess or deficiency, resonated as dissonance in his expanded perception.


    Kayden could see the fabric of the universe adjusting itself, correcting each small anomaly, driven by this inexorable force. He felt the flows of energy and matter around him, converging and diverging in patterns that once seemed chaotic but now made absolute sense. It was as if the universe whispered to his soul, revealing that balance was neither the starting point nor the destination, but the path itself.


    Using the crown on his head, he could truly feel all of this. It was insane to witness how mana and the mages¡¯ power were distributed in perfect balance. There were no lions living among lambs; the universe practically pushed the lions toward death or onto the next stage of their lives after a while. The space was entirely stable¡ªnot even a single centimeter in the entire universe could escape the Law of Balance.


    Kayden grew deeply contemplative after this revelation, halting all his plans as he studied what he had learned. Slowly, the truth dawned on him: the Law of Balance was far more than a composite law of 100 laws. In fact, it likely encompassed millions of laws.


    This realization was utterly terrifying, as the Law of Balance was a law far above the ordinary ones¡ªsomething Kayden had never encountered in his entire life.


    Author¡¯s note: Closing another year, thank you to everyone who accompanied me during this period, we went from a novel with just a few readers to thousands, this was one of the worst years of my life in moments, I ended a traumatic relationship, had injuries at the gym, illnesses, I almost went blind, I lost family members and friends, but even so it was the year in which I grew the most as a person, that¡¯s why I would call it the best year of my life in the same way, thank you for being part of it, a happy new year, late or early, to you all.

 Chapter 554: Potential

    Kayden tore through the fabric of space, arriving near the planet¡¯s core in a series of effortless leaps. His thoughts were scattered, his focus elsewhere, and his aura¡ªraw and unchecked¡ªflooded the surroundings. It had been eons since Kayden last released his full presence, leaving even seasoned mages completely unaware of its sheer magnitude. The moment he appeared, it felt like an omnipotent sun had risen above the city. None of the gathered mages, not even those at the ninth ray and ninth realm, could move. They were frozen, overwhelmed by the oppressive force emanating from him.


    "Thoth," Kayden called out absentmindedly. Instantly, the mage materialized beside him, entirely unaffected by the oppressive aura.


    "Kayden," Thoth greeted, his voice calm but curious. "What happened to your aura?"


    Despite his extensive knowledge, Thoth had no real grasp of Kayden¡¯s true power. And yet, every glimpse into Kayden¡¯s capabilities seemed to stretch the limits of Thoth¡¯s expectations. The question caused Kayden to withdraw his aura abruptly, leaving the atmosphere clear again.


    "Just a lapse," Kayden replied dismissively, his tone neutral. "What can you tell me about laws that require millions of other laws to form?"


    Thoth arched an eyebrow, his surprise barely concealed. "Who told you about such things?" he asked, his voice carrying a note of concern. Information on primordial laws wasn¡¯t meant to be accessible in a mid-tier universe.


    "I encountered one," Kayden admitted, though his explanation was deliberately sparse. "But that¡¯s beside the point. Share what you know, and we¡¯ll call it even for the debt."


    Thoth regarded him thoughtfully before responding. "The universe is built on laws. The more laws a single law encompasses, the closer it gets to the foundational principles of existence. A law composed of millions of subsidiary laws would be considered mid-tier in high-level universes. But here¡­" He paused for emphasis. "Here, it¡¯s like unleashing a nuclear bomb on an ant colony."


    Once again, Thoth¡¯s insights reminded Kayden that the mage¡¯s knowledge extended far beyond what he could fully comprehend.


    "Universes?" Kayden pressed, hoping to extract more information, but Thoth simply smiled enigmatically.


    Realizing this line of questioning wouldn¡¯t yield further answers, Kayden let it drop. He did not need such knowledge at the moment. Just as he prepared to leave, he felt a familiar presence¡ªone he hadn¡¯t encountered in ages.


    Netero.


    The timing was uncanny. At the precise moment, Kayden emerged from his seclusion, the semi-divine mage arrived at the edge of his zone. It was as if the event had been meticulously orchestrated. And Netero wasn¡¯t alone. Within moments, a dozen semi-deities appeared, their energies cascading across the region. In mere minutes, they began converging toward Kayden¡¯s location.


    Kayden remained where he was, observing them in silence as they approached. Among the group, one other stood on equal footing with Netero in terms of strength. The rest ranged from mid-tier to weaker semi-deities.


    When they neared the planet, Kayden rose to meet them, with Thoth close by his side. His aura was completely suppressed, leaving no trace of the immense power he wielded. Expressionless, he floated into the skies to greet the visitors. The ten semi-deities eyed him warily, waiting for some sign of action. Yet Kayden gave them nothing. His presence was devoid of hostility, his aura non-existent.


    "Kayden," Netero finally spoke after a tense silence. "It¡¯s been some time since we last met." He turned slightly, offering a respectful nod. "Master Thoth."


    Interestingly, Netero¡¯s deference to Thoth far exceeded the respect he afforded Kayden. S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Thoth¡¯s reputation preceded him. Though an enigma to most, he was widely known¡ªand feared¡ªacross multiple universes. To those in the upper echelons of power, Thoth¡¯s name was synonymous with mystery and unparalleled cunning.


    "What can we do for you?" Thoth asked, his tone polite yet firm. Meanwhile, Kayden studied the semi-deities¡¯ auras. There was a faint aggression simmering beneath their composure, hostility barely concealed behind polite facades.


    "We bring a warning for Kayden Heart," Netero announced, his voice growing solemn. "The gods have declared your existence a threat to this universe. One of their most esteemed seers has foreseen you bringing ruin to this realm in the distant future. Moreover, your past crimes against the gods¡¯ offspring have not gone unnoticed. For these reasons, the council of gods has tasked us with the mission to end your life."


    The proclamation unveiled several truths to Kayden.


    First, the gods still maintained some form of contact with this universe¡ªperhaps recently re-established. Second, his long-standing enmity with Yan and Amanda was likely at the root of these charges; the other gods had no real connection to him. Lastly, being deemed a universal threat only confirmed to Kayden that he was finally on the right path.


    "Is that all?" Kayden asked, his calm demeanor unshaken despite the gravity of the threat.


    "When the allotted time given to your zone expires, we will strike," Netero said gravely. "I hope you understand¡ªthis is nothing personal, Kayden."


    Netero¡¯s sincerity was evident. Despite the grim task at hand, he seemed genuinely regretful. To him, Kayden had been one of the most valuable allies he had ever encountered.


    "It¡¯s fine," Kayden replied, his voice devoid of emotion. "I always expected you to be the gods¡¯ lapdogs."


    The statement, though factual, landed like a dagger. It wasn¡¯t an insult, nor was it spoken with malice. Yet its bluntness struck a nerve among the semi-deities.


    "There¡¯s no point wasting words with a dead man," one of them muttered before vanishing. The others followed suit, disappearing one by one until only Netero remained.


    "It¡¯s unfortunate things had to end this way," Netero said quietly. "I wish you a better next life." And with that, he, too, disappeared.


    Kayden watched them leave, his mind more focused than ever. The encounter only solidified what he already suspected¡ªhe had found the right path. The Law of Balance was the key to ascending to unimaginable heights. The moment he began to truly perceive it, predictions of his potential strength had reached even the gods, forcing their intervention.


    To Kayden, the conclusion was clear.


    They were afraid.

 Chapter 555: The arrival of the winter ones

    The gods were afraid of the potential of a mere mortal, scared enough to interfere with the threads of destiny and bear the weight of their actions. This wouldn¡¯t be a common event; it would be akin to killing a ten-ray mage, something far beyond what any god should be capable of handling. Likely, this god would either be killed or spend a few trillion years in a semi-vegetative state.


    "Did you foresee this?" Kayden asked Thoth when the two were finally alone.


    "No, I don¡¯t know which fundamental law you could sense, but it likely caused an upheaval in larger universes. Fortunately, the gods won¡¯t descend to this universe for a few dozen billion years, which should give you enough time to escape to other planes," Thoth mused while thinking.


    "I need a place to hide for an extended period of training. I¡¯m still unable to rival Netero and some of the other high-level demigods," Kayden admitted. He didn¡¯t want to trust Thoth blindly, but at the moment, he had no other options.


    The two remained silent, lost in their thoughts for a few more moments. Kayden was fully aware that he could flee for a few million years and hide on smaller planets. With a bit of luck, he might grow strong enough to rival Netero and the other high-level demigods. At that point, he could emerge from his isolation.


    "In a few centuries, another universe will come into conflict with ours. It¡¯s at least twice as large. Just flee into it and hide within its folds. They¡¯re also ruled by gods from the shadows, but they belong to a different faction," Thoth revealed, much to Kayden¡¯s surprise. The information was unexpected and freely given.


    "Thank you, Thoth," Kayden said before departing. He had much work to do. Like it or not, he was against the entire universe once again.


    "The time has come," Kayden said, opening his eyes from his meditation. The entire space around him was trembling. Spatial waves emanated from a point far off in the universe. Kayden rose and began teleporting at high speed. After some time, he finally encountered a fissure at a random point in the central zone.


    There were dozens of demigods gathered around the area. Not only that, but many mages who had sensed the tremors had also arrived, all converging at the slightest sign of something being wrong. Kayden was one of the last to notice, due to his deep training. S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Master Kayden," Han appeared, floating near Kayden, along with dozens of other mages who came to greet him. His strength commanded a certain level of respect, especially from those lower in the food chain.


    "I recommend that you leave this place. Only the three of you are capable of surviving the upcoming events," Kayden pointed at Han and two others. The rest were strong mages, but they would only perish against a greater force. Everyone knew who Kayden was and took his words seriously.


    Other dozens of auras pressed against Kayden, testing or attempting to intimidate him. His reputation evoked both fear and envy among the demigods. Yet none of them were foolish enough to confront him at that moment; they all understood that something unimaginably large was about to happen.


    The space continued to fracture for several hours. Finally, there came a moment when no small movements were left in the space¡ªa calm before the storm. Netero and other high-level demigods had already arrived. They knew that this was to be a battle to maintain their universe¡¯s leadership.


    The fissure began expanding alarmingly, consuming nearby stars as the fabric of the universe tore like paper. On the other side, a new reality emerged, its laws entirely different, clashing with the existing ones. Gravity fluctuated wildly, alternating between crushing and nonexistent, while impossible colors filled the region.


    Colossal beings, their forms defying logic, began to materialize, bringing with them a chilling breath that made even the demigods hesitate. An indescribable force pushed the original universe aside to make way for the invading one. At that moment, everyone understood that this was not merely a battle for leadership¡ªit was a fight for the survival of everything they knew.


    Some of the most powerful mages began revealing their true forms, beings of eternal ice who had long transcended the ninth realm. Their bodies radiated a bluish light, emitting an aura that froze the surrounding space instantly.


    One of them, known only as the Frost Specter, had elongated arms like crystalline blades and eyes that resembled black ice mirrors, reflecting the despair of anyone who dared meet their gaze. Another, called the Arctic Circle, was a floating mass of infinite ice, pulsing with arcane runes that cooled even the flames of nearby demigods.


    Every movement they made carried the eternity of glacial eras, and the mere existence of such mages defied logic.


    The newly revealed universe on the other side of the fissure was a frozen dominion. Oceans of solid ice stretched infinitely, with translucent mountains that appeared like natural mirrors, reflecting stars as if they were ghosts.


    The atmosphere was composed of bright, eternal snow particles, drifting aimlessly, while storms of cutting winds roared like the screams of trapped souls. This new universe seemed both dead and alive, pulsing with a frozen energy that threatened to consume everything in its path.


    The creatures emerging carried fragments of this primordial ice with them. Every step they took into the original universe froze the air, withered planets, and made life hesitate to exist.


    "Finally, a new war. We were getting bored," said a towering creature standing five meters tall, dressed in frozen armor with skin pale as snow. It appeared in the center of the mages, its strength far beyond what Kayden could face.


    Its power exceeded the ninth realm; it was a mortal above the ninth realm. Kayden couldn¡¯t comprehend what was happening. Its mere presence froze the laws around it. A mage of this level was far beyond anything Kayden had ever seen. But it was mortal, which meant it could be killed.

 Chapter 556: Time

    "It seems we won¡¯t have peace," Netero appeared floating alongside four other mages of the same level and strength as himself.


    "Peace is a desire of the weak-blooded," the creature replied in the universal mana language. Neither side made any movement. The ice creatures continued to arrive, slowly surpassing this universe in numbers. They were much stronger than average.


    This would be a completely unbalanced battle. It wouldn¡¯t be something Kayden¡¯s universe could easily hold up against; it would last for millennia. All the zone holders could sense the presence of twenty other zones on the other side. It seemed that an emperor would have to emerge from merging these two new universes.


    Kayden consumed twenty billion kilometers from every side. His actions were extremely quick; even Netero, with his superior strength, couldn¡¯t detect his movements. In fact, no one knew it was him. The mana in the entire region is concentrated in just 1,000 kilometers around them.


    The high concentration made everyone immediately raise their defenses. Their sense of space was lost to a terrifying aura that surged, covering everything and suppressing all the mages in the region. Even Netero wasn¡¯t prepared for a strong and heavy aura on his back. Just as it appeared, it disappeared along with all the mana. No one did anything for several long minutes, waiting for either side¡¯s explanation or attack.


    No one would take the defensive and admit that they hadn¡¯t done these actions. Meanwhile, Kayden was already entering the other universe at high speed, disappearing without a trace. No one was paying attention to the frozen universe. No one expected such a wild move. The only mage who saw everything was Thoth. The rest were completely lost.


    "This is a first-contact universe. Respect the universal rules," Thoth stood out among all the mages. His appearance caused the creatures to fall silent.


    "Of course, Master Thoth. Everything will be done in the proper manner," the ice creature bowed lightly to Thoth. "Who among you is the leader?" Most of the mages exchanged glances. There was no defined leader among them. This universe was too new for that.


    "I will assume this position for now," Netero introduced himself and received no opposition from his universe. He truly was the strongest at that moment.


    "Our universe officially declares war on yours. We are 21 zones with five leaders. We will fight for control of the zones within 100 million years. In the meantime, battles between lesser beings will take place," the creature spat out some rules, to which Netero only nodded in agreement. He had already been informed about this by Thoth.


    "Our universe wishes the invaders good luck." With that, the creature disappeared while the two universes continued to merge. The mages saw billions and trillions of mages and ice creatures appearing in mere seconds. An unprecedented war was about to begin. S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    In the following millennia, the dynamics of the two universes changed drastically. The space was completely remodeled. What the natives had expected was a massive rift between the two universes, but in reality, the zones were fully merged. The new and old zones were completely interspersed in a chaotic war.


    The high-level mages didn¡¯t engage directly in the battles. At most, nine-ray mages and those of the nine realms were fighting for power. The true peak of the universes was simply waiting and studying the events.


    Some zones were practically destroyed in just a few centuries. Although their demigods hadn¡¯t been killed, they were completely uninterested in defending their mortals¡ªan idiotic mistake that would cost them everything in the future. In many places in the universe, the new and old inhabitants began to merge amicably, and a new commerce emerged across the two universes.


    The mages from the frozen universe were strong, but that was because they had already undergone more than one incursion into other universes. They were literally veterans of war. Their leaders already understood how things worked and simply allowed everything to unfold smoothly. Meanwhile, the mages from the native universe were developing at an extremely accelerated rate.


    The only hope at that moment was the mages with incomplete laws of the stones and... Atlas. The demigods were strong, but they didn¡¯t have much growth potential. IBecominga demigod was essentially sacrificing potential for strength. Most of them hadn¡¯t advanced in millions of years. The only one truly continuing to grow was Netero, along with those at the top.


    War made any society either completely collapse or undergo extremely rapid development. In many places in the universe, zones simply crumbled with no hope, but in others, they became highly developed. Thoth¡¯s zone and Atlas¡¯s were examples of this. The birth of high-talent mages with high ray counts practically doubled during this period.


    Kayden was hiding in zone 21 of this universe. It was an extremely cold place and located at the farthest point of the other universe. It would require crossing at least three entire enemy zones to reach him. This effectively camouflaged Kayden 100%, especially considering that the mages of this universe wouldn¡¯t be searching for invaders of his power level at the beginning of the war.


    As each day passed, Kayden learned more about the laws of equilibrium. His mastery continued to grow at an astonishing speed due to the stone he had received. Kayden¡¯s power was slowly reaching an incomprehensible level. The boy decided he would advance to a new realm when he fully mastered the law of equilibrium. At that point, he would be ready to enter the eighth realm and continue growing his strength.


    Every time Kayden thought he was still in the seventh realm, his mind paused and trembled. If he was at this power level while only in the seventh realm, what would happen when he reached the ninth? How strong could Kayden become? For the first time, Kayden understood the fear of his potential.


    Millions of years slowly began to pass, and Kayden had already become a forgotten name in the universe, Netero and no other demigod was able to find him in that period, Kayden had practically disappeared in the most turbulent time that this universe had ever seen, there was no sign of him anywhere in the universe, his area was completely untouched because it was Thoth who was administering the place and not even the craziest of the crazy dared to poke this hornet¡¯s nest.

 Chapter 557: Jormund

    "You shouldn¡¯t be here, invader," a wave of icy mana reached Kayden before his sixth sense could detect the presence of the mage. Moments later, a towering creature standing three meters tall, its form dripping with frost, emerged in his spiritual sense. This meant that his opponent¡¯s spiritual sense surpassed his own¡ªa rare occurrence for someone like Kayden.


    Kayden could feel that this mage stood somewhere between the ninth realm and the divine level. It was the same peculiar presence he had encountered millions of years ago with the leader of the Frozen Universe. The mage moved closer, and Kayden remained still, observing as the surrounding laws and mana were slowly encapsulated by ice. Kayden marveled at how quickly the Law of Equilibrium adapted to the new environment, seamlessly incorporating the ice as the new balance point.


    "I am but a lost mage, with no interest in the quarrels of zones," Kayden said with a tone that was both respectful and unafraid. The creature studied him for a few moments, unable to sense any discernible power within Kayden. This ambiguity left the mage uncertain¡ªwas he facing a harmless wanderer or a true monster in disguise?


    "You claim no interest, yet possess the strength to claim a zone by yourself," the creature remarked, casting a subtle bait. Kayden merely continued to gaze at him, his expression emotionless. "What is your name? And what is your purpose here?" The creature¡¯s tone became sharper, its aura laced with enough aggression to hint at the ease with which a confrontation could erupt.


    "I am Kayden Heart. I am here simply to cultivate, with no other motives," Kayden replied honestly, his words devoid of deceit. The creature scrutinized him but found no traces of falsehood.


    "Your aura may not stand out, but your presence reeks of living, warm laws," the creature noted, its voice tinged with suspicion. Kayden raised an eyebrow. This was an observation he had not considered. Gazing into the soul of the creature, Kayden noticed faint, scaled patterns at its core.


    Without effort, Kayden analyzed the traits of his opponent¡¯s soul and integrated the insights into his own understanding. As a master of souls, such minor adaptations required no strain. The creature, on the other hand, regarded Kayden as though staring at an aberration.


    "Is this better?" Kayden asked, his presence shifting in an instant. The creature hesitated, a flicker of doubt crossing its expression. In mere moments, Kayden had camouflaged himself so completely that no mage in this universe could have detected him.


    "How? Can you reverse it?" The mage¡¯s mind raced with possibilities¡ªperhaps he had stumbled upon a goldmine by sheer luck.


    "That¡¯s a secret. But if you¡¯re asking whether I could create spies for your kind, the answer is yes," Kayden replied, his tone measured. He wasn¡¯t naive; he knew exactly what the creature was pondering.


    "I am Jormund Hayer," the creature introduced itself, its demeanor shifting to one of cautious friendliness. "I could offer an exchange for your services. I am the ruler of one of the frozen zones and among the strongest mages of this universe. Name your price, and it will be yours."


    Kayden smiled faintly, his gaze steady. He had heard promises of miracles before.


    "Do you have any higher backing?" Kayden asked, surprising Jormund, who furrowed his brow in confusion. "You¡¯re strong, but not strong enough to strike a deal with me." Kayden¡¯s words carried no malice or arrogance, yet they struck Jormund like a blow to his pride. For a moment, the frozen lord felt the sting of inadequacy.


    "You overestimate yourself. I am more than capable of negotiating with you," Jormund retorted, his aura surging outward. In an instant, tens of billions of kilometers of space were frozen solid. However, before the frost could even settle¡­


    Kayden unleashed his aura. S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    For a radius of 20 billion kilometers, the ice froze anew. It was an eerie sight¡ªlaws themselves seemed to decelerate as if submitting to the overwhelming force. The very fabric of space warped and curved toward Kayden, as though he were a singularity. The Law of Equilibrium was entirely rewritten, with Kayden as the epicenter.


    Mana ceased to respond to ordinary beings. Jormund found himself ensnared within an absolute domain of control, his spiritual sense unable to extend beyond the 20-billion-kilometer radius. For the first time in ages, Jormund reevaluated his opponent. What realm did Kayden belong to? He couldn¡¯t discern it. For the first time, fear crept into Jormund¡¯s heart¡ªa primal instinct warning against engaging this being.


    As abruptly as it had appeared, Kayden¡¯s aura vanished, leaving behind an oppressive silence.


    "You cannot suppress me with aura alone. My true opponents can," Kayden said evenly. "That¡¯s the problem. The only currency I seek is protection." His voice was calm, yet it carried the weight of someone who had endured the struggles of countless lifetimes.


    Jormund retracted his own aura, deep in thought. Kayden was both an opportunity and a potential threat. Who were these entities pursuing Kayden, and how powerful must they be to force someone of his caliber to seek refuge in the farthest corners of the universe?


    "My father controls four zones and is one of the five greatest mages in our region," Jormund eventually offered, his tone laced with caution.


    Kayden pondered for a moment before presenting his terms. "Swear by the heavens that my life will not be endangered during or after this negotiation, and that my freedom will remain intact for 10 million years."


    Jormund, seeing no harm in the request, made the oath without hesitation. "I swear to protect your life and liberty during the negotiation and for 10 million years after."


    The heavens responded, sealing the vow instantly. Kayden knew Jormund was not a ten-ray mage, so there was little chance of deception. Moreover, as a ten-ray mage himself, Kayden had nothing to fear.


    "Follow me," Jormund instructed, his tone now devoid of hostility. He began moving at a moderate pace, testing Kayden¡¯s ability to keep up. As Kayden matched his movements effortlessly, Jormund increased his speed, teleporting vast distances. Yet, no matter how fast he traveled, Kayden followed with ease, never faltering.

 Chapter 558: Garden

    They were traveling billions of kilometers per second, yet Kayden didn¡¯t seem affected in the slightest. Previously, Kayden had taken decades to reach the level he was at now, but this time they utilized several portals scattered throughout the zone, capable of crossing thousands of light-years in a single leap. This saved an absurd amount of travel time.


    Every time Kayden crossed the universe, he realized how pathetic his strength truly was. Traveling at 20 billion kilometers per second was insane, but at the same time, it was insignificant compared to the universe. It still took years to cross some galaxies at maximum speed.


    "We¡¯ve arrived," Jormund said, stopping on a completely immense planet. Kayden had never seen anything of this size, not even in his previous universe. It easily spanned hundreds of billions of kilometers, entirely covered in snow. S§×ar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The planet was a silent spectacle of power and isolation. Its vast snowy expanse shimmered under the stars like a frozen ocean stretching infinitely. Colossal mountains pierced the horizon, their bases buried in forgotten eras and their peaks cutting through the rarefied atmosphere. The winds carried echoes of secrets buried beneath layers of eternal ice. The surface, inhospitable and challenging, harbored only those strong enough to endure an environment deliberately hostile to life. And yet, amidst this desolation, there were signs of grand civilizations, with structures so immense and complex that they defied the logic of the ages.


    At the heart of the planet, protected by impenetrable layers of ice and energy, stood Nivalis Zenith, a city of elites beyond imagination. Each building was a masterpiece forged of crystal and arcane metal, radiating a golden light that pierced the constant darkness. Towers rose into the sky as monuments to ambition, each adorned with sigils and runes shimmering with the energy of a thousand mages. The streets, made of a translucent, luminous substance, pulsed with life as though the planet itself sustained the city. Here, trade was not in mortal riches but in ancient knowledge, unmatched artifacts of power, and favors capable of reshaping universes. Only those with strength, influence, or rare lineages could pass through the city gates, and even then, many were crushed by the weight of its relentless splendor.


    The weakest mage in this city possessed eight rays, and not even the children fell below that standard. The talent of entire regions was entirely concentrated here. Kayden even sensed some presences at the level of demigods. Nine-ray mages were scattered in the hundreds throughout the city, as common as sand in a desert. Additionally, there were a few mages exuding the same aura as Jormund.


    Kayden and Jormund flew throughout the city. Their arrival was noticed by most of the powerful mages, but as soon as they recognized Jormund¡¯s aura, they withdrew, unwilling to satisfy their curiosity about Kayden. New mages were rare in this place, and they were usually introduced by someone from within. However, Kayden was a mage with a unique aura¡ªor rather, a mage without any perceptible aura.


    The two flew for a few minutes at low speed until they reached one end of the city. There, they found a vast garden of blue and white flowers, most of them frozen or showing signs of ice among their stems. Kayden immediately felt the aura of this place. The laws here were completely frozen. Balance could not establish itself anywhere, as every attempt was undone by the extreme cold. However, the fundamental law of balance still existed and was fully present, though Kayden was unable to articulate anything about it.


    The garden stretched only one kilometer from the outside, but when they entered, it extended for dozens of kilometers. The spatial runes were perfect; Kayden could understand them because of his law and his mastery, but he was unable to alter or easily break them.


    For several minutes¡ªor perhaps hours¡ªKayden stood still, studying the environment. His eyes were closed as he absorbed everything he could. Without realizing it, he fell into a trance. The details and new elements in this environment were overwhelming, and the aura of the place was mythical¡ªsomething Kayden had never experienced in his entire life.


    "A true genius doesn¡¯t even take an hour to escape the illusions of the frozen garden. Who have you brought here, Jormund?" A man barely one meter tall appeared, walking through the garden. His characteristics were unique.


    The man, barely one meter tall, walked slowly through the frozen garden, but his presence was anything but insignificant. His spiky blue hair seemed made of pure magical ice, radiating an ethereal light that flickered in harmony with the frozen laws around him. His short blue beard complemented his cold and calculating expression, while his thick eyebrows projected an aura of unquestionable authority. He wore a heavy cloak of wool and leather, reinforced with crystalline ice details that glowed faintly, capturing the essence of winter itself.


    "Hello, Father. This is Kayden Heart," Jormund began, explaining how he had found Kayden and the opportunity that had arisen for both of them. After learning that spies could be created perfectly, the emperor also became interested.


    "Let¡¯s wait. He should be able to get out. His talent can¡¯t be that remarkable," the emperor commented, assuming Kayden had simply experienced many fortuitous encounters in his life. After all, his garden was both a test and a defense.


    Time slowly began to pass, and there was no sign of progress from Kayden. In the blink of an eye, several years went by. Neither Jormund nor the emperor gave up on Kayden for the simple reason that those who became lost in the garden turned into frozen flowers. They merely left a rune to alert them when Kayden awakened from his stupor. Like it or not, he wasn¡¯t an urgent priority.


    As the two went on with their lives, Kayden fought an internal struggle, he was not in the perfect place to learn about the law of balance, here he was so unbalanced and at the same time balanced by a higher law that he felt lost, but little by little he was able to understand the whole scheme of things, little by little the fundamental law began to take shape in his mind.

 Chapter 559: The fame

    In a few centuries, Kayden mastered dozens of laws. He accelerated his learning by tens of millions of years in just a few hundred years. The Law of Balance was at least 50% complete in his mind at this moment. In truth, Kayden had traversed more than half the path, but those 50% were only what he believed to be perfect. The overall content easily surpassed 70%.


    Kayden opened his eyes on a random day. The environment remained the same, and he had learned absolutely everything he could from it. His eyes now had a faint bluish hue. He took a single deep breath and raised his hand toward space.


    Crack! Crack! Crack!


    Dozens of spatial threads extended from Kayden, and the balance of the environment turned into absolute chaos¡ªa beautiful mess of laws clashing in pursuit of equilibrium and reason. But within seconds, they were entirely suppressed by the fundamental Law of Balance. The universe restored balance without any difficulty. This law was practically instantaneous in its effects whenever it detected a space error.


    Kayden kept applying pressure, and the threads in space continued to increase more and more. In the blink of an eye, dozens of kilometers were filled with spatial threads. It was strange because the space appeared completely normal and free of cracks. This was not a spatial fracture but rather a rupture in the natural laws of the environment¡ªsomething only Kayden and a select few mages could perceive. It was a fissure in the natural order of things.


    With each passing second, the cracks increased, and space began to tremble under the pressure of the laws in this environment. The ice no longer dominated, and even the flowers could no longer sustain their existence. Everything became blurry, as they ceased to exist while simultaneously existing without being themselves. It was inexplicable, and then...


    Everything ended with the pressure of a law even greater than all of Kayden¡¯s control and the entire environment. The fundamental Law of Balance simply restored everything to a point where Kayden was no longer capable of altering the environment. He couldn¡¯t even manipulate space or launch any attacks. His power was reduced to the basic level of a mortal as he watched everything return to normal.


    "What was that!?" Jormund¡¯s father appeared in front of Kayden, visibly agitated. The power of the law he had felt far transcended anything he had ever witnessed. Even gods were not capable of such a feat.


    The most terrifying thing was the pressure he felt in this garden. He couldn¡¯t do anything here. His control over his laws was practically nullified, and he couldn¡¯t even alter space. He felt like a mortal again¡ªsomething he hadn¡¯t experienced in billions of years.


    "I don¡¯t know," Kayden replied, not paying much attention. He was still lost in thought, trying to understand everything that had just happened. The emperor remained silent and also became lost in his thoughts. A few days later, everything returned to normal, and both emerged from their introspection.


    Kayden learned much in that moment. His power practically doubled during this period, and his understanding of the Law of Balance reached a new level. Moreover, he managed to visualize a fragment of a fundamental law. He was able to sense millions of laws intertwining to create something entirely unique.


    "What did you learn about the garden to cause that?" Kayden was asked.


    "Nothing. I didn¡¯t use anything from this place to cause it," he replied. This was the best answer Kayden could give¡ªpartly true and partly false. He truly didn¡¯t use anything from the garden to cause the event; it was simply an extremely unbalanced environment that provided an excellent study setting for him.


    "I see. My name is Marco Aurelio, the Emperor of Eternal Ice," said the emperor. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, the emperor saw someone hear his name and feel his aura without showing any reaction.


    "It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Kayden Heart," Kayden said with a common gesture, devoid of any title. But it wasn¡¯t necessary, as the emperor and Jormund had no difficulty discovering his story.


    *********


    "Who are you!?" Atlas felt the same pressure his father exuded, albeit at a much smaller and more controlled level.


    "My name doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯m here to propose a negotiation," Marco said, emanating his icy aura without restraint. His pressure made Atlas feel like a mere child among adults.


    As soon as the man appeared before Atlas, he abandoned any thoughts of fighting or resistance. There was simply no way he could win this battle. This man was on the same level as Netero¡ªor perhaps even stronger. Atlas believed he was stronger; the pressure directly targeted his laws.


    "State your intentions," Atlas said, having little else to add.


    "I want information in exchange for a period of protection when the inter-universal war begins." Atlas raised an eyebrow but continued the conversation.


    "What¡¯s your proposal?"


    "Kayden Heart. Who is he? Be honest, and your zone will remain free of invaders for 10 million years." The offer was extremely tempting, and Atlas only requested an oath before beginning to share everything he knew about his greatest enemy.


    "The greatest monster our universe has ever produced," Atlas began, not mincing words given the gravity of the negotiation. "He has an unknown combat capacity but can easily hold several zones without any difficulty. He is one of the oldest mages on record, predating the Great Division caused by the Father of False Gods. We know he¡¯s one of the few mages capable of manipulating souls in our universe. He was able to kill his soulmate in exchange for power..." Atlas was interrupted by Marco. S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Repeat that," Marco said, struggling to grasp the magnitude of everything Atlas had just described, as he wasn¡¯t familiar with this universe. But killing a soulmate was something he could comprehend the weight of.


    "He killed his soulmate in exchange for power," Atlas emphasized each word with visible hatred. "He has no limits. His mind is unbreakable. He challenges gods as if they were mortals. His madness and courage are matched only by his strength and potential."

 Chapter 560: The monster

    Marco stayed silent for a few minutes, trying to comprehend what Kayden had done. Killing one¡¯s soulmate was something Marco had never encountered in his entire life. He had witnessed many absurdities: mortals almost equaling the strength of gods, but never had he seen someone pursue power with such an unshakable mentality. He had even seen gods destroy themselves after losing their soulmates.


    "What is his strength? Who knows about this?" Marco finally asked, breaking the silence.


    Atlas took a moment to think about the question before responding as honestly as he could.


    "We believe his strength is just below the top five in our universe. There is no detailed information about his power, but he hasn¡¯t lost a single battle in the last few millennia. No one has even come close to delivering him a fatal blow. But that¡¯s not the main issue¡ªit¡¯s his potential. All the mages in our universe hunt him because of it. Our gods have had premonitions that he symbolizes the end of our universe."


    Marco raised an eyebrow at this revelation. He already knew Kayden was strong and special, but he hadn¡¯t expected something like this. Being hunted by gods from another universe meant that Kayden¡¯s potential surpassed anything this universe could offer. In reality, Kayden was a direct threat to Marco¡¯s empire¡ªnot at the moment, but in the future, he could surpass everyone if these claims were true.


    "Additionally, he¡¯s a ten-ray mage with strong ties to the entity Thoth," Atlas continued.


    Marco raised his other eyebrow. Almost every mage was familiar with Thoth; he was a figure who appeared across most universes and major events.


    "Ten-ray mages? How powerful is that?" Marco had heard about such mages before, but he didn¡¯t remember ever encountering one in his universe. Perhaps one of the main mages hidden away might be one.


    "You¡¯re not a ten-ray mage?" Atlas couldn¡¯t understand how a mortal could be so strong without being one. The idea simply didn¡¯t make sense in his mind.


    "I am a mage of the Tenth Realm," Marco clarified. S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Tenth Realm? Our universes really are different. A ten-ray mage is something unique¡ªsomeone who transcended all mortal limits while still in the mortal realm. He is at least on the same level as a mage of the Tenth Realm, even when being several realms below." Atlas offered more insights but received nothing in return. After all, their agreement only required him to provide information.


    "Consider our deal active. Goodbye, Mage Atlas," Marco said before disappearing without further explanation, leaving Atlas alone with his thoughts.


    "Come," Marco commanded, gesturing to his son and Kayden to step into a spatial portal that materialized beside him. Kayden, protected by Jormund¡¯s promise, entered without hesitation. They emerged in another garden, but this one was much calmer and free of the oppression of laws.


    The garden floated above the city like a suspended island, surrounded by the biting chill of eternal winter. Its transparent ground reflected an infinite starry sky, covered in delicate ice crystals that shimmered like diamonds. Fragile trees with golden and silver leaves stood partially frozen, while a small lake of crystalline waters exuded a bluish mist, dancing with the icy breeze. Luminescent flowers, coated with frost, blossomed all around, their vibrant colors contrasting with the predominant white. At the center stood a colossal tree glowing in hues of white and gold, radiating a sense of peace that warmed even the harshest winter.


    Marco summoned a finely crafted table and chairs, elaborately upholstered to offer the highest level of comfort. He also arranged various foods and beverages on the table, offering them to Kayden.


    "We have two proposals for you," Marco began without giving Kayden a chance to respond. "The first is protection in exchange for your assistance in producing perfect spies." Kayden nodded slightly. "Additionally, we want you to help create geniuses with mastery over souls for our empire."


    "No," Kayden interrupted. It was the first time Marco had heard a "no" in tens of millions of years. It took him a brief moment to process Kayden¡¯s response. His age and wisdom allowed him to continue the conversation without excessive pride.


    "Why?" Marco asked, genuinely intrigued.


    "My work with souls is extremely rare. I believe there¡¯s nothing like it in the entire universe. Every mage I prepare can achieve nine rays as if it were a pastime, without even relying on resources. Moreover, I¡¯ve created monarchs and ten-ray mages. My services are not something you can obtain easily. I hold favors from gods in my hands. What could you possibly offer me beyond that?" Kayden¡¯s words made Marco realize he was dealing with someone fully aware of their value.


    "We can pay with information about the Tenth Realm," Marco offered. His words gleamed in Kayden¡¯s eyes like gold. He had no idea what the Tenth Realm entailed, but...


    "That¡¯s not a big deal. I¡¯ve seen dozens of mages in the Tenth Realm during my time in these zones," Kayden said nonchalantly. In reality, he had only seen three, but they were the only Tenth Realm mages he had encountered from the other universe. "I want everything you have on the Tenth Realm, and in exchange, I will offer my services to three mages of your choosing."


    Kayden¡¯s bluff forced Marco to accept it as truth. While Tenth Realm mages weren¡¯t excessively rare, they were relatively common only at the highest levels of power. What was truly rare were Tenth Realm mages with nine rays¡ªthose were absurdly more uncommon than Ninth Realm mages with nine rays.


    "We can provide you with the most legendary techniques of our..." Marco started, but Kayden interrupted.


    "I want the techniques of your family," Kayden stated a demand that was practically an insult. This time, Marco¡¯s demeanor shifted slightly.


    "Do you understand what you¡¯re asking for?" Marco¡¯s voice rose slightly.


    "Yes. I can swear by the heavens never to share or disclose anything related to it," Kayden replied fearlessly. "My services are the rarest commodity in this universe. There are millions of methods to grant power to a mage, but methods to grant talent? They don¡¯t exist. My price is high because my service is unique," Kayden said, his tone unwavering.


    Marco stared at him, realizing that the man before him was not bluffing about his capabilities.

 Chapter 561: Time

    Every mage who trained under him achieved extraordinary feats and reached heights far beyond the ordinary. Atlas was one of his best examples, but he could also mention Han and dozens of other mages who attained nine rays in the ninth realm.


    "This is something I¡¯ll have to think about," Marco said, falling silent. The two waited, and in the blink of an eye, two years had passed as they sat at the same table. Time seemed to flow differently for such individuals.


    "I can accept this, but I want an oath that you will guard the secret of this technique with your life and use it only as a study model." Kayden didn¡¯t hesitate for even a moment before swearing.


    "I swear by the heavens to use this technique solely for study and to protect its secret with my life." Kayden nearly smiled, knowing he was deceiving two beings who might be even older than himself.


    "The technique is only passed down orally. One of our elders will accompany you for the next millions of years to teach it to you. In return, we want three mages honed to the extreme of their abilities." Kayden nodded. "How quickly can spies be produced?" Kayden wasn¡¯t certain of the answer.


    "I¡¯d say between a hundred and two hundred per century, depending on the complexity of the souls you provide," he replied, lying partially. The truth was that it depended on both the complexity and the time he would dedicate to it, though he didn¡¯t plan to invest much time.


    "Your protection will last as long as your services are needed." Kayden added another measure of security at that moment.


    "I want 100 million years of peace between us after our agreement ends."


    "That can be arranged," came the response. Kayden truly wouldn¡¯t leave any loose ends.


    Kayden settled into the city for the next few million years without altering his training routine. He only had to leave a few times a year to produce perfect mage spies and to train the three geniuses Marco had chosen for him.


    One of the geniuses was merely a child, a few decades old and in the second realm. His talent was high but seemed ordinary in Kayden¡¯s eyes. He wasn¡¯t even strong; this was undoubtedly a waste of his services.


    Another student was an old man with incredible potential. Kayden had to admit this elder was on par with Atlas in terms of talent. Although in the seventh realm with nine rays, his aura was intimidating. Furthermore, his age seemed far greater than even Kayden¡¯s, and his soul was so ancient that his past lives were dimmed compared to his current one.


    Finally, Kayden¡¯s last student was none other than Jormund. A genius mage on the same level as the elder, though slightly superior. Being Marco¡¯s son had granted him immense benefits; his body and soul were meticulously honed. Even so, Kayden managed to elevate him to another level through their sessions.


    Each of his students grew in strength at a pace that surpassed other geniuses by dozens of times. Their natural talents were taken to another level, and techniques that had once been complex became increasingly simple. Jormund practically tripled his strength in an extraordinarily short period. While millions of years were insignificant for someone of his caliber, the progress he achieved during this time should have taken billions¡ªor tens of billions¡ªof years. sea??h th§× ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden¡¯s value was now considered equal to that of an entire zone. His power was being concealed by Marco and Jormund, but they knew this secrecy wouldn¡¯t last forever. Inevitably, the information would leak once people connected the dots regarding their rapid growth. However, this would likely take billions of years.


    The spies Kayden produced were also flawless. At first, he spent hours on each individual, but now he barely took seconds to craft a prosthesis in their souls to mask the cold laws. It was a minuscule addition that fed on the person¡¯s own soul. The drawback was a slight mental strain, but it was of no concern to Kayden.


    Unbeknownst to either side, Marco was taking his first steps toward conquering multiple zones in one fell swoop. In the universe of war, information was power, and he was already light-years ahead of all his opponents. Not a single mage could match what his empire was achieving, and the best part was that it was all hidden in plain sight.


    Kayden¡¯s name practically faded from common memory over time. Only mages above the seventh realm still remembered him; the rest had never lived during his era. However, in certain corners of the universe, his name still echoed in nicknames. Moreover, all the elite mages of the universe knew his story. Kayden was practically a living legend, especially when it became known that gods were after him, yet he had survived.


    His strength was unfathomable, but everyone remembered the time Kayden conquered a zone as effortlessly as someone taking a slice of pizza from a box¡ªas if it had always been destined to be his.


    Kayden¡¯s progress continued with the Law of Balance. Moreover, he was expanding his sixth sense at a slower but steady rate. By now, Kayden had reached 23 billion kilometers, but he no longer found it useful. He simply needed to master the Law of Balance to advance realms¡ªa process that would take tens of millions more years.


    In the blink of an eye, those tens of millions of years passed. The two universes finally began their war¡ªa ceaseless onslaught of destruction and death on both sides, but especially for Kayden¡¯s home universe, which lacked the same proportion of demigods as the mages of the tenth realm.


    This situation meant that only those in the top 5 demigods and Atlas were able to maintain their zones, the latter in particular because he was not suffering as strong attacks as the other zones, in addition he was just below the top 5 demigods, apart from these there was no one else capable of rivaling him, in 100 million years he was able to raise his strength to another level, this time he was confident in facing Kayden, but he knew it was not the time to look for his greatest enemy.

 Chapter 562: Ten rays

    The universal balance was shifting as techniques and powers were blended, and the inevitability of war became central to all events. Death became a common occurrence. Ninth-realm mages, once revered as powerful beings, were now mere pawns in a much larger scheme. These mages, who once stood at the pinnacle of mortal power, were deployed freely in battle, their deaths regarded as collateral damage. The loss of ninth-realm mages no longer carried the weight it once did; they had become cannon fodder in the grand orchestration of universal conflict.


    In the end, the universe underwent a profound transformation. Zones began to overlap and merge randomly, leading to the creation of an enormous central area where two zones labeled "21" combined into a massive space at the universe¡¯s core. The legendary law stones, which had hovered above the cosmos for millennia, finally ceased their ethereal dance, having fulfilled their mysterious purpose. Their departure heralded a new era, marked by the emergence of a tenth-realm mage¡ªhidden by Netero, one of the universe¡¯s secretive demigods. This mage was a secret weapon, a figure whose potential terrified even the bravest. Should this mage ascend to the status of a ten-ray demigod, the universe would witness the birth of a true king.


    But this hidden mage was not the only one to reach new heights. Countless other mages rose to unprecedented levels of power, many becoming new demigods. These individuals, wielding laws extracted from the stones, started their ascension from points far beyond what was once imaginable. Their strength defied expectations, and over the course of tens of millions of years, they climbed to the pinnacle of society, claiming positions once held by ancient, monstrous entities.


    In contrast, the Frozen Universe displayed minimal progress. Its conflicts were weaker than those seen in other regions, and its resurgence was negligible. Growth, when it occurred, was largely individual and sporadic. Among those who achieved notable growth was Matheus, one of the most remarkable mages of this era.


    Matheus followed the path of the "false gods," elevating his understanding and strength to a new level. He could not reach the coveted status of a ten-ray mage, but he stood firmly at the absolute peak of the ninth realm, on the verge of transcending his current state. Yet, intriguingly, Matheus¡¯s destiny was not to become a god. He was on the brink of something entirely uncharted, a realm that had yet to be named. It was only a matter of time before he reemerged as a transformative force in the universe. What drove him forward, above all else, was the lingering fear of Kayden¡¯s promise¡ªsomething Kayden himself had long forgotten but which remained deeply ingrained in Matheus¡¯s psyche.


    In truth, this war was a typical conflict, one that devastated mortal populations the most. Kayden, however, was unfazed by its developments or outcomes. The petty squabbles of lesser beings no longer held any relevance for him. His strength had ascended to a realm where only the universe¡¯s mightiest forces could pose a threat¡ªand those forces had no interest in senselessly opposing him.


    And then, the moment arrived.


    "Finally," Kayden whispered, a mix of relief and triumph coloring his voice as he felt the complete understanding of the Law of Balance crystallize in his mind. In that instant, the full dominion of the law opened itself to him. Kayden, in just over a hundred million years¡ªa mere blink in cosmic terms¡ªhad mastered an entire universal law, one of the hundred known across existence.


    Kayden¡¯s talent was unparalleled. Across the vast stretches of the universe, he was the only being to possess a perfect soul, a rarity that had not been seen in all of creation. What should have taken tens of billions of years had been achieved in an astonishingly short period. While others might have been overwhelmed by pride or joy at such an accomplishment, Kayden merely felt relieved. For he knew this was only the beginning. The true challenge¡ªthe comprehension of the Fundamental Law of Balance¡ªlay ahead, an obstacle that dwarfed even his current feat.


    The difference was monumental. As the full essence of the Law of Balance entered his consciousness, Kayden once again felt like a mere frog at the bottom of an endless well. His perception expanded, merging with the universe around him. He became acutely aware of the beauty and omnipresence of the law he had mastered. It was present in every moment, every breath of existence.


    Kayden¡¯s understanding deepened. He could see the law¡¯s influence in the grand and the minute. Stars, those colossal cosmic furnaces, burned in a perfect dance of creation and destruction, their energy sustaining entire systems in a delicate balance. Galaxies swirled with silent purpose, their arms adjusting in harmony to maintain order amidst chaos. Even black holes, with their voracious gravitational pull, served as instruments of balance, absorbing excesses and allowing the universe to reshape itself continuously. sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    In the smallest details, Kayden saw the same principles at work. A butterfly, fragile and fleeting, flapped its wings not merely to fly but to send ripples through its environment, influencing everything around it. Rivers carved their paths through the land, nurturing ecosystems with an innate understanding of balance. Mountains stood as silent sentinels, their peaks and valleys shaping winds and weather. Even magic itself, from the grandest invocations to the simplest enchantments, obeyed this invisible harmony that few could comprehend.


    For Kayden, it was clear: the universe was not a chaotic assembly of random forces. Everything was connected by an unseen thread, a tapestry woven with precision and purpose. Each detail, no matter how small, contributed to the grand design.


    And most importantly...


    "Finally," Kayden muttered, now in the remotest corner of his zone. He was preparing to ascend realms once more. This time, he believed achieving ten rays would be far easier than before.


    The heavens responded to Kayden¡¯s presence. In an instant, the weight of the ten-ray challenge spread across the universe. Within moments, the sheer intensity of Kayden¡¯s aura began to draw mages from every corner. Even from other zones, powerful individuals shattered their most prized teleportation treasures to witness the spectacle.


    Nobody fully understood why they felt compelled to be there, but Kayden¡¯s aura was irresistible, like honey to the starving. It was an unspoken intuition¡ªthis event would be one of the greatest of their lives. Even the gods were paying attention.


    Though they hailed from another universe, these gods had their ways of observing and lightly intervening in this realm. During Kayden¡¯s first ascension, only a handful had taken notice. But now, his reputation had soared to unimaginable heights, even in their domain. Thousands of deities now bore witness to this pivotal moment.

 Chapter 563: Ten Rays[2]

    There were no strikes against Kayden before the tenth ray. The skies turned a light golden hue, and enormous thrones appeared, floating in space. He had already proven himself worthy of the nine rays; each step now was directly against the tenth. There was no chance Kayden would face anything weaker.


    The pressure of the thrones was insane. No mage could feel comfortable in the presence of these chairs. All felt like ants. The most astonishing thing was that they could only sense the presence of the chairs; even the strongest gods observing felt like insects. They could not perceive the presence of the entities seated upon the thrones.


    An immaterial, translucent, and golden figure appeared on one of the chairs, completely devoid of discernible features. No gender, no race, not even a perceivable aura could be identified. It was as if this being existed beyond any logic or comprehension. Paradoxically, the throne it occupied exuded a presence greater than its own¡ªsomething beyond the understanding of most present.


    The mere lift of the figure¡¯s finger tore through space. Its body was stronger than the very fabric that held space together. As it raised its hand above its head, a lightning bolt was unleashed¡ªa bolt without color or form. All that could be sensed was that it was lightning. It was a law, alive and pulsating. No one understood what the bolt truly was¡ªnot a single observing god could fathom it.


    This time, Kayden understood far more than before. The bolt obliterated every Law of Balance in its path. It was beyond the law itself¡ªa living, formless law, pure and inexplicable. It did not conform to the Laws of Balance because it transcended the very laws binding it to the world.


    Time seemed to freeze as the lightning bolt raced toward Kayden. The surrounding space was shredded as if it were mere paper. The boy smiled once more under the weight of the attack. Any error, and he would die without even a chance to react. Kayden felt a profound longing for this sensation; it had been ages since he last risked his life.


    And then, the universe understood why Kayden was a monster.


    "Existence is my domain," he declared. For 30 billion kilometers, the universe plunged into absolute chaos. Mana and existence itself ceased to be. This time, unlike before when everything transformed into mana, all truly ceased to exist entirely.


    A massive void, 30 billion kilometers in diameter, appeared in the universe, immediately summoning the Fundamental Law of Balance. The lightning bolt hurtling toward Kayden could split the spacetime continuum into an almost infinite number of realities, yet in every single one, Kayden¡¯s actions were the same. Not a single variation occurred.


    Just as he had advanced previously, he was doing so now. Kayden was a perfect soul; his movements would remain consistent across all timelines and realities. The perfection of his soul transcended any situation in which he was placed.


    The Law of Balance restored everything instantly, only for Kayden to reconvert it all into mana once again. He repeated this at least a thousand times until he reached a point where he could no longer accumulate mana. The universe itself was limiting the amount Kayden could store in his spatial reservoir. That reservoir now held more mana than any mage in this universe could ever comprehend.


    Kayden performed this accumulation almost without the passage of time. His basic understanding of the Law of Spacetime, combined with his mastery of a perfect Law of Balance, had turned him into the true monster of this universe. The mana he gathered was entirely transformed into a single bolt of lightning across all timelines. Just as the god moved his finger, Kayden moved his own, tearing through space with the concentrated mana. The sheer amount of mana altered the flow of time itself.


    "Holy shit," Yan muttered, stunned by Kayden¡¯s movement. This far exceeded even his wildest dreams. Many gods were seated, paralyzed by shock, as though they were mere mortals. And as for the mortals?


    They could not even express fear on their faces. The quantity of mana Kayden wielded was beyond anything they had ever seen. It was so vast that their spiritual senses could only perceive a colossal sphere of energy extending for millions of kilometers around Kayden, as though he were a giant sun.


    Kayden moved his finger, and a bolt of lightning erupted. Unlike before, his attack had reached another level, permeated entirely by the Law of Balance, which prevented it from dissipating. The two bolts collided in an insane clash of forces.


    The sheer impact of the clash altered the galaxy¡¯s spatial laws. Entire suns combusted and exploded under their weight. Millions of planets were shattered in space with no chance of salvation. Only a few mages at the level of demigods managed to protect most of the living beings in the region, but many still perished.


    For hundreds of billions of kilometers, space fractured into countless shards, forming a vast web of cracks. The void and reality began to intertwine through these rifts. Time itself experienced distortions over tens of billions of kilometers. This time, every corner of space was affected. Reality and the void became a single environment, resonating with the force of the attacks.


    In every timeline, Kayden faced something different, yet in all of them, he employed the same approach. He was a perfect soul. No matter how many fragments he was divided into, his actions remained identical. His lightning bolt transcended an incomplete law, becoming an attack capable of surpassing ordinary laws.


    Slowly Kayden was overcoming the tenth ray in most timelines, the number of lines in which he died was ridiculously low this time, the amount of times he lost was less than 5% this time, in half he was able to fight an honest battle of long hours between the two attacks and triumph beautifully without any great difficulty other than a few near-fatal injuries, in the rest he won overwhelmingly without even suffering a single scratch.


    Author¡¯s note: Kayden is going to make a mess of the universe in the near future, suggestions and requests can be made dear readers. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 564: Ten rain[3]

    In the same way everything had begun, it all ended. Everything disappeared as Kayden was once again crowned a mage of ten rays. This time, however, he wasn¡¯t invited to the realm of ten-ray mages. It seemed that invitation had been a one-time event in his life. As he stood amidst the vastness of the cosmos, an eighth-realm aura gently enveloped his being.


    All realities were fused into a singular one, reconstructing and reviving Kayden in those where he had fallen. In a single blink, he floated in the void as if nothing had happened. His aura subtly shifted, signifying his new status as an eighth-realm mage. Yet, his strength remained unchanged. Kayden was no longer bound by the heavens. His power was dictated solely by his will.


    A haunting silence engulfed every corner of existence. There were no words to describe the sheer insanity of what had just transpired. Kayden had managed to affect the mechanics of an entire galaxy while still classified as a mortal. The gods, typically stoic and unshaken, now found themselves in a state of pure frenzy.


    "This..."


    "We must kill him!"


    "As soon as possible!"


    "How can a mortal be this strong?"


    "And he¡¯s only in the eighth realm?"


    Their voices overlapped in a cacophony of disbelief and fear. Yet, the dominant emotion among the gods was one they hadn¡¯t felt in millennia: terror. For the first time in history, the gods were afraid¡ªafraid of a mere mortal. The prospect of Kayden ascending to godhood was an unthinkable scenario. None of them could fathom how they would contend with him if that day came.


    "We¡¯re doomed," Yan muttered before breaking into a disbelieving laugh. "Amanda, we must prepare. Forget colonizing this universe and abandon all our plans. We need to focus on gaining power." Yan¡¯s decisive tone left no room for hesitation. In his mind, Kayden had now become a real threat to his existence.


    While mortals stood in stunned silence, the demigods were at a loss for words. They had always known Kayden was powerful, but this level of strength was beyond anything they could comprehend. Among the five strongest demigods, only the first-ranked could muster enough force to match Kayden¡¯s current level. The second-ranked, if willing to sustain injuries that would take billions of years to heal, might also stand a chance.


    Mortal mages, on the other hand, were utterly captivated. To them, Kayden was now akin to a god. His tale would forever be etched into the annals of history, retold in every corner of the universe. Even children would grow up hearing the story of the man who defied the heavens and emerged victorious.


    The ice mages, however, were gripped by dread. They hadn¡¯t anticipated such a formidable mage to emerge from the opposing side. Only the top three among them might have a chance against Kayden now. The fourth and fifth ranks could possibly challenge him, but only if they risked their lives¡ªand even then, it wouldn¡¯t be a simple duel. It would be the fight of their lives.


    Marco, the second-ranked ice mage, trembled as his hands betrayed his nerves. Despite his status, he wasn¡¯t sure he could face Kayden. Doubt crept into his mind, a doubt more oppressive than even the thought of confronting the top-ranked mage in his own universe.


    This doubt wasn¡¯t exclusive to Marco¡ªit plagued everyone at the summit of their respective domains. Those at the absolute pinnacle of power were the only ones who could truly comprehend the magnitude of Kayden¡¯s attack. Their vast senses spanned hundreds of billions of kilometers, allowing them to grasp just how profoundly the galaxy had been altered. It was staggering. None among them could confidently say they could replicate such a feat with the flick of a finger.


    Kayden unleashed his full aura of dominion. A black crown materialized above his head, radiating authority. All who beheld it felt as if they were in the presence of a god-king. Not a single mage dared to move under its weight. It was as though they were children caught in an inescapable net. The overwhelming desire to kneel overtook most, and the majority succumbed, unable to resist.


    "For eons, I¡¯ve hidden myself because certain beings¡ªstronger than most¡ªbelieve they have the right to dictate my life," Kayden¡¯s voice echoed across the void, reverberating through every soul. "For billions of years, gods and the universe¡¯s apex mages have hunted me, and yet, I have triumphed."


    His words felt like a slap in the face to the gods themselves.


    "You had your chances, and now you will pay for your actions."


    "Do not act rashly, boy." Netero¡¯s voice attempted to break through Kayden¡¯s overwhelming aura, but it was swallowed whole, much like a wave consumed by a tsunami.


    "Say another word, and we¡¯ll settle this battle here and now," Kayden replied coldly, lifting a single finger.


    Netero froze, paralyzed by the prospect of an immediate life-or-death confrontation. No further words came. His body refused to initiate a battle without cause, especially one where his survival was uncertain.


    No other mage dared to raise their voice after that. They all understood that Kayden wouldn¡¯t issue a second warning. The weaker ones had no chance, while the strongest harbored a primal, irrational fear. This fear wasn¡¯t born of logic but from witnessing the sheer irrationality of Kayden¡¯s power. It was clear: this would be the fight of their lives, and there was no reason to provoke it unnecessarily.


    "To the gods watching this event, I will hunt each of you who has opposed me¡ªespecially you, Yan. I hope you¡¯re aware of that." S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    A mortal threatening gods. That was the level of insanity this situation had reached.


    The most terrifying part? None of the gods considered his threat empty. Kayden¡¯s strength was infinitely greater than anything they had ever encountered in their long lives. Even Yan, who had lived through countless universes, couldn¡¯t recall a mage as powerful as Kayden.


    At this moment, Kayden stood a step above all other mages who had ever existed in either of the two universes. Yet, he hadn¡¯t even reached the peak of his potential. Two entire realms of cultivation still awaited him.


    His potential was boundless, his rise inevitable.

 Chapter 565: God-king

    "Come, Netero! Come fulfill your orders!" Kayden spread his arms wide, his figure illuminated by the cosmic glow of distant stars. At that moment, the spectacle was being broadcast across every corner of the universe. His voice carried an undeniable authority as he called out, "Come, Marco. Do your best for the Ice Empire."


    Kayden had long been aware of his employer¡¯s schemes. His perception was unparalleled; the plans to betray him had been transparent. The souls of those around him never lied to his heightened senses.


    A chuckle escaped Kayden¡¯s lips, echoing through the void, as silence blanketed the universe. One man¡ªarms outstretched¡ªwas challenging every mage to face him. Yet, the most unsettling part was his composure. Kayden was not driven by madness or recklessness; he was fully aware of his actions. His deliberate defiance against the universe left onlookers stunned.


    "Enough. Your actions have gone too far, boy."


    A mage from the Frozen Universe rose to confront him. Ranked seventh in his universe, this mage possessed an almost incomprehensible power capable of crushing those with tremendous strength. But...


    BOOOOOM!


    The sound reverberated across the cosmos, deafening and cataclysmic. The galaxy they inhabited was torn apart and dragged out of its orbit in a moment of pure destruction. Kayden unleashed an attack without so much as a blink. His previous limit had been a thousand conversions of mana, but now it had effortlessly reached ten thousand. The universe no longer restricted the mana he could wield¡ªat least not as tightly as before.


    The sheer volume of mana he manipulated in that instant was equivalent to 30% of an entire galaxy¡¯s energy. Such an act was nothing short of insane. His attack tore through their galaxy and extended into three others before its force dissipated. It ruptured the fabric of space for hundreds of light-years, warping time wherever it passed. The orbits of galaxies collapsed, some colliding with one another in catastrophic cascades.


    One galaxy¡¯s spatial axis was obliterated, leading to its complete annihilation as black holes spontaneously emerged, swallowing its remnants without warning. The mage who had risen against Kayden didn¡¯t leave so much as a trace of his essence behind.


    "Is that... a mortal?"


    The gods themselves erupted in disbelief. Their carefully laid plans to eliminate Kayden were now in shambles. The risk of making him an enemy was too great. Accepting his existence seemed like the only viable option. The power he had just demonstrated surpassed mortal limits. It approached¡ªno, surpassed¡ªthe threshold of godhood.


    The thought of Kayden reaching the ninth realm filled them with dread. His strength would become unrivaled, not just by mages but by any being in existence. There would be no competition, no equal¡ªthough, even now, the gap between him and others was vast.


    With a single movement, Kayden plunged four galaxies into utter chaos. He obliterated one as though it were a mere child¡¯s toy. No one could muster a response. Words failed in the presence of such overwhelming might. Slowly...


    "I salute the Mage King of this universe!" Han¡¯s voice broke the silence, his proclamation resonating across the cosmos. His words carried not only reverence but a physical demonstration of submission¡ªhis mana bowed alongside him. To have one¡¯s magic kneel was the highest form of respect a mage could offer.


    "I salute the Mage King of this universe!"


    "I salute the Mage King of this universe!"


    "I salute the Mage King of this universe!"


    Dozens of voices rose in unison with Han¡¯s, some of them belonging to demigods. Even mages of the Ice Empire joined the chorus. There was no resentment or animosity toward Kayden; such emotions required being on an equal footing, and none were close to his level of strength. A mage of the first realm was closer to a ninth-realm mage than any of them were to Kayden.


    "I am no one¡¯s king," Kayden replied, his voice calm yet final. And with that, he vanished, leaving the universe in a state of disarray.


    *****************


    The emergence of Kayden brought the Great War to an abrupt halt, lasting several years. The fear of having their territories destroyed was palpable. No mage dared to make bold moves, for the risk of drawing Kayden¡¯s ire was too great.


    One man had single-handedly paused an entire universe¡¯s war through his mere presence. S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    After that day, no mage heard any news of Kayden. Not a single trace of him remained as if his ascension had been nothing more than a collective dream. But the memories of his attack¡ªthe sight of him obliterating an entire galaxy as if it were a toy¡ªremained vivid in the minds of the universe¡¯s greatest mages.


    The gods, meanwhile, were in turmoil. Most returned to the pursuit of power as if their days were numbered. Among them was Yan, who had fallen prey to the sin of pride. He had never considered Kayden a genuine threat. But now, everything has changed.


    Kayden, however, wandered the void, contemplating his next steps. During his millions of years in the Ice Universe, he had acquired privileged information and techniques, one of which was the ultimate secret of the tenth-realm mages.


    *****************


    A Distant Memory


    "Are you Kayden Heart?"


    The voice belonged to an old man who entered the room where Kayden resided in Marco¡¯s city. His presence was ancient¡ªan aura that exuded time itself. His soul was dozens of times older than Kayden¡¯s, making him the most ancient mage Kayden had ever encountered.


    His strength, at best, rivaled Jormund¡¯s. But Kayden understood the difference between apparent and hidden power. This man possessed knowledge so vast it could dwarf even Netero¡¯s. In fact, Netero¡¯s age wouldn¡¯t qualify him to be this man¡¯s great-grandchild.


    The old mage¡¯s figure was gaunt and hunched, his parchment-like skin marked with wrinkles that told tales of centuries past. His snow-white beard and hair cascaded down to his waist, swaying softly with every motion. His deep, icy blue eyes seemed to reflect an eternal winter, holding secrets buried beneath layers of frost.


    His very presence altered the air around him, bringing a sharp chill that froze the ground beneath his feet. A faint mist followed his movements as if the air itself carried his whispered knowledge. Even in his humble posture, his aura radiated an abyss of wisdom and power¡ªa presence only fools would dare challenge.

 Chapter 566: Time

    "Yes, I am. And who might you be?" Kayden responded with respect, but his tone was measured. His youthful appearance often sparked a sense of superiority in older mages when dealing with him.


    "I am Hayler, the first mage of this empire," the man declared. At that moment, Kayden fully grasped the ancientness of the figure before him and recognized his identity. Still, Kayden¡¯s demeanor remained unchanged. To him, this was just an old mage¡ªnot one of particular significance.


    "It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you," Kayden said, offering no embellishments or grandiose titles. He simply waited, his expression neutral.


    Hayler, unaccustomed to such a direct and unceremonious reception, nearly reacted, but he held his composure. Kayden¡¯s value¡ªand the fact that he hailed from a different universe with its own cultural nuances¡ªjustified some tolerance.


    "I will administer several hundred lessons on the tenth realm to you," Hayler said abruptly.


    Kayden raised an eyebrow, momentarily taken aback by the scale of what was being proposed.


    "The first thing we must understand," Hayler began, "is the principle of stacked concepts and their functions, alongside the laws they underpin. In summary, we use the accumulation of concepts to ascend to a level that does not exist within reality itself. At every realm, we cultivate 110% of our strength, and that excess is stored for later use."


    For hours, the ancient mage spoke without pause, delving into the intricacies of the tenth realm. Kayden listened intently, absorbing every word with ease. Even as Hayler described the monumental challenge of requiring surplus concepts for the tenth realm¡ªa path Kayden had never taken¡ªhe showed no sign of hesitation. There was always a way forward, always something to be done.


    "Mages of the tenth realm," Hayler continued, "are not bound by mortal limits. We are no longer classified as mortals, though we possess no divinity either. We are simply mortals who have become... more. The tenth realm represents the culmination of a lifetime of study, cultivation, and refinement."


    "Tenth-realm mages typically comprehend laws only when they align with their personal path and concepts. As a result, we often take much longer than ninth-realm mages to ascend to godhood."


    "Unlike those of the lower realms, the tenth realm demands more than raw power. It is a journey of refinement, where cultivation is as much about balance and purpose as it is about strength. Every choice defines the path a mage can tread, and every neglected concept becomes an almost insurmountable barrier."


    "There are exceedingly few of us. Each tenth-realm mage is someone capable of becoming a high-tier god. Our universe, for instance, has only about a hundred tenth-realm mages. Most of them, however, lack the potential to ascend to something greater."


    "The tenth realm is also a sacrifice. The path becomes significantly more arduous. The likelihood of a tenth-realm mage ascending to godhood is less than 1% of that for a ninth-realm mage."


    "A god who ascends from the tenth realm, however, is at least ten thousand times more powerful than a ninth-realm mage. The difference is incomparable¡ªtwo entirely separate worlds."


    "Our family developed a technique that elevates all ice-based spells into something singular, called the Winter Law. It is a composite law made up of millions of incomplete laws, making it extraordinarily difficult to comprehend. Only one mage from our family ever managed to ascend to divinity using this law, and we have had no news of him since."


    Kayden¡¯s curiosity was piqued. The complexity of such a law suggested it was fundamental in nature, yet his instincts told him no mage in this universe had fully mastered it. He was right¡ªthe one who had comprehended it had ascended to the divine.


    "How long did it take him?" Kayden asked, intrigued.


    "Several trillion years... along with a few unique events across the universe."


    Kayden nearly let his jaw drop. Such an amount of time was incomprehensibly vast, yet, in the grand scheme of existence, it could pass in the blink of an eye.


    If Kayden chose to solidify his path toward the tenth realm, he would face an almost infinite timeline to achieve godhood. Yet the potential that awaited him was unparalleled, placing him on a level no other mage had ever reached.


    The challenge, however, was staggering. Kayden knew his journey to divinity was already an unprecedented trial. Becoming a tenth-realm mage would elevate the difficulty to uncharted extremes. It would be one of the greatest undertakings the universe had ever witnessed. sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The abyss he had to cross to ascend to godhood was already unimaginable. His path and laws were perfect, yet they demanded an extraordinary level of mastery. Comparatively, a talentless mage ascending to divinity from nothing with nine realms of cultivation seemed like a trivial feat.


    For Kayden, becoming a tenth-realm mage meant doubling his efforts for greater power. But that had always been his way. Were there ten more realms to climb, Kayden would ascend them all without hesitation.


    Kayden¡¯s threats against other mages had been a calculated performance. His true intention was to provoke them into strengthening themselves. Every few million years, he would make a decisive move to ensure progress among the magical community.


    His first act was to eliminate several winter mages across different zones. It wasn¡¯t a difficult task¡ªhe spent more time traveling to their locations than defeating them. Kayden specifically targeted old mages with limited potential, leaving neither side of the universe willing to retaliate. No one dared to confront him.


    Afterward, Kayden returned to cultivation, this time without urgency. He had reached a level where he could not be easily threatened. Only a select group of extraordinary beings working in unison could hope to overpower him¡ªand such a coalition was inconceivable.


    "What did you say?" Atlas¡¯s voice trembled as he listened to Honor relay updates on the universe¡¯s events over the past millennia.


    Under the shadowy influence of Thoth and supported by Atlas¡¯s resources, the Honor organization had grown exponentially. Their power and reach continued to expand, shaping the course of history in the shadows.

 Chapter 567: Time skip

    "Kayden Heart is annihilating galaxies to train his spells," the messenger repeated with a bitter taste in his mouth. It seemed so absurd that he wouldn¡¯t have believed it if he hadn¡¯t seen this information being passed on to all the major organizations in the universe. "He¡¯s destroying about a few dozen galaxies per day."


    Terrifying. Kayden was killing several decillions of beings daily. In reality, the number was infinitely greater when considering all the variables and the different sizes of galaxies. This was the greatest genocide ever committed by a mage in history. Most of the time, the heavens would strike against any god committing such a massacre.


    A god, indeed. The heavens would only attack gods who caused this level of slaughter because, hypothetically, no mortal should be capable of such a feat. This immunity to divine karma effectively made Kayden untouchable¡ªhis actions had absolutely no consequences.


    Thousands of immensely powerful families began mobilizing to stop Kayden from continuing this madness, especially considering the impact this would have on the trade across zones. Whether they liked it or not, Kayden was wiping out entire galaxies¡ªa completely astronomical scale.


    As years passed, more and more mages joined the reckless campaign to confront Kayden. Power was something that instilled fear, and when rational beings became afraid, they lost most of their rationality. High numbers also gave courage to fools. This campaign managed to gather tens of millions of mages within a few decades.


    But it wasn¡¯t just about millions of mages¡ªit was tens of millions of peak-level mages. These were ninth-realm mages with eight rays, and a few even with nine rays. Logically, the latter group was an absolute minority among the total, but their numbers were still significant¡ªpractically the concentration of an entire zone.


    The campaign gathered at least ten full zones. This was monumental¡ªan organization on this scale had never been seen before in the universe. Unfortunately, Kayden struck at the insecurities of both the weak and the strong. Moreover, he disrupted the wealth of countless individuals. sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    An ancient saying from Earth stated that a man would more easily forget the loss of a loved one than the loss of his wealth. This was one of the greatest truths ever spoken. A man¡¯s riches were more important to him than a father¡¯s love. Time had proven this in countless ways, and now again, in this campaign against Kayden.


    On a random day, the mages finally managed to assemble semi-gods and a few tenth-realm Frost mages. It had been necessary to make outrageous promises to lure those fools¡­ and all who accepted were individuals who had no direct contact with Kayden. On the day of his ascension, they had been occupied with personal matters.


    Kayden was merely floating through the void, destroying galaxies without pause. He didn¡¯t care where he was headed, instead relying on sensing variations in the law of balance. Using this, he could study the best paths and points to follow.


    "What do you want?" Kayden asked, standing before millions of mages, including several at the semi-god level.


    "Today marks the end of your slaughter, Kayden Heart. We know you¡¯re strong, but we¡¯ve gathered the absolute elite from various zones. Your actions do not align with the order of this universe," one mage raised his voice, prompting Kayden to laugh at the situation.


    He didn¡¯t even bother responding. Instead, he conjured a lightning bolt with only a few dozen conversions. In the blink of an eye, he summoned thousands of bolts of this magnitude. He didn¡¯t wait for another response before obliterating the majority of them in a single move.


    The only survivors were the semi-gods, though even they suffered medium to severe injuries. It didn¡¯t take much for them to realize the disastrous mistake they had made. Most tried to flee immediately. Unfortunately for them, Kayden was far beyond their strength. In another instant, a single bolt eliminated each one of them.


    In a single event, at least six semi-gods and eight tenth-realm mages perished. This represented nearly 10% of the entire high-level magical community across both sides of the universe. They died fighting a battle that wasn¡¯t even theirs, over resources that were far from extraordinary.


    Once again, Kayden¡¯s name reverberated throughout the universe. This time, no one dared to pursue him. Not even the most reckless of the reckless could oppose someone capable of such feats. In the end, everyone had no choice but to accept that their lives could be snuffed out at random.


    Millions of years passed with Kayden destroying an increasing number of galaxies daily. Fortunately, the universe was vast enough that this didn¡¯t even make a dent in the grand scheme of things. Even if Kayden managed to destroy thousands of galaxies each day, he wouldn¡¯t be able to alter the fundamental laws of balance.


    During this time, he deciphered what Yan had done to manipulate time. It had been a masterful play, leveraging an excess of mana drawn from the universal laws of balance. The matter was far more complex than that, but the foundation was precisely this.


    The great war continued its course as usual, with mages rising and falling. The number of semi-gods grew steadily during this period, while Frost mages maintained a state of equilibrium. Tenth-realm mages were infinitely rarer than semi-gods. Any nine-ray mage could potentially become a semi-god, but not all nine-ray mages could ascend to the tenth realm. The two were entirely different tiers.


    Atlas continued to grow exponentially. He had reached the top five of his universe without significant difficulty. While there were mages stronger than him, none had greater potential. It was only a matter of time before he surpassed them all¡ªsomething he was already doing gradually. Kayden¡¯s display of power had placed Atlas into a state of frenzy for the pursuit of unmatched strength.


    No one ever took Kayden¡¯s power very seriously, even Atlas had this thought, even knowing that he had lost to Kayden in more than one battle, Atlas still thought that Kayden¡¯s strength was only in the soul part, when he managed to resolve this defect in his technique he would be able to defeat Kayden, but after Kayden¡¯s ascension presentation, his mind changed completely.


    Author¡¯s note: tomorrow or the day after I¡¯ll release the chapters to make up for yesterday¡¯s

 Chapter 568: Jasmim

    The true strength of Kayden was not his ability to manipulate souls. Although this was something at which he excelled, his primary weapon was his unparalleled mastery over mana. His combat power far exceeded any expectation, reaching high levels that few could even conceive of his true potential. Moreover, Kayden was old¡ªunimaginably old. His age transcended any comprehensible parameter, spanning eras and entire cycles of existence.


    He had spent billions of years honing every aspect of his power, refining every detail with surgical precision. Atlas, on the other hand, while also powerful, was nowhere near as old. Even so, his rise in power progressed at an impressive pace, rivaling that of Kayden. However, there was a fundamental difference between the two: their focus on potential. Kayden had shaped his power but always prioritized developing his potential, investing in it above all else. Atlas, by contrast, had elevated his immediate strength at the cost of some of his potential, favoring tangible results over long-term growth.


    This small difference became evident as the two evolved over short periods. While Atlas experienced gradual leaps, Kayden advanced exponentially. The rest of the universe possessed powerful mages, but none could keep pace with these two titans and their rapid progress.


    Another mage beginning to stand out was Han. After witnessing Kayden in action, defying an entire universe with open arms, Han underwent a radical transformation in mindset. He understood something that many high-level beings were only beginning to realize: potential was superior to strength. This truth, once revealed, began spreading among the most influential mages, altering how they viewed growth and power.


    Meanwhile, the universe continued to expand, and Kayden remained at the fringes of political intrigues. It was almost comical that one of the strongest mages in the cosmos ignored the power struggles that consumed others. Time seemed to accelerate, and as the years passed, Kayden became an urban legend¡ªa figure shrouded in myths and terrifying tales.


    Many saw him as an almost mythological entity. His actions, however, were very real. The number of galaxies he had destroyed was absurd¡ªunfathomable even to the oldest mages. Not even Netero, one of the universe¡¯s eldest beings, had a record of destruction as extensive as Kayden¡¯s.


    These actions had consequences. The destruction of so many galaxies subtly altered the universe¡¯s balance. The overall amount of mana increased slightly, and the number of twin births rose as well. To most, these changes were invisible, but Kayden, with his profound understanding of the law of balance, noticed the effects almost immediately.


    Meanwhile, his connection to the universe deepened. His already advanced sixth sense grew at an alarming rate. In just a few tens of millions of years, it reached an astonishing range of 50 billion kilometers. Though this wasn¡¯t his primary area of study, his progress was extraordinarily rapid. His speed of transportation also advanced significantly, nearing the divine level, although he remained far from completing his journey in that realm.


    Then he felt it. A call rippled across the universe, reaching every mage unmistakably. It wasn¡¯t as powerful as the heralding of a divine birth, but its nature was similar. Kayden recognized the phenomenon immediately. It was a signal of ascension¡ªthe moment a mage transcended the limits of mortality and became a demigod. However, this time, something was different.


    Without hesitation, Kayden began to move. He teleported at high speed, using ancient portals connecting distant zones. Nothing could stop him. Those who tried were effortlessly pushed aside. Kayden was not a senseless killer; every move he made had a clear purpose.


    Within minutes, he crossed seven entire zones and reached the event¡¯s epicenter. The scene was chaotic, with dozens of demigods and tenth-realm mages gathered. Kayden¡¯s presence was immediately felt. Not even the most reckless among them dared to approach. A distance of at least one billion kilometers was instinctively maintained, and none even attempted to touch his spiritual aura.


    At the center of all this turmoil was a woman Kayden had never seen before. With long silver hair and the unmistakable aura of a tenth-realm mage, she was a mystery. No one seemed to know her. Her presence was an enigma. Yet as he observed her, Kayden realized she belonged to a specific group.


    Netero was also present, accompanied by other elite mages. They formed a circle of absolute power, ready to confront any threat to the event¡ªeven if that threat was Kayden. It was evident that what was about to happen was unique, an opportunity that could not be squandered.


    The woman was imposing. Over 2.3 meters tall, her figure was striking even by human standards. Her skin, a vibrant green like fresh grass, emitted a subtle glow that illuminated the void around her. Kayden could not determine her exact race, but it was clear she had a profound connection to the cosmos.


    The space around her was uniquely altered. There were no traces of the universe¡¯s will or ordinary spatial structure. It was as if that space was an extension of her very existence, making it difficult even for Kayden to extend his sixth sense into the area.


    Then the transformation began. Divine mana began flowing toward her, enveloping her in a mantle of pure energy. To most, what followed was merely a visual spectacle, but Kayden saw beyond that. He observed the subtle changes in her soul¡ªan impressive work of refinement for a still-young soul.


    The mana around her pulsed like a living heart, and tiny golden sparks began to shimmer on her skin. Her form seemed wrapped in a celestial aura, and the space around her continued to bend under her influence. The transition from mortal to divine was not just a spiritual ascension¡ªit was a complete restructuring of her essence, something that reshaped the very fabric of the universe around her.


    Author¡¯s note: I will pay for both chapters today , i Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden¡¯s presence, though colossal, was just one among many spectators witnessing a moment that would forever mark the cosmos¡¯s history.

 Chapter 569: Jasmim Heart

    The transformation began gradually but soon became a spectacle impossible to ignore. The divine mana surrounding her began to pulse as if it had a life of its own, compressing and expanding in harmonic cycles that resonated with the very fabric of the universe. Each pulse generated a wave of energy that seemed to dance around her, in a rhythm that defied any logic. Tiny sparks of golden light started to emerge from her skin, initially subtle but quickly growing in intensity until her form became enveloped by a celestial halo that radiated an almost palpable sense of power.


    The space around her, already distorted by her presence, seemed to yield even more to her influence. A vortex was formed, sucking in the pure essence of the cosmos, as though the very universe was contributing to her ascension process. Each pulse shaped not only her aura but also her soul, which began to exhibit traits beyond mortality. The changes were visible even to mortal eyes; for Kayden, they were a spectacle that transcended any transformation he had ever witnessed.


    The absolute silence of that moment was almost deafening, charged with the weight of what was to come. She was crossing the thin line between mage and divinity, a rare process that few had the privilege of witnessing.


    The spectacle intensified. The woman¡¯s soul, which until then had maintained a uniform form, began to granularize with small points of divine mana interspersed with traces of mortality. To Kayden, this was a true enigma. It was something unique, never before recorded in the history of the universe. The cosmos seemed to react to this transformation in a peculiar way as if trying to open the doors for the heavens to enter and complete the ascension process. But then, something unexpected happened.


    SWISH!


    A colossal rune sliced through the space, cutting everything in its path for 100 billion kilometers. Its structure was so intricate that it seemed like a tangle of thousands and thousands of symbols and drawings, connected by lines of mana glowing with an intense golden light. It was one of the most complex magical structures Kayden had ever seen in all his existence. He tried to memorize as many details as possible in that brief moment, but the vastness of the rune was simply impossible to absorb fully.


    The execution of that rune was something so insane that it was only possible thanks to the artifact Netero held in his hands. A small statue about one meter tall, emitting a golden glow so intense that it outshone even the surrounding galaxies. The amount of mana contained in that object was incomprehensible¡ªfar superior to the energy of hundreds of thousands of galaxies combined. Moreover, it contained enough divine mana to fill thousands more galaxies. Kayden, observing the artifact, was astonished. It was clear to him that this small invention was something that only a god could have created.


    Kayden knew that no rune, no matter how powerful, could prevent the heavens from carrying out their decrees. At most, they could delay the process. This meant that this specific rune, as incredible as it was, was there with the permission of the heavens. Its intense glow gradually faded until the rune began to close, fulfilling its purpose.


    In this brief interval, the woman began to gather mana even more wildly, especially divine mana, which flowed toward her like an uncontrollable river. In a matter of seconds, more than 40% of her soul had been imbued with divinity. The process was so fast and fluid that it seemed to defy all known natural laws.


    In just 30 seconds, with the runes finally closing, 70% of her soul had become divine. But at that moment, the woman made a decision. Her soul closed over the divine part, leaving the mortal part exposed. When the heavens¡¯ scan passed through the location, nothing happened. It was as if there were not a single god present.


    Then, the most extraordinary phenomenon occurred. The two halves of her soul began to merge and complete in a slow but steady manner. What emerged was something Kayden could never have anticipated. A new soul arose, completely different from anything he had studied before. It wasn¡¯t exactly a recreation, but it wasn¡¯t entirely new either. It was an unknown, something that defied the limits of his vast knowledge.


    The soul began to pulse in perfect resonance with space. The vibrations generated were so intense that they could be felt billions of kilometers away. Any mage nearby felt the space vibrating at high frequency, altering its very nature. The amount of space Kayden could no longer manipulate began to increase at a dizzying rate. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Ten million kilometers, one hundred million, one billion... and it finally stopped at 25 billion kilometers of pure altered space. It was insane. Kayden knew that this woman was undoubtedly one of the most powerful mages he had ever encountered.


    Her aura shifted from something mortal to a semidivine force. With a mere thought, she could alter entire galaxies. Kayden found himself facing a true monster, a tenth-realm demigod. Her strength was so absurd that it could rival mages of ten rays from smaller realms combined.


    Then she spoke. Her voice was clear, but loaded with an intensity that made the very space tremble.


    "Kayden Heart, I¡¯ve heard much about you. My name is Jasmim Heart."


    Her words resonated like thunder in the minds of those around her, but it was the mention of her surname that surprised Kayden. He raised an eyebrow, trying to process the information.


    "You¡¯re a descendant of Milena, aren¡¯t you?"


    Kayden took less than a minute to identify her lineage by analyzing her soul. Jasmim confirmed with a nod and explained, revealing fragments of her past. She had been born at the same time as Astolfo but was abandoned in the jungle due to a lack of talent. Her destiny, however, had been shaped by Han, who had raised her. Now, after thousands of events, she was standing before Kayden, her very own father.


    Silence settled between them as they stared at each other. Each one lost in their thoughts. Kayden reflected on the surprises of the universe, while Jasmim sought some trace of regret or pride in his eyes.

 Chapter 570: Jasmim Heart[2]

    At first, he thought Jasmim wasn¡¯t an old mage, but according to the time markers of her story, they were practically the same age. Yet, something didn¡¯t add up. In the end, her soul was relatively younger than her true essence.


    "You¡¯re a reincarnation, aren¡¯t you?" Kayden guessed, and Jasmim¡¯s expression revealed the truth to him. Now everything made sense; the age of her soul matched only this life and not her past ones.


    "What does that matter to you?" the woman retorted sharply. She was ready to start a fight, but...


    "Nothing. I¡¯m sorry for not being there when you needed me. I never knew you existed," Kayden¡¯s words dismantled any animosity in the woman, but...


    "Don¡¯t be fake! My mother warned me you were one of the worst scum to ever exist. Not only that, but you cared only about power¡ªso much so that you killed her and dozens of descendants just to carry out your mediocre plans!" the woman exploded after hearing Kayden¡¯s words.


    "I swear before the heavens and all beings present that I failed to support you only because I didn¡¯t know of your existence. Not only that, but I promise that your lack of talent in your childhood would never have affected your treatment," Kayden declared, his voice steady. The heavens immediately struck a lightning bolt, affirming his words.


    Kayden almost laughed inwardly. Being a mage of ten rays allowed him to manipulate people so masterfully that even he was sometimes surprised. Who would dare doubt a promise sworn to the heavens? The only one who might understand was Atlas, but the boy wouldn¡¯t reveal that secret and probably couldn¡¯t, due to the pressure the heavens exerted on him.


    A strange silence filled the atmosphere as Jasmim¡¯s entire belief system crumbled in a single moment. She had been taught from childhood to hate her father, to see him as a true villain. She was conditioned to believe he was a monster who cared for nothing but power. But at this moment, Kayden demonstrated something completely different.


    Her mind, usually a fortress worthy of note, was now a tangled web of emotions. This was one of the most complex moments of her life. Kayden had never been a final goal or anything like that¡ªjust a secondary thought in her mind. But now, that was broken.


    "Then why did you kill my mother and everyone in the Abyss?" Kayden didn¡¯t even flinch as he prepared to tell another lie.


    "I had been separated from her for thousands of years and eventually remarried. My new wife gave me two choices: either I killed her, or she would do it. I wanted to spare Milena from any suffering, so in the end, that was the only option." Though his words were blatantly unethical, they were still sincere, at least in the eyes of those present who didn¡¯t know even half the story.


    "And the Abyss?"


    "I never set foot in that place after leaving it." This time, Kayden told a half-truth, but no one could detect what was off.


    "I see. Perhaps we would¡¯ve gotten along if we had met under different circumstances. But right now, you are an enemy to the entire universe, and you cannot continue living." Jasmim raised her aura against her father.


    "Solidify your power first, or you¡¯ll simply waste your life in a meaningless battle," Kayden said, his tone calm, unfazed by his daughter¡¯s strength. She was powerful, but not powerful enough to intimidate him.


    "And let you escape?" Jasmim was merely fabricating stupid excuses to fight Kayden. She had been raised alongside Netero, with the ultimate goal of defeating him.


    In truth, the idea of defeating Kayden had been ingrained in the minds of every mage in the universe. He had become a mythical entity, a destroyer of galaxies. He was the final boss of the universe, a name whispered to terrify children and embolden adults.


    "Escape?" Kayden laughed as if hearing a funny joke. "I¡¯ve never hidden." His aura began to rise, pressing against the barrier Jasmim had created in space. "I am above such petty notions." Kayden¡¯s aura proved its superiority, pushing Jasmim¡¯s back by 5 billion kilometers. "Do you want to understand the difference between a demigod and a challenger of gods?" His aura fully unfolded.


    A mage who had become one with the universe, a mage who had embedded his very soul into his sixth sense. The pressure he exuded was simply unmatched. All mages felt as if they were trapped in a quagmire of quicksand. Only the absolute pinnacles of both sides of the universe managed to remain above his aura, though even they could feel his overwhelming power.


    Jasmim wasn¡¯t afraid of Kayden¡¯s threats. She wanted to test her strength, and this would be the best opportunity she would ever have¡ªa true battle of life and death, with no chance for either side to hold back. Space began to fracture into enormous webs as Jasmim unleashed spatial attacks against Kayden. S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The attack was pure distortion of space. Each movement created rifts that devoured surrounding light, making the void tremble. Shards of broken reality spiraled like invisible blades, slicing through the fabric of the cosmos with ruthless precision. Gravitational waves exploded in all directions, bending and breaking everything that dared to exist in their path. It was as if space itself conspired against her target, turning every moment into a field of utter chaos.


    Kayden watched all this with absurd calmness. He didn¡¯t even flinch at Jasmim¡¯s attack. Once again, he saw the difference between strength and quality. His daughter was a tenth-realm mage elevated to the level of a demigod, an achievement both insane and unique in the entire universe. But... she didn¡¯t possess the quality of a ten-ray mage. They were two entirely different worlds.


    His control over space was insane, his control over his attack was insane, Kayden could feel that the cracks in space were in every instance of space, both in the void and in reality itself, not only that but time was altered being and being left aside so that the attack was able to match a speed much higher than what should be normal.

 Chapter 571: Jasmim Heart[3]

    The question... it was just that. There was nothing special about this attack besides its absurd strength. The woman should have been able to extend her cracks across an entire galaxy if she tried, destroying it without any difficulty, but it was just raw power. She needed to be at the tenth realm and reach a demigod level to achieve what Kayden could do in the two entire realms below.


    Kayden moved his open hand diagonally, and reality collapsed. For 50 billion kilometers, reality became complete chaos¡ªthe void turned into madness, the space between spaces into lunacy. Everything disappeared and, at the same time, returned in the blink of an eye. All matter ceased to exist and simultaneously came back into existence in a bizarrely rapid cycle.


    The oscillation of existence and the sheer amount of mana was so overwhelming that 99% of the mages present felt like mere mortals again. Their spiritual senses were consumed by Kayden. Even the air they exhaled was being absorbed by him. Some had parts of their clothing consumed before they could react and defend themselves. Just by being in Kayden¡¯s domain, they felt like they were fighting for their lives.


    In the blink of an eye, Kayden executed thousands of cycles with the law of balance over a massive area. The amount of mana involved was simply colossal. No mortal should even be capable of wielding such a force. The mana was so immense that the laws in Kayden¡¯s proximity became blurred and lost their effect. Space itself struggled to exist due to the density of mana. If Kayden held onto this mana for too long, beings of pure mana might emerge from it¡ªa phenomenon he noted for future study.


    Kayden directed his diagonal attack against Jasmim¡¯s. Her cracks were simply eclipsed after a few seconds of clash. However, Jasmim was no ordinary mage. Kayden¡¯s ray was diminished by at least 70% of its total power, with the remaining 30% neutralized through emergency countermeasures involving black holes.


    Finally, something out of the ordinary occurred. The woman summoned dozens of black holes around her spiritual sense. They drained Kayden¡¯s ray to a point where she could break it with simple spatial manipulation. The clash of the two attacks shook the entire galaxy they were in. Millions of worlds were completely obliterated within seconds, without even understanding what was happening.


    The residual power from both attacks was enough to force some tenth-realm mages and several demigods to actively defend themselves, even though they weren¡¯t remotely close to the battlefield. It became clear that this was a battle of titans¡ªa true war of monsters. S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "You¡¯re strong... but," Kayden began, only to be immediately interrupted by another attack. A slight irritation appeared in Kayden¡ªnot from being interrupted, but from the stupidity of his daughter continuing to attack him after witnessing the gap in their strength.


    This time, the attack was a black hole that expanded into dozens of black arrows consuming existence itself. It was amusing that all this mana and matter being consumed by black holes didn¡¯t disrupt the law of balance. This meant the black hole itself was a point of mana, but Kayden couldn¡¯t convert it directly because Jasmim¡¯s control over her attack was utterly insane.


    Jasmim¡¯s attack might have been unique, but Kayden¡¯s response was simply a repetition. Without even blinking, his attack overwhelmed hers on an infinitely superior level. This time, Jasmim had to exert even more effort to hold off Kayden¡¯s assault. Her black hole managed to absorb only 60% of the ray.


    "Pathetic. Recognize your limits," Kayden remarked. It was clear to him that his attack hadn¡¯t grown stronger¡ªJasmim had simply grown weaker. She hadn¡¯t solidified her strength yet, practically fighting without knowing her limits.


    Kayden released another ray, and Jasmim once again defended. But it became obvious to everyone that this was slowly turning into a massacre. Kayden didn¡¯t stop; he began to release several rays, which quickly became dozens...


    "That¡¯s enough." Netero appeared in front of Jasmim, flanked by other mages. The dozens of rays Kayden unleashed had to be blocked by the combined force of this group. It seemed casual to Kayden, but only Netero and his group understood the immense effort it required.


    "Is this your best bet, Netero?" Kayden smiled without a hint of worry. His tone hit the demigods beside Netero like a punch. They hadn¡¯t expected Kayden to have grown so rapidly in power.


    "She still has much to mature," Netero responded, his face betraying no concern.


    "She has placed raw strength above quality. Make her improve her auxiliary control over spatial laws. Unfortunately, she lacks the potential to ascend a step further in the law of space¡ªat least not without incorporating dozens of auxiliary laws." Kayden continued speaking for a few minutes, openly pointing out all of Jasmim¡¯s weaknesses.


    His title as a creator of monsters was well-earned. It became clear to everyone that Kayden was entirely correct in each of his assessments. Not only that, but he also laid out steps and procedures for Jasmim to grow stronger. Initially, his attitude seemed like mere arrogance from a stronger mage. But it became apparent he was genuinely trying to help.


    "We are enemies, Kayden. Why are you doing this?" Jasmim couldn¡¯t hold back her curiosity after a few seconds. Only a few mages knew the true reason behind Kayden¡¯s actions.


    "Potential," Kayden replied without hesitation. "I need to cultivate this universe. At present, there are only two mages capable of killing me. One is Netero, and the other is the Ice Emperor standing over there." Kayden pointed to an empty spot in space. The common and mid-tier mages couldn¡¯t perceive him, but...


    "Congratulations, boy. You really are the monster Thoth described." A 5-meter-tall creature, dressed in frozen black garments, appeared, floating in space. Immediately, all the tenth-realm mages in the area bowed in respect. His aura surpassed that of everyone present. Only Netero could rival him.


    "Thank you, Emperor Kollen," Kayden continued as if it were just a common compliment, "but the point is that neither of them will make any move, because I am capable of injuring one of them to the point where the other is able to conquer this universe, the point of all this is that I have no real opponents."

 Chapter 572: Han Heart

    Kayden¡¯s words were like a strike to everyone¡¯s minds. It was as if he had proclaimed himself the strongest mage alive while simultaneously placing everyone else thousands of steps below his power.


    Author¡¯s note: after a long time we hit 300 stones a week, it had been a long time since I wrote a bonus chapter


    "Netero has no potential to grow, and the Ice Emperor is nearing the end of his days and has other plans," Kayden casually revealed these extremely confidential details as if they were nothing. "I will surpass them over time, but I need opponents in the future. You are one of them."


    "How do you know about my lifespan, boy?" The laws of ice began to stir near the Emperor.


    "Your soul is dying; you cannot stop it, but..." Kayden smiled. "I can sell you the solution." The Emperor¡¯s aura shifted immediately. Kayden¡¯s proposal was something he had never heard before.


    The Emperor¡¯s situation was something even the greatest mages of this universe couldn¡¯t solve, nor could they offer any clues. Now Kayden appeared out of nowhere, stating the cause of the problem and even offering a solution. For the first time in billions of years, hope appeared in the Emperor¡¯s eyes.


    "What is it? And what¡¯s your price?" Kayden could only perceive that something was wrong with the Emperor¡¯s soul but wasn¡¯t entirely sure what it was. It seemed like a parasite, but he had never heard of anything similar.


    "I want a peace agreement between the two of us for the rest of our lives," Kayden proposed a deal so weighty that it involved countless nuances. But for the Emperor, it was trivial, considering his life was at stake.


    "I can make that deal, boy. Continue your show, and we¡¯ll negotiate afterward." The Emperor left this statement exclusively for Kayden and disappeared from the sight of the common mages.


    "Continuing my story, I have no opponents in this universe, so I need to create them when I see opportunities. You are one of them. Spend some years with me, and I promise to elevate your strength to an entirely different level." In the end, Kayden makes a completely outrageous proposal to Jasmim.


    His enemy was offering to increase her strength simply because he had no real opponents. Even though some mages could battle Kayden today, none could keep up with his development. The only one was Atlas. The rest merely had strength but lacked the quality to challenge him.


    Jasmim and Netero exchanged dozens of quick thoughts. Jasmim didn¡¯t want to go. She had been humiliated and treated like a child by Kayden. Meanwhile, Netero was doing everything in his power to persuade her to accept. He may have had many flaws, but his ego wasn¡¯t one of them. Kayden had an absurd talent for creating monsters.


    "What¡¯s the price? And how can I ensure my safety?" Jasmim finally asked after minutes of discussion with Netero. Minutes were a long time for mages of this caliber¡ªthey had exchanged the equivalent of dozens of messages in that period.


    "There is no price. I will guarantee your safety through an oath before the heavens. However, I won¡¯t teach you throughout the entire period. We¡¯ll hold some meetings every few hundred or thousand years." Jasmim still found the proposal too good to be true but chose to accept.


    "I accept." Kayden smiled and made the oath.


    "I swear before the heavens to help my daughter in any way I can and not to pose any threat to her life." The heavens released a lightning bolt, confirming Kayden¡¯s lies without difficulty. "Meet me after stabilizing your foundation," Kayden said, about to disappear when someone called out to him.


    "Master Kayden!" Han¡¯s voice echoed through the space, capturing everyone¡¯s attention. He was one of the strongest mages in the universe, though not strong enough to assert dominance in this setting. Still, he dared to raise his voice.


    "Speak, Han," Kayden replied, seeing potential in the mage.


    "I would like to receive more lessons from you as well." Kayden thought for a moment and... S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Launched a lightning attack against Han with 10% of his full power. Even this fraction was absurdly strong, enough to challenge most mages. Han hadn¡¯t expected the attack but reacted immediately.


    He was a Monarch of Despair wielding the law of fear. Additionally, he had mastered dozens of secondary laws after Kayden¡¯s recommendations, raising the quality of his domain to another level. And then...


    Dozens of souls emerged around Han, screaming in despair. Kayden was momentarily impressed, trying to discern their origin. It took him a few moments to notice a small prison within Han¡¯s soul, containing secondary laws and the law of fear against these souls.


    Each soul rose as an iron-clad warrior ready for battle. Their bodies shimmered in a pale gold with small blue accents. Each one possessed the physical strength of a tenth-realm mage. Kayden opened his eyes again, recognizing that Han had grown into something terrifying.


    The souls clashed with Kayden¡¯s lightning. Dozens of souls cumulatively resisted the attack, wielding different weapons and even casting spells. Only a few were at the tenth-realm level, but it was still impressive. Han had far exceeded Kayden¡¯s expectations.


    Kayden¡¯s lightning broke through dozens of souls, leaving only three at the tenth-realm level. This alone was extraordinary, considering the power of a mage in that realm. Kayden nodded, acknowledging Han¡¯s growth. He had given Han a lighter test due to their history, but the boy proved his potential.


    "Come with me, Han. You¡¯ve proven yourself," Kayden gestured, but as he was about to disappear, other mages began shouting for him. Seeing someone receive such an opportunity out of nowhere prompted everyone to try their luck.


    Kayden observed the crowd. Some had talent comparable to Han but lacked the same potential. Others had potential but seemed lost in their paths. It would require significant effort to elevate them into decent opponents.


    "Han is my former disciple, any of you who wanted my teachings should be able to at least face this attack." Kayden threw a lightning bolt with 50% of his full strength, he knew that not even a single mage here should be able to face this.

 Chapter 573: Ice emperor

    The force of the attack terrified most of them; none were capable of facing such power. Those who could wouldn¡¯t set their pride aside to ask for Kayden¡¯s teachings under any circumstances. It was preferable to die rather than admit to having a master who had once been beneath them.


    Kayden and Han vanished in a series of spatial jumps. No one could track Kayden¡¯s trajectory. The two wandered for quite some time before Kayden found a galaxy suitable for him to destroy.


    "Your technique is far beyond what I expected. You truly understood what I meant," Kayden began inspecting Han¡¯s soul minutely. "Unfortunately, your potential is far from being enough to become an opponent to me, but..." Kayden started making some changes to Han¡¯s soul, leaving the boy slightly uncomfortable.


    "But?" Han asked. Kayden had placed countless additional soul fragments in Han, which, at this moment, served no purpose. Furthermore, he was now able to clean them much more effectively and build numerous fragments that would strengthen the boy over time.


    "There¡¯s still the tenth realm. You must strive to become a tenth-realm mage with ten rays. That¡¯s the only path that will give you the potential to become a god. But there¡¯s a small problem: the chance of tenth-realm mages becoming gods is ridiculously low. It¡¯s both an excellent path and an absolute gamble."


    Kayden continued speaking, explaining all the details to Han while working on his soul. It had been a long time since he had done a thorough cleanup and fixed weak points in his apprentice¡¯s soul. With just this session, Han¡¯s strength should grow by 10%, and his potential would likely increase by 30%.


    Another thing he chose to do was examine the soul prison Han had created. It was truly unique. Han was stacking tens of thousands of souls and making them self-destruct using the law of fear. Afterward, he would place the fragments into a massive patchwork of souls. This patch was slowly becoming a soul with strength superior to all the others.


    Souls with the strength of tenth-realm mages were extremely crude and riddled with flaws. To Kayden, it was obvious that this was a soul constructed roughly and carelessly. Han didn¡¯t fully understand what he was doing; he just kept stacking souls until they broke or elevated to another level.


    "Study this," Kayden said, tossing an orb containing thousands of years of experience in soul manipulation. "Learn the basics of soul manipulation and refine your skills properly. Also, release control over this soul." Kayden pointed at the weakest of the three souls, and Han obeyed, loosening his grip on it.


    Immediately, Kayden began a cleansing process on the soul. It was so poorly constructed, held together by a primitive law of fear at every point, that in just a few minutes, Kayden had doubled its strength. It quickly caught up with the other two and was far from finished. Kayden kept working on it for several days.


    There were thousands of details to address until he reached a point where he could no longer advance. At this stage, the soul was almost clean but was still entirely sustained by the law of fear. This law pushed various fragments to bond and held them together. Kayden couldn¡¯t comprehend what was happening or expand the soul beyond this point.


    The way the fragments were stacked was insane; it seemed as if an invisible web connected each point. This was because Kayden had no understanding of this law, making it an absolute mystery in his view.


    "Test the strength of this soul," Kayden instructed Han, and...


    BOOOM!


    The mere movement of the soul¡¯s blade caused space to collapse. The strength of this soul was now infinitely superior to what it had been before. It could easily rank among the top 20 strongest mages in the universe. Kayden smiled as he observed Han¡¯s potential; it was far greater than he had anticipated.


    "This..." Han was speechless. With this strength, he could conquer a zone¡ªsomething far beyond his wildest dreams.


    "Your next steps are to study the memories I gave you and learn to do the same with other souls. This should take several dozen billion years. Good luck." With that, Kayden vanished from the boy¡¯s side.


    Han remained deep in thought, testing the soul¡¯s strength. It was simply surreal what Kayden had managed to accomplish in such a short time. Han likely would never have reached this level in his lifetime. It was highly specialized knowledge, but now he had been given the right path to approach it. S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden made just a few jumps before stopping. He only had to wait a few seconds to sense the presence of the Glacial Emperor. It was amusing how the very existence of this mage could distort the law of balance into something colder. It was utterly surreal because Kayden knew he wasn¡¯t doing this intentionally.


    "Hello, Kayden. You took a bit longer than I expected." The Emperor was someone who could wait decades calmly, but this matter preyed on his anxiety in the worst way. After all, it concerned his life.


    "I happened to come across something interesting," Kayden replied without much thought. "Make a peace oath, and I¡¯ll share all the information I have." He was straightforward, showing no hesitation. Time, after all, was a finite resource.


    "I think I¡¯ll opt to extract the information from you myself." The Emperor smiled, and all the space around them froze. Alongside this, Kayden felt the presence of two other mages with strength close to the Emperor¡¯s.


    For billions of kilometers, everything was turning to ice. The laws were being completely inverted, and balance was becoming a mere memory of a distant past. Time itself began to slow down and pass more sluggishly. Kayden stood still, showing no reaction. His aura didn¡¯t even shift a single centimeter.


    Ice dragons began to be born, some of them hundreds of millions of kilometers long, worlds were swallowed by the enormous dragons, serpents were also being born and swallowing suns as if they were nothing, space itself was being frozen and petrified, even so Kayden did not move.


    Author¡¯s note: I caught a cold along with a virus, I will update the missed chapters in the next few days

 Chapter 574: Ice emperor[2]

    "Is that all?" Kayden asked without any hurry. The emperor watched as his domain was completely ignored by Kayden, as if he were just another mage.


    "You know you¡¯re not capable of fighting me. Let¡¯s see how far your courage can take you," the emperor said. Kayden couldn¡¯t believe that a being so old could utter such a clich¨¦.


    The serpents and dragons began to charge at Kayden, ripping through space and consuming the very laws of the universe. It was insane to see beings made of pure ice, stretching millions of kilometers, moving at such insane speeds. Now, this was the kind of spell Kayden wanted to see. This would either be a beautiful battle or his last one.


    Kayden¡¯s lightning cut through space with more mana than an entire galaxy could hold. It was an amount of mana far beyond what should have been possible in a spell without it collapsing. But Kayden¡¯s lightning tore through space and everything in its path. The laws were shattered into pieces by sheer brute force.


    The clash between Kayden¡¯s lightning and the ice serpent caused a cosmic catastrophe that crossed the boundaries of an entire galaxy. The bolt, charged with absurdly immense amounts of mana, pierced the colossal creature, creating an explosion that spread waves of destruction across hundreds of thousands of star systems. Stars were ripped from their orbits, while planets and moons were disintegrated by the sheer force of the impact. The serpent resisted momentarily, each fragment breaking off its body and releasing such intense cold that it froze the very fabric of space itself. But even with its magnitude, the lightning¡¯s advance was relentless, tearing the creature apart in a storm of cosmic ice.


    The impact caused a rupture in the universal laws, creating distortions that reverberated across the galaxy. The explosion left a colossal void where entire systems once existed, billions of kilometers plunged into darkness. Shockwaves swept through the galaxy, erasing nebulae and scattering cosmic debris along chaotic trajectories. Nearby stars collapsed under the pressure, creating new supernovas that echoed the destruction of the clash. Still, Kayden remained unshaken, observing the collapse with an almost unnatural calmness, as his devastating power reaffirmed his position as an unmatched force. The serpent was obliterated, and the now mutilated space bore witness to the extent of the confrontation.


    "Your strength is truly absurd," the emperor said as his aura disappeared, and the two other mages hid in the voids of space. Neither of the combatants spoke as they observed the wreckage of their spells.


    "Still, I would lose in a true battle. This serpent was almost a living law. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen such a well-crafted spell in my entire life," Kayden said, each word coming with the utmost sincerity.


    His lightning was strong enough to destroy the serpent in a direct confrontation, but the question was that it wasn¡¯t even the largest one roaming through space. Furthermore, it had merely charged straight at his spell with no real tactics. Kayden was sure there was much more to it than that. Another factor was the amount of mana used. S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The serpent barely used any mana to sustain itself. It wasn¡¯t even 1% of Kayden¡¯s spell, yet it was still able to face off against his lightning and cut its path. All of this was because the serpent was a law in all its glory. The emperor¡¯s very aura was a law in its most potent form. Kayden only needed a few seconds to understand this.


    "Frightening. Something I spent billions of years studying was unraveled in seconds," the emperor couldn¡¯t help but comment. "Why is someone with your talent here in this second-rate universe?"


    "I ask the same question to you. Why is a ten-ray mage from the tenth realm lost in this hole of a universe?" Kayden didn¡¯t take long to understand the real level of the force he was up against.


    The serpent wasn¡¯t an incomplete law... it was the damn law itself. It was the same law a god could manipulate, but here it was in the hands of a mere mortal. This was not something this universe should have. Kayden was sure he hadn¡¯t even faced 1% of the serpent¡¯s true power. There were some that were beyond his sixth sense¡¯s reach. This was completely insane.


    "I¡¯ve been following a child developing in these low-level universes. What about you?" The emperor hadn¡¯t grasped the magnitude of Kayden¡¯s enigma until he saw him fight against his serpent. His disinterest in this universe was so great that he hadn¡¯t even noticed Kayden¡¯s rise.


    "I was born here. That¡¯s all," Kayden responded. The emperor raised an eyebrow. Kayden¡¯s words were true. This meant that this universe had managed to generate an anomaly.


    "Your talent, and all the nuances of your strength, are far beyond what should be allowed to descend to these realms. Furthermore, your soul¡­ it¡¯s strange. It¡¯s full and completely different from the soul of a conventional living being," the emperor read Kayden¡¯s secrets as if he were reading a book.


    "I fused my soul with that of my soulmate," Kayden didn¡¯t mind revealing his secret to him. This person was far beyond anything he had ever seen, so it was useless to try to hide things.


    "You?!" This time, the emperor lost his composure.


    "Actually, I killed my soulmate and absorbed their soul," Kayden said, feeling even more lost as he specified the phrase.


    "You killed your soulmate?" It had literally been trillions of years since the emperor felt this sensation of surprise. It was the feeling of hearing something so absurd that he couldn¡¯t even believe it was true.


    "Yes," Kayden replied simply, as though answering whether the food tasted good. The emperor remained silent for a few seconds, thinking about what Kayden had just said. It was truly terrifying.


    "Was it worth it? How hard was it to do?" Kayden smiled.


    "It was worth it, but the difficulty... it was the hardest thing I¡¯ve ever done in my life. Killing my soulmate was hundreds of times worse than tearing my soul apart for millions of years. To this day, there are still scars of my actions in my mind," Kayden began explaining the procedure like a madman.

 Chapter 575: Talent

    "It was worth it, but the difficulty... it was the hardest thing I¡¯ve ever done in my life. Killing my soulmate was hundreds of times worse than tearing apart my soul for millions of years. To this day, scars from my actions remain in my mind," Kayden began explaining the process as if he were a madman.


    "Why are you telling me this?" The Emperor raised an eyebrow.


    "You¡¯re a soul mage too, aren¡¯t you? This might be useful for you someday," Kayden replied without any hidden intentions.


    "I see. Regarding my soul... it¡¯s merely a suppression by the universe to prevent me from destroying reality with my presence," the Emperor said, said, suddenly revealing a cascade of secrets. n peace to develop, Kayden. In a few billion years, we¡¯ll leave this universe. On that day, I¡¯ll make you a proposal if your power maintains the same degree of quality."


    Kayden didn¡¯t have time to respond. The Emperor vanished without explanation, disappearing before his eyes without any sense of space dilating or anything of the sort.


    Kayden spent a few days reflecting on everything he had witnessed and learned during that encounter. He understood the degree of quality he needed to incorporate into his attacks, even as a mortal. It was utterly insane. Kayden had so much to do and yet so little time. Fortunately, his talent wasn¡¯t something natural.


    Kayden gathered the mana of an entire galaxy into just a few million kilometers. He held the pure mana in that space, observing the chaos it could unleash. Mana was truly capable of shaping reality in unimaginable ways. Creatures made entirely of mana began to emerge in the environment.


    They were colossal beings, thousands of kilometers in size¡ªliteral monsters. They had no defined form and continuously absorbed mana without showing any signs of satisfaction. When they encountered each other, they fought for more mana. Most managed to form a kind of core, and at that point, they received a soul from the universe itself, consolidating their power in the fourth realm.


    Kayden was literally creating life with this action. The problem was that when these beings reached the fifth realm, the amount of mana they consumed exceeded what a single galaxy could provide. At that point, Kayden could no longer sustain them and had to release them into the universe. Their hunger for mana was insatiable, but their strength wasn¡¯t that impressive.


    A fifth-realm mage couldn¡¯t even expand their spiritual sense over a billion kilometers. Expanding it to the size of a galaxy was sheer madness. These mana beings died of starvation within seconds, leaving Kayden unable to extract more from them.


    The most he could learn about them was the structure of their souls and that they were physical fighters. Beyond that, they were unintelligent. Kayden believed they didn¡¯t even have time to learn how to think, as their lives were so short.


    The excess mana also destroyed most laws and disrupted balance in chaotic ways. Balance turned into chaos, unable to integrate with the mana. This created areas where only the strongest laws could assert themselves; the rest couldn¡¯t even scrape the edges.


    The fundamental law of balance activated, inadvertently creating these mana beings. Kayden couldn¡¯t understand anything beyond this. It was simply far above his knowledge, so he decided to set it aside, as he had done with countless other mysteries.


    "You took your time stabilizing your power," Kayden smiled at his daughter, who was standing before him. It had been millions of years since they had made their agreement, and during that time, Kayden had continued his endless pursuit of power.


    "It was far more power than I expected," Jasmine admitted without pride. "At this point, I have enough strength to kill you¡ªor at least face you head-on."


    Kayden nodded in agreement.


    "Yes, you¡¯re probably capable of fighting me evenly at this moment," he said. The space Jasmine controlled stretched to a mind-boggling 100 billion kilometers, an utterly insane feat.


    "Aren¡¯t you afraid I¡¯ll just attack you? I could take your life right now," Jasmine said, but Kayden only smiled.


    "You can face me, not take my life," Kayden replied. Jasmine, who had defied him once before, knew he was right this time.


    "What makes you so sure?"


    "I¡¯m a confident man, but feel free to try whenever you want," Kayden grinned. "I recommend, though, that if you plan to kill me, you do it soon. I¡¯ll eventually surpass this mediocre strength of yours." The ego of a man who could rival the greatest geniuses in the universe wasn¡¯t small.


    "I¡¯ve had time to think about everything you¡¯ve said," Jasmine ignored Kayden¡¯s provocation. "Eventually, I¡¯ll surpass Netero and the Ice Emperor." Kayden almost laughed to himself. He didn¡¯t even believe he could surpass that man. "In the end, I¡¯ll have no real opponents and will be stuck in this universe until the end of my days."


    This had once been one of Kayden¡¯s greatest fears. But now, with his superior knowledge, he knew it was entirely possible to leave this universe with some effort and continue progressing in a more challenging environment.


    "That¡¯s true, but when I reach my peak, you¡¯ll still be stuck at your current level," Kayden smirked. "Let¡¯s give it time, though. Lower your guard¡ªI¡¯m going to cleanse your soul."


    Kayden began working tirelessly. Jasmine¡¯s soul was one of the most perfect Kayden had ever seen, but it still carried remnants of past lives and countless natural flaws accumulated over time. With a single cleansing, Kayden managed to increase her strength by a small percentage while saving her thousands of years of effort. Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The key difference was that Kayden cleansed souls not to give power but to grant talent. That subtle difference was monumental¡ªsomething no other mage in this universe could achieve.


    The cleansing process should be done in stages, because if it were done immediately the magician¡¯s mind could collapse and most of the time it really would. Very few people had a conscience as strong as Kayden or Atlas¡¯s and Jasmine was certainly not one of them.

 Chapter 576: Entity

    "You still have a lot to grow; your strength is not even close to the peak of your realm," Kayden commented after the process ended.


    "Yes, I believe I am not even 5% complete of my potential," Jasmim gave a crazy number, but Kayden also expected something like that.


    "Come back in a few thousand years," Kayden disappeared and continued his training alone.


    "What the hell is this?" Kayden was training, destroying galaxies again, his pace growing every year. It had been a few million years since he started training Han and Jasmim. During this period, his strength took immense leaps.


    His sixth sense reached the insane mark of 100 billion kilometers. At that moment, Kayden felt the difference as if it was a before and after of becoming a mage. His lightning was capable of destroying galaxies in a single move; he could clear tens of thousands of galaxies per day.


    Kayden was once a tale parents told their children, but now he had become the number one enemy of common beings in this universe. The number of deaths he had caused was greater than many gods had in their entire lives. Fortunately, the universe was ridiculously large, with hundreds of quadrillions of galaxies.


    Han managed to begin learning about souls; his soul cleansings were still ridiculously weak and could not even improve a first-realm mage, but he had started something big and just needed time.


    Jasmim was growing in strength at an absurd speed. It seemed like she had no strength peak in sight; there was always more room to improve. The woman began to fight constantly against Kayden to train. At first, it was a one-sided massacre, but slowly she managed to hold her ground and even tie in many moments.


    It seemed her strength had grown at an alarmingly fast rate. That was true, but the one who had truly grown was Kayden, because when they had their first soul-cleansing session, her strength was superior to Kayden¡¯s. This meant Kayden had closed the gap during this time.


    At first, Jasmim thought Kayden just had an oversized ego, but he was truly insane. His talent was superior to everyone else¡¯s, and his strength grew in leaps that should not even be possible.


    "Congratulations, Kayden," Thoth appeared floating beside Kayden as they both observed one of the most insane moments in this entire universe. It had been an almost infinite amount of time since Thoth last saw something like this.


    Kayden¡¯s soul was already connected to the universe, but now something different was materializing within it: a small, colorless piece of soul was being attached to Kayden. He couldn¡¯t react, nor even move his soul; Kayden was condemned to have that within his soul, regardless of his choice. Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    It didn¡¯t take long for the whole process to be completed, and...


    "Holy shit," Kayden let a curse slip out in sheer surprise.


    The laws of the universe, mana flows, balance flows... everything was visible to Kayden. Nearby galaxies, living beings, the age of living beings, the age of galaxies¡ªhe practically gained a seventh sense where he could see and learn everything around him.


    Kayden could feel the slightest movements of the laws. His life changed out of nowhere, as if he had been blind his entire life. His black eyes were shining in a way that shouldn¡¯t be possible. Light couldn¡¯t escape his eyes, making them look like two black holes.


    Kayden became capable of seeing the slightest movements of the laws¡ªall of them, and there were trillions. The boy was lost for decades before even being able to process everything he was seeing. It was an almost infinite number of laws stacked together for everything to flow perfectly.


    The fundamental laws were the junctions of millions of laws, and at the same time, they were the junctions of other millions of complementary laws. It was completely insane. Kayden took hundreds of thousands of years just to manage to close his eyes to all these laws around him and see existence as a mere mortal again.


    His soul completely absorbed the piece the universe had placed within him. Kayden wasn¡¯t even capable of understanding the difference between before and now. The alteration in his soul was at a ridiculously higher level than him. It was funny how the more Kayden learned, the more he became capable of recognizing the vastness of his own ignorance.


    The master of souls wasn¡¯t able to understand what was happening to his own soul. Kayden almost laughed at his own ignorance. He still had much to learn. Perhaps it was time to visit an old friend in this universe. Hypnos should be hiding somewhere.


    "Congratulations, Kayden," Thoth had been waiting all this time beside Kayden.


    "What was that?" Kayden knew Thoth knew; this old man seemed to have practically infinite knowledge.


    "You¡¯ve become an entity in this universe," Thoth began to explain. "Your repeated actions over such a long time made you into something inherent to the universe, something like an urban legend¡ªpractically a god without the divine part."


    Kayden understood, more or less, what Thoth meant. It was like Santa Claus on planet Earth. He was practically a universal being that would exist regardless of generations or the passage of time. His legend would continue to be told without pause.


    "You¡¯re the first in this universe and were graced with divine eyes," Thoth pointed to the black holes in Kayden¡¯s face. "Every entity receives something of divine level to support their existence. The eyes are capable of showing the details of reality to you. I¡¯d say it was the best gift you could receive."


    Kayden nodded as he absorbed the information. These eyes would allow his control over mana to reach an even greater level. In fact, Kayden already had an idea of what he would do. His domain would become something absolute, above the very laws. But that was a plan for the future


    "what else can you tell me about this?" kayden still thought there were many other things.

 Chapter 577: Matheus

    "This means the universe has recognized your existence as one of its pillars. Your actions are now part of the ultimate balance. At this moment, you will not die from the passage of time¡ªnot that you would have before. Additionally, your soul can be reborn as long as the legend of your name persists," Kayden raised an eyebrow at the last phrase.


    "I¡¯ve practically become a god without the divine part, haven¡¯t I?" Kayden knew gods had such abilities because of the faith mortals placed in them.


    "In a way. The only problem is that the universe will prevent you from becoming a mediocre god. Your legend must be elevated to the level of a divine legend to be accepted as a god¡ªsomething intensely more difficult than what you are now," Kayden nodded.


    "Anything else?" Kayden wanted to return to his training, now with an even greater boost.


    "A universe of gods will be annexed to this one in a few hundred million years. When the time comes, their emissaries will begin spreading empty promises. Don¡¯t believe any of them, and don¡¯t bow," Thoth disappeared after dropping yet another piece of high-level information for Kayden.


    In the blink of an eye, tens of millions of years passed, and Kayden continued with his role of destroying galaxies. Zone leaders began organizing areas of maximum security where, hypothetically, Kayden should not have access. Most of the time, he was bought off with favors or random riches.


    None of these were things Kayden needed to obtain, but he also didn¡¯t mind receiving some benefits just to shift his targets. This led the zones to establish special areas within their points¡ªzones where development was intensely superior to the rest, as they were both a safe haven and a ticking time bomb. The fear there was much greater than elsewhere.


    The fear of having their worlds destroyed merely on someone¡¯s whim was a real concern for most people in the universe. But statistically speaking, 99% of the population would never have even minimal contact with Kayden in their entire lives.


    The support of his eyes made Kayden¡¯s progress practically double in speed. It took him only a few dozen million years to reach the peak of his realm in terms of his sixth sense¡¯s range. The limit the universe imposed on him this time was about 500 billion kilometers.


    This value was something completely astronomical. Kayden¡¯s lightning at this point became capable of destroying galaxies in succession as if they were absolutely nothing. He didn¡¯t even need to exert himself to destroy 100,000 galaxies in a single day. His constant destruction caused something unique to emerge in the universe as a response.


    The number of galaxies being born practically increased a millionfold. The amount of available mana grew exponentially. The number of geniuses¡ªpractically everything¡ªrose in response to Kayden¡¯s actions. In the end, the law of balance was far greater than Kayden¡¯s actions. No matter how much he destroyed an entire part of the universe, it would only grow more in other areas.


    His strength and all his dominion reached a completely insane level. At this moment, Kayden no longer feared any being within this universe. The only one capable of killing him in this environment was the Ice Emperor; the rest weren¡¯t even capable of confronting him.


    Netero remained a mystery. Kayden didn¡¯t know if the old man was strong enough to face him, but he had a slight inclination to believe he was. Netero was probably still superior to Kayden but not to the point of massacring him in a fight¡ªat least, that¡¯s what Kayden¡¯s instincts told him, and he wouldn¡¯t ignore something that had rarely been wrong in billions of years.


    Han had no significant progress. The boy needed a very long time for his training to start showing effects, especially considering he had to shape and capture souls. But slowly, he was approaching something unique. Kayden had no doubt Han would be one of his best adversaries in the future. sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Unlike Han, Jasmim grew at an insane pace with Kayden¡¯s training and the motivation to surpass him after being left behind. Unfortunately for her, her chance had passed. While she took one step forward, Kayden was taking two. The difference in strength between them became increasingly apparent.


    She had reached the incredible mark of 70% of her full strength. This gave her power only a few steps below Kayden¡¯s. She could destroy dozens of galaxies in just a few seconds. Her spiritual sense surpassed the 400 billion-kilometer mark, making her one of the strongest mages to have ever existed on the mortal level.


    Another person who reached a new level of strength was Atlas. The mage advanced in the realm after an immeasurable amount of time. His strength received two major boosts this time. The first was because he learned to control his soul in a way that made Kayden incapable of restraining him like a child.


    This alone allowed him to put dozens of laws in resonance with his path. All these details propelled him to a completely new level. When he advanced in the realm, he received another major boost in strength.


    Atlas¡¯ soul at this moment could reach the 100 billion-kilometer mark. This elevated him to the highest level of strength relative to common mages. His spiritual sense wasn¡¯t as vast as Kayden¡¯s or Jasmim¡¯s, but the difference was that his strength was much more condensed. If not for the condensation of his soul, he would likely be capable of reaching the 200 billion or even 300 billion mark.


    Matheus also reached a completely insane new level. He finally managed to surpass the ninth realm in a way entirely different from all others. Kayden and the entire universe witnessed his birth a few million years ago.


    At a distant point in the universe, thousands of mages gathered. The universe summoned them with waves very similar to the times when Atlas and Kayden advanced in the realm or when Jasmim became the first tenth-realm demigod. This time, it was to witness the mage who inherited the dynasty of false gods.

 Chapter 578: Matheus[2]

    Although Atlas was the strongest son, he did not follow the true path of the false gods. In the end, he chose to walk on his own feet and try his own way, which meant only Matheus continued on the path of the false gods.


    Author¡¯s note: Late chapters paid


    "Hello, master," Han greeted Kayden as soon as he appeared. The rest of the mages kept a respectful distance from him. The demigods and the tenth realm mages had become a more fluid group over the years. Many of them understood there was no chance of claiming the great prize, so they abandoned their ideas of possessing solitary zones and instead united their forces in groups. Some zones, for instance, contained nearly a dozen distinct mages, both demigods and mages from the tenth realm.


    At the moment, Netero only controlled one zone, while Atlas had four under his control. Jasmine had only two zones, as this wasn¡¯t one of her focuses during this period. The Ice Emperor, however, had expanded his control to ten zones without any difficulty.


    Kayden was one of the few who knew that if the Ice Emperor wanted, he could take all the zones in this universe with ease. It was likely that the mage was just waiting for his protected one to grow stronger and begin the real chaos.


    Kayden still didn¡¯t know exactly who the protected one of these mages was, but it was probably someone with an absurdly high talent. At the very least, the person must have a talent comparable to that of Atlas and Kayden, perhaps not as strong in terms of raw talent as the latter, but in terms of resources and techniques, they would likely surpass Kayden¡¯s strength in the future.


    The second strongest demigod, right behind Netero, also experienced a spectacular growth in strength. He found an incomplete law stone that perfectly complemented his own, nearly doubling his power during this period. He was now only behind a few others in the entire universe.


    Among the mages of the tenth realm, a mage emerged with the path of the Lunar Monarchs, something completely new in this universe. This mage¡¯s strength matched that of the second demigod. The universe seemed to be in a strange, invisible balance, but that was only for the fools who couldn¡¯t see the truth. More than half of the zones were held by mages of the tenth realm, with at least thirty of them in their hands.


    The universe began to resonate with a very ancient melody, a melody that traversed universes, something that should have been forgotten long before the existence of the universes themselves. There was no reason for it to still exist, but this was something no one knew.


    The longer time passed, the louder the music grew. It reached a point where the music expanded across dozens of galaxies. No one remembered hearing something like this before; in fact, some very ancient mages had a vague recollection, but it was very different. S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The mana of billions of kilometers began flowing toward Matheus without pause, an absurd amount of energy that Kayden didn¡¯t remember seeing any mortal, besides himself, able to manipulate. It took only a few seconds for all of it to be condensed around Matheus, creating a vortex of immeasurable power. The universe seemed to hold its breath, as though the very fabric of space-time was tense, waiting for the moment when this power would manifest. Every particle of mana seemed to whisper ancient secrets, slowly revealing the true meaning of that cosmic convergence. Matheus¡¯s transformation was about to begin, and the echoes of that distant melody resonated like the prelude to something that even the most powerful could not foresee. The universe was about to witness an ascension that could change everything.


    Matheus¡¯s soul began to merge with the mana unnaturally. Kayden had never seen anything like this before. The mana was entering his soul with all its glory and blending with it. Kayden couldn¡¯t understand what was happening based on his usual knowledge, but thanks to his divine eyes...


    "The law of mana and the law of control," Kayden murmured. They were two laws he had never encountered before. First, because they were extremely rare and ridiculously difficult to grasp. There were at least two dozen incomplete laws for each of them, just to understand the basics of each.


    Matheus wasn¡¯t a mage with great talents, at least not to the point of achieving something like this. Kayden had altered his soul and given him talent to an incomprehensible degree, but what he had learned in such a short time was still insane. This made Kayden remember his promise to kill Matheus¡¯s soulmate.


    If he fulfilled his promise, two scenarios could occur. The first was that Matheus¡¯s mind would be completely destroyed, making him incapable of continuing his life. The second scenario was that he would enter an insane frenzy of improvement, seeking revenge against Kayden. It was a risk of gaining a true opponent for the future or losing the chance to have one.


    Matheus¡¯s soul continued absorbing mana, but less than 0.000001% of all the mana that entered was actually used by the boy. Most of it wasn¡¯t absorbed by his soul. After a few minutes, the true ascension began. Matheus opened a hole in the void and began to devour mana from both planes without hesitation.


    Kayden could see two things happening. The first was that Matheus¡¯s soul was becoming more and more filled with mana, but there was a small problem. His soul was also suffering deep damage to its structure. It was a race against time, where the amount of mana wasn¡¯t enough to cope with the damage to his soul.


    Matheus had failed. He couldn¡¯t take enough mana to elevate himself to whatever he was trying to achieve. This realization caused Kayden and some other mages to smile sadly. It was sympathy for a mage who should have been a genius but, in the end, was unable to achieve it. At least that was what would have happened if Kayden hadn¡¯t intervened.


    The boy began to convert all of his sixth sense into mana and used the law of equilibrium to generate even more. In just a few seconds, he placed an amount of mana that Matheus would have needed years to accumulate. Kayden threw all this pure mana at Matheus. The amount was so vast that mana monsters began to emerge.

 Chapter 579: Matheus[3]

    The laws became blurred, and space was yielding to the pressure caused by the excess mana. This frightened many mages around, none of whom had any notion of where so much mana was coming from. When a fool attempted to cultivate to take advantage of all that mana... Kayden killed him in a single move, ensuring no one else dared to try anything. It became visible to all where this mana was originating from.


    Matheus did not care about what had happened. He understood that he had failed, but when the universe granted him this opportunity, he did not let it slip away. Matheus¡¯ soul was assimilating an increasingly smaller percentage of mana, but it no longer mattered. The quantity was simply thousands of times greater than before, and the error rate was ignored due to the sheer number of attempts.


    His soul continued to take advantage. Thoth was nearby, his jaw-dropping at the situation. This was something he had not been able to foresee, as Kayden¡¯s interactions were always a mystery due to the rules of fate. Matheus¡¯ soul was only supposed to reach 20% in mana. That value alone would have granted him the title he sought, but at that moment, it was already at 30%. This was infinitely superior to his ancestors who had walked this path.


    Minutes turned into hours, then days. When a week had passed, Matheus¡¯ soul was at approximately 40%. It had finally reached the absolute limit that his soul could withstand¡ªnot just that, but also the absolute limit that his new race was capable of achieving. All of this was only possible because of the practically infinite supply of mana he received, reducing the wear and tear by millions of times.


    BOOOOOOM!


    The universe trembled as Matheus¡¯ soul was finally completed. At that moment, Kayden reconsidered whether he had made the right decision. Perhaps he had created a monster too powerful for even himself to handle at that moment and...


    BOP! BOP! BOP!


    A strange sound began as Matheus¡¯ spiritual sense started expanding almost infinitely. In just a few seconds, it surpassed Kayden¡¯s and kept growing. In minutes, it surpassed all the mages in that place¡ªeven Netero¡ªand did not stop increasing.


    "A true false god," Thoth whispered for everyone to hear. At that moment, most understood: "Yan was just an imitation, with the bare minimum of his soul converted into mana. Matheus became an authentic and original false god."


    Kayden and everyone else were stunned by this revelation. If Yan had been a false god with the minimum possible conversion, what would Matheus be as a true one? To what degree would his strength actually reach at that moment?


    Matheus¡¯ spiritual sense only stopped expanding when it reached the insane distance of one quadrillion kilometers, surpassing all the mages present. There would be no more competition in the zones. The false god would simply conquer everything without any difficulty.


    Matheus converted everything within his reach into mana. The area was so vast that the fundamental law of balance was triggered, converting everything back into matter. He practically had the same conversion effect as Kayden, but in a way sanctioned by the universe itself. But it wasn¡¯t just this that made everything terrifying¡ªit was his ability to accumulate mana within his body and soul. He could store more mana in his body than in dozens of galaxies, and in his soul, the capacity was likely even more absurd.


    At that moment, he was at the weakest point of his existence, yet he was still the strongest being in the universe. No mage could compare to him. In just a few seconds, he accumulated an insane amount of mana in his body¡ªsomething Kayden could barely even comprehend. It seemed that his wish for a worthy opponent had been granted far beyond his wildest dreams.


    "Kayden Heart," Matheus¡¯ voice reached practically every point in that zone. Mana itself carried his message through its pathways. "Let¡¯s see if you can still uphold your threat to my soulmate."


    Kayden did not even attempt to move. He knew this was a lost battle. The power Matheus had obtained in mere seconds was superior to what he had spent billions of years fighting to achieve. From a certain point of view, it was almost amusing.


    "Then kill me, Matheus." Kayden did not even flinch. His fame was not for nothing¡ªhe was a monster, a unique being in the entire universe, and even in death, he would keep his honor intact. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Fear? Regret?" Matheus was ecstatic. He had reached the absolute peak. It was only a matter of time before he surpassed even his father. The forgotten son had finally proven to be the true genius of the family.


    "Fear? You are stronger than me, but that¡¯s all." Kayden did not waver, even before the strongest mage the universe had ever seen.


    "There is no longer any reason for you to live, nor for this fight over zones to continue." Matheus continued converting mana at that moment. The range of his spell was so vast that the law of balance was forced to function incessantly, without end.


    The amount of mana the mage accumulated in his body surpassed entire galaxies in just a few seconds. When minutes passed, he had reached a completely insane level. Space itself, for billions of kilometers, was being curved toward Matheus due to the sheer pressure of his body.


    The mage had lost control and had no interest in keeping the space around him in order. Weaker mages were bizarrely killed, being dragged toward the black hole that distorted all space. There was so much mana that they couldn¡¯t even move. Matheus¡¯ strength had reached the level of a newly ascended god.


    The ancient false gods were on par with the true gods. Most of them had been exterminated to maintain balance in the universe. Those who had been allowed to live had to remain hidden and bound by oaths to the heavens. And even they were not true false gods¡ªonly weak shadows of the past.

 Chapter 580: The true lord of the universe

    The amount of mana that Matheus placed in a fireball in his hands was simply insane; it looked more like a black hole than an actual spell. He didn¡¯t even know how to stabilize the spell, but it wasn¡¯t necessary¡ªthe amount of mana was so overwhelming that it surpassed the need for any technique, and there was no mage capable of rivaling him in this place.


    The fireball was tearing through space for dozens of billions of kilometers. Kayden could feel his body melting even at such an absurd distance. Not only that, but his soul was being burned little by little, and to make matters worse, he hadn¡¯t even received the attack yet.


    "Goodbye, demigods and magicians of the tenth realm. You can go back to the hole you came from," Matheus said without any fear. Then he turned to Kayden. "And you will pay for your sins."


    The attack came at high speed¡­


    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!


    The colossal dragon opened its golden eyes, each one larger than multiple galaxies combined, and an ancient glow illuminated the emptiness of the cosmos. Its body slithered through space, its mere presence causing the laws of the universe to tremble, and its breath was a sigh that shaped realities. Its scales, each the size of entire constellations, reflected the absolute power of an entity that existed even before the first stars ignited in the sky. Time around it distorted, past and future colliding in an incomprehensible whirlwind, as its existence transcended ages and realms. With a single movement, the flow of mana throughout the cosmos bent in reverence, while its silent presence declared an inevitable truth: the balance of power would never be the same.


    The dragon swallowed Matheus¡¯s attack the same way a child swallows an ant. In fact, this comparison was incorrect; it was easier to compare an ant being crushed by a galaxy. There was no chance, there wasn¡¯t even any resistance from the second attack. The dragon continued its movement without any resistance from the universe.


    The dragon¡¯s ruin was an event that echoed through eternity. Its destruction wasn¡¯t a simple end, but an unprecedented cosmic collapse. When its body crumbled, the colossal scales fell like shattered worlds, piercing through galaxies and erasing entire civilizations in their descent. The monster¡¯s blood, denser than any known matter, formed flaming rivers that twisted through space, creating new suns and extinguishing ancient constellations in their wake. Its final roar reverberated through the fabric of the universe, tearing dimensions and making even the gods tremble before the magnitude of the disaster. The space, unable to contain such loss, fractured, and from its fissures emerged storms of raw mana, rewriting the laws of existence in countless star systems.


    Matheus came out of this attack completely destroyed. His injuries covered more than 90% of his entire base and body, but¡­ he was alive. His wounds would take at least a few billion years to heal. The attack wasn¡¯t meant to kill him. This was the most terrifying part.


    The person who made that move did so in a way that Matheus was left only injured to the point where he would need a long recovery time. The injury wasn¡¯t permanent, and it wasn¡¯t something that would prevent him from defending himself¡ªjust not with the full force of his capacity. This was a demonstration of mastery and control over one¡¯s abilities that shouldn¡¯t even exist in this universe.


    The path of destruction that appeared in the universe was superior to what many gods could do. In fact, very few could achieve something like this. Probably only Yan and a few other dozens were capable of such feats. The most surreal thing was that the person who did all this was merely a tenth-realm mage. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Control your actions, boy. Your ego doesn¡¯t match your strength," the Ice Emperor appeared in all his glory. Kayden laughed to himself. He truly was just a frog in a well. This level of strength¡­ was something completely insane, far beyond his wildest dreams.


    That dragon was alive and at the same time a spell. Not just any spell¡ªit was a law so perfectly crafted that it became alive. It was the embodiment in flesh and bone of a law composed of millions of other laws. Kayden, with his eyes, was able to see this time. Every inch of that dragon was a law that self-completed.


    It was so complex that his mind couldn¡¯t even form a logical thought about how it worked. He didn¡¯t even know how so many things were connected flawlessly. The gap between his strength and that was larger than the gap between a fly and his current power. In fact, it was tens of thousands of times greater.


    Each centimeter of that dragon exhaled a unique aura in the entire universe. It was a degree of complexity unimaginable, something that common laws couldn¡¯t even formulate. The final law, the junction of all laws, was something that even Kayden¡¯s sight couldn¡¯t fully process. It was simply far beyond his understanding.


    The destruction caused by this event led to trillions of planets being erased from existence in the absolute void. Holes in space and the nothingness were completely opened. The universe fell into complete chaos; it was about to collapse. Kayden could feel space being compressed and reshaped in waves. The size of the universe was expanding to accommodate the effects of the dragon.


    The heavens didn¡¯t even make a single move. This could only mean one thing: this man wasn¡¯t a god. He was merely a mortal, and yet his strength was capable of something so insane. Kayden couldn¡¯t stop laughing in his mind. It was completely terrifying. Dozens of tenth-realm mages had died from Matheus¡¯s attack. The demigods also met the same fate, but not a single mage was killed by the dragon. Everyone here was spared.


    In just a few seconds this universe practically doubled in size to be able to deal with all the attacks carried out by the mere presence of the dragon, Kayden finally understood how his universe was something low level, a simple spell from a mortal was capable of causing something like this, how strong were the high level gods really? Kayden couldn¡¯t even formulate a thought about it.


    Author¡¯s note: I crashed my motorcycle yesterday, I¡¯ll owe you a chapter that I¡¯ll try to pay for this week.

 Chapter 581: Time

    A new era was about to begin; the mages who once thought they were at the top would have to rethink their entire lives. The reality shock forced all the high-level mages of this universe to reconsider all their actions.


    "I bought you some time, but one of you will have to rise above that mage," the Ice Emperor disappeared, leaving the ever-growing universe in an eerie silence. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden was one of the first to leave; he had no time to waste. From that day onward, his only goal was to gain strength like a madman. He needed to surpass Matheus¡ªthis was literally a matter of life and death. Moreover, new opportunities would arise from now on; this universe was undergoing something surreal.


    Time flew by. Kayden entered a trance-like state in which nothing but training existed in his mind. In the past, he divided his thoughts into multiple facets and carried out several activities simultaneously, but this time, he was only absolutely focused on reaching the limit of his power.


    The universe grew at a terrifying speed in just a few million years¡ªat an unprecedented level. To put things into perspective, in this period, two mages of ten rays were born. In billions of years, only Kayden and Atlas had emerged, but in just a few million years, two more had appeared.


    Kayden didn¡¯t even know about this; he had been isolated all this time. In fact, it wasn¡¯t true isolation¡ªKayden was destroying galaxies at an even more insane speed. At that moment, he was creating actual breaches in the equilibrium of zones. His speed had far surpassed dozens of thousands of galaxies per day. His slaughter reached such a degree that his very body exuded the law of death.


    The law of death could be felt in every inch of his being. If he were an ordinary mage, he would have already committed suicide. This was a diabolical law that whispered in people¡¯s ears, slowly driving them to take their own lives. The only exceptions were mages who studied these laws¡ªvery few, as most perished along the way, unable to make significant progress.


    Kayden¡¯s mind wasn¡¯t even capable of perceiving the disturbances caused by this law; his focus was at an absurd level. He hadn¡¯t taken a single breath during these millions of years. He hadn¡¯t even wasted time blinking. Kayden was in absolute focus, free from any distractions, and his strength grew with every passing second.


    There wasn¡¯t a single mage in the entire universe capable of matching Kayden¡¯s growth speed. It was far beyond madness. His soul and talent were at a level where no mage in this universe¡¯s history had ever reached an equivalent proportion. While Atlas took two steps forward, Kayden was taking ten. There wasn¡¯t a single genius capable of learning at the same speed as Kayden.


    The young mage was learning one law after another. Every few thousand years, he mastered another law that composed the law of equilibrium. With each law, his strength leaped forward. The speed and number of cycles he could perform increased exponentially. Furthermore, his sixth sense continued to grow at an increasing pace.


    Kayden fanatically pursued progress. As long as he increased even a single centimeter per day, he would persist endlessly for as long as necessary. Fortunately, he was capable of far more than just a few centimeters per day.


    Every few thousand years, Kayden increased his sixth sense by at least 10%. It was an absurd rate, and it showed no signs of slowing down. Kayden was a monster absorbing knowledge like a lunatic.


    "Holy shit," Kayden couldn¡¯t help but curse. He had reached 10% of the law of equilibrium. Kayden had amassed one million complementary laws in his mind. He had practically learned one law every thousand years. This might seem like a slow speed, but the real difficulty wasn¡¯t in learning the laws.


    With Kayden¡¯s talent, he could easily learn one law per month if he wanted, perhaps even two. It wouldn¡¯t be any effort for him. The true challenge was integrating all these laws into something greater. Millions of complementary laws had to be interconnected perfectly. Not only that, but they also had to align with his path and all his facets.


    A genius mage, capable of becoming a god with ease, would take at least ten billion years to achieve what Kayden had done in a single year. Not only that, but they would likely have to use tens of thousands of shortcuts during this time. Kayden, however, just kept destroying universes without any sign of stopping.


    His sixth sense stopped at 500 billion kilometers. Kayden was practically a god capable of observing everything. He could easily command dozens of solar systems without any difficulty. His speed bordered on the insane.


    Kayden could now travel over 100 light-years per hour. Traversing the universe was incredibly easy for him, especially considering that there wasn¡¯t a single fool willing to try and stop him. Netero was probably the only one capable of doing so, and even he didn¡¯t want to take that fight.


    A strange peace lasted for a billion years in the universe, as everyone was preoccupied with their own paths. No one wanted to waste time getting injured or fighting life-and-death battles for superficial resources. They needed to either defeat Matheus or at least be capable of escaping. Most of them were just frogs in a well, unable to grasp the magnitude of his strength.


    During this time, many things changed in the power dynamics of the universe. One of them was the mages at the top. Atlas reached the ninth realm with ten rays; his power grew to an insane level and surpassed Kayden¡¯s for quite some time¡ªat least until Kayden accomplished what he had just learned.


    Author¡¯s note: I¡¯ll try to release 4 chapters tomorrow, 3 that I owe and a bonus


    Jasmine solidified her strength and reached its peak. However, even then, she wasn¡¯t capable of rivaling Matheus in terms of power. But she was undoubtedly the second strongest in the entire universe. There wasn¡¯t a single mage with the same level of strength as her¡ªnot even Kayden could rival the woman at this moment.

 Chapter 582: Hypnos

    Fortunately, she was not interested in anything other than increasing her strength during this period. She did not even remember Kayden¡¯s existence at this moment. Just like Netero and the other mages, they were all desperate. They needed to reach the peak of their existence, or they would cease to exist.


    Another mage who had made almost no progress during this long time was Han, but, surprisingly, he was one of the mages who would explode in power in the future. He had spent all this time solely investing in himself. Every single day was the same¡ªhe studied the material Kayden had given him like a madman.


    His strength had declined to a bizarre degree. In fact, he was at the weakest point of his career as a ninth-realm mage. A mediocre mage with nine rays would probably be able to kill him at this moment. All of this was due to the obsession he had developed with his future¡ªhe just needed a few more billion years.


    Netero had also grown. The mage had practically received a slap in the face when he saw the true strength of the Emperor. Not even in his wildest dreams would he have been able to face that man. But the true peak of his strength was approaching. He had been slowly accumulating millions of laws over his hundreds of billions of years of life.


    Only one god was older than Netero in this universe. The rest were not even close to his age. All this time had given him the opportunity to learn things that no mortal should be capable of comprehending. A fundamental law was being grasped by him during this time. However, his talent was not high, which made it take him an almost infinite amount of time to gather the laws. At the moment, he had 50% control over his law.


    The other two ten-ray mages had also reached the ninth realm. One of them wanted to become a demigod, while the other aimed to become a tenth-realm mage. Both had absurd talent, but their strength made the task insanely difficult. All this time had only been enough to place them at the peak of the ninth realm.


    It was funny how most people progressed through their realms at a much faster pace than Kayden, but when it came to their actual strength, they were not capable of surpassing him. Neither of the two mages had faced Kayden, yet they had an insane confidence in their ability to surpass him.


    When Kayden reached a specific percentage of mastery over his law, he was able to climb a step on the power scale. A new world opened up for him. Kayden learned how to unbalance space around him without using mana. At this moment, he only needed to move a butterfly to destroy a galaxy.


    His mastery over the law of balance was so great that he had the capability to destroy galaxies without using mana. He merely altered small pieces of existence and watched everything collapse in a crazy manner. But this was not even the craziest part¡ªit was the effect he had managed to achieve with his lightning.


    Kayden became capable of integrating his lightning with the very law of balance, making its existence infinite as long as he wanted to keep his attack alive. Kayden could literally stop controlling his attack, and the universe would keep it alive. In one of his tests, he saw a lightning bolt wandering through dozens of galaxies before finally fading away due to wear and tear. It was not truly infinite, but an attack that should have only destroyed a few galaxies ended up propagating more than ten times that amount. Not only that, but it was sustained by the universe itself.


    In the end, Kayden still needed more time to truly elevate all his plans to something beyond. He still had to place his path on an even higher level. Not only that, but his lightning needed to be elevated to the level of a law. There were too many things for him to do in such a short amount of time. His best bet was clear¡ªKayden needed to advance in realm after squeezing out a little more and refining his path.


    "Kayden, it has been a while." Kayden was destroying galaxies on a random day when he heard Thoth¡¯s voice behind him. Along with him was someone Kayden had not seen since his earliest years in this universe.


    A cat with eyes of different colors that¡­


    The cat¡¯s eyes were unfathomable¡ªan abyss of existence and void at the same time. Within them, reflections of millions of souls danced, each telling a story, each whispering ancient secrets, but none truly present. They were windows to unfathomable mysteries, portals to knowledge that transcended time and reason. Looking directly into them was like staring at the universe itself, feeling it breathe in an eerie silence. There was no emotion, no intent¡ªonly the crushing weight of that which cannot be understood.


    At least in the past, Kayden would have understood absolutely nothing. But at this moment, it became obvious to him that Hypnos had nothing to do with sleep and dreams. How foolish he had been in the past. Hypnos was¡­


    "A god of souls," Kayden whispered, and the cat purred.


    "Exactly, Kayden, and I see that you have made something unique out of your soul," Hypnos did not need to look twice to understand what Kayden had done with his soul. It was insane and far beyond his expectations.


    "You shouldn¡¯t be here. What happened to the gods being expelled from this universe?" Kayden turned to Thoth. If the gods were to return now, he would be completely finished.


    "It¡¯s a long story, but this universe is going to enter the divine games of another universe," Thoth began to explain. "You don¡¯t need to worry about the ancient gods of this universe. They don¡¯t have the capability to enter this fight. Besides, the gods cannot directly interact with the universe."


    Kayden was surprised by the information he had received in just a few milliseconds. Once again, this universe was about to change. For some reason he was unaware of, everything was changing very quickly. In the past, it took tens of billions of years for shifts in power to occur. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Each god will be able to choose one or more representatives for the challenge of the gods. At the end of 100 billion years, a massive tournament will take place. The god who achieves the best result wins," Thoth explained.


    Kayden raised an eyebrow. "What¡¯s the prize?" It had to be something absurdly grand.

 Chapter 583: Hypnos[2]

    "The universe itself, but it¡¯s nothing special either. Most end up abandoning their prize after the event," Thoth, who usually knew everything about something, said. It was strange. "These are gods who have reached the highest level that exists. They travel between universes with their consciousness in search of entertainment; they have nowhere left to progress in their strength."


    That was one of the biggest absurdities Kayden had ever heard¡ªit went against everything he had believed in his life. But he said nothing. Ultimately, he didn¡¯t have enough knowledge to offer an opinion on gods of that level. Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Hypnos is one of them, isn¡¯t he?" Kayden didn¡¯t need more than a few seconds to piece things together. "I don¡¯t want to take part in your power struggles." He had too much to study; Kayden had no interest in fighting for others.


    "First, listen to my offer, kid. With your strength, you won¡¯t be able to stay out of it anyway," Hypnos said lazily. "I offer you a time chamber."


    Kayden raised an eyebrow.


    Time chambers were ridiculously useful for weaker mages, but for those at his level, who could alter the laws of time and space, they ended up being useless, as any spell they cast could destroy the entire chamber. Besides, no chamber would be capable of extending the full spiritual sense of Kayden.


    "How?" The proposal was so insane that it actually made Kayden reconsider his decision.


    "Each god can offer something to their first fighter. I have a technique that makes your soul capable of slowing down time by half in your reality."


    Kayden raised both eyebrows this time.


    This technique was far beyond a time chamber. In fact, it was far beyond anything this universe could be worth. Not even a single treasure could represent a tenth of its value. The cat began describing the technique, and within seconds, Kayden understood why it was so insane and, at the same time, so unique.


    "This technique will only be usable by you for the duration of the contract. After that, you¡¯ll have to remove it from your consciousness. But I believe it¡¯s an honest offer," the cat purred, and Kayden nodded.


    In exchange for the technique, he only had to represent the cat god in a future combat tournament. It wasn¡¯t really a big deal. Besides, he would have the opportunity to face opponents at his level or higher¡ªKayden would be winning either way. Moreover, he understood that becoming a pariah in the universe again wouldn¡¯t end well. Just like the other mages, he would need a patron in this universe.


    "I can¡¯t interfere directly in your path to power or give you treasures, but I can help with doubts and related matters once every million years. Also, you will receive a mark that will make you immune to the effects of other gods."


    Kayden had no time to respond before feeling a small crescent moon with clouds embedding itself in his soul.


    He couldn¡¯t feel any difference in his soul or in the way he perceived the universe. It simply remained there like an unknown amulet, far beyond his capacity for understanding.


    "Shall we begin?"


    The arrival of the gods brought an absolutely insane level of development to the universe. It was as if trillions of years had passed in just a few million. It wasn¡¯t just a few hundred gods participating in this madness¡ªit was thousands of them, all at the peak of power or at least close to it.


    Techniques and knowledge from trillions of universes were thrown into this universe as if they were nothing more than trash. Naturally, the strongest mages were the first choices and the most sought-after. Kayden was undoubtedly in the top three mages that had to be recruited, but Hypnos had no trouble being the first to arrive.


    Hypnos and Thoth were entities that should not be categorized on the same level as normal gods. Kayden couldn¡¯t even comprehend the difference in power between a being that seeks to increase its strength at any cost¡ªlike the gods¡ªand a single god who only seeks a way to end its own existence.


    In just these few million years, at least ten mages managed to become tenth-realm demigods. Their strength was insane, and some of them would surpass Jasmim over time. But not a single ten-ray mage had appeared. There was an immense difference between them¡ªten-ray mages were infinitely superior to anything else simply because they had more final potential than other mages.


    Han was one of those who grew the most during this period. Hypnos sought him out after a suggestion from Kayden that proved completely correct. It didn¡¯t take long for the cat to understand just how bizarre Han¡¯s abilities were, and with just a few tips, Han was able to start accumulating souls without his previous limitations. The problem was that he could now only accumulate a single warrior.


    That would have been a problem if he hadn¡¯t created a soul with the same intensity of power as Jasmim when she first advanced. Additionally, he was an excellent combat mage, capable of rivaling the best. Not only that, but Han was very close to becoming a tenth-realm mage. At that moment, his true potential would be measured.


    Netero was recruited by one of the main gods of this battle. His strength also grew at a rapid pace. He was getting closer and closer to grasping the fundamental law. Previously, his biggest problem was merging laws, but after receiving a legendary technique from a certain god, his biggest challenge became understanding the laws¡ªsomething much easier for someone of his strength level.


    Jasmim¡­ was neglected by the great gods. Not even a single great god made her an offer, even though she was undoubtedly the second or third strongest mage in this universe. Unfortunately, she had reached the peak of her strength during these years. Her power was insane, but that was it¡ªshe would hardly be able to go further at this moment.


    The truth was that not a single great god believed in Jasmim¡¯s potential, especially considering the sheer number of mages available for them to place their bets on. One who stood out during this time was Felix.

 Chapter 584: Time

    Kayden¡¯s old friend reappeared in the universe as an insane beast that devoured constellations. The cat could now easily swallow billions of kilometers with its mouth. Felix had reached the level of a demigod during this time. Unfortunately, he had not been able to become a tenth-realm mage before that, but unlike common demigods, he had not stopped progressing in his strength.


    Beyond them, dozens of other mages were growing in power from all sides. The universe¡¯s average level had risen to a crazy level¡ªeighth realm was now the weakest level mages could reach in their lifetimes. This was completely insane. Even the weakest mage could reach this stage with the amount of mana available in the universe.


    The average level was a direct reflection of the peak. When the average level was higher, peak mages had to have much greater potential to be considered at the top. At this point, eight-ray mages in the ninth realm were as common as grains of sand in a desert. Only nine-ray mages were rare.


    Tenth-realm mages and demigods also began appearing by the thousands. That¡¯s right¡ªthousands. No longer were there just a few dozen or at most a few hundred. Instead, thousands were emerging, seeking their place in the balance of power. It was madness. At this moment, every zone was controlled by a true peak mage. There were no longer weak or mid-tier mages as zone leaders. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Atlas grew at an explosive rate. The boy had managed to become a tenth-realm mage. He used a method that allowed him to skip dozens of steps. He hadn¡¯t even reached the absolute peak of the ninth realm, but that didn¡¯t matter. The method he used allowed him to ascend without losing potential. At this moment, his power erupted astronomically.


    Unfortunately, his uncontrolled advancement cost him the next billion years, leaving his body and soul in a chaotic state. However, his potential remained intact. This meant that he could focus on becoming a demigod while solidifying his power. His advancement was one of the universe¡¯s greatest secrets¡ªonly he and Matheus knew about it. Otherwise, it would be easy to understand that Atlas was currently the strongest mage in the universe.


    Meanwhile, Kayden had vanished. His constant massacre of galaxies had completely stopped. Not a single mage knew of his whereabouts. This forced Atlas¡¯s revenge to be postponed. Moreover, not a single mage even wanted to look for Kayden¡ªeveryone was too occupied during this period.


    Kayden spent all this time trapped within his sixth sense. It took him about one million years to master Hypnos¡¯ technique. Considering that he had all his doubts answered in seconds and that his talent was insane, Kayden was ridiculously fast. Hypnos had believed it would take him at least several billion years, but he had overestimated both perfect souls and Kayden¡¯s obsession.


    The technique was utterly insane¡ªit involved placing his soul in a state of temporal dilation. To do this, Kayden had to destroy everything within the area of his sixth sense¡ªevery piece of matter, every trace of life. Nothing could exist in that space. Afterward, he had to place his soul in a cycle with the laws of time. It wasn¡¯t actually difficult, but it had to be done with an absolutely terrifying degree of perfection.


    It required insane knowledge of one¡¯s own soul. A deep understanding of the law of time wasn¡¯t even necessary¡ªonly the basics were needed. The real trick was altering the river of time within himself in a way that wasn¡¯t recognized by the universe as a violation. It was literally a technique that mocked the heavens and their natural laws.


    While the rest of the universe saw only a few dozen million years pass, Kayden had actually lived for hundreds of millions of years. Hypnos had said that time would pass at half speed, but it was more accurate to say that Kayden experienced time at about a third of the normal rate, all thanks to his talent.


    "I see," Kayden smiled and looked at his hand. It had been 500 million years since the gods arrived in this universe. All the mages were growing stronger, fighting for the best positions in the universe, and...


    For the position of the gods¡¯ affiliates. A few million years ago, the mages discovered that if a god¡¯s first chosen representative was killed, they could be replaced. Most of the time, the gods chose the ones capable of killing their previous affiliates. There was no emotional connection between the gods and their chosen ones¡ªthey only wanted the best and the strongest.


    While half a billion years had passed for the entire universe... for Kayden, more than one billion years had passed. He was nearing two billion years of personal experience. His power had grown at an incomparable speed, far outpacing all other mages. At this moment, he had reached the absolute peak of the eighth realm. His understanding of the law of equilibrium and his path had grown even greater.


    Kayden had reached the insane level of 50% comprehension of his law. His learning speed was at least five times faster than any other mage in this universe. Even Netero, with all his lifetime of experience, could not match Kayden¡¯s speed of understanding. Furthermore, Kayden had spent at least half of this time purely studying his path.


    He reached the mind-boggling value of 750 billion kilometers and a conversion rate using the law of equilibrium in the tens of thousands. Kayden could pull mana from dozens of galaxies in the blink of an eye. A single one of his lightning bolts was now capable of destroying thousands of galaxies in a single strike.


    His spells were infinite and would only disappear when completely overpowered by something stronger. The law of equilibrium made them an essential part of the universe¡¯s existence. They wouldn¡¯t fade away or lose strength easily. That was why Kayden was capable of destroying thousands of galaxies with a single bolt of lightning. Unfortunately, his control over the law was still not perfect, which meant that his lightning would slowly fade away after some time.

 Chapter 585: The event

    750 billion was the absolute limit of Kayden¡¯s reach. At this moment, he could not extend it by even a single meter beyond that. He could spend billions of years trying, and it would not change¡ªthis was the limit that the universe itself had placed upon him. It was strange because Kayden felt trapped. Adding up his conversions, he had reached an insane level of power that few in the universe could even dream of achieving.


    The most unbelievable part was that he was still only in the Eighth Realm. Kayden still had the Ninth Realm, and possibly the Tenth Realm, ahead of him. His strength would likely reach the same level as a newly ascended god. That would be utterly insane¡ªbut he was still far from being capable of something like that.


    "There¡¯s going to be a tournament of the gods," Hypnos said, lying on top of Kayden¡¯s head while explaining a bit about ancient souls. "You are not required to participate, but I recommend you go so you can understand how much your pursuit of perfection is delaying your progress. Dozens of other mages have already surpassed you in strength."


    The cat¡¯s words were harsh, but Kayden did not even flinch.


    It had been a total of two billion years since the gods appeared in the universe. The average power level had increased at an unprecedented rate, but the most insane part was the strength of the elites. They had grown ridiculously. Destroying galaxies had become nothing more than child¡¯s play for those at the top.


    During this time, Kayden had practically been forgotten. No matter how much they searched for him, he was never found¡ªnot even within the timelines or through ancient techniques. Many assumed he had been killed, but that was only a thought held by those who did not personally know his legend. Those who truly understood the magnitude of his power never believed such a thing for even a second.


    "And what about my safety?" Kayden wasn¡¯t worried about being attacked while inside his spell, as his soul practically made him invisible in the timelines. The only way to find him was if a high-level mage happened to enter his territory by accident.


    "It will take place in a Hall of the Gods. Your lives will be protected by the heavens¡ªthere will be no deaths, and no one will be tracked afterward," Hypnos explained.


    Kayden nodded. "The reward is that the god can use a little more of their power and select two main fighters. All of the top ten will receive this reward."


    "Why are you giving me the chance to participate instead of forcing me?" Kayden couldn¡¯t quite understand Hypnos¡¯ actions. And with the next sentence, he realized he had been thinking of the cat as a normal god.


    "The final reward isn¡¯t even worth my time, Kayden. I¡¯m just trying to have a little fun," Hypnos said lazily.


    What the other gods treated as a serious challenge was nothing more than a child¡¯s game to Hypnos.


    "When is this tournament?" Kayden wanted to know if he had time to prepare a little more, but...


    "Now," Hypnos said, his voice still drowsy.


    "Let¡¯s go," Kayden responded without much thought. He had nothing to lose in this confrontation.


    Kayden didn¡¯t even feel the space around him shift before he suddenly appeared inside a colossal coliseum, spanning tens of trillions of kilometers.


    The coliseum where Kayden arrived was a construction that defied the very logic of space. Its walls stretched for trillions of kilometers, shaped by an impossible architecture¡ªcolumns floated in the void, and grandstands folded over themselves, accommodating spectators who did not exist at a single point in time. The ground was made of an unknown material that reflected the cosmos like an infinite mirror, and every step echoed like a contained thunderclap.


    At the center, an unimaginably vast arena extended¡ªso immense that entire battles could unfold without one competitor even seeing the other. Above, distorted skies spun slowly, filled with constellations that did not belong to any known universe. The very air vibrated with divine energy as if space itself was paying attention to what was about to happen.


    There were thousands of gods, each with anywhere from a single representative to tens of thousands of them. The grandstands were both completely full and completely empty at the same time. The space in this place was so tangled that Kayden¡¯s mortal mind could not even begin to comprehend it. The laws of space were being used in such a way that the coliseum itself had become law¡ªit was simply unimaginable. S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "You are a representative of a greater god. You do not need to go through the initial fights," Hypnos said.


    Kayden and Hypnos only had to wait while the weaker mages fought for glory.


    During this time, Kayden saw dozens of familiar faces fighting. One of them was Felix. The cat had become insanely more powerful than before. He was capable of swallowing a good portion of the coliseum and using it as energy for his spatial attacks. But¡­ it wasn¡¯t impressive.


    Like so many others, Felix had sacrificed potential for raw power¡ªone of the most foolish mistakes that all mages eventually made in their lives.


    One mage that Kayden saw fighting, whom he had not expected, was Achilles. In fact, he barely even remembered that Achilles existed. And¡­


    "Absurd."


    Kayden couldn¡¯t stop himself from uttering the word when he saw Achilles, a mere Seventh-Realm mage, destroy a Tenth-Realm mage in only two moves. But they weren¡¯t just two moves.


    Achilles received a spatial cut aimed directly at his head. He moved only a few centimeters, and at the same time, broke space at a specific point. This movement redirected the attack that was meant to decapitate him back toward the Tenth-Realm mage, without any logical explanation.


    Immediately after, Achilles created a rupture in space that triggered a black hole inside the Tenth-Realm mage¡¯s head¡ªerasing every last trace of life from the being.


    Kayden could not stop replaying the entire sequence in his mind. These movements¡­ were perfect to a degree that should not have been possible.


    Kayden knew that he was not capable of doing that. In fact, he had never seen a single mage capable of performing anything even remotely similar. It was simply rarer than winning the lottery.

 Chapter 586: The event[2]

    "This boy¡­ shouldn¡¯t be in this universe," Hypnos commented as he watched the fight. Aquiles had made his name stand out across the universe in just a few seconds of combat. Only a few hundred people, among millions, were able to comprehend what had happened.


    The next fights were all of the highest level, at least interesting, but things truly went insane when two of the most powerful mages in the universe stepped onto the coliseum. Atlas and Jasmim were facing each other, each on one side of the arena.


    In the end, the woman was chosen after a long time, but not by any of the great gods, it was some random lesser god with no significant power. Meanwhile, Atlas stood at the absolute peak of his power as a ten-ray mage and from the tenth realm. His very presence was capable of bending the space around him.


    "This is going to be a massacre," Kayden commented, and Hypnos nodded. It wasn¡¯t hard for him to recognize just how absurd Atlas¡¯ strength had become. He couldn¡¯t even understand how the boy had turned into a tenth-realm mage with ten rays.


    It was simply a leap in power that shouldn¡¯t have been possible at this time. Maybe he sacrificed his potential for it? Kayden didn¡¯t think so. He hadn¡¯t created a fool. So, Atlas had received some truly insane technique from the gods. This made Kayden think about whether what he had received from Hypnos was really that insane.


    "The technique he received from his god puts him far ahead of regular mages," Kayden insinuated, and Hypnos didn¡¯t take long to respond.


    "Yeah, I can give you that level of power in just a few million years as well, but we both know how that will end," Hypnos said. Kayden nodded. In the end, his path was his and no one else¡¯s.


    Atlas¡¯ soul extended for at least fifty trillion kilometers, swallowing all the attacks Jasmim was making with ease. In this area, laws ceased to exist. Atlas¡¯ soul was the law itself, his soul was mana itself, and nothing could exist or enter this space without his permission. That wasn¡¯t even a fight.


    The pressure slowly forced Jasmim to her knees. She couldn¡¯t even think straight as all her bones were crushed into the ground without mercy. This wasn¡¯t a fight. It was just an open and merciless humiliation. Atlas was sending a very clear message to the rest of the universe at this moment: his power was unprecedented, and his strength surpassed everything and everyone. S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Die." With a single word, Jasmim¡¯s body was completely crushed to the point where her existence was no longer part of reality. What was even more insane was that Kayden could see that her soul had been severely fragmented before being shattered into thousands of pieces.


    Atlas had become a mage capable of altering souls in such a way that his attacks could kill mages forever. Souls could not be destroyed by normal means, but they could be broken to the point where even their reincarnation became a challenge.


    "Do you understand what I meant now?" Hypnos was right. Kayden had been surpassed. He wasn¡¯t even capable of resisting a simple attack from his apprentice¡¯s soul at this moment. The famous phrase had never made so much sense: the apprentice one day surpasses the master.


    It was funny how Kayden¡¯s life revolved around running from stronger people while he grew stronger. It seemed like an endless cycle where he could never overcome everyone, but up to that point, all his decisions had proven correct.


    "Completely," Kayden responded as he saw his body being teleported against his will. He didn¡¯t resist and immediately found himself in the arena.


    "Hello, my name is Kenian Hima. I¡¯m a mage of the ninth realm and ten rays. I hope our battle is a great experience for both of us." Kayden received these words as soon as he stepped into the coliseum, and a young man with red hair bowed.


    Kenyan Hima, with his impeccable posture and refined attire, exuded an aura of nobility and respect. His vibrant red hair framed a serene face, while his scarlet eyes glowed with a calm intensity and calculative demeanor. Two small horns gently sprouted from his forehead, complementing his unique appearance, and a long red tail swayed slightly behind him, moving with almost calculated precision.


    "Hello, my name is Kayden Heart," just that. There was no further introduction before all eyes in the coliseum turned to Kayden. His name carried more weight than all the mages who had ever fought there.


    "It¡¯s a pleasure to fight with the mage of legends." Kenyan bowed again, and Kayden found it amusing that these actions were truly honest. The boy¡¯s excitement wasn¡¯t fake, nor was there any mockery.


    "Equally, Mr. Kenian." Kayden bowed in return and began to exude an aura that signaled he was ready. "I¡¯ll give you the first strike as a gesture of goodwill from an older mage." In reality, he just wanted to test the boy¡¯s strength.


    The boy smiled, and then¡­ dozens of millions of suns exploded in all directions, some stretching tens of billions of kilometers, all emitting infernal heat. It was so hot that space was melting, revealing the void, and not only that, but the laws were bending in a bizarre way that shouldn¡¯t have been possible. Kayden couldn¡¯t even begin to comprehend the magnitude of this heat.


    The heat emitted by the sun didn¡¯t just distort space; it made the laws writhe in desperation as if they were trying to flee from something that transcended them. Time around them oscillated erratically, sometimes speeding up, sometimes stopping for fractions of a second, unable to maintain its linearity. Gravity, once absolute, fragmented in different directions, creating zones where pressure crushed existence itself, and others where everything dissolved into nothing. The suns were scattered across a vastness of billions of kilometers, each pulsing like a living entity, carrying a power comparable to a weak tenth-realm mage. They spun in chaotic patterns, their explosions shaping fleeting new realities that appeared and vanished instantly, incapable of maintaining any form of order. Kayden felt his very existence being tested, his body instinctively reacting to avoid being consumed by the collapse of the universe¡¯s rules around him.

 Chapter 587: The event[3]

    "Nothing is above the sun king," the boy said, and... all the suns merged into a single one over a trillion kilometers wide. At that moment, everything became absolute chaos. The heat was so intense that the laws collapsed immediately¡ªonly the fundamental laws managed to persist, but even they were not enough.


    The fundamental law of balance was operating at full capacity to restore the mana and laws being consumed at an absurd speed. It was ironic that Kayden was familiar with this situation. Slowly, the fundamental law of balance was growing stronger, and in just a few minutes, it would likely surpass the sun and make the new equilibrium revolve around this absurd heat with laws of fire.


    "Kneel before the sun," the boy¡¯s voice echoed throughout the coliseum as the sun began turning white from its exuded heat. It reached such an absurd point that space ceased to exist in most of the area.


    Kayden said nothing as he watched the sun rushing toward him, burning everything in its path. Something so enormous should not have been capable of moving at such an absurd speed¡ªit spanned tens of billions of kilometers per second. In fact, it was reaching something close to hundreds of billions of kilometers per second. It was so fast that it surpassed the speed of light in a feat that defied all common laws of physics, turning the sun into a black blur that most beings could only sense.


    And then, Kayden began...


    BOOOOOOOM!


    BOOOOOOOM!


    BOOOOOOOM!


    Kayden converted all his sixth sense into mana in the blink of an eye. In fact, that was just a figure of speech, as his conversion at that moment exceeded that speed tens of thousands of times over. Using the fundamental law of balance at its maximum power, he performed thousands of cycles of conversion.


    The sheer amount of mana surrounding him for a few seconds was so vast that it eclipsed the sun¡¯s presence. To anyone watching, the sun was still larger, but when perceived through the spiritual sense, everything changed¡ªKayden seemed to be the center of the universe with that amount of mana. It was so immense that he became a beacon in that place.


    The problem was that it was nothing extraordinary compared to the previous attacks from other competitors. Kayden had truly been surpassed by time, but he didn¡¯t care. He knew that, in the end, his decision was the right one. Under no circumstance was it worth gaining strength instead of potential¡ªthe future was more important than the present.


    All that mana was converted into three lightning bolts supported by the law of balance. The lightning bolts slithered through space like serpents. His proficiency had turned them into something close to a living law flying through space, albeit at an infinitely lower power than the Ice Emperor. Kayden¡¯s attacks carried the mana of galaxies within their structures, allowing them to tear through space and laws in their path without any difficulty. Compared to the size of the sun, the lightning bolts were like flies hitting an elephant, but their force was immensely superior.


    Each lightning strike caused an explosion on the sun capable of destroying galaxies just from the residual effects. Each bolt opened a hole hundreds of billions of kilometers wide in the sun. What was once a perfectly round celestial body became a battered sphere, dented on all sides. The sun had the ability to regenerate automatically without any difficulty.


    This Sun was a living law. Kayden could see with his own eyes that the universe considered it a law that had to be respected and restored, as if it were part of the cosmos and a divine obligation to maintain its existence. Against any other opponent, this would have been a headache¡ªbut Kayden¡¯s lightning was different.


    "Is this the power of the legendary untitled mage?"


    Kayden heard the provocation with his eyes closed, but it didn¡¯t even register in his mind. His three lightning bolts had been consumed by the sun in such a way that even the law of balance couldn¡¯t restore them. He had known this would happen from the very beginning¡ªit was merely a way to test his strength against a worthy opponent. S§×ar?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Can we stop playing around and move to the final part?" Kayden asked after a few seconds.


    "You were waiting for the sun to return to normal, weren¡¯t you?" Kayden¡¯s opponent had a bitter taste in his mouth. The feeling of being underestimated to the point where the adversary didn¡¯t attack during his moment of weakness was not something everyone enjoyed experiencing.


    The sun turned black, symbolizing Kenian¡¯s final move. In reality, it wasn¡¯t the sun¡¯s color that changed but its heat. It had reached a point where even light itself was consumed and turned into absolute nothingness. It was so hot that even rays of light were destroyed, making the lack of light reflection turn the sun black.


    The intensity of the heat increased to a point where gravity ceased to exist. Everything ceased to exist. There was only heat¡ªan endless, beginningless inferno. It felt as if the universe had been reshaped. Kayden could see beings of fire being born in the middle of the sun¡ªthousands of dragons, serpents, and other mythological beasts crawling across the sun king¡¯s surface.


    Its strength and its foundation in law had reached a level where it could create life within its existence. This was truly a spell worthy of a ten-ray mage. Kayden knew he still had much to evolve, but he could see a glimpse of where this boy¡¯s attack would lead him.


    "Existence is an extension of my will."


    Kayden spread his arms and demonstrated why he was a monster.


    The path of the monarch of oneself was something Kayden had been mastering for an infinitely longer time than most mages in this universe had even existed. His sixth sense began to grow without any logical limit. In less than the blink of an eye, it expanded to one and a half trillion kilometers. With just a single movement, he doubled its reach.

 Chapter 588: The event[4]

    The skies closed with red clouds, and not a single mage there recognized what they were. These clouds had never been seen at any moment in the existence of the universe¡ªonly the gods watching knew what they were.


    "Whose disciple is this?" a god¡¯s voice rose.


    "Since when do we have a challenger of the heavens in this universe?" The gods were in a chaos of voices, exchanging thousands of sentences in a time that mortals could hardly perceive.


    It did not take long for them to understand who Kayden Heart truly was, and even less time to realize who his patron was. This caused a terrifying silence to emerge among the gods, while, elsewhere, a cat took a peaceful nap, fully aware that not even the most insane of the gods would dare to move their gaze upon him.


    Kayden elevated his path to something superior to everything common mages had ever seen in their lives. They couldn¡¯t even comprehend what was happening. Kayden had turned his path into a law¡ªnot just any law, but a fundamental-grade law. This was true madness.


    He had long abandoned the Law of Balance; rather, it had been integrated into his path in a way that created something new and utterly unique. Kayden¡¯s soul was already merged with the universe and, at the same time, with his path. This was one of the reasons he had always been restrained by a certain limit of power, but Kayden did something that set him apart even further.


    His soul had fused with the fundamental Law of Balance and his path. He made his soul slowly become something beyond just a soul¡ªhe literally turned his soul into a unique law. Kayden had not yet been able to name it or even see with his own eyes what law he was creating, but he knew he was on the right path.


    All of this was achieved over four billion years¡ªa time of intense duration, even more so considering that his mind and soul were capable of far more than any common mage. His genius was insane, his talent unparalleled. All of this, combined with a long period of refinement, allowed Kayden to take another step toward becoming something beyond a mere ten-rayed mage.


    Kayden converted all of his sixth sense into mana and, using his own law, converted it tens of thousands of times. The amount of mana he manipulated came very close to the same mana Matheus had used in his attack. It was an enormous amount, but at the same time, nothing extraordinary¡ªat least by the new standards of the universe.


    POOFT!


    The sound of reality breaking was heard by all. It was not an explosion, nor was it like shards of glass shattering¡ªreality simply ceased to exist due to the pressure of the ray Kayden unleashed. His very existence was being observed by the heavens. An insane pressure was present upon all the mages in that coliseum; it felt as if they were being watched by something far beyond their comprehension.


    Kayden¡¯s ray reached a size of tens of millions of kilometers. It was impressive, but not something Kayden found useful. In the future, he planned to concentrate all of his power into just a few meters of attack¡ªnow that would be impressive beyond imagination.


    The sun was swallowed by the attack¡ªthere wasn¡¯t even an explosion. The sun simply ceased to exist, its entire magnitude consumed by the ray. For trillions of kilometers, nothing remained. Kayden¡¯s ray consumed the laws, the space, everything¡ªabsolutely everything was devoured in a way that left not even the smallest trace of existence. The Law of Balance couldn¡¯t even enter that space; the fundamental law had to intervene.


    The ray continued its relentless path, crushing the sun with silent brutality¡ªthere was no resistance, no explosion, just the light fading as if it had never existed, as if the very concept of a star had been denied. The space around it was dragged into nonexistence, sucked into a force beyond understanding, leaving an absolute void where neither time, matter, nor energy dared to manifest. The trillions of kilometers of the coliseum were engulfed in a terrifying silence¡ªa dead space where not even the fundamental laws could mend the wound without intervention.


    "I forfeit."


    Kayden¡¯s voice¡­ shocked everyone. After an attack of this magnitude, all expected him to continue the battle to the end. But to everyone¡¯s surprise, he surrendered.


    "Why? What was that? What are those clouds?" Kenyan asked, his heart racing. He knew that if that ray had been directed at him... not even the shadow of his corpse would remain. Kayden had given him this victory for free.


    At least, that was what he thought. In reality, Kayden didn¡¯t have the strength to perform another attack like that for the next few days. He would have to recover from the strain on his soul caused by surpassing the limits imposed by the universe itself. With that in mind, he decided to test his final attack against the sun and take full advantage of the situation.


    "Is this the end of the legendary mage? Is this the peak of power you¡¯ve achieved after so much time, Kayden?" Netero appeared, floating in space and clapping his hands. "I expected more from the mage who was able to place the gods beneath his ego."


    Like Netero, everyone was thinking that Kayden had reached his true limit. Like it or not, the boy was a mage who came from nothing. His techniques and everything he possessed were created by himself. He lacked support to remain at the top. In the end, this was the maximum strength Kayden had achieved as a tenth-realm mage¡­


    Kayden released his aura for all to see, and the murmurs ceased. Not even the sound of a single mage¡¯s breath could be heard. Kayden could have spoken thousands of words, but just one movement was enough¡­


    "I hope this universe can entertain me when I truly reach the peak of my power."


    Kayden had revealed his realm¡ªa mere eighth-realm mage had been able to unleash an attack of this magnitude.


    The situation was so shocking that even the gods were silent. None of them had dared to probe into Kayden¡¯s power, not after discovering which god was protecting him. This made Kayden¡¯s strength a mystery to them until now. Everyone there had assumed the boy was at least a peak ninth-realm mage, but he was only in the eighth. S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Terrifying."

 Chapter 589: Challenger of the heavens

    "Kayden Heart"


    Emperor Kollen appeared floating in the skies. "The Frozen Gods extend to you an invitation to ascend to our universe. Not only that, but we also wish to demonstrate our goodwill by offering you all the secrets of the Tenth Realm free of charge."


    The words, combined with the moment, made the eerie silence even heavier. Kollen tossed an ancient book toward Kayden, a book easily measuring tens of thousands of meters¡ªsomething utterly insane. The most absurd part was that everything inside had been handwritten. What few knew was that this book had the power to purchase an entire lower-level universe like the one they were currently in, without any difficulty.


    "You cannot break the rules just because you think you¡¯ve found a talented child," a god appeared in the coliseum, freezing all space around him with his mere presence. It had been so long since Kayden had seen a god that he had almost forgotten what their aura truly felt like.


    His mentor never released anything in his presence, but this god held nothing back. Kayden¡¯s mind instinctively thought of kneeling, unable to entertain any other thoughts. But that was all it was¡ªa thought. Kayden would never kneel before an aura.


    "I am a mortal, so I can," Kollen smiled, unconcerned that the other party was a god. "Besides, I am within all the rules of the multiverse."


    Unfortunately, the god had no way to refute this, other than by displaying his strength¡ªsomething that did not even faze the emperor in the slightest.


    "Hello, Kayden. I am a Forgotten God," the god simply accepted the situation and decided to interfere a little as well. "The reason he is so eager to recruit you is because of the clouds you summoned when you unleashed all your strength. Do you know what they are?"


    "I have no idea, Lord God," Kayden responded respectfully, hoping to gain some free knowledge. sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "They are the mark of the Challengers of the Heavens¡ªmages capable of surpassing the maximum strength permitted for a mortal in their realm. They are even rarer than mages with ten rays," the god¡¯s words resonated throughout the universe. "These mages are given the ability to literally undergo the Challenge of the Heavens when they wish to become a god."


    Kayden hadn¡¯t expected it to be something so special. He wanted to learn more about this Challenge of the Heavens, but the god stopped talking and didn¡¯t seem like he would continue. It was probably something far beyond the level of knowledge this universe was supposed to have access to.


    "I appreciate the offer and the invitation, Lord Kollen, but I would like to reach the limit of my strength in this universe first. After that, I may consider leaving," Kayden gave a respectful bow and returned the book.


    As much as it was a treasure of an absurdly higher level than anything he had ever seen, Kayden did not want to take on any responsibility or debt for his future¡ªespecially considering the kind of people he would be dealing with.


    "Keep the book, and we¡¯ll have this conversation again when you reach your peak. Consider it a gift," Kollen said. This time, Kayden, who was no fool, accepted the book. "Is this event not going to continue?"


    In the end, Matheus won the event without any difficulty. The Ice Emperor was not participating, which meant he had no real opponents. Even the mages with ten rays were weak before Matheus, especially considering that most of them had not yet fully developed.


    Kayden merely observed all the battles, hidden among the countless seats in the stands. He could have chosen to socialize, but it would not have made any significant contribution to his life. So, Kayden simply stood there, watching the mages fight around him. It was almost amusing to see how quickly he had been surpassed.


    "You are going to be hunted from this moment on," Hypnos appeared beside Kayden a few years later. "Dozens of universes will try to reach this place to recruit or kill you. Additionally, your increase in power will cause this universe to collide with others in an attempt to balance the overall power."


    Kayden stood in silence for a few minutes, processing the cat¡¯s words. He hadn¡¯t expected his actions to have such a large effect. But it seemed he had now reached an entirely different level.


    "How much time do I have? Are the gods coming?" Kayden once again found himself forced to consider hiding.


    "No god will set foot here until the next 100 billion years are over. But billions of mages at the level of a Tenth Realm mage will come looking for you. Fortunately, the universe will not allow any mage stronger than Matheus to enter this place. That means you don¡¯t have much to worry about for now."


    Kayden nodded and resumed his cultivation.


    Time continued to pass in an insane manner. Kayden¡¯s ability to convert time at a reduced rate improved with each passing year. This allowed his progress to increase continuously, his potential being refined to perfection.


    After only a few billion years, Kayden was finally ready to ascend to the next realm.


    The biggest problem was finding a safe place to do so. The moment Kayden appeared anywhere in the universe, he would be attacked by dozens of mages¡ªsome who envied his power and simply wanted to dethrone the king, others who would attack out of sheer fear of his potential, and an even larger group who would do so out of pure resentment.


    Matheus would kill Kayden at the first opportunity he got. There would be no sign of an attack, no words¡ªjust a direct strike, without warning or mercy. He had already realized Kayden¡¯s potential, just like all the other mages in this universe. Only a handful of people truly understood how monstrous Kayden had been and still was.


    After shrinking his aura completely and flawlessly hiding his soul, Kayden ventured into the universe. There was only one mage capable of guaranteeing his protection without any chance of being attacked.


    It didn¡¯t take long for Kayden to enter Kollen¡¯s domain¡ªand even less time for him to be found.

 Chapter 590: Challenger of the heavens[2]

    The Ice Emperor was truly on a completely different level from everyone else. Even with Kayden hiding his presence, he was found. How that was possible remained a cruel mystery he couldn¡¯t decipher.


    "Hello, Kayden. What brings you to my domain?" The Ice Emperor hadn¡¯t expected Kayden to appear so soon.


    "I need protection to reach the ninth realm. I can trade my services or offer a vow of faith." Kayden wasn¡¯t sure what he could possibly offer to a mage of such magnitude, but he was willing to try.


    "I want you to choose to visit my universe before any others, with no other conditions of affiliation." Kayden knew this was both an invitation and a trap, but unfortunately, he had no other option.


    "As long as you guarantee my safety at all times during this visit, we have a deal." Kayden wasn¡¯t foolish and added an additional condition without hesitation. The Ice Emperor accepted without the slightest reluctance.


    "Of course. When the time comes, we can make an oath before the heavens to ensure both sides are satisfied. When will you ascend to the next realm?" Kollen didn¡¯t try to pressure Kayden too much at this moment; he knew it wasn¡¯t the right time.


    "Now," Kayden replied immediately.


    "Then go ahead. No mage will touch you before or after your advancement while I am here." With the Ice Emperor¡¯s words, Kayden began his ascension process.


    This time, things were very different from usual. Instead of golden clouds and other typical phenomena, crimson clouds spread across the entire universe. There wasn¡¯t a single point in all of existence that wasn¡¯t covered by them. For the weak, it felt like the end of the universe; for the strong, it was a unique event.


    Once again, all the mages capable of reaching the location spent every treasure they had to arrive as quickly as possible. This time, it felt as though the heavens themselves were delaying, as if waiting for the correct audience for this grand spectacle. The gods who had come to play in this universe were all now awake and watching Kayden. To them, this was a unique event, but at the same time, something they had witnessed a few times before.


    In Yan¡¯s universe, the number of gods watching Kayden¡¯s feats had increased drastically compared to last time. Now, it wasn¡¯t just the mages of this universe watching¡ªgods from their realms were following the events of Kayden¡¯s life. The boy had practically become a living legend.


    "Kayden Heart," a voice emerged from the crimson clouds. There was no form, no discernible features, nothing that could be identified. This voice echoed inside the minds of every mage in the universe. "You are the first mage from your universe to be deemed worthy of challenging the heavens. Honor our expectations."


    As soon as the voice finished speaking, the universe... stopped. All laws and all living beings were frozen in time. Most could still think and perceive what was happening in Kayden¡¯s ascension event. Even first-realm mages could feel, from an absurd distance, what was taking place. But even Matheus became incapable of moving. The weight of the heavens was overwhelming. sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The crimson clouds parted, revealing the thrones that always appeared. This time, figures occupied all of them. Once again, no one could perceive these figures¡ªonly the sheer power of the thrones radiated throughout the universe.


    The pressure of the thrones was overwhelming. Not a single mage could feel at ease in the presence of these chairs. They all felt like ants. The most insane part was that they could only feel the presence of the thrones. Even the strongest gods watching this event felt like mere insects. They weren¡¯t even capable of sensing the presence of those seated upon the thrones.


    In one of the chairs, an immaterial, translucent golden figure appeared, completely devoid of any discernible traits. No gender, no race, not even an aura could be perceived. It was as if the being present was an existence impossible to comprehend through any logic. Paradoxically, the chair upon which it sat exuded a presence greater than its own¡ªsomething beyond the understanding of nearly all present.


    This was the figure that had always presided over these events. Alongside it, the other beings began to rise from their seats. In the end, all nine thrones had their figures standing and looking directly at Kayden. Regardless of how strong Kayden¡¯s mind was, at this moment, he felt the greatest pressure of his life. Even the massive golden eyes he had seen at the beginning of his journey paled in comparison.


    "A challenger of the heavens must honor the most insane expectations," one of the Nine spoke. There was no discernible feature to its voice, yet it was possible to tell they were different individuals. "Survive the nine lightning bolts, and you shall be the first graduate of this universe."


    The simple act of raising a finger from that being tore through space itself. Its body was stronger than the very fabric holding the universe together. It raised the finger above its head, and a lightning bolt descended¡ªone without color, without form. All that could be perceived was that it was lightning. A law in its living, pulsating state. No one knew, no one could even fathom what exactly that lightning was. Not a single god watching could understand it.


    The complexity of that lightning bolt surpassed even that of a high-level fundamental law. Kayden made that realization at that moment¡ªit was utterly insane. Not even the gods could comprehend how perfect a being had to be to unleash an attack of such caliber.


    Kayden felt the shackles of the universe release him. Ever since he had surpassed the limits of this universe, he had felt as if invisible chains restrained his movements every second of the day. This was like the first breath of a man who had been buried underground for decades.


    The simple act of raising a finger from that being tore through space itself. Its body was stronger than the very fabric holding the universe together. It raised the finger above its head, and a lightning bolt descended¡ªone without color, without form. All that could be perceived was that it was lightning. A law in its living, pulsating state. No one knew, no one could even fathom what exactly that lightning was. Not a single god watching could understand it.

 Chapter 591: Challenger of the heavens[3]

    The lightning descended upon Kayden without any hesitation or mercy, completely destroying space-time along its entire path¡ªnot even a single centimeter was spared. The shockwaves were capable of annihilating thousands of galaxies, the zone they occupied trembled, and the universe itself quaked under the presence of that lightning.


    Meanwhile, Kayden¡¯s sixth sense continued to grow endlessly. The universe had permanently removed his limiter, and he could feel that his very soul was no longer tethered to it. At this moment, Kayden had become an independent entity¡ªsomething he had spent so long trying to achieve, only to have it given to him freely by the heavens.


    In truth, he had been practically isolated from the universe at this moment. His sixth sense was expanding without any visible limit, and in the blink of an eye, Kayden reached a range of five trillion kilometers¡ªsurpassing any eighth-realm mage who had ever existed in this universe. But even that wasn¡¯t the most insane part; it was the sheer amount of mana he could now gather.


    Kayden could now perform the conversion using the fundamental law of equilibrium at a rate of 150,000 times. This meant that, in a single instant, he could accumulate 75% of the mana contained in a galaxy like the Milky Way. It was such an absurd amount of mana that Kayden became a colossal sun of pure energy, floating in the void.


    In a minuscule amount of time, Kayden had gathered more mana than what existed across dozens of galaxies. His entire domain was filled with mana, and all across it, monstrous entities were emerging. Dragons made purely of mana soared through the void, consuming everything in an infinite cycle of destruction and evolution.


    In the blink of an eye, beasts that previously could not surpass the fifth realm were now reaching the seventh and eighth with ease. However, they would ultimately perish at this level due to a lack of mana. Kayden found it insane that they couldn¡¯t reach the peak of this universe, even with the mana of dozens of galaxies at their disposal. But he dismissed the thought¡ªthis wasn¡¯t his priority at the moment.


    All the mana and creatures were swallowed by a lightning strike spanning tens of millions of kilometers. The mere presence of this strike clashed directly with the lightning that was descending upon Kayden. At this moment, space-time had already been entirely shattered. Kayden was facing the same lightning in an infinite number of timelines.


    "Why is its movement the same in all timelines?" A murmur spread among the gods who understood even a little about souls.


    "How long has it been since we¡¯ve seen an existence at this level of power?"


    "Remember who your patron is."


    This last voice silenced most of the doubts. None of them were foolish enough to anger Hypnos.


    The clash between the two lightning strikes was not merely a collision of powers but an event that transcended the very structure of the universe. At the moment of impact, a colorless fissure opened at the heart of the battle, absorbing all light and distorting space as if reality itself was being rewritten.


    Time froze, advanced, and regressed all at once. Invisible waves spread in all directions, obliterating countless galaxies without any explosion¡ªthey simply ceased to exist. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The gods watched in absolute silence, incapable of comprehending what they were witnessing, for no known logic or principle could explain it. At one moment, it seemed as if the heavens¡¯ lightning had crushed Kayden, leaving no trace of him. In the next instant, his lightning consumed everything, devouring the very concept of existence around him.


    The universe wavered between being and non-being, as though it teetered on the edge of collapse¡ªuntil finally, a final shockwave tore through all dimensions simultaneously, sealing the fate of this confrontation.


    Kayden emerged victorious... in every timeline. There was not a single moment across space-time where Kayden had lost. He had consolidated his strength in every possible confrontation offered by the heavens.


    This was utterly insane.


    At that moment, Kollen stood frozen, unable to express any reaction¡ªthis went far beyond even his wildest expectations.


    "Congratulations on overcoming the first lightning strike."


    Another figure placed a lightning bolt on his finger at that moment and greeted Kayden. It seemed this was far from being just a single test¡ªKayden was undergoing something entirely different.


    The second lightning strike descended like divine punishment upon the entire universe.


    This one was unlike any before¡ªit was a lightning bolt imbued with mental power.


    It caused not a single centimeter of damage to the universe. It did not divide the timeline. It was simply a slow-moving lightning bolt, yet, for a few seconds, it became the center of the entire universe.


    Millions of mages perished just from looking at it longer than they should have. Their heads simply exploded from within without any explanation. These were the madmen who had managed to gaze directly at the lightning. The rest weren¡¯t even capable of placing their eyes upon it¡ªtheir minds collapsed just from the presence of the lightning within the universe.


    Kayden immediately understood that this would be a battle of the mind.


    He didn¡¯t convert even a single centimeter of his sixth sense into mana¡ªit would be useless.


    This wouldn¡¯t be a battle of raw power.


    His mind calmed entirely.


    At this moment, he was in the most comfortable state possible for this confrontation.


    The lightning entered his mind and pierced directly into his head.


    Instantly, Kayden felt the pressure of an entire universe bearing down on him.


    It was as if all the gods and mages in this universe had fixed their eyes upon him.


    His back immediately bent under the weight, and he found himself falling to his knees in the middle of space.


    The pressure on his body was immense. But just as a steel bar does not bend, Kayden did not falter.


    Either his mind would break, or he would triumph¡ªthere was no middle ground.


    This was the mentality that a challenger of the heavens was required to have.


    Time passed slowly as Kayden lifted himself, centimeter by centimeter, each hour.


    It was an excruciatingly painful and prolonged process.


    It was the same as lifting an entire galaxy upon his shoulders.


    His entire body was sore and drenched in sweat.


    There wasn¡¯t a single centimeter of him that was not under this absurd pressure.

 Chapter 592: Challenger of the heavens[4]

    The pressure was so insane that the space around it curved without any spell or force acting upon it. Even the flow of time became strange for everyone observing. All of this was even more intense for Kayden, the target of the spell, but his mind was something far beyond insane. This was the easiest lightning strike he had faced in recent years.


    It took only a few days for Kayden to rise triumphantly without any difficulty. Of all the challenges he could face, this was one of the easiest. Though his body and strength were extremely well-trained, his mind was on a completely different level¡ªfar superior to all his other abilities.


    "Congratulations on the second lightning strike." Another completely different figure appeared, floating. It was strange how there was no aura or discernible characteristic in any of them, yet it was simple to understand that they were not the same person.


    It was almost a primal instinct screaming at Kayden, urging him to realize he was in the presence of a god¡ªnot a god in the sense of a mage who had reached divinity, but a true divine being. Someone with no limits in any universe. A being that transcended time and space.


    The figure raised a finger, and Kayden immediately understood how insane the difficulty would be at that moment. The lightning was released and...


    The universe seemed to shrink in his direction, trying to follow his existence. Kayden could feel that this lightning combined two degrees of difficulty¡ªhis mind was already sensing the weight of this attack from a distance. Additionally, it was also a physical attack.


    Kayden converted all the mana he could at an incredible speed. Unfortunately, it was not enough for him to launch attacks freely the way he wanted. His lightning formed at an insane speed and was released against the other. There was not even a second before the shockwave between the two attacks devastated thousands of galaxies around them. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    In the midst of all this, Kayden¡¯s mind was suffering the same effect as the second lightning strike. The third was the sum of the second and the first. The problem was that the second lightning placed an overwhelmingly heavy weight on Kayden¡¯s mind, making his abilities far weaker than usual.


    It became obvious to him that this would be a battle of endurance. His mind had to overcome the third lightning¡¯s mental force while accumulating enough mana to continue stopping the physical advancement of the attack. These were two monstrous tasks that had to be performed at the same time.


    Kayden absorbed mana like a madman. As the seconds passed and turned into minutes, he slowly surpassed the amount of mana that millions of galaxies should have. Little by little, the amount of mana he was using became something bizarre¡ªa level no mage in this universe had ever reached.


    Minutes turned into hours, then days, and in the blink of an eye, six months had passed since Kayden had been in this situation. The amount of mana he had used had already surpassed the value of an entire zone. All of this mana dissipated into the universe, increasing its overall quality. Kayden had practically done the same thing as Kollen, albeit in a slightly different way.


    For trillions of kilometers around Kayden, everything was destroyed. There was practically not even a single centimeter of matter capable of surviving. Space itself did not exist in this area. Time was in complete chaos, with millions of laws colliding in an attempt to establish dominance.


    Kayden should have been struggling, but in truth, this was the best training he could have ever wished for. He was being pushed to his absolute performance limit every single moment for six months. His mind was constantly on the verge of collapse. His body could no longer even feel the mana around him¡ªKayden was practically manipulating mana using only his soul.


    His mastery over his lightning and his path had taken an immense leap. It was practically as if Kayden had increased his strength by 30% in just six months. This was a percentage that should have taken billions of years to achieve, but it was accomplished in only half a year of fighting for his life.


    In the end, Kayden overcame the mental effects of the lightning and was able to operate at full capacity. His strength simply swallowed the opposing spell at that moment. There was no resistance¡ªhe won in a single move. Kayden overcame the third lightning strike after six long months. His power was now at a level that no longer matched his current realm.


    "Congratulations on overcoming the third lightning strike." Another figure appeared, and once again, it was another god¡ªand at the same time, it was nothing.


    "Good luck."


    There was nothing else as a fourth lightning strike emerged from absolute nothingness and rushed toward Kayden.


    This time, it was something entirely different. A challenger of the heavens was not merely supposed to be strong¡ªon the contrary, he had to be perfect. Strength, mind, principles¡ªeverything had to be in alignment, and this lightning would serve as that test.


    No one understood the weight of this challenge, as not a single mage was even able to see the lightning leaving the figure and entering Kayden¡¯s soul. Not even Kayden himself realized what had happened. When he blinked, he was already in another place.


    "Kayden, hurry up! Your father and I are already ready, and if you don¡¯t come quickly, you won¡¯t get any ice cream!" Lorena urged her son.


    Kayden was a six-year-old boy. He had no worries in life other than having fun and playing. He was small, with brown hair. Matching the color of his hair, his eyes were also brown. It could be said that he was a copy of his father¡ªthe only difference was his age.


    "Out, all three of you! And Heimer, I expected more from you."


    After saying that, he left as silently as he had arrived. An awkward silence fell between them.


    Heimer interrupted him:

 Chapter 593: Challenger of the heavens[5]

    "Let¡¯s get out. If he repeats that, he¡¯ll send the three of us flying. I saw that lunatic throw an old man from the fourth floor just for making too much noise while eating," he said with a strange expression.


    "THOMAS!" A scream echoed across the battlefield, causing most of the smaller fights to stop. Kayden looked at a tall, fat man carrying a large axe.


    "Do you really love me?" Lorena asked after a long time lying on the boy¡¯s chest.


    Kayden fell into the abyss without any fear. He knew this was an insane place, but the same fear people had of the abyss would be the fear they would have of the mage who survived it. There had never been such a case before, but there could always be a first.


    "You have the potential to become a god, boy," Merlin said to Kayden with a smile.


    "Triz, you were wrong, and now you must treat Kayden the same way as an honored guest until his stay on this planet ends."


    "Hunt me, Merlin. If I survive this, you will be dead." Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "A lich?" Kayden smiled.


    "A being no ordinary mortal should ever be able to face in their lifetime."


    "Even gods will die one day."


    "I am a nine-ray mage, the absolute peak of this universe."


    "You shouldn¡¯t believe in every mage you meet, Kayden." Those were the words he heard before stopping his captured soul.


    "I love you, Athena, with all the strength of my being."


    "I hope your soul can forgive my greed for power," Kayden said as he killed the only person who had truly loved him with all her heart.


    "I am Kayden Heart."


    "I am Kayden Heart."


    "I am Kayden Heart."


    "Congratulations on surpassing the fourth and fifth ray." Another figure appeared in the skies, confusing everyone at that moment. Only Kayden understood what had happened.


    Kayden relived his entire life in the blink of an eye, from the moment he was born to the last second of his life. Everything passed before him, and he was free to change things. Every little detail he wished could be altered. Any fool would know this was a test and wouldn¡¯t make a move, but that would be too simple for a test from the heavens.


    Kayden¡¯s subconscious was tested¡ªit was beyond his control. The fourth ray was reliving his entire life with his mind intact. The fifth ray was having the opportunity to change anything and still follow the same path. If Kayden even hinted at changing his actions, they would be altered.


    His mind was incapable of understanding the depth of the test because he was in an almost intoxicated state. Only his subconscious controlled his actions, and even so, Kayden chose to relive his life identically¡ªevery moment of pain and every moment of happiness. Everything was redone in the exact same way.


    When the test ended, Kayden felt his existence vibrate as if it had been disassembled and reassembled in a single instant. His body remained the same, but something inside him had transformed. A silent understanding took hold of his mind¡ªit wasn¡¯t just a test of strength or determination but of essence. The heavens weren¡¯t looking for just a powerful mage but for someone whose soul remained unchanged before the infinite. And Kayden, without realizing it, had proven himself worthy.


    The heavens wanted someone capable of following their path to the end, someone willing to walk it without ever deviating, someone who sought much more than strength or influence. They wanted someone capable of becoming a true challenger of the heavens, someone willing to become unique.


    This was the hardest test they could create for a mage, especially one as old as Kayden. Billions of years were relived and could be altered. Small decisions Kayden could make would change his life forever. Tiny regrets could be corrected. Yet, his mind remained calm and unwavering. His consciousness stayed entirely still as he observed all the decisions of his life.


    "The sixth ray is the last mental test. Good luck." After the being spoke those words, Kayden¡¯s mind had a slight breakdown upon seeing someone he never expected to be near again.


    "Athena," Kayden murmured, his mind collapsing completely. He knew this was not an imitation¡ªAthena was before him in a perfect form. Her soul was flawless. It was not an illusion. It was truly Athena. He did not doubt it.


    The heavens ascended to an even greater concept in Kayden¡¯s mind. They were capable of bringing the woman back from the dead, not only reconstructing her soul entirely but doing so without any difficulty. Kayden didn¡¯t even understand how this was possible. Even the surrounding gods felt like children before such power.


    Kayden thought this woman would no longer have any influence on his psyche, but the moment she appeared, he suffered a small breakdown. His soul cried out for him to go to her. His mind begged Kayden to surrender completely to the true love of his life.


    "Kayden, my love," Athena¡¯s voice was the same. Kayden¡¯s mind had not been able to forget it even after all these years. His soul resonated with just three words. His mind was in ecstasy with dozens of emotions that had not surfaced for billions of years.


    "Once again, we meet, my love," Kayden responded.


    "It feels like just yesterday that you killed me for power," Athena smiled, and Kayden¡¯s heart shattered into thousands of pieces.


    "In the end, I understood your last words," Kayden smiled. "And I understand them more with each passing day."


    True loneliness. As complete as Kayden was, he would never be as whole as he once was, and he knew it.


    "Hold me?" Athena began to cry, and Kayden couldn¡¯t resist. It was funny¡ªthis was supposed to be a test, but it was just another farewell to the worst moment of Kayden¡¯s life."


    As soon as Kayden touched Athena¡¯s body it was as if his soul had received a lightning bolt, he didn¡¯t even remember when he felt so good, the two didn¡¯t say anything for hours, everyone was watching this strange interaction between them.

 Chapter 594: Challenger of the heavens[6]

    As soon as Kayden touched Athena¡¯s body, it was as if his soul had been struck by lightning. He couldn¡¯t even remember the last time he had felt so good. The two of them remained silent for hours, while everyone watched their strange interaction.


    Time lost all meaning as Kayden felt his soul-shaking and crumbling. Of all the trials in his life, this was the hardest. His entire body trembled, his mind was overwhelmed with emotions that should have been long dead, and his sixth sense was thrown into absolute chaos.


    His control relied on an extremely trained mind, which was in total disarray at this moment. The laws struggled to survive within his domain, all of them distorted and broken terrifyingly. Kayden was not restraining his control; the law of balance was attempting to invade from all sides, as the basic laws were being obliterated in a dreadful way.


    "Was power worth the price of spending the rest of your..." Athena couldn¡¯t finish her sentence. Kayden shattered her soul into dozens of pieces with a perfectly timed attack. For the first time in billions of years, Kayden both smiled and cried.


    The entire universe was witnessing the most insane mage to ever exist sobbing like a child. These were not mere tears¡ªKayden was practically wailing as his sixth sense descended into chaos. Unable to hold himself up, he fell to his knees while reliving the greatest pain of his life.


    His mind, his body, his soul¡ªeverything was in shambles. Kayden had not remembered the pain that killing Athena had caused him, but now, in an instant, it all came rushing back. His pain was beyond comprehension. The fundamental law of balance tried to invade Kayden¡¯s domain but was fiercely repelled. Kayden annihilated any semblance of balance across trillions of kilometers¡ªthere were no base laws, no structure, nothing at all.


    The universe would not accept this in any way. The balance had to be maintained at all times, no matter who was responsible for this anomaly. Not even a god could escape the rules of equilibrium. If someone altered the natural laws, the universe would adapt and establish a new balance. But at this moment, there was nothing¡ªKayden was simply erasing existence itself and crushing the laws.


    BOOOOM! S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The sound of lightning striking Kayden¡¯s domain echoed from all directions. The universe was attacking Kayden¡¯s space with the laws of balance, yet it made no difference. Anything that entered his domain turned into mana. The universe was throwing everything it had at him, and the amount of mana emerging was unfathomable. Dozens of beings formed purely of mana began to emerge from all sides.


    "I am the monarch." Kayden looked at the soul of his beloved and began pulling it toward himself. This was the second time he had done this. It wasn¡¯t part of his plan, but the heavens had given him the opportunity to ascend to a new level.


    The pressure of denying a fundamental law was crushing every inch of his soul. Kayden was not strong enough to withstand this pressure in his current state. Many points of his soul were simply being destroyed; he was being killed from the inside out without being able to resist.


    Kayden used Athena¡¯s soul to strengthen his own, but not just for that. He was pushing his soul to an entirely new level. He was an entity now. Kayden had come to understand the meaning of eternity, the meaning of being unique. Athena¡¯s soul merged with his just as it had before, without the slightest resistance.


    The issue was that Kayden already possessed Athena¡¯s previous soul along with his own. This new one... was completely devoured by him. A being with three souls was being born. His soul expanded throughout his sixth sense, making it something beyond what the universe itself could control. His soul... had become a law alongside his path.


    A weak law was still a weak law, but Kayden and his soul had become a higher law, something beyond common understanding. Kayden¡¯s domain became a law in itself. His soul had escaped the universe for the first time in billions of years. Kayden was no longer bound to the universe¡ªhe had risen above it.


    His sixth sense had ascended beyond the laws of the universe. How could the law of balance manifest in a space that did not exist within the universe¡¯s rules? Previously, his domain had been an extension of his soul, but now it had become his soul in every sense. It was not an extension¡ªit was his soul, exactly as it was.


    The universe continued bombarding Kayden¡¯s domain as if it were a natural anomaly. This was something that should not exist. The universe desperately wanted those trillions of kilometers to return to its fabric. At this moment, it was as if a vast black void existed within the universe, where there was... nothing. It was as if that portion had simply ceased to exist.


    Kayden had finally achieved absolute dominion. The true essence of a monarch was manifesting in this moment¡ªthe final control, the control that not even a god had over a space. For trillions of kilometers, Kayden was the absolute god of this place. There was not a single millimeter beyond his grasp.


    All laws and all lightning that the universe hurled at him became mere mana to sustain his domain. In seconds, the small sparks of the law of balance turned into thousands, then millions. The power of each strike was enough to obliterate entire galaxies, yet it was nothing more than mana before Kayden. His soul was superior to this fraction of the law of balance.


    The force of the lightning began escalating at an absurd rate. The fractions of the law of balance started increasing exponentially. From just a few percent, it reached half the full power of the law. At this moment, Kayden¡¯s domain started to weaken. The edges of his sixth sense were returning to the universe¡¯s grasp.

 Chapter 595: Challenger of the heavens[7]

    When the law reached 70%, the universe began to tremble. For tens of trillions of kilometers, the force of the lightning destroyed everything. Thousands of galaxies were collapsing without even being able to breathe. Kayden¡¯s domain started a battle with the law. The strange thing was that Kayden used the mechanism of the law itself to generate mana and sustain his domain. He lost large extensions at the beginning, but soon recovered everything, and a strange stalemate appeared.


    "Where will this lead?" "What is he doing?"


    Mortals had no idea what was happening. Even the gods were incapable of understanding. In reality, the process of ascension had turned into a battle with a law unknown to most.


    The power of the law only grew and finally reached 90%. At that moment, everything changed. The thousands of lightning bolts stopped forming. Everything fell into an eerie silence, and then a single lightning bolt formed¡­


    This lightning occupied an insane 10% of the entire universe. Just 1% more of the law of balance generated an attack of this magnitude. Billions of galaxies were destroyed just by being within its range. The sheer size of this lightning terrified all the mages of the universe; it was something far beyond their wildest dreams.


    The lightning entered Kayden¡¯s domain and simply destroyed everything. There was not a single center that Kayden could maintain control over. But it was all right. This was exactly what Kayden expected to happen. He did not fight against this lightning and merely let it do its work. When the law of balance was restored, the mana from the lightning was released into the universe.


    Kayden absorbed it without even thinking. The amount¡­ was simply insane, far beyond the mere levels he had been converting. Kayden received the mana of thousands of galaxies instantly. The mana was so abundant that he could feel the mana beasts immediately growing to the fifth realm and then being undone by Kayden¡¯s overwhelming pressure.


    He could have let the beasts grow beyond that, but there was a world where he might create something far beyond his control and ruin everything he had been building up to that moment. And that wouldn¡¯t even be difficult to happen.


    "The next three lightning bolts are physical lightning. They must test the strength of a mage capable of defying the heavens. Good luck."


    A lightning bolt appeared in the sky and came toward Kayden. This was hundreds of times stronger than all the others combined.


    The impact of the lightning reverberated through the very fabric of space-time, causing distortions that spread like waves in a cosmic ocean. Entire galaxies were misaligned, while black holes reacted violently to the enormous energy released. Gravity was temporarily altered in several regions of the universe, resulting in anomalies that defied all known laws. Time itself seemed to hesitate for a moment as if the universe had felt the strike and was adjusting to its new reality.


    And¡­


    It disappeared, just like that. The lightning bolt coming at Kayden was completely devoured by something that the entire universe saw as the most insane attack ever conjured by an eighth-realm mage. A colossal lightning bolt, spanning trillions of kilometers, surged through space at high speed. The lightning was so strong and bright that it seemed like a black hole swallowing the entire universe around it.


    The attack annihilated the lightning bolt coming at Kayden as if it were absolutely nothing. The lightning from the heavens was devoured in a bizarre manner, just as a spell from five superior realms would engulf one from a lower realm. Not a single word was spoken throughout the universe as they watched the most insane mage of their lives destroy the attacks of the heavens.


    "Send the next one. I don¡¯t need rest."


    Kayden¡¯s voice echoed, and the heavens immediately answered his request. Then, the universe witnessed one of the most terrifying things of all time.


    Kayden¡¯s previous lightning bolt simply returned to his side without losing strength or even showing signs of having been in battle. The law of balance had been used perfectly. The very universe supported the existence of Kayden¡¯s spell. Again, the universe saw a repeat of the previous event. Kayden¡¯s attack completely destroyed the lightning, without even resistance.


    It was insane to see such powerful attacks from the heavens being obliterated by Kayden as if they were mere child¡¯s play. Not even the greatest in the universe were confident in defending against those attacks as perfectly as Kayden was.


    "Send the ninth."


    Kayden¡¯s voice was like a slap in the face of all the mages in the universe. His lightning once again returned to him like a loyal companion. This time, it was visibly weaker, but it only took a blink for Kayden to infuse mana into it again.


    The ninth lightning bolt went far beyond the others. It was a pure law in its primitive state. Time became something strange for tens of trillions of kilometers. Seconds and minutes lost their distinction. Space was completely destroyed. Not even the laws could place themselves in that environment. The fundamental law of balance was constantly trying to return things to a base state, but it was impossible. This was an attack of the purest energy. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The movement of the lightning was capable of destroying all the remaining galaxies in that zone. In just one ascension, an entire zone was shattered to pieces. There was not a single living being left. The vibrations in space generated thousands of folds, and infinite folds at that. This caused them to accumulate and propagate through an area that should not naturally exist.


    Kayden smiled upon seeing the ninth attack. This would be a battle, but¡­ not the battle of his life. The ninth lightning bolt and Kayden¡¯s attack clashed like two dragons of energy in outer space. The shock of the two attacks could easily kill demigods and weaker tenth-realm mages. Not only that, but all the laws turned into chaos for tens of trillions of kilometers.


    The clash between the two spells turned the entire area into chaos. But even so, it became clear to everyone who the true victor was. Kayden¡¯s lightning was consumed by 90% of its strength, but the lightning from the heavens was completely consumed. Not a single centimeter of it remained in reality.

 Chapter 596: Challenger of the heavens[8]

    "Congratulations, challenger Kayden." Kayden couldn¡¯t respond before his vision went black.


    Kayden woke up in a completely different world. He was in a vast plain of golden grass, with no living beings or structures in sight. His spiritual sense was completely sealed, unable to expand even a single centimeter beyond his body. In the past, Kayden wouldn¡¯t have understood why, but...


    Every centimeter of this world was a law¡ªnot just any law, but a fundamental law of the highest level. Every single blade of grass was a perfect law, with trillions of laws being formulated within each one for its existence. Kayden was only able to perceive this due to his eyes¡ªhe had never seen anything so complex before.


    A single blade of grass held more mana than his entire universe. This realization made Kayden understand how much he needed to leave his universe. He had no real opportunities for growth within it; there was simply no way for him to surpass his environment perfectly enough to go beyond.


    Logically, Kayden was already far beyond his environment, but he knew there was a limit to how far one could surpass the medium in which they existed. He just had to keep working hard. But what would happen when he reached the limit of the Tenth Realm with ten lightning tribulations? Where could he increase his strength? What paths could he take?


    The path beyond that would be completely unknown, and Kayden would have to gamble on his luck. He wasn¡¯t afraid of failure, but there was a real chance he could die at that imaginary peak, never managing to surpass his own universe.


    "Hello, boy." Kayden heard a voice in his head. He couldn¡¯t locate its source within this world, nor could he attribute any characteristics to it¡ªit was almost as if the being was dead.


    "Hello." Kayden wasn¡¯t quite sure what to say. He was still overwhelmed by the complexity of this world.


    "Beautiful, isn¡¯t it?" the voice echoed in Kayden¡¯s mind. "This is the perfect world of the Eternal Sage. Every tiny atom of it is a law of the highest level of existence. Its complexity surpasses half of reality itself." Kayden couldn¡¯t respond.


    This being was a mage far beyond just a few universes. For a single planet to be more complex than half of reality... that was utterly terrifying. Kayden couldn¡¯t even begin to comprehend how absurd this truly was. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "You have become a Challenger of the Heavens," Kayden remembered facing only nine lightning tribulations.


    "You are not worthy of the tenth lightning. Your universe has never had a Challenger of the Heavens, nor was it ever meant to. You are the greatest anomaly to have existed in the last trillions of years."


    Kayden still didn¡¯t fully grasp how special his new title was, but he focused instead on understanding the part about him being unworthy of the tenth lightning. His strength had reached an insane level. Kayden wasn¡¯t arrogant, but he knew there wasn¡¯t a single mage capable of doing what he had done. Not even Athena or Zeus had come remotely close, and yet he was deemed unworthy.


    "Each Challenger of the Heavens is a mage who has surpassed the natural limits of their universe¡ªlimits that exist to prevent any mage from becoming a dictator who destroys all laws and life within the universe in the future. This is precisely your case. However, since you became a Tenth Lightning Mage, you are now worthy of attempting to go beyond these limits."


    Kayden was beginning to understand where he stood at this moment. "The life of a Challenger of the Heavens is complex. You have only one objective."


    The more the voice spoke, the more Kayden was astonished. The information he received at that moment went far beyond his wildest dreams. It took a long time for reality to sink in. The magnitude of his task had become something monstrous.


    "Congratulations to the Challenger of the Heavens, Kayden Heart, the first of his universe." The voices of the heavens echoed in the minds of all mages across the universe. Kayden¡¯s aura transformed into that of a Ninth Realm Mage, and his power began to grow exponentially.


    His sixth sense continued to expand without pause. It reached a completely insane range of 100 trillion kilometers¡ªan unimaginable feat, especially considering all the conversions Kayden could make.


    Hypothetically, he shouldn¡¯t have experienced this growth, but the heavens had removed Kayden¡¯s true limiter¡ªthe one that placed him beneath the laws of the universe. At this moment, Kayden was an entity separate from the entire universe. He no longer carried the mark of a being from this universe. The implications of this were far deeper, and only through his conversation with that entity did Kayden come to understand.


    Kayden spread his arms and smiled. His effort would always be worth it. The potential would always be above strength, and nothing would change that in Kayden¡¯s mind¡ªespecially now that he had reached an unprecedented peak of power for a Ninth Realm Mage.


    "Matheus," Kayden called into the wind, and the response came immediately.


    "Kayden Heart, you¡¯ve finally appeared in this universe." Matheus had seen Kayden¡¯s performance. As impressive as it was, it was nowhere near the level he himself was capable of. After all, whether he liked it or not, he was on the same level as a god.


    "Atlas." Kayden did not respond and called another name.


    "Netero." Another name.


    "Jasmine." Kayden kept calling dozens of names of different mages¡ªsome who weren¡¯t even particularly strong. There were dozens of names.


    "I will consume this entire universe." Kayden smiled. "This is not a threat. This is a warning. Enjoy your last years of life."


    Matheus immediately tried to kill Kayden, but an Ice Emperor had been watching closely.


    "He is under my protection at this moment. Leave before I kill you all." Kollen released only a small fraction of his aura, and it was enough to make all the mages tremble in fear. Not even Matheus dared to move forward.

 Chapter 597: Aquiles

    Author¡¯s note: I¡¯ll put three more chapters in the next few hours to make up for the days I didn¡¯t post, I¡¯m going back to Curitiba and it¡¯s a bit busy.


    "Kollen won¡¯t protect you forever, Kayden. At some point, you¡¯ll have to leave your flowered garden."


    Matheus was the only one who had the courage to speak in this situation. The others feared being eliminated before they could even react.


    "Kollen will protect me for only a few days. After that, you¡¯re free to come after me."


    Kayden didn¡¯t respond to anyone as he disappeared through a series of teleportations.


    The event of Kayden¡¯s ascension caused an uproar throughout the universe. No one expected him to be this strong. Only two people weren¡¯t surprised by how things unfolded¡ªMatheus and Atlas. They had been with Kayden since his earliest days, and that boy had always been something insane.


    The great mages panicked over Kayden¡¯s threats. For the first time in a long while, the most powerful mages of the universe truly organized themselves, solely to hunt Kayden down as if he were a wild beast. Yet, even with 90% of the strongest beings in the universe united, none of them were able to find even a trace of Kayden.


    "We need to kill him as soon as possible. His growth rate is far beyond that of any mage among us," Atlas said in a meeting with Netero and dozens of other mages. Fear was capable of uniting any group of mages toward a common goal.


    The battle for the zones became meaningless after everyone understood the power of the Ice Emperor. No one had the slightest chance of completing this challenge with him in play. On top of that, there was still Matheus in the mix. The zones had practically become an unwinnable prize¡ªno one had the strength to surpass the two.


    This situation made the primary objective of all the mages shift to the future battle for the gods. No one fought over zones anymore; it was a total waste of time. Because of this, the universe entered its longest era of peace in recent years. The only major movement was the hunt for Kayden, which was turning into an utter failure.


    Unfortunately for the mages of this universe, Hypnos¡¯s technique was far beyond their understanding. Only sheer luck could lead them to run into Kayden, and the chances of that happening were so minuscule that they weren¡¯t even worth considering. The universe was simply too vast. And besides, unless they were among the strongest mages, Kayden would just kill them with no difficulty at all.


    Time passed slowly, and Kayden remained hidden, cultivating. Little by little, the mages started to let go of their search. The years turned into millions, then hundreds of millions. Over time, they grew more relaxed about Kayden¡¯s threat, as if the boy no longer existed.


    "I come in peace."


    Achilles raised both hands as soon as he stepped into Kayden¡¯s domain. For the first time in an unknown period, Kayden was having human contact again.


    "Achilles, you truly are a special mage, aren¡¯t you?" Kayden smiled as he teleported directly in front of the mage. The chances of someone stumbling upon him by accident were the same as a human picking a specific atom on Earth and getting it right. S§×ar?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I have a few abilities, Master Kayden," the man smiled. Kayden waited for him to continue. This man was truly above the elite mages of this universe and had already proven his strength and value in the past.


    "I want your help with something very specific."


    "Tell me what you want and what you¡¯re offering in return."


    Kayden wouldn¡¯t help any living being for free.


    "I want you to unify my soul with my soulmate¡¯s."


    Kayden raised an eyebrow. He hadn¡¯t expected something like that at all. And even less what Achilles said next:


    "I offer you a way out of this universe¡ªone that no god will be able to track. Not only that but also a position of respect in a high-level universe in the future."


    Kayden had to think for a few minutes about all the options. This was a massive deal, too big to be made lightly. Minutes turned into hours as he kept considering all the possibilities for the future.


    "No."


    Kayden refused after weighing all the possibilities.


    "It would take me too much time to study your soul and your soulmate¡¯s to be able to put you both in resonance. That¡¯s time I don¡¯t have."


    "I have a Time Chamber¡ªone billion years in just a few months. That should be enough to convince you, shouldn¡¯t it?"


    Kayden raised an eyebrow.


    "Who exactly are you? That treasure isn¡¯t something this universe should be capable of creating without the presence of gods."


    Some theories started forming in Kayden¡¯s mind.


    "I¡¯m just an ordinary mage, Master Kayden. The difference is that I can manipulate the threads of destiny. This universe has treasures scattered all over that defy comprehension. This is just one of them."


    Achilles didn¡¯t answer Kayden¡¯s question directly.


    "Swear before the heavens that you will guarantee my safety in the other universe and my freedom in every possible way. Also, swear that no gods will follow me afterward."


    Kayden wouldn¡¯t leave any loose ends. He added a few more conditions to the oath before he stopped talking.


    "I swear before the heavens¡­"


    Achilles took a few minutes to finish Kayden¡¯s oath. There were many details to ensure the boy had no problems in the future, making the vow excessively long.


    The heavens released a red lightning bolt that struck directly between them. Neither of them even blinked before their bodies were engulfed by the energy.


    They felt nothing. There was no damage to their bodies either.


    "Your oath to the Challenger of the Heavens, Kayden Heart, is now in effect. Failure to uphold it will result in the annulment of your reincarnation."


    A voice echoed in their minds. It had no discernible features, but its immense power was unmistakable.

 Chapter 598: Aquiles[2]

    "This is new to me," Achilles commented. Kayden agreed as well; he had never seen anything like this before, but it must have been one of the benefits of becoming something unique.


    "Bring your soulmate here; I am not leaving this place." Kayden resumed cultivating while the mage left. It took only a few days for him to return, carrying a woman of medium stature with yellow eyes. She had a tail and cat-like ears.


    "Are you sure about this?" Kayden asked upon seeing the unconscious woman. Achilles was visibly shaken; his eyes seemed to contain a hint of insanity, but deep down, there was a rationality that Kayden had not expected.


    "Yes, I need to do this." Achilles crushed a stone in his hands, and Kayden felt the flow of time slow down to an insane degree across dozens of thousands of kilometers. Achilles¡¯ soulmate was an eighth-realm mage with the excellent strength of a ninth-ray mage, but in front of Kayden, she was nothing extraordinary.


    "Lower your defenses. I¡¯m going to put both of you to sleep. When you wake up, everything should be in place." Kayden broke off a piece of their souls, which induced them into a comatose state for recovery.


    Kayden sighed and began his part of the agreement. He needed to study both souls meticulously. He had never performed this kind of process on other mages before, but fortunately, his talent and abilities were vastly superior to anything ever seen in this universe. Each passing day, he learned more about their souls.


    The agreement with Achilles was to wake him at the right moment so they could have a final farewell. Additionally, the mage¡¯s help was necessary to perfectly assimilate both souls. The most challenging part would not be done by Kayden but by Achilles.


    Time passed, and both remained unconscious. Kayden used this time in two ways. The first was to study their souls and fulfill his part of the agreement. The second was to study his own path. He was perfectly capable of doing both. His talent had increased significantly after assimilating Athena¡¯s soul once again.


    This raised new thoughts in his mind. Why did he experience such a massive power increase just from assimilating Athena¡¯s soul once more? How many times could he do this? So many unanswered questions lingered in Kayden¡¯s mind.


    Studying an unfamiliar soul from scratch was a challenge he had never undertaken before. It took him several million years just to understand the dynamics of the two souls. They were very similar to his own yet incredibly different at the same time. It was like comparing race cars to regular cars. Both were vehicles with four wheels that transported people from one place to another, yet they were vastly different in every aspect of functionality.


    "Perfect." Kayden smiled to himself after seven hundred million years. He had finally understood the two souls at their most fundamental level. It was nowhere near the knowledge he had of his own soul, but it was still an insane amount of understanding.


    "Achilles." Kayden restored the soul and woke the man. "It¡¯s ready." Kayden didn¡¯t need to explain how everything would work; Achilles would feel the modifications in his soul directly and only needed to accept them.


    "Thank you, Kayden. Give me some time alone with her, please." Kayden withdrew his aura and disappeared into space. Achilles and his beloved began their final conversation. It lasted thousands of years. This was the most insane decision Achilles had ever made in his life.


    It was amusing how Kayden finally understood the source of Achilles¡¯ motivation for taking such a crazy action. Achilles¡¯ soul had detached from reality for some unknown reason. Normally, soulmates were supposed to be identical, but Achilles¡¯ soul was about 10% different. That percentage allowed him to take this insane step.


    "I¡¯m ready, Kayden." Achilles¡¯ voice rang out, and at the same time, the woman fell unconscious again. Kayden wasted no time in beginning the process.


    Achilles never stopped crying for even a second. His tears fell in the thousands, unceasingly. There wasn¡¯t a single moment when he could stop, but he made no move to halt Kayden¡¯s actions. He watched in horror as the soul of his beloved was forcibly removed from her body.


    The pain in his mind was completely insane. Kayden didn¡¯t need to be a genius to see that Achilles wouldn¡¯t be able to endure this pain rationally. He began manipulating the young man¡¯s soul simultaneously, converting part of the pain into nothing. Kayden had overestimated Achilles¡¯ mental capacity.


    The process was supposed to take only a few hours, but because Kayden had to split his attention between keeping Achilles alive and maintaining his rationality, it lasted for days filled with agony. Without a doubt, it was the worst period of Achilles¡¯ life. He wanted to beg Kayden to stop at every moment, but he found himself incapable of speaking. He could only watch in horror as the love of his life died and her body became an empty shell.


    The emptiness creeping into his mind was utterly terrifying. Achilles had never felt so alone in his life. Despair was taking over every inch of his mind, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.


    "It¡¯s done." Kayden finished the process and released Achilles¡¯ soul to face the consequences on his own. The man simply crumbled. Achilles couldn¡¯t handle the pain of losing his soulmate.


    Kayden continued studying Achilles¡¯ soul and repairing its flaws over the next millions of years. Each day, Achilles lost a part of himself and constantly attempted to end his own existence, but Kayden never allowed it. He continued improving and fixing every problem within the man¡¯s soul.


    Every time Achilles lost himself further, Kayden would step in and patch his soul, ensuring that he remained whole. But it was a constant struggle. Achilles¡¯ very essence was trying to fade, unable to cope with the absence of his soulmate. His despair was endless, his suffering immeasurable. Kayden, despite his unfathomable abilities, could only delay the inevitable.


    Time lost its meaning. Decades, centuries, millions of years passed in the blink of an eye. Achilles was a shadow of his former self. Though Kayden had prevented his complete destruction, Achilles was not truly living. He was a fragment, a remnant of the man he once was.


    sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 599: Aquiles[3]

    "Congratulations on becoming a complete soul." Achilles took 250 million years with Kayden helping him every single day without a second of pause to stabilize his soul.


    "Solitude will accompany every second of your life, like a shadow in your mind at all times. Nothing will alleviate this burden. You will have to learn to deal with it, or you will end up killing yourself in a few years." Kayden¡¯s words were like a punch to Achilles¡¯ mind.


    Only the two of them could truly understand the real weight of Kayden¡¯s words. It was an experience that could not be put into words¡ªonly those who had gone through it could comprehend the true burden of having killed their own soulmate.


    "I want to be alone for a while, Master Kayden." Achilles could not respond properly to Kayden while processing everything he had done. Kayden respected him and simply vanished into the universe. Achilles would seek him out in his own time.


    Achilles¡¯ mind was in complete chaos as he finally had to deal with the weight of his actions alone. His soul was already perfectly balanced after so many years of being restored by Kayden. Now, his only problem was the rational part of his mind¡ªbut that was something Kayden could not help him with.


    Achilles was a unique mage across all timelines and universes. Manipulating time was not difficult, but manipulating fate was incredibly hard¡ªrarer even than mages capable of manipulating souls. In the entire universe where Kayden resided, Achilles was the only true fate manipulator. The rest were nothing but charlatans.


    The man had known from the beginning that this was the only path that would lead him to a level of greatness far beyond all other mages. He had seen countless timelines. He had seen himself becoming a god¡ªnot only that, but conquering entire universes. However, there was one undefined timeline.


    That specific timeline could elevate him to a level far superior to all others, yet it could also end in just a few years. Destinies without a clear path were the most dangerous of all, as they meant that beings existed who could influence the threads of fate¡ªeither due to their abnormal power or because they were fate manipulators. S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    In this particular universe, there were only a few beings in the first category and only Achilles in the second. He knew it was only a matter of time before he dominated this universe¡ªat least in all the timelines where certain specific mages perished. In the timeline he had chosen, however, that ending did not exist.


    Achilles¡¯ mind was a mess for thousands of years. He was merely trying to learn how to cope with the loss of his soulmate. Kayden had not felt something so intense due to his inexplicable mentality, but Achilles was special only in terms of strength¡ªhis mind was not an impenetrable wall.


    The weight of losing a soulmate was completely insane. Of all possible challenges in existence, it was the greatest. Even becoming a ten-ray mage was not something that could compare. But in the end, Achilles felt that it had been worth it. His talent... had simply reached a level he had never even dreamed of.


    He could now see the threads of fate with terrifying ease. At this moment, he could alter destiny with just a few movements. In the past, he had to sit down and think carefully about which path to take. Now, it was just a matter of seeing and doing. Not only that, but his strength had grown more than tenfold without any difficulty, and his spiritual sense had tripled in size without any effort on his part.


    Beyond all the power Achilles had gained, the most significant factor was his talent. Learning laws and concepts had become immensely easier. What used to take millions of years now took, at most, a few tens of thousands. It was an insane increase. Achilles was able to recognize flaws in his foundation within seconds and fix them as if they were nothing.


    "Kayden?" Achilles once again entered the boy¡¯s domain after a long time. For Kayden, nothing had changed. He simply continued cultivating.


    "Did you manage to stabilize your mind?" Kayden got straight to the point, but he didn¡¯t need to be particularly perceptive to see that the boy had succeeded. The universe would witness the birth of another monster in the coming years.


    "Yes, perfectly. Thank you for your help. I will repay my part after the Great Gods¡¯ Event. I believe that from this moment on, the universe will become useless to me." Kayden simply nodded. He was in no hurry to leave this place. Even though the environment limited him, he still had much to evolve.


    Time passed, and the universe continued to grow stronger at an accelerated rate. Most mages supported by the gods were skyrocketing in power at an absurd pace. Some ten-ray mages were born during this period of the universe¡¯s expansion. All of them were mages beyond the ordinary, much stronger than their predecessors.


    Knowledge became more accessible over time. Mages were able to experience greater growth during this era. It was ironic that the universe¡¯s average level had reached the Ninth Realm. Most mages had not realized how fundamentally wrong this was¡ªonly Kayden and a few other beings could understand what was happening.


    The gods were manipulating the laws to such an extent that the universe was exhausting its own lifespan to sustain a level of development that should not have been possible. The universe¡¯s foundation being at the peak of the Ninth Realm was not natural. The Law of Balance had been completely distorted throughout the universe. But Kayden could do nothing to stop it, nor even comprehend it, for it was not an ordinary law that was warping everything¡ªit was something he could not yet understand.


    As the middle level became the peak of the ninth realm there were no great battles of strength, in fact at that time talent was the main characteristic of strong magicians, the amount of lightning was the biggest factor for power struggles.

 Chapter 600: Time

    Author¡¯s note: I will release the bonus and other chapters tomorrow, for now I only had time for this one.


    Any mage was capable of reaching the peak of mortals without any difficulty. This caused an explosion of talents emerging from all sides. The competition became extremely fierce, and talent and potential were finally prioritized. It was no longer possible to suppress opponents simply through brute force.


    The chaos that befell the universe was far greater than anything that had ever happened before. At this moment, wars became a tangled web of mages wielding powers that should not have been so easily accessible. Mortals once again had to fight with numbers, as quality was rare to find. Mages capable of killing miracles at their own level were extremely rare and, in most cases, did not participate in battles of this magnitude.


    Kayden remained in the shadows, his strength growing with each passing day. While the mages outside relied on techniques and secrets handed down to them by the gods to progress, it was akin to using fake bricks to build a house faster. Even if a standing house was still a house, it was one on the verge of collapse, never capable of supporting a second floor.


    "The Absolute Peak." Atlas spread his arms to the universe and smiled as he became a demigod. His strength¡­ became something terrifying. The entire universe trembled at the birth of this mage. Even Kayden, in his secluded world, felt the pressure caused by Atlas¡¯s aura.


    Atlas¡¯s sixth sense grew at a speed that defied reality. The power he was demonstrating¡­ was not something a mortal mage should have. Yet, the heavens did not turn their gaze upon him. It seemed that even though Atlas had surpassed all limits across the universe, he was still unworthy of the same position as Kayden.


    Atlas¡¯s spiritual sense reached a margin never before seen in a mortal in the history of this universe. It spanned 200,000 light-years¡ªequivalent to a massive galaxy in length. That was millions of times greater than any other mage. Not even Matheus had something of that magnitude.


    Atlas¡¯s soul extended across this entire perimeter and simply devoured an entire universe, converting it into mana. But this was not a simple conversion like Kayden¡¯s¡ªit was something far beyond that. He was creating a hole the size of a galaxy in the fabric of the universe, and the universe desperately tried to mend it. Mana flowed into that point in immense waves. The mana of countless galaxies was thrown in an attempt to repair this hole, but there was simply no way to do so.


    "This power¡­" Kayden murmured to himself, and Hypnos appeared to answer him.


    "One of the gods is playing with the threads of fate, trying to create a monster." The cat stretched lazily in the air. "The techniques and resources Atlas received are the same as those given to a prince of a high-level universe."


    Kayden blinked. Who had seen such potential in Atlas?


    "At this rate, there¡¯s no way to defeat Atlas. He has become something far beyond what this universe is capable of producing."


    "Isn¡¯t that supposed to be forbidden?"


    Hypnos teleported them to witness Atlas¡¯s power. The mage was destroying billions of galaxies as if they were absolutely nothing. The laws of balance could no longer keep up with his strength.


    The universe had to expand to withstand Atlas¡¯s birth. While the mage destroyed billions of galaxies per second, billions more were born in other parts of the universe simultaneously. He was practically doubling the universe¡¯s quality within seconds. In just a few days, Atlas had destroyed a double-digit percentage of the universe¡ªsomething completely insane for a mortal.


    "The gods don¡¯t actually care about low-level universes. The power Atlas has developed is insane, but it¡¯s still unrefined. He still needs a few final touches before he truly reaches the perfect peak."


    Kayden remained silent. Was there still room for that mage to grow?


    "The universe will see more things like this now. The gods will ignore the unwritten rules from now on." S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Hypnos was right. The gods didn¡¯t care in the slightest about the laws of this universe or its health. From now on, they would grant techniques and treasures that even gods themselves should not have access to. All of this would accelerate the end of this universe.


    "Atlas¡¯s strength is equivalent to that of a low-level prince from a high-level universe. At best, he will reach mid-level with insane luck," Hypnos said as they watched Atlas. "Now, I¡¯ll give you two options."


    The cat turned to Kayden.


    "A technique to become a tenth-realm demigod in just a few thousand years, or I¡¯ll give you time."


    "I want time," Kayden replied without hesitation. This was a question he had already answered thousands of times, in different ways and at different moments in his life. Hypnos knew Kayden would choose this option, but he hadn¡¯t expected it to be so easy.


    "With your strength, you should be able to become a mid-level demigod of a great universe. Are you sure you want to gamble on your own path?"


    The cat attempted to provoke Kayden¡¯s thoughts, but the answer remained the same.


    "How much time will you give me?"


    Even hundreds of billions of years would, unfortunately, not be enough for Kayden to reach Atlas¡¯s level. In fact, it wouldn¡¯t even bring him close.


    "The soul technique I taught you¡ªI will multiply your time conversion by 100 to 1,000 times."


    That would be insane.


    "But the pressure your soul will endure will be far beyond anything you¡¯ve ever faced in your life. Not even the heavens¡¯ trial lightning will be as heavy."


    "I accept."


    Kayden didn¡¯t even blink before accepting. Immediately, he was thrown back to the place where he had been before, and¡­


    Ten billion years passed... without Kayden even being able to breathe, his mind was trapped in a completely insane pressure, he didn¡¯t bend and his mind wasn¡¯t even affected by this pressure, but the problem was that it didn¡¯t let Kayden cultivate normally, it took him an insane amount of time just to be able to start doing basic things within this time dilation.

 Chapter 601: Time[2]

    Ten billion years had passed¡­ without Kayden even being able to breathe. His mind was trapped under an insane amount of pressure. He neither bent nor allowed his mind to be affected by it, but the problem was that this pressure prevented Kayden from cultivating normally. It took him an unfathomable amount of time just to be able to start doing the basic things within this temporal dilation.


    While Kayden was experiencing the greatest temporal dilation this universe had ever seen, two major events were unfolding in the universe. The first was the council of the gods, gathered to discuss the treasures and techniques they were releasing into the universe.


    "Hypnos," the highest of the gods, the strongest, and the oldest among them, called out to the cat in an act of courage that few there had ever witnessed in their lifetimes. "Why did you grant a beyond-divine-grade technique to a mortal?"


    Most of the gods had not paid much attention to the universe outside of major events. When they laid their eyes on Kayden, they understood everything. That temporal dilation¡­ was not something even a god should be capable of achieving.


    "Haiter," Hypnos¡¯ voice came out in a calm tone. "Thoth being by your side does not give you the right to address me." The cat raised a single claw, and¡­


    An infinite number of universes were wiped from existence as the god before them had his body completely destroyed and his soul utterly overturned. He was left in a comatose state, unable to even react to the cat¡¯s attack. The other gods had never seen Hypnos in action before.


    Some gods had been present for an almost infinite time, but even so, it was only almost. None of them were older than Hypnos. By the time they arrived, legends were already being told. The cat was already ancient when the oldest among them was just a child. And at that moment, all the gods understood exactly who they were dealing with.


    Hypnos raised another finger, and¡­


    All the destroyed universes were restored to normal. All the souls that had been erased from existence returned to their original bodies. The god¡¯s soul was restored, and his body was reshaped. He was sweating coldly, as if he were just a mere mortal. He had been killed and brought back to life in a demonstration of power far beyond anything these gods could even fathom.


    "I hope we will have no more problems," Hypnos murmured without any emotion.


    "There will be none, God Hypnos," the god bowed in apology, swallowing whatever ego might have still existed in his mind.


    The second event occurred a few billion years later when Atlas finally reached the true absolute peak of strength. When he comprehended the fundamental law of the void and fused it with his soul, he became utterly unstoppable throughout the universe.


    "We finally meet in person, Emperor Kollen," Atlas stood before the only mage capable of facing him in the entire universe¡ªor at least, that should have been the case until Atlas reached the peak of this universe.


    "Atlas, the disciple who surpassed the master," the boy¡¯s reputation was insane. Kollen was not going to treat him like a nobody. "Congratulations, boy. The universe is officially your playground."


    Atlas smiled. The two of them understood what was happening.


    "If not for the shackles of the universe, the result might not have been so absolute," Atlas remarked, and Kollen nodded in agreement.


    "You are strong, boy, but nothing more than that. There is still something missing in you, and we both know it." Kollen¡¯s words were very similar to what Atlas had heard from Kayden. It felt like a slap to the face.


    "And who in this universe could possibly go beyond this? Kayden? He rejected all the gifts and techniques from the gods. Everyone in the council knows this." The only thing Kayden received from Hypnos was time¡ªnothing more was given to him. "I am the holder of the title of the strongest mage in this universe from now on."


    "Your fear of Kayden is visible. Even at this level of strength, your mind automatically turns to him." Atlas raised an eyebrow.


    "Yes," Atlas admitted, catching Kollen by surprise. "Of all the mages in this universe, Kayden is the greatest anomaly I have ever seen in my life. No matter how unbelievable it may seem¡­ he is always able to exceed our highest expectations."


    Kollen knew this because only he could truly understand the weight of a heaven-defying mage in this universe. It was something that shouldn¡¯t exist, something that should never have been born in a universe of such a low level.


    "Kayden will not be able to surpass the limits of this universe," Kollen stated these words because he truly believed them. But unfortunately for him, it was the greatest foolishness he could have uttered.


    "I have seen Kayden overcome everything. I have never seen him fail a single goal or objective," Atlas said, looking at the horizon, his blood beginning to boil at the thought of how uncertain the future would be. "But anyway, I will conquer the universe from now on. Out of respect for you and your organization, I will ignore all zones of your choosing." Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Long live the King of Kings!"


    An infinite number of mages were clapping and shouting for Atlas. All tenth-realm mages and demigods were watching the mage who had always been in the lower ranks of power being crowned the strongest mage ever seen in this universe.


    Many there could not believe it when Atlas began conquering zone after zone without pause or difficulty. Overnight, the balance of the universe became nothing more than a distant memory. At first, some top mages wanted to enter the battle and stop this from happening, but it wasn¡¯t long before they all realized that Atlas was a step above everyone else.


    Kollen followed the boy the entire time and did not interact with the other mages. When Netero arrived, he asked if Kollen was protecting Atlas, and Kollen only laughed, making it even clearer¡ªthis power had been earned by the mage alone.

 Chapter 602: Han

    The heavens opened in an impressive golden light that covered every inch of the entire universe. The pressure on all the mages was absolutely insane¡ª not even the strongest mage in this universe could move. At least, that was the case for almost everyone. Kayden appeared, floating in the universe, observing the event.


    "Kayden Heart, my first master, look at what your disciple has become," Atlas said with a smile on his face. "In the end, I surpassed my master and became the ruler of this entire universe."


    "Congratulations, Atlas. You have won as a mage and failed as my disciple. From this day forward, do not call me your master anymore. You abandoned all my teachings for power," Kayden did not waver, even in front of someone at this level of power. His words sent a shockwave throughout the entire universe.


    A mage capable of moving under the pressure of the heavens and still daring to argue with the strongest mage in the entire universe¡ªKayden truly lived up to his legend. He was not an ordinary mage, and he never would be.


    "I will let you live until the event of the gods. I hope you can maintain your arrogance until then," Atlas was no longer concerned with his revenge against Kayden. Over the years, it had practically lost much of its meaning for him. Only Matheus still clung to his hatred, fearing the possibility of Kayden killing his beloved.


    "Silence." A voice descended from the heavens, echoing in the minds of every being. This command was not directed at Kayden and Atlas, but rather at the thoughts of all the mages in the universe. Along with it, a golden crown began to descend.


    "The heavens name you Atlas Primum, the first King of Kings of this universe."


    A monumental lightning bolt struck Atlas, and the crown formed upon his head. Every mage in the universe felt compelled to kneel¡ªonly two remained standing.


    Kayden and Kollen kept their honor and did not kneel in any way. The pressure of the heavens was incapable of invading their minds. This was a clear sign to Atlas that his thoughts about Kayden were not wrong.


    A round of applause erupted as the universe resonated with an insane melody. At that moment, Atlas received one of the greatest treasures ever to exist in his mind. Of all the demigods, he was the only one capable of completely surpassing mortality. Atlas had become worthy of becoming a god.


    And just as quickly as it had begun, it was over. No mage was able to even sense the direction Atlas took before disappearing into the universe. Soon after, many mages snapped out of their stupor and vanished as well, each lost in their own thoughts.


    Time passed at high speed. While billions of years went by for all the mages in the universe¡­ Kayden was facing hundreds of billions of years. By this point, he had spent more time trapped within his soul than in actual reality. His lifespan had reached an utterly insane level.


    At first, Kayden was pursuing the law of balance and his own path. Besides that, he was maximizing his ninth realm in order to ascend to the tenth and then become a demigod. That would grant him the insane strength of a true heaven-defying mage.


    But along the way, Kayden stopped everything he was doing and underwent a unique reflection.


    "Atlas followed this path¡­ I would just be another mage like him."


    This simple realization caused his mind to halt in the middle of all his training. For the next millions of years, Kayden¡¯s mind simply played with all the possibilities. What exactly could he do?


    This question took root in his head. Kayden was at an unparalleled peak of strength within the ninth realm¡ªno other mage in this universe had ever come close. But he needed to keep pushing further, time and time again.


    The truth was, if Kayden followed the conventional path, he would likely be able to face Atlas without much difficulty. But that would be it. Kayden would be stuck within the power of this universe, just another strong mage who existed throughout countless eras. He would be just another name, insignificant beyond this place. He would have strength but no potential.


    Kayden spent hundreds of millions of years just thinking, doing absolutely nothing else. His entire focus was on defining what he would do next. It was an attitude that many would not have had the patience for, but Kayden had grown up with a guiding principle shaping much of his life:


    "If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I would spend six sharpening my axe."


    This summed up his mindset. Kayden wanted to go beyond. He wanted far more than just being a strong mage¡ªhe wanted to turn this universe upside down, and he would chase that with everything he had.


    "You know the path you¡¯ve chosen has a ridiculously low chance of working, don¡¯t you?" Hypnos appeared next to Kayden at a random moment and simply dropped that statement.


    "Yes." Kayden had little else to say besides agreeing.


    "Congratulations on wasting the opportunity of a lifetime," Hypnos said angrily. The god truly hated Kayden¡¯s decision, but at that moment, all he could do was wait and see how far this path would take him.


    "I was not born to be just another," Kayden stopped responding after that and focused entirely on his own progress. The universe would not hear a single word about him for the next billions of years.


    In a less-traveled part of the universe, a mage that no one really remembered¡ªwho had never even participated in universal affairs¡ªbegan a process that immediately caught the attention of all the powerful mages in the universe. Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    At least, most of them¡ªexcept for Kayden.


    The amount of divine mana surging toward this mage was insane. He was at the peak of the ninth realm but with only seven lightning marks. There was nothing particularly remarkable about his strength. At best, he was just a common mage who, with a lot of luck, might be able to claim ownership of a single planet.

 Chapter 603: Han[2]

    Before any mage arrived, two beings stood in that place abandoned by the gods. Han and Achilles stood side by side, watching as the culmination of their years of work was completed. Both were gaining something insane from this situation¡ªor at least, that was what they hoped.


    Author¡¯s note: I¡¯ll try to get 2 chapters tomorrow and two more the next day because of the delays


    The skies closed with colorless clouds¡ªclouds made of pure laws. There was not the slightest trace of physics or anything related within them; they were simply laws in their primordial state. 99% of mages could not even sense anything from them¡ªonly those at the peak of this universe could understand.


    Just as the process to become a higher-realm mage, the process to become a god began. The lightning bolts started to descend, each one a pure and perfect law. They did not waver, not even a single centimeter in the lines of time and space; they were simply flawless laws being hurled at a mage.


    For most mages, it was something insane and impressive¡ªthey were literally witnessing the birth of the first god in this universe in a very long time. But for those with a little more experience, they knew how pathetic this moment truly was.


    The lightning bolts were absurdly powerful to an insane degree, but that was simply because they were divine laws in their purest state. The mage did not need to put in much effort to complete the event with all seven bolts. And once it was over, the universe declared him a god.


    The heavens cast a golden lightning bolt upon him, consuming his entire existence for a few seconds, stripping him of all mortality. His law was bound to his soul, and his soul, in turn, was eternalized in such a way that it could never be placed back into the cycle of reincarnation.


    As flawed as his ascension may have been¡­


    A god was still a god.


    His spiritual sense expanded across dozens of galaxies within mere seconds. His mind ascended to a level that no mage should be able to reach naturally. He became capable of performing calculations and making predictions that even Netero, with all his knowledge, was incapable of.


    But that was not all.


    The space around him seemed to distort in reverence, and every particle of matter subtly bent to his presence. His body was no longer just a physical vessel but a living concept¡ªa manifestation of his own law. Where he stepped, reality molded itself to his will.


    He had become immortal¡ªbut not in a trivial sense. His existence was not just eternal; it was unbreakable. If his body were destroyed, he would be reborn from the very flow of time. If his soul were shattered, the fragments would reunite by sheer cosmic necessity.


    His voice was no longer mere sound. When he spoke, his words imprinted themselves onto reality as absolute commands, capable of altering the fate of planets and entire civilizations with a single sentence.


    Those who dared to look at him directly would feel the overwhelming weight of his divinity. The weak would have their minds consumed by madness. The strong would involuntarily bow, crushed by the undeniable certainty that they stood before something far beyond human comprehension.


    And, above all else, the universe itself now recognized him as a fundamental entity¡ªa piece that could never again be removed from the grand board of existence.


    He was no longer just a mage.


    He was a primordial force.


    That was the weight of a god in the grand scheme of things. Achilles had gained much from all this. He and Han had raised this mage from nothing to the point of godhood¡ªall for the power they would gain.


    Achilles had already taken his full benefit. This event had opened doors and answered questions about fate that he could never have uncovered alone. It seemed foolish, but in just a few minutes, his power had practically doubled as he gained deeper understanding of the laws of destiny.


    "Thank you for everything, masters. Now, I fulfill the promise of my life."


    The god bowed and let his soul drift freely into the universe. Han did not hesitate for even a second¡ªhe devoured it immediately. After that, he and Achilles disappeared before anyone could even notice.


    In a distant corner of the universe, the two reappeared¡ªso far away that even tens of thousands of galaxies would not be enough to measure the distance. Han was completely focused on his own mind, undertaking the most difficult task of his entire life.


    To convert a god¡¯s soul into his perfect creation.


    It had taken billions of years of training and planning to accomplish something like this. Obviously, he had not achieved it alone. Everything was due to Achilles¡¯ plans¡ªevery detail meticulously arranged by the young man.


    Han had received support from Hypnos and quickly learned about souls. His knowledge had expanded at an accelerated rate over billions of years. At this moment, he possessed three primary souls, two of which were merely supports for the main one. Each of them was equivalent to a tenth-realm mage who had ascended to demigodhood. This made Han one of the greatest hidden forces in the entire universe.


    Each of his souls had been refined to the extreme. And now, he was attempting one of the most insane feats possible. Han was merging all three of his souls with the god¡¯s soul. sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    This would be the masterpiece of his entire life.


    The process was carried out slowly. Hypnos watched intently, along with other gods.


    It took several decades, but¡­ Han succeeded.


    He had done the impossible¡ªhe had caused the birth of the first divine soul in the entire universe.


    A three-meter-tall mage wielding a spear appeared before him. The figure was made entirely of dark mana, streaked with shades of deep blue. His eyes resembled screaming souls, trapped in eternal despair.


    "I greet the Master of Souls," the entity spoke.


    Han had created a being with intelligence.


    At that moment, it was as if he had drawn a line between before and after in the history of the universe.

 Chapter 604: Jasmim

    "I name you Uno, the first and only."


    Han did not even blink as he felt the power of this soul, his mind entering a frenzy upon realizing he had truly reached a new level.


    The soul before him possessed a spiritual sense spanning half a galaxy¡ªsurpassing any mage in this universe at this moment, except for Atlas. The rest would not even be able to blink before its presence. A mere attack from Uno could obliterate dozens of galaxies without explanation.


    The title of the second strongest in the universe fell upon him instantly, and there was absolutely nothing other mages could do about it.


    Atlas appeared after sensing the immense disturbance, simply greeting Han and congratulating him on his achievement.


    Slowly, the circle of top-tier mages was solidifying. Some new names, like Han, emerged along the way. But little by little, everyone began to understand how the final battle would unfold¡ªand who the individuals of real significance would be. Many mages stopped participating in the false battle orchestrated by the gods over the years¡ªsome, like Kayden, because they were too busy training; others because they were hiding their strength.


    Time continued to pass, and the birth of dozens of prodigies was witnessed during this period. Countless mages reached the peak of the universe, ascending to the tenth realm and becoming demigods. It was incredibly strange how what was once the pinnacle of power had now become commonplace.


    Tenth-realm mages could be found everywhere in the universe. They were no longer special or even feared. Only demigods remained limited in number, as the methods of ascension were different, and not all were capable of reaching a semi-divine state.


    Some mages grew in power during this time, while others vanished into the rivers of time. Great names arose, and great names faded away. Groups and entities were buried by the neglect of time. Simply put¡ªtoo much time had passed.


    "This path¡­ it has never been documented in this universe. How are you pursuing it?"


    Hypnos appeared beside Kayden after a long time.


    "I saw Kollen use it."


    Hypnos remained silent. What Kayden was doing was far beyond what Kollen had done¡ªit was simply an entire world of difference. But Hypnos chose to remain quiet for the moment.


    Jasmim Heart was floating in the depths of space, far from all the mages of the universe.


    Her life over the last few billion years had gone from bad to worse. She was the first mage to ascend to a tenth-realm demigod¡ªbut she was also surpassed by time. Simply left behind by the powerful once dozens of beings like her began to appear.


    The woman was talented. Like it or not, she was the first to become one of the most insane beings in the universe. But that was all. She was unable to go beyond that. She could not ascend past that imaginary peak. Her strength and potential had withered, lost to the false summit she had reached.


    For billions of years, she searched for a path¡ªan alternative to it all.


    Jasmim could have become a god if she pursued it with obsessive determination for the next hundred billion years. It would have been extremely difficult, but it was the easiest option.


    That was what she would have done¡ªbefore taking a few lessons from Kayden.


    Mediocrity would only lead to a false peak.


    That was what Jasmim had learned after so much time with Kayden. It was exactly what she had experienced her entire life.


    This time, she chose something different.


    "Space is the beginning and the end, the purpose and the pursuit."


    Jasmim began the process of ascension to demigodhood once again.


    This was not something that could or should be done¡ªespecially without Netero¡¯s protection technique.


    The ripples of the event drew the attention of many mages across the universe, but none moved toward the location to see who was undergoing the transformation. After all, this was neither a rare nor a unique event. It was just another demigod in the universe.


    The skies closed in the same way they always did. Everything unfolded just as it had before. Practically everything was identical.


    In the end¡­ Jasmim died.


    Her body was completely destroyed¡ªbut not before she altered the space around her in a strange and unique way, causing her soul to become trapped in a dimension filled with the purest laws of space.


    For millions of years, nothing happened.But after a long period, everything changed when she began to be reborn in a strange way.Her soul was different now.It was no longer that of a demigod.Nor was it that of a mortal.


    It was something that Kayden would recognize immediately if he were here.It was a Licht¡ªa true undead, something that had not appeared at high levels for an incalculable number of years.


    But that was not the most terrifying part.It was the way her soul had been born.It was a soul with a law inside it.And it was not just that¡ªa law with a soul inside it.


    Through all of this¡­ Jasmim had fallen to the eighth realm.


    Yet she had retained the same strength she had as a tenth-realm mage, despite being two tiers lower.The universe held many mysteries.How had she managed to do this?That was one of them.


    Not even Jasmim herself could explain where these thoughts had come from or how they had led her to this situation.But Jasmim did not care.She had a few more years to reach her true peak.This time, she could not afford to fail.Her goal was as clear as the light of the sun.


    The Ten Bolts.


    ***********


    Kenian Hima was another mage who had risen at an insane rate.


    It had not taken him long to reach the tenth realm, and he was currently undergoing the transformation into a demigod. S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    As always, Netero was there, along with other mages, to conduct the ritual.


    The divine mana began to enter Keninan¡¯s soul and fill it with dots of divine mana, it was something strange to observe and still generated many mysteries in the magicians capable of observing this phenomenon.

 Chapter 605: Kenian

    The transformation began gradually, but it soon became an impossible spectacle to ignore. The divine mana around him started pulsing like a heartbeat, compressing and expanding in cycles that resonated with the very fabric of the universe. Small sparks of golden light began to emerge from his skin, growing in intensity until his form seemed to be wrapped in a celestial aura. The space around him, already distorted, seemed to yield further to his presence, creating a vortex that drew in the pure essence of the cosmos. Each pulse shaped not only his aura but also his soul, which now began to exhibit traces of something beyond mortality. The absolute silence of that moment was the only witness to the fact that he was crossing the line between mage and divinity.


    Just as with Jasmim, Netero pulled a statue from his pocket, capable of generating a colossal rune. This rune expanded across 100 billion kilometers, completely blocking any view of the skies over that place. A few minutes later, Kenian completed the process, with about 80% of his soul in divine form¡ª10% more than Jasmim had achieved.


    It seemed like a small number in the grand scheme of things, but when dealing with divine factors, even a minor increase of ten percent could multiply the power gap tenfold between a regular advancement and that of a tenth-realm mage. The Bolts were also a defining factor in the final threshold of power these mages could reach.


    "Congratulations, Kenian, but it wasn¡¯t enough."


    Atlas was floating near them as the process concluded, and he disappeared the moment he saw that his opponent would not be able to catch up to him.


    Kenian¡¯s spiritual sense expanded to an absolutely insane degree. The young man could now perceive at least half a galaxy¡ªan incredible feat, yet still nowhere near Atlas. Both were ten-bolt mages, but only one of them was a monarch blessed with the highest-level techniques of the gods. S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The mage unleashed all his power, and a sun the size of a galaxy appeared.


    The colossal star burned with a blinding light, its energy sweeping through space, dissolving all surrounding darkness. Its core pulsed with intense fusion, launching solar storms that spread across millions of light-years. The heat emanating from it melted entire planets, reducing them to dust before they had any chance to resist. The gravity was so extreme that it bent space-time itself, creating gravitational vortices that devoured matter. Each explosion of energy echoed like a cosmic thunder, shaking the very structure of the universe.


    Its impact altered the orbits of countless star systems, forever reshaping the configuration of the cosmos. The intense brilliance reflected off distant nebulae, turning them into cosmic flames. Shockwaves rippled through space, distorting reality and revealing echoes of past and future times. Even from a distance, powerful mages felt its overwhelming presence¡ªa force that transcended any known concept.


    Kenian had automatically entered the absolute peak of the universe in terms of power.


    But he did not remain at the top.


    Unfortunately for him, there was still a long road ahead before he could even be considered an opponent for Atlas.


    "Advancing to the tenth realm and reaching the demigod stage are nothing but useless stopgaps."


    Kayden made this revelation to himself after studying for what felt like an eternity. After so much time, it had finally become clear to him.


    There was only one true path to power¡ªlaws combined with originality.


    Becoming a tenth-realm mage or a demigod was just a meaningless way of filling power gaps.


    All of this was based on two fundamental truths.


    There were only nine thrones in the heavens. And all the high-level techniques Kayden had studied spoke of only nine stages. There was no logical reason for a tenth realm to exist, nor a demigod level. These were mere placeholders.


    But the great question remained¡ªhow could Kayden reach a higher stage of power without relying on these two promotions?


    A long time ago, his soulmate had explained to him how pseudo-ten-bolt mages functioned and how she had managed to simulate a tenth bolt to become a goddess. During that explanation, Kayden had grasped something truly impactful.


    Zeus possessed the strength of a ninth-realm mage while being only at the apprentice level.


    This was solely because he had perfect mastery over lightning laws from birth.


    That alone had placed him on the same level as mages who had spent tens of billions of years training¡ªright from the moment he was born.


    The final answer was clear.


    The laws.


    The laws were the key.


    Realms did not truly matter in the grand scheme of things.


    Kayden¡¯s greatest advancements had always occurred when he deepened his understanding of the laws. In the end, it was simply a matter of mastering the rules that dictated existence itself.


    The problem was that Kayden did not know exactly where to progress from here.His path was already a fundamental law, merging the laws of balance and space within him. His transformations were entirely dictated by his own path at this point.


    Throughout all these years that Kayden had spent here...


    He had reached 75% understanding of the Law of Balance¡ªAnd then he had simply stagnated.He was incapable of grasping even an additional 0.1% of the law.Kayden understood that he had hit a wall¡ªone he would not be able to surpass in his current state.


    It was simply an entirely different world.He would need to venture out into the universe to seek this knowledge¡ªand that was not the best option.Mastering the Law of Balance would mean nothing more than following a path already taken.


    This was yet another realization that had come to him after so much time in deep thought.He had spent so much time witnessing progress in his power that he had completely forgotten about this crucial factor.


    The originality he had once valued so deeply had been lost somewhere along the way.His pursuit of power had become reckless.Even though Kayden had created countless different paths that had never been used before, there was a small problem¡ª

 Chapter 606: Thoth, the master of the paths

    The paths were different from everyone else¡¯s, earning him the title of Challenger of the Heavens. But in the end, the outcome was the same as all the others. Ultimately, the best he could do was place the law in his path and have the Law of Balance within his domain.


    Author¡¯s note: I know the frequency isn¡¯t very high and I owe a chapter, but I¡¯m on a business trip, I¡¯ll try to upload more on Monday, I promise.


    Thinking this way might make it seem weak or even ordinary, but in reality, it was the opposite. Kayden would be placed directly at the highest level, even among superior universes. However, it was the same path others had already taken, leading only to the same places without any major gains for him.


    Kayden had the potential to become a high-level god, according to Hypnos¡ªhis life was practically set. But... a conversation with Thoth changed his mind once again.


    "What do you think about the path I¡¯m taking?" Kayden asked during one of Thoth¡¯s rare visits. The mage could enter his soul spell without any difficulty and without suffering its effects. The first time, it had put Kayden on high alert until he realized it was Thoth.


    "It is one of the most complex I have seen in my entire existence." Kayden took that as a sincere compliment. In the past, he hadn¡¯t fully grasped the scale of power that Thoth represented, but after becoming a ten-ray mage, everything changed.


    Thoth¡¯s name appeared dozens of times along that path¡ªit was something completely terrifying. Reaching the title of a tenth-ray mage was already insane, but doing so dozens of times? That couldn¡¯t even be put into words.


    Thoth had followed dozens of perfect paths, elevating them to an insane level of mastery. And yet, he still sought a power beyond that¡ªsomething Kayden couldn¡¯t even begin to understand. In the end, Thoth was not a god with the title of strength. He was the god of paths.


    "How far can I go with it? What level of strength can I achieve with this?" In the end, everything boiled down to potential. That was all that mattered.


    "The highest level of a god should be possible to reach. The chances of you raising the Law of Balance to the next stage are practically zero, considering all the future factors of your life. But... with your perfect soul and mentality, there is a real chance you could reach that level." Thoth began discussing the infinite possibilities at a speed that made Kayden dizzy.


    "Wait." In the end, Kayden couldn¡¯t take it. He had just heard at least ten thousand ways he would die in a few years and ten thousand ways he would die in a few thousand. He couldn¡¯t even process that many possibilities. "Would I be able to match the heavens?" Kayden asked, cutting through Thoth¡¯s expression.


    Kayden had no real idea how strong the heavens actually were. Were there gods capable of reaching their level? He didn¡¯t know, and he had no idea how to find out. But he had never heard of any being capable of challenging the heavens.


    In his universe, he had received that title. But Thoth was saying that he could reach the highest level of a god. So, were the highest-level gods beings capable of matching the heavens? There was also the possibility that the heavens were simply an organization of gods controlling some universes, and Kayden¡¯s limited knowledge made them seem far greater than they actually were.


    "No," Thoth answered without much thought. "The heavens and high-level gods are on two entirely different levels. It¡¯s like comparing a grain of rice to the infinite universe." Thoth paused to think. "Actually, even that is not a proper comparison."


    At that moment, Kayden caught a small glimpse of just how vast the heavens really were, and even then, it was too much for his mind. He had no idea how powerful a high-level god truly was. Could one be as strong as Yan? Kayden doubted it.


    The god of false gods was strong and an insane genius. He had been able to reverse the timeline in a mind-blowing display of power. But even so, he was not a ten-ray mage, nor was he a god capable of traversing universes as if it were nothing.


    "How does Yan compare to these gods?" Thoth answered without hesitation.


    "He represents 10% of the size of a universe, and the other 90% would be the high-level gods. He wouldn¡¯t even be able to move an eyebrow before being killed." Kayden had already expected something like that.


    "Why did I receive the title of Challenger of the Heavens if I¡¯m not truly capable of challenging them with my path?" Kayden asked, a deep frown on his face.


    "You have potential," Thoth began to explain. "As a tenth-realm mage who has surpassed the limits of your universe, that means you would be capable of surpassing the limits of a high-level universe if placed in the right environment." sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I see." Kayden didn¡¯t need Thoth to elaborate much more.


    In the end, his mind had been correct. Everything boiled down to potential. The path he had chosen was immensely strong, with insane potential. But Kayden also had the potential to become something even greater. He had the potential to go far beyond. And the heavens had sent him this message. In the end, it was about not settling for less.


    "Any advice?" Kayden was lost for the first time in a long while.


    "Your path is the answer. It is the foundation. The remaining laws are just additional things. But¡­ the mana lifeforms¡ªstudy them." Kayden was surprised.


    At that moment, there were two possibilities. Thoth was deceiving Kayden to achieve a greater goal for himself¡ªthat had happened before. But Kayden doubted that was the case this time. Kayden was the greatest potential of this universe, and there was no doubt about it. All his feats proved it.


    And the second possibility?


    Thoth was truly telling Kayden the truth.


    "Thank you, I still have a lot of time, but at the same time it¡¯s nothing." Kayden had already completely lost track of time, he could have spent a few million years in this place or a few tens of billions.

 Chapter 607: Shadow

    "Thank you, I still have a lot of time, but at the same time, it¡¯s nothing." Kayden had completely lost track of time. He could have spent a few million years in this place or several tens of billions.


    "What are the requests?" They were reaching the final phase. Only a few dozen billion years remained, and most of the journey had already been traversed at this point. Thoth was receiving the gods.


    As soon as he spoke, dozens of requests came forth, ranging from small things like taking an apprentice out of this universe to giving even more insane techniques to members of this universe. Thoth listened to them all before beginning to respond.


    "Accepted, accepted, accepted, denied, accepted, accepted, denied, denied, denied, denied, denied." Each god knew when he was being spoken to due to a small nudge of mana they received from Thoth.


    "Special requests?" Kayden looked at the gods who were truly significant here, those with greater potential than just playing patron in random universes.


    "I want to take Atlas to my private universe so he can learn to better control his strength." Thoth did not even need to think about the response.


    "Denied."


    "I want more time for my disciple to prepare." Thoth also did not need much thought.


    "Denied."


    "I want to grant a grade-1 technique." Again, Thoth denied it. This pattern repeated for the next dozens of requests. He was unlikely to grant such great advantages to these people.


    "I will grant a soul protection to a mortal." Hypnos¡¯ voice silenced everyone. He did not make a request; he offered the privilege for the other gods to understand what he was going to do. None of them were foolish enough to open their mouths.


    "All other requests will be accepted. Those denied have been notified and have up to five minutes to make another request." Thoth was forced to give in. He did not want to do this, but he knew what Hypnos¡¯ words meant.


    The techniques and treasures he granted to the other mages would create insane mages, ones who should not exist in any universe of this level. It was practically like giving weapons to children, leading to a disastrous outcome. Moreover, the biggest problem was that this universe would die within a few millennia after the great event.


    The amount of mana and resources being placed would completely undo the balance laws of this place and turn them into something insane. Void monsters and related entities would emerge, space would become thin and fragile, black holes would appear without any sense, killing all low-level mortals.


    Probably only ninth-realm mages would be able to survive when the time for the great tournament neared its end. Not a single god cared about this; this was just one universe among infinite ones. But it was different for Thoth. For some reason, this universe had a significantly higher generation of tenth-realm mages than usual.


    "What does this mean?" Kayden was talking to Hypnos and discovered that the final phase of this tournament was approaching. He had grown in strength at a frightening rate during this period. Kayden had become a bizarre powerhouse, but he still had not managed to take the leap he sought.


    "Your soul will not suffer any permanent damage until the end of the tournament. You can destroy every part of it, and in the end, it will regenerate in a few minutes." Kayden was stunned for a few seconds. This was something far beyond what he expected.


    "What happened to the balance of the universe?" Kayden understood that for him to be receiving this, other mages should be receiving something of equal or even greater magnitude. This meant the universe would be practically¡­


    "Destroyed. The gods have given up maintaining this universe in exchange for a better game." Kayden nodded. He understood perfectly what Hypnos was telling him.


    "How strong will the mages from this universe become compared to the others?" Kayden changed the question to try to understand a little better what all this meant.


    "The peak should reach the level of a first-tier universe or the top of a lower-tier one, depending on the place." Hypnos did not elaborate much further. "Good luck, Kayden. I have given you everything to go beyond the wildest expectations of this universe. Now it¡¯s up to you."


    Kayden could not respond before the cat disappeared from his line of sight, leaving him alone in his temporal world. The boy began thinking about how to use this soul protection to his advantage. There were many ways, but¡­


    "Finally." Kayden took out the mana stone he had received from Yan a ridiculously long time ago. It had been so long that he had almost forgotten its existence. But the moment he remembered something that could affect his soul¡­ this stone came directly to him.


    As soon as Kayden removed it from his spatial compartment, he felt his soul begin to fill with small mana stains. Not only that, but he also sensed a colossal amount of mana emanating from this stone. It was far beyond what he remembered or even expected. There was at least the mana of one million galaxies contained within, and this was just Kayden¡¯s rough estimate. Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    That was not even the craziest part. No matter how much mana Kayden drew from this stone, it did not deplete. It was literally infinite for his current conditions. His soul began to be entirely marked with blue spots. For the first time in his life, Kayden felt the sensation of having his soul consumed by a law.


    Mana beings began to emerge. They climbed from the first to the sixth realm in a single second, their strength exploding in every spiritual sense Kayden had. They were practically as strong as tenth-realm mages in terms of power. Kayden could not even understand how they could be so strong with such frightening ease.


    "Hunger." Kayden heard this word in his spiritual sense from one of the strongest mana beings that had emerged. It was a colossal being, at least 100 meters tall, as thin as a wooden stick. Its entire body was made of mana and¡­

 Chapter 608: Shadow[2]

    "Hunger." Kayden began channeling mana exclusively to this mage. He wasn¡¯t necessarily the strongest of them all¡ªhe was at the top, but still the weakest among the strong¡ªyet there was intelligence in his eyes, something Kayden had not expected.


    Kayden continued feeding this mage exclusively. All the mana went directly to him. Not only that, but Kayden prevented the others from killing him. It didn¡¯t take long before the mage reached the seventh realm and¡­


    "Insane." The strength of this being in the seventh realm was equivalent to that of a tenth-realm mage. Not only that, but he had an utterly insane capacity for learning. It didn¡¯t even take a minute for him to grasp something profound.


    "Monarch." The mana creature¡¯s voice came out slow and dragged, but Kayden understood perfectly what he meant¡ªKayden had been recognized as a Monarch. Not just any Monarch, but the Monarch of Mana.


    "Hunger?" Kayden asked, and the creature shook its head.


    "No." Their interaction ended there. The creature stood beside Kayden without saying another word. Meanwhile, Kayden continued creating other beings and testing their abilities, but none were remotely similar to the first one. It was like finding a needle in a haystack.


    Kayden¡¯s soul continued filling with stains every minute he used the mana stone. He managed to generate dozens of seventh-realm mages, yet not a single eighth-realm mage emerged from the entire process. It seemed there was something more required for them to reach that level.


    Intelligence was also something strange and difficult to find among them. Most were intelligent, but only in a basic sense, like ordinary creatures with no true depth. The only exception was the first mage Kayden had created.


    "Shadow." Kayden named him after a few thousand years. The name came from this mage always following behind him without taking any significant action or speaking¡ªhe was just a shadow.


    "What do you know about these blue stains?" Kayden opened his soul for Shadow to see. The mage looked at them for a moment and¡­ S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Soul mana." That was all he said. Kayden understood almost nothing from that explanation but simply nodded. He had already grown accustomed to his servant¡¯s brief and vague responses.


    Kayden¡¯s soul would always fill with tiny mana spots until it reached a point where it completely shattered¡ªonly to be restored as if nothing had happened. As time passed, he began learning how to control the effects of the mana stone. Not only that, but he started to grasp the Law of Mana.


    "Where does my soul come from?" After a few million years, Shadow¡¯s intelligence exploded, and he became a curious child. He began learning how to manipulate mana, and Kayden taught him how to manipulate his own soul.


    The creature¡¯s strength was terrifying. His talent for controlling mana was second only to Kayden. Apart from that, there was virtually no other mage in all of Kayden¡¯s life with such an immense aptitude for mana. The creature¡¯s power in the seventh realm was colossal. Probably, not even Kayden himself would have been able to rival him when he was in the seventh realm.


    "From the River of Souls, a place where all souls go after death until they await rebirth." Kayden explained and continued his training. During this time, he managed to create other creatures just as strong as Shadow, but not a single one was as intelligent as him.


    Strength was superior to everything¡ªexcept potential. Kayden was taking great care of Shadow because of this. The creature had the ability to control its own hunger for mana, something none of the others could master. His sustenance was based solely on consuming other mages who reached the seventh realm as well.


    Over this period, Kayden provided Shadow with the mana of tens of thousands of galaxies. However, he was nowhere near reaching the eighth realm. The seventh realm was likely an entry barrier, something he wouldn¡¯t be able to surpass quickly. Shadow continued growing steadily, and Kayden kept learning from him.


    "Monarch, this space is too small for two princes." One of the creatures one day openly challenged Shadow¡¯s position. Kayden was surprised. He had already noticed a certain hierarchy among these creatures, but nothing like this had ever happened before.


    Kayden didn¡¯t interfere and simply let it play out. Shadow was one of the most composed beings when it came to hunger and primitive desires for power, but that didn¡¯t mean he was weak¡ªfar from it. He was the creature Kayden had nurtured the most during this entire period.


    Shadow simply crushed his opponent and consumed him directly. There wasn¡¯t even an exchange of blows. The prince merely eliminated his challenger without any reaction or difficulty. Such challenges never occurred again in the future¡ªShadow¡¯s strength had been proven.


    The existence of the mana creatures began taking on new dimensions. Some started developing new forms of consciousness, fragments of unknown memories that seemed to originate from the very flow of mana. Kayden realized these beings were not just puppets made of energy but rather vessels of something ancient¡ªa lost knowledge whispering in the void.


    The Law of Mana was embedded in each of them. They were practically living mana in soul form. Kayden couldn¡¯t explain or even fully comprehend what they were, but little by little, he was getting closer to something superior. He was racing against time because, at that moment, his strength was still not enough to place him in the top ten of the universe.


    Atlas, Netero, and many others had already developed to nearly the peak of the mortal realm. Atlas had reached a point where he could no longer advance¡ªhe was far beyond anything this universe had ever seen in a mortal. Not even the lower gods possessed such strength. Another mage who was progressing even faster was Matheus, but unfortunately, he would need much more time to truly develop.


    Author¡¯s note: my trip was extended and I really didn¡¯t have time to write much, as soon as I get back I¡¯ll start catching up a little bit.

 Chapter 609: Shadow[3]

    he universe began to show clear signs of trouble as time passed. The souls being born became increasingly unstable, missing fragments of themselves. People with severe mental disorders started appearing more frequently. Psychopathy became extremely common, an everyday occurrence across all worlds. Massacres turned into something normal, as if violence had become a natural part of existence.


    Geniuses stopped being born, and the average level of talent declined more and more. A few still managed to stand out, but the vast majority lived and died in weak, ordinary lives. Seventh-realm mages became anomalies once again¡ªrare beings in a universe where extraordinary figures had nearly vanished. Natural wealth was also severely depleted during this period.


    Mana was no longer an abundant resource. Many empires had monopolized it to such an absurd degree that some regions of the universe had no mana at all¡ªenormous voids where magic was completely absent. These were places so deprived that not even a single ninth-realm mage could exist there. It was an insane reality, a complete imbalance of magical distribution.


    Entire worlds lived as mere mortals, with no magical paths to follow. It was surreal¡ªsocieties developing exactly as Kayden¡¯s first world had, relying only on their intelligence and ideas. Some of them managed to rise above mediocrity and colonize entire solar systems, while others failed to even develop long-distance communication. For many, the stars remained distant and unreachable.


    The mages selected for the Tournament of the Gods had been chosen long ago. Many had already reached their peak, while others were still refining their strength. Some simply had no room to grow any further and were now waiting for the moment to ascend.


    Over the years, many gods had appeared in this universe, yet all of them were expelled in mere seconds by the pressure of the heavens. Gods were not permitted to exist in this universe¡ªthere would be no mercy for them. Among all these expelled gods, not a single one had nine rays. They were all weaker, lesser beings with little talent¡ªmere placeholders for the ranks of future battles, names that would soon be forgotten.


    Countless tenth-realm demigod mages with ten rays emerged in this period. These were the true challengers. The rest had no real chance of fighting in the battles of the gods. The tenth ray was supposed to be an extremely rare phenomenon, yet this universe had something unusual¡ªsomething even Thoth could not explain. A touch of chaos lingered here, allowing the birth of inexplicable beings. The universe had never followed normal rules, and it continued to prove that now.


    Atlas and Kayden were the greatest examples of this anomaly.


    Atlas was a mage who had successfully walked the true perfect path of a mortal mage, reaching ten rays, ten realms, and the level of a demigod. He had stacked countless strengths that placed him at the very top of the food chain. But that wasn¡¯t all¡ªAtlas was also a second-degree monarch.


    The first degree of monarchs was simply being a mana monarch, someone capable of controlling mana at will. This was the most common form¡ªthough calling it "common" was misleading, as becoming a monarch was extremely rare in itself. However, only 10% of all monarchs ever reached the next level.


    The second degree was the specialized monarchs¡ªthose who had gone far beyond the average. Kayden and Atlas were among them. The two of them stood far above all their peers. Their journeys, the way they became monarchs, and everything about them far surpassed the norm. They had become monarchs in unique, specialized ways, ways that no one else had been able to replicate.


    At this moment, Atlas was undoubtedly the strongest mage in the universe. He had not fought in a long time, and no one knew exactly how powerful he had become. However, no one could forget the day he ascended to the heavens as the first emperor of this universe. His face was burned into the minds of mages both great and small. His presence alone was a symbol of supremacy.


    Kayden, on the other hand, had been mostly forgotten by high-level mages. Only a handful still remembered him¡ªthose who had witnessed his growth long ago. Kayden always found a way to accomplish something spectacular. Even when he disappeared from the spotlight, his legend remained, whispered among those who had seen his rise.


    "Is this the conclusion you reached?"


    Kayden was speaking with Shadow about the challenges he had faced in reaching the eighth realm. It had been a defining moment in the creature¡¯s life¡ªa true turning point. Shadow¡¯s power had grown to something very close to Kayden¡¯s own, something that had even surprised him.


    The Law of Mana had started engraving itself into Shadow¡¯s mind and body in a strange way. It had taken him an insanely long time to progress to the eighth realm. Meanwhile, Kayden had spent that time modifying his entire soul, making countless improvements. Every piece of his being had been refined, strengthened, and prepared for the future.


    At this point, Shadow was a fully functional, thinking mage. He was perfectly capable of living his own life without ever meeting Kayden again. And yet¡­


    "Yes. Your presence is like a fire that calls to me."


    Kayden wanted to know why Shadow still followed him. Over the years, many others like him had appeared. Dozens of "princes" had risen, but only Shadow had been chosen as Kayden¡¯s second-in-command. Stay connected through FreeNovelFire


    In the end, Kayden had been right to keep Shadow above the others. His potential was insane, and he had proven it by advancing to the eighth realm. He had only managed this when he mastered a portion of the Law of Mana. From that day onward, his power had changed completely.


    Even Kayden had not been this strong when he was in the eighth realm. That was unusual.


    It was strange how a single law could grant so much power to a mage. Kayden couldn¡¯t fully grasp what made it so overwhelming, but every theory he considered led to a single conclusion.


    The Law of Mana was a primordial law¡ªit was not something low-level. On the contrary, it had to be one of the most insane laws in this universe. That was the only explanation for Shadow¡¯s immense strength.


    But there was also another factor.


    Shadow¡¯s very existence was something completely unique in the entire universe.


    His power, his very nature, defied all known magical rules. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    He was a mystery¡ªone that not even Kayden could fully understand.

 Chapter 610: The beginning of everything

    Kayden¡¯s existence was something completely unique in the entire universe.


    "Hello, Kayden."


    Thoth approached him by surprise on a random day. "Only one billion years remain on the outside, and you haven¡¯t even come close to a result."


    Kayden simply smiled and nodded.


    "I have never been this close to something truly grand in my entire life, Thoth."


    Kayden had spent trillions of years in this place. His soul had been killed and restored at least a few quadrillion times. He had raised an almost infinite number of beings made entirely of mana.


    "As impressive as it is for you to have this army of mana monsters bound to your soul, this won¡¯t make you strong enough to defeat any of the great mages in this universe."


    Kayden smiled, realizing he couldn¡¯t hide anything from Thoth.


    After spending time with Shadow, he had learned how to recruit and conceal these beings within his soul. Kayden now carried tens of thousands of tenth-realm demigod-level mages in his pocket. It was utterly insane¡ªsomething that, in the past, would have placed him at the peak of this universe.


    "They are just a deeper study," he said.


    It was strange, but Kayden felt comfortable in the presence of these beings, who were hungry for mana and power. He began accumulating all those capable of resisting that hunger¡ªthose who could obey his commands. It seemed like a large number, but in truth, it was a tiny fraction of the whole.


    "You haven¡¯t even reached the tenth realm or attained the level of a demigod. No progress in trillions of years. What exactly are you planning?"


    Thoth couldn¡¯t hold back his curiosity. His mind tried to consider all possibilities, but he couldn¡¯t foresee much due to the interference of the laws of chaos.


    "The tenth realm and the demigod level are just shortcuts to the real objective, aren¡¯t they?"


    Kayden¡¯s words startled Thoth¡¯s ancient mind.


    "The tenth realm is merely a way for a mage to continue their path toward a fundamental law, and infusing divine mana to become a demigod is just a method to bring that path into resonance with divinity. Both are unnecessary shortcuts." Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Thoth started clapping.


    "Your talent has truly reached a level that shouldn¡¯t exist in this universe."


    "The nine realms are the same," Kayden continued, revealing some of the greatest secrets of existence. "They¡¯re nothing more than a way to teach mortals how to become something greater. Just like the lightning bolts from the heavens¡ªit¡¯s all a step-by-step guide for us to reach the divine realm."


    Experience tales at FreeNovelFire


    "Exactly! And what does this mean for you?"


    Thoth was beginning to understand Kayden¡¯s train of thought, and his skin tingled with curiosity.


    "That¡¯s a surprise."


    Kayden refused to elaborate further and remained silent. Thoth did not insist. In the end, he understood how Kayden¡¯s mind worked¡ªat least in part. It was all or nothing.


    The greatest event this universe had ever witnessed was about to begin.


    A coliseum of unimaginable proportions had been raised¡ªan absurdly vast structure spanning at least a thousand galaxies. No mortal could ever hope to construct something so grand. They shouldn¡¯t even be able to comprehend the scale of such a creation.


    A staggering flow of mages from other universes had begun pouring into this one. Beings from all levels and social standings took their places in the massive coliseum. The very laws of space had been altered to provide each spectator with the utmost comfort. Most of them were incredibly powerful mages, highly respected across different universes. The weaker ones were servants, attendants who had come to assist their masters.


    Some gods had also been invited to participate. The majority were already familiar with the event¡¯s procedures, leaving only a small portion of the audience in awe of what was happening. This was one of the most insane spectacles in the entire multiverse¡ªat least in this part of it.


    The coliseum stood as an incomprehensible masterpiece, an edifice beyond mortal grasp. It stretched across a thousand galaxies, its pillars formed from primordial matter and reinforced with enchantments as old as existence itself. The arena seemed to breathe, pulsing with arcane energy, its walls whispering echoes of past battles. It was as if the very structure was alive, hungering for yet another grand event.


    Above the coliseum, the sky was a shifting tapestry of dimensions. It reflected fragments of distant realities, distorting space and time under the overwhelming presence of its guests. Interdimensional portals continuously opened and closed, unleashing torrents of power as new arrivals poured in¡ªmages, gods, and entities so far removed from mortal understanding that their names could not even be comprehended. Each one brought an aura so intense that the universe itself seemed to tremble.


    This was not just a tournament.


    It was a collision of forces that were never meant to coexist.


    And yet, here they were, standing side by side, ready to make history.


    "Hope you all had an excellent journey. We are about to begin the most important event of our year."


    A charismatic voice invaded the minds of every being present. Immediately after, the great gods were introduced one by one.


    It was amusing¡ªmortals could only sense their presence and memorize their titles. They couldn¡¯t perceive the real names of these entities. Alongside them, the main disciples of each god were also introduced.


    When it was Hypnos¡¯ turn, only Han was announced as one of the most formidable mages present.


    The level of power displayed was unfathomable. Not a single ordinary mage was among the greatest names. Every single one of them was something this universe should have never been capable of producing. They all surpassed the very limits of what was considered possible.


    The weakest of the mages who stood among the greatest gods had a spiritual sense that covered at least 25% of a large galaxy. It was an absurdity. This was a level of power that had never existed before the arrival of the gods. It was an absolute peak, an unprecedented threshold of strength.


    "In the end, you won."


    Kollen stood beside Atlas, observing every powerful figure being introduced.


    And yet, there wasn¡¯t even the slightest mention of Kayden.


    Not a single voice called his name.

 Chapter 611: The monarch[1]

    It took quite some time for everyone to be introduced, especially those who weren¡¯t as important and were merely representatives of lesser gods. These alone numbered in the tens of thousands, an absolutely insane amount that took days to be called. Discover hidden content at FreeNovelFire


    This wasn¡¯t just a direct show of force; it was much more than that. It was a grand presentation of all the mages that had developed during this period. Organizations from other universes were free to recruit these mages afterward, as this universe was already doomed to total ruin¡ªit had simply been drained too much.


    While thousands of names were called, Kayden didn¡¯t even appear. The main representative of the god Hypnos was Han, with his terrifying divine-level soul. A warrior stood beside him in an unsettling manner, watching over Han. The power of this soul far surpassed that of most mages.


    It could directly confront a tenth-realm semi-divine mage with ten lightning bolts. That was something completely insane to even consider. But in the end, it was the soul of an Edus¡ªsomething not even remotely close to common. It was simply the most absurd thing this universe had ever witnessed in terms of power leaps.


    "Finally, we can begin the grand event. The first part will be a great war between four sides. The strongest mages are not allowed to participate yet and must wait for their turn to compete. The maximum duration of this battle is one thousand years. Good luck to everyone," the voice that initiated the event echoed once more.


    Before anyone could even process the words, all competitors were teleported into the massive arena. Dozens of worlds and points were raised, and millions of people were randomly placed to fill the usual roles in a war. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The divine level was truly an enigma that no mortal could ever comprehend. A practically infinite number of mortals were placed on countless planets within this arena solely to serve as part of the war¡¯s logistics. An uncountable number of planets were created, each housing numerous civilizations.


    The equivalent of a thousand galaxies filled with life and treasures was created in the blink of an eye as if it were nothing. A practically infinite number of souls and lives were rearranged in mere seconds, all for the entertainment of a few beings. Living creatures with dreams, families, and desires were created and left to reproduce.


    Time within this arena was accelerated to an almost infinite degree. It took only a few seconds for this place to start producing ninth-realm mages and beyond. When the competitors set foot in this world, time returned to normal, and they found themselves lost in a vast expanse.


    Most of them did not have a strong spiritual purpose or anything of the sort. They were the geniuses of this universe, but not its absolute peak¡ªmerely a common portion of the exceptional ones. These were people who would be recruited for secondary roles in great organizations, beings capable of managing constellations but not galaxies.


    All competitors had a golden aura above their heads, while the beings of this coliseum bore silver ones. It wasn¡¯t difficult for them to start gathering. They only needed to dominate their respective worlds and then seek out others. This falsified universe had an immense rift at its center.


    This rift was completely impassable for all golden-aura mages. At this stage, they simply had to organize within their respective sides. To most of the great mages, this was a ridiculously dull display. Many of them spent the time organizing parties or cultivating instead.


    The time difference between the two locations was about 100 to 1, meaning this event would last only ten years for the great leaders. They merely relaxed and cultivated in their private spaces. Meanwhile, those of lesser strength were forced to watch this event attentively. Whether they liked it or not, this was their opportunity to recruit the future pillars of their organizations.


    The event began at an extremely rapid pace. Everyone was a genius with unique strengths and minds. It took time and a great deal of bloodshed before a leader emerged on each side of the war. Once they did, everything began operating at maximum efficiency. The worlds and everything within each side of the universe were utilized to their fullest.


    After only 100 years, the rift at the center of the false universe was undone, and the true battle had begun. It was an absolutely insane display of mage warfare. Every competing mage in this event was capable of destroying an entire battlefield alone. Every action had to be meticulously planned, and every mage had to be perfectly positioned in a specific spot. The slightest mistake could mean the difference between victory and defeat.


    Dozens of unique events unfolded during the war¡ªmages who single-handedly obliterated entire battles, mages who created legendary runes and artifacts. Most competitors didn¡¯t care much for secondary profession mages, but this war shifted many perspectives, especially regarding rune mages. Some of them crafted runes so powerful they practically devoured entire galaxies in their effects.


    The war continued in a chaotic rhythm, with countless mages falling at every moment as the sides struggled to stabilize their forces. The falsified universe was in constant flux¡ªplanets being created and destroyed in an instant, mages constructing fortresses only to see them fall minutes later. Strategies were adjusted continuously, the leaders reshaping their tactics based on each loss and gain. Time moved absurdly fast within this space, until the true talents began to rise among the survivors.


    As centuries passed, the battles became even more intense, and resources began to dwindle. The remaining mages were no longer just geniuses; they were the survivors of a war where only the most ruthless remained standing. Every spell cast was powerful enough to shift the entire balance of battle, and every decision could determine the victory or downfall of an entire side. The destruction had already consumed most of the planets, and the falsified universe was becoming an increasingly barren and lifeless battlefield.

 Chapter 612: The monarch[2]

    It didn¡¯t take long for both sides to destroy every planet in their path. Practically everything was annihilated in this battle of giants. Most of the geniuses had already perished, and in the end, everything was decided by a move orchestrated from within one of the sides. It was an extremely well-thought-out strategy that took about 900 years to come to fruition.


    "Congratulations to all involved in this legendary battle," the voice echoed, waking many mages who had fallen asleep during the event. "Now we shall begin the true battle of geniuses. Everyone may enter, whether they represent a god or not."


    This last statement took many mages by surprise, but they quickly realized it was just a polite formality from the organizers. There was simply no way for a mage to reach this level without being supported by a god¡ªit was too absurd an idea to even consider.


    "Only the top 100 will be visible to all. Until then, we will conduct thousands of individual battles until these 100 are declared." As the voice spoke, figures fighting appeared in the arena. Beings spanning tens of thousands of light-years simulated battles while the voice continued, "The gods will defy natural laws and conduct tens of millions of battles in this short period of time."


    "How strong are you right now, Master?" Sombra asked Kayden, genuine curiosity in his voice. All of Kayden¡¯s other vassals sharpened their senses to hear the response. This was an enigma none of them knew the answer to.


    "I don¡¯t know," Kayden replied as honestly as possible. They had no time to continue this conversation, as Hypnos summoned Kayden. The boy concealed all his monsters within his soul¡ªhe had created something truly insane during this period.


    "Thoth and I left you free for a period of over ten trillion years. We only gave some guidance but silenced our senses to see how far you could go alone. I hope that time was useful to you." Hypnos purred his words, scratching himself with curiosity, eager to pry into Kayden¡¯s strength. But this time, he resisted the urge completely.


    "I think I reached something beyond what I expected," Kayden smiled and looked at his hands. "Come." He absorbed tens of thousands of monsters into his soul.


    Considering the entire universe¡¯s size¡­ Kayden still possessed more monsters than the universe had ever been able to create. It was something utterly terrifying. Kayden alone carried a universe¡¯s worth of high-level mages¡ªsomething that defied all logic.


    A universe could generate a few thousand, maybe tens of thousands, of tenth-realm mages or semi-divine level mages, with only a few hundred reaching the tenth-realm semi-divine level. But Kayden alone had tens of thousands of mages at that level of power.


    It was completely insane, but at the same time, it meant almost nothing. He could dominate entire universes with this power¡ªprovided there were no mages in the superior tiers like Atlas. In that case, this army would be utterly useless. Atlas could easily crush hundreds of thousands or even millions of mages at that level.


    "I don¡¯t want to be presented. Leave me out of it," Kayden stated as soon as he sensed this was going to be a grand spectacle. His patron simply nodded and fulfilled his wish without question. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    After hearing a million random names, Kayden was placed inside the arena for some reason he could not understand. His power was far beyond this average level, yet he was introduced into this grand battle. It didn¡¯t take long for Kayden to remain still and simply wait. He chose to live completely normally, avoiding any unnecessary attention.


    "Why is Kayden in there?" Thoth was the only god and mage able to recognize the boy. His words were spoken only to himself, a genuine question in trillions of years. It was incredibly rare for Thoth to have doubts about anything¡ªhe couldn¡¯t even remember the last time he had been wrong¡­


    Kayden¡ªhe had actually made a mistake when he chose Licht over Kayden long ago. That was the amusing part of all this. Once again, he found himself in a dilemma because of Kayden. His greatest desire was to tap into higher powers and understand what was happening, but he had made a vow with Hypnos not to interfere in any way, not even with information.


    Kayden understood perfectly that this was some kind of mistake in the event¡¯s organization, so he decided to simply remove himself from the battle and hide from everyone¡¯s senses. Given his strength compared to the other mages here, it wasn¡¯t a difficult task. He watched from afar as everything unfolded.


    The boy was that one mage who always survived every battle yet remained irrelevant in all of them. Kayden was simply an invisible participant with no major significance. For this reason, no mage even thought to question his identity. In the end, he still ended up on the winning side¡ªpurely by a stroke of fate.


    When Kayden heard the voice¡¯s announcement, he realized he would have to fight in a large number of battles. He was no longer among the top 100 just by existing and breathing. Kayden would have to earn his place¡ªnot that it was a difficult task for him.


    Kayden didn¡¯t even participate in his battles. He simply let Sombra and his other monsters fight the mages while he cultivated, unconcerned with the world. It was amusing that his summons faced hundreds of mages and were never even killed. Their power was on a completely different level from what these mages could handle.


    At least, that was the case in the beginning. Toward the end, Kayden had to release Sombra along with other mages to fight the final opponents. These were mages who had reached the tenth-realm semi-divine level. They were no ordinary beings; they were insane, unique mages. But even they could not withstand the great mana devourers.


    Author¡¯s note: sorry for the delay, I¡¯ll try to recover the chapters I didn¡¯t post little by little. Your adventure continues at FreeNovelFire

 Chapter 613 613: The monarch[3]

    The battle for the top 100 quickly turned into a true massacre; everyone was going all out to secure their position. The number of mages dwindled at an absurd speed, and in this process, new names began to emerge. These mages were clearly special; their powers were above the rest, each carrying techniques and abilities that were unnatural. Everyone who managed to rise was being sponsored by great gods¡ªit was simply obvious, as no ordinary mage could reach this level without support.


    The gods were pleased to see their chosen ones advancing effortlessly, each showcasing an absurd level of strength and proving why they had been selected. However, among all the names that appeared, only one stood out completely. Kayden continued advancing without any difficulty and without anyone even paying attention to him. No blessings, no divine marks, no trace of sponsorship¡ªhe was simply there, as if he had appeared out of nowhere. To the gods, this was an enigma that became increasingly difficult to ignore.


    "Why is this mage capable of controlling the Primordials?" The gods were in a frenzy, much like when Kayden had become a challenger of the heavens. Something was very wrong with this situation.


    "Who is he? Which god does he belong to?" Not a single voice rose in the entire domain of the gods. S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    It simply made no sense for a mage of this level to be unaccompanied. This raised doubts in the minds of all the gods¡ªwas this some trick by another god? Was there a hidden trap in this entire situation? It was a question none of them could answer.


    Unfortunately, none of the gods could do anything at this moment. They had to swallow their curiosity and try their best to uncover the truth on their own, but it was incredibly difficult. This mage''s soul was something completely strange, and his aura¡­


    Even the strongest mage that Kayden faced did not require him to engage in direct combat. He only needed to summon more Primordials until their sheer numbers overwhelmed the opponent through sheer attrition. It was amusing that this only worked against weaker beings because those truly at the top would simply annihilate them all.


    The lines of fate were truly unpredictable. Among all the mages in this universe, Kayden was the only one who never faced any of the great ones. He simply passed into the top 100 without any real difficulty. His summons possessed insane strength, and there were simply no mages capable of challenging him.


    "After an uncountable number of battles," the same voice from before resounded in everyone''s mind, "we have reached our 100 best competitors. These are mages who have transcended generations across the universe, ancient beings who have gathered knowledge for eras, or new mages capable of defying all logic."


    As the voice spoke, each of the top 100 mages was introduced randomly. Almost all of them were well-known¡ªat most, five new names had emerged among those who had reached this stage of the event.


    Kayden recognized dozens of names, including some he never expected to see again. These were people who should not have had the capacity to be here at this moment; their previous power levels simply did not match their current status.


    Among them were two individuals Kayden never thought he would meet again in his life. The first was his former companion Felix. The cat was completely different now¡ªthere was a divine aura surrounding him, and space itself seemed to be consumed by his presence. It was simply insane¡­


    Jasmine. The woman had finally achieved her crazy goals. Kayden remembered perfectly that his descendant''s peak strength had been very low¡ªshe had neither the potential nor the capacity to reach this level.


    Other names were entirely expected by Kayden. Most of them had a long history and had been building solid strength for billions of years, long before the gods had even set foot in this universe.


    Atlas stood imposingly with his arms crossed, carrying the full strength of a peak monarch¡ªthe only mage who had reached the absolute peak of his path, his realm, and had still remained a monarch. Not a single other mage in the universe had accomplished these three feats together. That alone placed him directly at the top.


    Netero looked even older; not a single strand of hair remained on his head. He was wearing a robe that made his aura seem even more ancient. Kayden could not precisely gauge how far the demigod''s strength had reached, but it was something insane¡ªhe could sense that a large part of the old man''s soul had been converted into something divine.


    Han stood beside his soul summon. This last detail caught Kayden completely by surprise¡ªit was a divine soul being controlled by his former disciple. The strength of this soul was enough to make any weaker mortal die from mere exposure to its presence. It was simply another level of control.


    Achilles¡­ was an enigma. Kayden could not determine exactly how strong this mage was. He was also in the tenth realm, but he had not become a demigod. Not only that, but he also did not exude any grotesque or pronounced power¡ªhe was simply in the top 100, unmoving.


    Marcus Aurelius stood in all his elegance as the Ice Emperor, imposing, holding the space around him with his laws of ice. The mage had never reached the level of a demigod; he was only a tenth-realm mage. Yet, he had still managed to reach this point. That made many things clear to Kayden.


    Jormund, Marco''s son, was also among the top 100. Both were only in the tenth realm, and yet they had managed to reach this level of power. Obviously, there was much more to these two than just ordinary mages¡ªKayden could see that now, given the level of power he had reached.


    Matheus... he had all the glory of a true false god, his strength was bordering on the unbelievable, Kayden was able to easily see that Matheus was the most powerful wizard in this universe, probably not even Atlas was able to go head to head with him easily, but this was extremely hidden in a perfectly controlled aura.

 Chapter 614 614: The monarch[4]

    When Kayden Heart''s name was announced, a strange silence overtook the great elite of mages. Most common mages and those from other universes only recognized the name, but he had neither gained nor held any great relevance since the gods arrived in this universe. In fact, his name was only remembered because he was a Challenger of the Heavens.


    Aside from that title, Kayden had not made a single appearance in the last 100 billion years, making his name forgotten by most mortals¡ªthough not by all. A small spark of fear appeared in the minds of those who knew his story, those who had witnessed this mage rise from absolute nothingness to the top.


    "We will have a one-year break before the next phase of the event," the voice continued after all participants were revealed. "Rest well, and good luck to all." After that, all the mages were left floating freely, free to do as they pleased. Naturally, many of them approached Kayden.


    "It''s been a while, Kayden Heart." Atlas, as the strongest, was given priority out of respect. It was strange¡ªthough they were all enemies, respect for the strongest would always exist among those who reached the top. It was something natural and instinctive.


    "You''ve grown a lot," Kayden merely commented before falling silent, lost in his thoughts. He wasn''t particularly eager to converse with these people.


    "I hope you''ve grown as well and have surpassed your apprentice for a worthy battle." Atlas was slightly nervous near Kayden. Even though an infinite amount of time had passed, he still felt like a child in Kayden''s presence. Moreover, he couldn''t gauge Kayden''s level of power¡ªhe couldn''t even sense Kayden''s presence.


    "Greetings, Master!" Han bowed, a rare display of respect and gratitude among mages of this caliber¡ªtrue proof that Kayden''s teachings had not failed in shaping this mage.


    "You''ve grown a lot, Han. Your subordinate is truly impressive." Kayden was genuinely impressed by the strength of a divine-grade soul. Not only that, but he could feel that this soul was growing at an absolutely terrifying speed.


    It wouldn''t be long before this soul reached a point where it could practically overturn this universe on its own. But something was wrong. Gods were not supposed to have souls¡ªat least not normal ones. Kayden could tell that Han had reached a crossroads in his path.


    If his soul continued to grow in strength, it would likely shatter in a way Han would never be able to repair. All these factors had caused the mage to remain stagnant in his strength for tens of billions of years.


    "Kayden." Felix suddenly appeared on Kayden''s shoulder as if not a single day had passed since they had last spoken. Kayden didn''t mind¡ªhis friendship with Felix would remain unchanged regardless of how much time passed.


    "You''ve grown as well, Felix. The law you embedded within your body is exceptionally well-crafted." Kayden could see a law of Hunger and Gluttony residing within the beast. Not only that, but he was certain they were two fundamental laws that complemented each other perfectly.


    It might seem foolish, but Felix was probably in the top five in terms of strength across this entire universe¡ªat least, that was Kayden''s current perspective. These were two immensely powerful laws, and they perfectly matched the cat''s techniques. It was practically a flawless path. S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Where have you been all this time?" Felix was the only one unafraid to ask Kayden such a direct question.


    "I was training in isolation." Kayden didn''t elaborate further. Everyone was curious about his strength, but none could measure it precisely. Everyone here had enough life experience to understand that provoking Kayden was pointless¡ªhis mind was completely unshakable.


    "In the end, only a few of us remain after everything." Felix commented, and Kayden nodded. The two had been together for an unfathomable length of time. This was, without a doubt, the oldest friendship Kayden had ever had.


    "Have you seen anyone from Earth in all this time?" Felix shook his head in denial. The chances of finding someone from that period were ridiculously low. A single world had managed to produce three universal-level mages¡ªKayden, Felix, and Han. It was practically impossible for there to be more.


    In truth, the fact that Earth had produced even three mages of this caliber was utterly terrifying. To be more precise, it was astonishing that even a galaxy had managed to produce three universal-tier mages. The probability was almost nonexistent.


    "Time really did pass quickly," Kayden mused, his mind drifting through the thousands of memories he had accumulated in this universe. It was a strange sensation to see something he had always been a part of become nothing more than a memory. The universe itself was now just a recollection to him.


    "Kayden." Achilles entered the conversation. "What have you become?" His every sense was screaming at him to stay away from Kayden. Whatever he was, it was beyond what Achilles'' ability to manipulate fate could comprehend.


    "I don''t know." That was the only answer Kayden gave to any question about his power. And, in the end, it was the truth. Kayden didn''t know exactly how vast he had become. But... he didn''t have high hopes.


    Time passed quickly. Kayden gave many insights during this period. At first, he only helped Felix and the mages he already knew, but over time, dozens of mages came to him seeking guidance. The funniest part was that a significant portion of the top 100 mages had never even heard of Kayden before. This made them skeptical at first, only to later be astonished that someone so wise had remained hidden for so long.


    "Congratulations to all who have made it this far once again." The voice appeared in everyone''s mind exactly one year after its last announcement. "By now, you all must know that this is the final battle of this universe." A display of civilizations rising and falling appeared at the center of the arena, showcasing the stories of kings and emperors. "Death is not a fear today, for all shall be revived."

 Chapter 615 615: The monarch[5]

    This was news that everyone already knew. Many wouldn''t have accepted participating if not for this clause. Whether they liked it or not, most of them understood that they were here just to compete for the lower ranks. The top ten was practically a realm reserved for mages on a level beyond the rest¡ªit wasn''t something they could reach easily.


    "We will hold one battle per day in a fully exclusive one-on-one event." A massive table displaying the names of all competitors appeared before the mages, along with an option to place bets using the currency shared between universes.


    "For the first battle of the day, we have one of the most legendary mages this universe has ever produced. He rose from absolute nothingness to become one of the strongest to ever exist¡ªand not only that, he bears one of the most difficult titles in the multiverse."


    Kayden was teleported to one side of the grand arena.


    "Kayden Heart, the Challenger of the Heavens."


    His name didn''t cause much of a reaction¡ªhe had been a recluse for the entirety of the War of the Gods¡ªbut his title? That alone set the entire stadium ablaze.


    These spectators had seen countless powerful mages¡ªbeings capable of erasing entire universes with frightening ease¡ªbut Challengers of the Heavens were rare. In most cases, a single one wouldn''t even appear in an entire universe. It often took tens of thousands of universes to produce just one.


    It was an incredibly rare existence when viewed from a personal perspective, yet not so rare when considering the sheer number of universes that existed. It all depended on the mage''s point of view.


    "Luan Heytan, the Emperor of Machines."


    Kayden raised an eyebrow at that title¡ªit sounded peculiar. Then, his opponent appeared in the arena.


    Luan Heytan was strange even by the standards of this battlefield. His body was a seamless blend of human and machine, every part of him pulsing with glowing circuits that shifted as if they were alive. He was more than just a wielder of machines¡ªhe was their embodiment, a fusion of magic and metal that few could even fathom. His name had echoed across galaxies, for wherever war erupted, he would emerge to reshape it with his creations. Some hailed him as a genius; others, as an aberration.


    "So, you''re the great Kayden Heart? I was expecting someone¡­ bigger." Luan smirked.


    Kayden didn''t respond. He didn''t entertain provocation, nor did he acknowledge the man with even a hint of interest. Luan was insignificant.


    "May the strongest mage win."


    Kayden didn''t hesitate.


    A wave of darkness flooded the battlefield.


    Tens of thousands of Primordials materialized within the arena, an ocean of figures so vast it seemed like an entire war was about to erupt. Luan''s presence was utterly drowned beneath the sheer magnitude of an infinite world of Primordial Mages. Each one wielded the power of a Tenth Realm Demigod¡ªmost of them matching the strength of Nine-Lightning Mages at this level, while a significant portion reached the level of Ten-Lightning Mages.


    It was insane.


    Kayden had just demonstrated the power to colonize an entire universe effortlessly. Each mage he summoned could have potentially ranked within the top 100 with a bit of luck. The sheer scale of this display was overwhelming.


    A strange silence permeated the crowd. Even those at the absolute peak weren''t sure how to react to this.


    "Request an S-Class Diplomat from the Gods."


    "Report this immediately."


    Countless whispers filled the air. Every major organization present understood the significance of what Kayden had just shown. While this might not be enough to kill a peak-level genius, it was more than enough to obliterate an entire universe.


    A mortal with the ability to colonize a universe on his own.


    The statement itself didn''t even make sense. Even Atlas¡ªwho was absurdly strong¡ªwould struggle immensely to accomplish such a feat. Not because he lacked power, but because he lacked the means. He could kill everyone, but enslaving trillions of worlds was an entirely different matter¡ªit required far more technique than raw strength.


    What Kayden had demonstrated was a force that could do just that. He could, alone, create an organization capable of extending its influence across every corner of the universe. And it wouldn''t even be difficult for him. It wouldn''t even take time.


    "Kill him." Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kayden gave the order.


    Thousands upon thousands of spells rained down upon Luan without hesitation. The sheer volume of mana being manipulated caused a minor collapse in the fabric of the arena''s fundamental laws.


    Luan was a genius mage¡ªhe was the Emperor of Machines, a man who had taken over entire regions of the universe using only himself as a central network. His mind was a supercomputer capable of controlling billions of machines and entire worlds. His primary combat method revolved around his mental capacity to alter laws and spells.


    But¡ª


    "Kayden Heart is the victor."


    The voice announcing the result echoed unexpectedly.


    Luan had been completely buried beneath an onslaught of spells so overwhelming that his actual techniques became meaningless. His skill didn''t matter when the sheer force he faced was simply too great.


    Yet, Luan had managed to analyze thousands of spells and reflect them back at their casters, causing devastating damage to many of them.


    Kayden was genuinely impressed.


    At least 20% of his Primordials had been critically injured. But that still left 80% of them completely untouched¡ªmore than enough to crush any defense Luan could have mustered.


    Another silence filled the arena.The fight had been unbelievably short.Most had expected it to last at least several hours¡ªsometimes, these battles stretched on for weeks or even months, depending on the combatants'' styles.


    No one had expected Kayden to utterly crush his opponent in an instant.


    "I hope everyone enjoyed the battle. We will have an entire day of mental recovery before we proceed tomorrow."


    The voice snapped everyone out of their stupor.And then, the arena exploded into chaotic voices, all speaking at once about the insane spectacle they had just witnessed.

 Chapter 616 616: The monarch[6]

    Kayden just returned to his place and remained silent. No one came to talk to him during this period. Even though his presentation had been grand, everyone was mentally preparing for their next battles, and... those at the top knew that Kayden would not be a true opponent for the mages on this list.


    The battles in the following days consisted only of mages that Kayden had never even heard of. They were all very impressive, but they weren''t truly insane battles¡ªat least from Kayden''s point of view. These were mages capable of wiping out dozens of galaxies in a single move, but it wasn''t something that pulled Kayden out of his stupor.


    "Felix Heart, the oldest devourer of universes." The cat''s title caught the attention of everyone who knew his race. He wasn''t something to be taken lightly; the title of his race, whether they liked it or not, had its reasons.


    Felix appeared on one side of the arena in an entirely relaxed manner. He looked like he was taking a stroll in the park. His aura was a mixture of peace and total chaos, and both laws and matter seemed to avoid his presence as if they were about to be consumed.


    "Jormund Hayer." The ice creature that Kayden had met a long time ago appeared in the arena in all its glory as an ice mage. His domain did not reflect the strength he carried. Time itself slowed around him due to his ice laws.


    Kayden woke up to watch this battle for two reasons. The first was that Felix was his friend, and the second was to understand a little better about Jormund and his strength, even though he was not at the demigod level. Unfortunately, Kayden didn''t think this battle would be significant.


    Felix was on a level far superior to any ordinary mage in the top 100. Kayden was absolutely sure of it. There wasn''t a single mage capable of matching the two laws that Felix possessed in his body¡ªthey were simply too superior.


    "The battle begins." The voice announced, and immediately, Jormund froze at least a hundred galaxies around him. It was completely insane to see the ice laws devour everything nearby. Absolutely everything was frozen before it could even express its laws.


    Basic laws were frozen. The laws that governed the organization of the universe became static in the air. It was simply as if a space of a hundred galaxies ceased to exist and was just... frozen. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The laws were being converted into a single law¡ªthe law of ice¡ªbut it was also the law of stopped time and the law of flow. There were tens of thousands of specific laws. Kayden knew this was the effect of a mid-level fundamental law in its full capacity. At that moment, everything made sense in Kayden''s mind.


    It was impossible to reach this stage of the competition without something that made the mage special, whether it was a unique and unparalleled ability like Achilles'' or a special law. But relying only on realms and the demigod rank was impossible. It was simply putting strength against quality¡ªthere would be no fair competition.


    Felix remained calm as he felt the laws around him suffer the effects of the fundamental law of ice. He could feel his entire environment simply coming to a halt in time. Something primitive urged him to sleep and just stop.


    Every movement should cease. The very act of thinking should be paused forever. There was no need for any action or anything of the sort. All heat should simply cease to exist¡ªnot only that, but cold as well. None of it was necessary. Everything should just stop.


    The cat had never faced a battle of this level before. In reality, most mages had never faced something at this level before. For everyone, these peaks of power in their opponents were a novelty. No one wanted to risk getting injured before this great event. At most, small battles had occurred, but never a fight to the death between beings of this level.


    Felix''s mouth began to open, and the two fundamental laws in his body started rotating like a torpedo. It looked as if a massive black hole, capable of consuming anything, had appeared in the arena. Everything began to be sucked into the cat''s mouth. Absolutely everything was being pulled into that abyss.


    Slowly, he began to devour planets, then solar systems. In a few seconds, Felix''s mouth escalated to swallowing half a galaxy, then an entire galaxy, and it didn''t stop there. It was truly a bizarre sight. Felix''s race was not something common, even among the great universes. It was no accident that he received one of the greatest supports from the gods.


    Felix continued to devour everything around him, his mouth expanding without any limit, consuming not just matter but also the very laws that governed that space. Jormund did not retreat; his expression remained unchanged as the ice around him grew, swallowing light, time, and any remaining fragment of heat. The arena was no longer visible¡ªthere was only a vast void between the cat''s darkness and the mage''s absolute cold. Neither seemed willing to yield; both continued expanding their forces without hesitation.


    Time grew slower and slower until, in an instant, everything simply stopped. Jormund''s ice reached Felix, trying to freeze him along with all of reality around him. But instead, it started to be pulled into the infinite darkness. The black hole in Felix''s mouth began to vibrate, tearing through space-time and absorbing not only matter but also the very concepts around it. The hunger of the devourer of universes and the absolute cold of the mage clashed, and in the next instant, everything was engulfed by darkness.


    Felix''s mouth consumed dozens of galaxies and devoured everything Jormund had conjured. The mage himself was swallowed by the laws spinning inside that throat. Kayden felt a shiver down his spine watching that battle. Felix had grown to a point he never expected, not even in his wildest dreams.

 Chapter 617 617: The Monarch[7]

    The power of the two fundamental laws was simply otherworldly. The cat was able to swallow entire galaxies as if they were nothing. Jormund''s attacks were devoured as if they were merely annoying flies buzzing near Felix''s mouth. It was impossible to even see the silhouette of Felix''s body¡ªthere was only a black mass extending in all directions.


    It was very similar to an endless black hole consuming everything. Nothing could escape, not even light was spared. Everything became sustenance for Felix''s laws in a vicious cycle. Kayden remembered that in the past, the cat transformed what he consumed into mana, but at that moment, he was simply converting it into a form of energy capable of sustaining the two laws almost infinitely.


    Kayden did not need much time to understand that Felix''s power was insane, but it was still unable to break the steps of mortality. The beast could not control the laws after a while, and they would end up breaking and autonomizing in a completely strange manner.


    "Felix Heart is the champion of this match." The voice snapped the cat''s attention back to the narrator. Few people were able to understand this battle, and an even smaller fraction could grasp even a minimal understanding of the laws that had been used.


    Dozens of battles followed. Insane mages were introduced. Techniques that should not be wielded by mortals easily appeared during these confrontations. Two battles, in particular, caught the attention of all the mages: Atlas versus Han.


    They were two insane mages who should not have been pitted against each other so soon. Everyone wanted the weaker ones to be eliminated first, but it seemed that was not exactly what the gods desired. In the end, the strongest would rise regardless.


    "The first emperor of this universe, Emperor Atlas." There were dozens of titles Atlas could be called by. He had dozens of achievements in his history, but none were as great as being the Emperor of the Universe.


    In the history of the universe, there had been dozens of monarchs, dozens of ten-ray mages, dozens of tenth-realm demigod-level mages, dozens of twins, but only a single emperor of the entire universe. This was an unquestionable title in every way.


    "Han Heart, the God Tamer." Han also had a unique title, one that probably no other mortal would achieve in the entire history of the universe. His feat was only possible because of the help he received from a mage capable of predicting destiny.


    The two mages stared at each other from an insane distance. Both knew that this would not be an easy fight. Each of them was far above average, even at the top of the universe. On one side, a mage who had reached the peak of his monarch path using a fundamental law as a foundation, and on the other, a mage capable of taming a divine soul.


    Atlas made the first move. His soul automatically extended over three hundred galaxies and occupied a third of the entire arena without any difficulty. Everything was completely evaporated, and this entire region ceased to be part of the universe and became a part of Atlas. Simply put, there were no more laws or anything of the sort in this space¡ªthere was only Atlas and his will.


    All matter and space were transformed into soul. Kayden had never seen such an insane use of one''s own soul, and the most terrifying part was not even that¡ªit was the fact that this entire area was a law. Atlas''s very soul was a unique fundamental law capable of equaling the most insane things, all of this combined with the fact that he was a monarch.


    Atlas''s soul wave expanded without any resistance, sweeping across the galaxies like an unstoppable tide. Space was taken over by his presence, and everything within this domain ceased to exist as it once was. Suns collapsed in absolute silence, their explosions nullified before they could even complete, consumed by the law reigning over that region. Entire planets were eradicated without any resistance. Entire civilizations ceased to exist without time to understand what was happening. The structure of the universe was effortlessly reshaped, for where Atlas passed, there were no more laws, no more time, no more matter¡ªonly the infinite extension of his own soul, transforming everything into his existence.


    On the other side, Han stood with his arms crossed, watching the attack come toward him. Beside him stood a fully capable god wielding a spear. Uno gazed at the attack with unwavering confidence. He was a god. A god would never fear a mortal attack in his entire existence¡ªthat would be a complete disgrace.


    "Uno, do your best." Han broke some seals in Uno''s soul, and the soul''s form grew uncontrollably. In just a few seconds, it reached a size of tens of billions of kilometers. His spear was simply a unique presence in the entire arena.


    The divine aura of the soul began to radiate uncontrollably. Some of the more sensitive mages started to feel the heavens shift, contemplating taking action. There were many divine laws being disturbed for them to act freely. Kayden, a master of souls, could see that Han had broken a seal in Uno''s soul, but there was still another one¡ªlikely suppressed by the heavens.


    The god''s spear moved and¡­


    With it came a slash that ignored any resistance. In a single instant, all the galaxies ahead were sliced apart, split in half as if they had never existed. Suns were cleaved before they had the chance to explode, their cores evaporating without emitting a single sound. Entire planets were cut like mere specks of dust, and entire civilizations were erased before they even realized what had happened. The slash advanced without hesitation until it reached Atlas''s soul, and for the first time, his absolute presence was violated. The blade tore through his extension in a devastating cut, destroying about 70% of his soul in a single strike, forcing Atlas''s uncontrollable tide to retreat.


    S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 618 618: The Monarch[8]

    This was the first high-level confrontation that this universe had truly witnessed, and it would probably be the last. Even though there were strong mages in the universe, none of them could reach this level of power¡ªit was simply two different worlds. This was a battle of divine rank. No mage in the entire universe could match this level of strength.


    Atlas did not even flinch as his soul continued to regenerate instantly, consuming the slash from the spear. That first clash between the two attacks made something very clear to everyone watching: this would be the greatest battle of the event, and no one had any doubts about it.


    The space between them was consumed by an unimaginable storm of destruction. In mere milliseconds, dozens of blows were exchanged, each impact devastating entire galaxies as if they were mere specks of dust. Uno''s spear moved like an absolute decree, tearing open rifts in the universe with every swing, while Atlas''s soul regenerated incessantly, swallowing space and transforming everything into his own existence. Suns were extinguished before they could shine, nebulas were shredded before they could form, and time itself wavered in the face of the collision of these two forces. Each strike rewrote the laws of reality for an instant, only to be nullified by the next impact. No other being in that universe could even comprehend what was happening¡ªit was a battle that existed beyond the mortal domain, where only the absolute will of these two combatants shaped existence itself.


    The arena was turned into absolute nothingness in the blink of an eye. There were no laws capable of sustaining themselves in that place, not even the fundamental law of balance could manifest there. Everything was simply undone immediately, shattered into pieces. The arena expanded in size to accommodate the two titans. What had once been merely a thousand galaxies turned into something the size of¡­


    Half the universe. The arena grew to the size of half the universe in the blink of an eye. An uncountable number of galaxies appeared, and an insane number of civilizations were instantly created just to be part of the event. Mortals had never witnessed anything this insane in their entire lives, yet, for some dubious reason, they were all able to follow the entire event.


    "We really just came here to fill in the gaps," was the sentiment shared by all the mages upon seeing Atlas''s spell expand even further. From a few hundred galaxies, it grew to several hundred billion.


    Atlas had literally placed his soul in more than 25% of the entire universe at that moment. His feat bordered on the unbelievable¡ªa mere mortal was capable of engulfing 25% of the entire universe with his soul. At that moment, Atlas was literally capable of eradicating the universe from existence. He only needed to release his waves in all directions, and everything would cease to exist. Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    At that moment, all the mages were certain that this was never a competition. There were only two mages who had truly come to compete in this event¡ªthe rest were here merely to fill space and provide entertainment for the gods and other mages from different universes. The power these two were displaying went far beyond any insane dream.


    Kenian looked at his own hands. He, too, was a demi-god mage of the tenth realm, with ten lightning bolts, yet he was not capable of causing even half the destruction he was witnessing in this battle. Doubts began to creep into his mind. Where had he gone wrong in his path? At what point had he failed to reach something like this?


    Dozens of mages were asking themselves the same question. The atmosphere became overwhelmingly depressive as everyone looked at themselves in shame. But that only lasted for a fleeting moment, as the mediocre minds of most simply placed the two on a pedestal they could never hope to reach. There was no competition if they were not even in the same category¡ªand that realization brought relief to the minds of all the mages.


    Uno grew even larger, surpassing entire galaxies in an insane display of power. He defied all the laws of physics¡ªsomething so massive should not have been possible. The basic laws of energy should not have been able to support something like this. Yet, against all reason, the spear was raised.


    With each blow exchanged, the waves of energy shattered the very structure of space-time. The impact of Uno''s spear distorted the surrounding space, creating vortexes that swallowed entire galaxies before being annihilated. The collision of Atlas against the spear made reality fragment like shattered glass, with pieces of matter and energy being crushed and rearranged instantly. The physical effects were like cataclysms, where each movement generated shockwaves that propagated for hundreds of millions of light-years, destroying everything in their path.


    The force of both combatants'' souls tore through the very fabric of the universe. Stars were extinguished before reaching the peak of their luminosity, and entire planets were reduced to rubble before even realizing their impending destruction. Space warped, and the fundamental laws governing all existence seemed to twist and bend under the sheer magnitude of the attacks, as if the universe itself was bowing to their will. Each exchange of attacks reshaped the very essence of the universe, creating chasms and rifts in space that could never be repaired.


    "I ask the heavens not to interfere in my battle," Atlas spoke stoically, even as each strike from the spear destroyed more than half of his dominion. That was simply a god in his full capacity¡ªsomething no mortal should have been able to fight against.


    "Shall we stop greeting each other and decide who the true emperor of this universe is?" Han grinned and broke the final seal after the heavens released a lightning bolt in agreement with Atlas''s request. At that moment, the soul of the god ascended to an entirely new level.


    The divine aura and divine pressure of a god overshadowed the entire arena¡ªnot even a single centimeter of it was left untouched by his presence. It was the very manifestation of a god in all his glory. But that was not the most impressive thing. Instead, it was¡­

 Chapter 619 619: The Monarch[9]

    Author''s note: I won''t have to work or do an internship today, I''ll try to put up 3 more chapters in a few hours


    "Congratulations, Han, you truly are my disciple." The soul of the god entered Han''s body, instantly elevating the mage to the divine rank in an absolutely insane manner. The law within his body fused with the divine soul, and Han ascended to divinity.


    "Once in my life, a great mage told me, ''Strength is momentary; potential must be infinite.'' I have yet to reach my peak in this state, but I hope you can entertain me." Han made a cut...


    The arena was split in half. The force of his attack struck the walls of the battlefield. Han had not just become any god¡ªon the contrary, he was an authentic god, nearly reaching the median divine level. This was insane. There was no way to explain it. Only one god truly knew how all of this was possible.


    Achilles was the grand orchestrator of these events. Everything had only happened because the mage had spent literal billions of years studying the laws of fate. His single move had resulted in a butterfly effect capable of destroying dozens of destinies across other universes. Achilles had made a decision that killed entire universes.


    Not even a god could have predicted something like this. Only Thoth, once again, understood how insane this was. Even in his wildest dreams, he had not expected something like this to happen. The laws of chaos were in absolute turmoil. Not even a seer could foresee anything anymore. Achilles had practically blinded himself with his actions.


    "Is this the best the Emperor can reach? Your ego disgusts me." Han showed no mercy. Each of his attacks pushed Atlas closer to being overwhelmed. Atlas was being cornered within his own domain.


    Each of Han''s slashes divided the arena into more and more pieces. There was no mercy. Yet even so, Atlas kept growing. His soul took hit after hit and expanded. Little by little, he was increasing his dominion. Slowly, Han''s attacks were starting to consume a smaller portion of his territory.


    The battle persisted for a few more seconds, with an increasingly clear sign of Han''s victory. Each of the young man''s attacks was capable of splitting this universe in half. It was something far beyond what any mage could ever dream of wielding, yet Atlas was still fighting on equal footing. This was truly a battle of monsters, in the most literal sense of the word. sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Just as both were about to launch their final moves...


    "I forfeit," Han stepped away from the battle without any explanation, leaving both the mages and the gods confused. It simply made no sense. It was completely random and abrupt. This should have been a practically guaranteed victory for Han¡ªhe only needed a little more time to win.


    "Atlas Primum is the winner." The voice delivered the true verdict of the battle.


    It was visible to all that Atlas had been losing. Only the strongest among them knew how truly uncertain that battle had been. Atlas still had a few more moves left. All of this left an uncomfortable doubt in everyone''s minds. But no one could understand Han''s reasoning. In truth, only one mage could¡ªAchilles.


    "Our debt ends here. I gave up the greatest event of my life at your request." Han looked at Achilles and revealed the truth to all the mages. It had simply been a matter of honor. This was even more insane.


    A mage capable of keeping his word in an event of this scale was completely surreal. But to some, this was nothing extraordinary. Everyone who reached the top had to either have an unshakable connection to their word or none at all. In Han''s case, he possessed an honor that would never be broken under any circumstance.


    At that moment, Han''s name reached every mage present. His honor was now seen as a goal to strive for. Few among them had the conviction to do something similar. In fact, it was an absolute minority who believed they were capable of such an act.


    The following battles were insane, but after the fight between Han and Atlas, everything seemed to lose its meaning. There was no reason for them to keep fighting. Their minds had been completely obliterated by the power of the two mages. More than that, the battles had become dull in comparison¡ªthe scale of their power was practically insignificant.


    "Things are slowing down a bit. Our spectators need more excitement," the narrator''s voice interrupted the crowd, who had been waiting for the next match. "We will hold a repechage for all the participants who lost, as well as those who won."


    The statement made little sense to anyone at first, but it was quickly explained. "The top one hundred will be thrown into the arena. The twenty-five survivors may return to the tournament."


    The commentator''s announcement sent the stadium into a frenzy. The monotonous battles were about to die out, especially considering that Han and Atlas would have to face each other again. This was what everyone had been waiting for. The rest barely registered as existing in the minds of the spectators.


    "There will be no forfeits in this fight. There are no rules. Form teams, fight solo¡ªjust deliver the entertainment that everyone deserves." The voice stopped speaking because, at that moment, all the mages were thrown into the arena.


    The arena expanded to ten times the size of the universe. This was sheer insanity. It was a space vast enough for countless individual battles to take place, while at the same time, no one could hide for long.


    "For every battle you win, you will be restored to peak condition. So fight like lunatics!" The announcer said no more and simply let the contestants figure things out for themselves. Each one appeared in a different location.


    Only a few mages spawned near each other, but...


    "Hello, Master." Han found Kayden without any difficulty. The size of the arena was minuscule for a divine soul. Shortly after him, Atlas arrived as well, remaining silent as he waited for the exchange between the two.


    "Hello, Han. You truly followed my teachings." Kayden nodded. "You are no longer my disciple. You have grasped the entirety of my teachings." Han looked surprised at Kayden''s words and silently offered his gratitude.

 Chapter 620 620: The Monarch[10]

    In the next few minutes, more people began to arrive. Those who were truly at the top knew that this was where the real battle would take place. The mere spectators couldn''t even feel the vibrations in the threads of fate that led to this place. Han was exuding an obvious divine mana signal for anyone who wished to appear.


    Within a few hours, around 20 mages had gathered nearby. Emperor Marco was among them. Jormund had also arrived. Kenian was one of the first mages to reach the group. Besides them, there was also Kayden''s daughter, who¡­


    "You''ve grown," Kayden commented upon seeing his descendant. "Congratulations on renouncing your failed path. That was an incredible decision."


    Kayden immediately recognized what Jasmim had done to reach this new level of strength.


    "Thank you. And what about you? Where have you reached?"


    Kayden didn''t answer directly, merely repeating a vague response.


    "I don''t know."


    Some new faces had arrived in the meantime. Many of the people who were coming didn''t know Kayden personally and only had some fragmented knowledge of his story. But that wasn''t enough for them to understand the respect that all these mages had for this man.


    Kayden didn''t even have a strong aura. Any mage present seemed more powerful than him. Even the laws around him didn''t bend in his presence. It was as if Kayden was just an ordinary mortal with no power at all.


    "Kayden, I think we''ll finally have our battle after all these years."


    Matheus was one of the last to arrive, but he was also the only one who showed any hostility toward Kayden during this time.


    Kayden looked at Matheus and simply nodded. He wasn''t particularly concerned with this mage. In fact, Kayden wasn''t concerned with anyone. He was merely standing there, waiting for something that no one else knew about.


    Kayden''s calmness and lack of reaction left everyone uncertain about what to do. Attacking him at that moment seemed completely wrong, but¡­


    "I must test the mage of legends. I apologize for my lack of manners."


    One of the mages in the area suddenly lost control. His ego had been deeply wounded by Kayden''s presence, and his emotions became unstable.


    Great talent with little discipline led to weak minds. The mage was an exceptional semi-divine mage with ten lightning marks¡ªsomething utterly absurd in the past, yet today, he was just another mage among thousands of exceptional ones.


    The man was tall and lean, with disheveled white hair that fell over golden eyes, glowing like lightning ready to be unleashed. His pale skin bore luminous cracks that ran down his arms like veins of unstable energy. He wore a long black robe adorned with ancient symbols pulsing in an irregular rhythm. His elongated, firm hands carried traces of electricity, reflecting his volatile nature.


    "Do not torment me," Kayden responded absentmindedly, not sparing even a second glance at the mage. His dry and indifferent response erased any hesitation in the mage''s mind.


    An insane amount of mana condensed at the mage''s fingertip¡ªthe mana of an entire galaxy compressed into a single inch. The space around it shattered under the mere pressure of this energy. But¡­


    "Your existence is no longer necessary."


    Kayden looked at the mage and spoke only a few words. The problem was¡­ the mage simply disappeared. It was almost as if he had teleported away. His existence had simply ceased to be. There was not even the slightest trace that he had ever been there.


    Everyone stared at Kayden in shock. There was no fluctuation of mana, no sign of a spell, nothing at all. Even Atlas and Han couldn''t understand what had just happened. It made no sense to any mage''s perception¡ªKayden had merely spoken, and that man had vanished.


    While everyone was struggling to process what had happened¡­


    Thoth was laughing in a fit of madness among the gods. The attention on Kayden''s feat was completely redirected toward him, laughing like an idiot. All the peak gods understood what had happened, but they were unable to put it into words or describe it properly. There was some key knowledge they lacked¡ªexcept for Thoth.


    "Congratulations, Kayden Heart."


    Thoth began clapping.


    "For the first time in infinite eras and lifetimes, I was wrong in a prediction."


    The god had understood perfectly what had happened, and that realization sent him into a frenzy of euphoria.


    Thoth was not an ordinary god. In fact, he was¡ªjust as he was also a common mortal, an ordinary woman, an average father, a regular husband, a simple son, and a normal teacher. Thoth was simply everything and more, yet at the same time, he was nothing.


    He was the most advanced god in the knowledge of the paths, and he understood exactly what Kayden had done. It was not a simple action. In all his predictions, Kayden should not have been capable of achieving this. There was simply no timeline, in any destiny, where he could have performed this feat. And yet, here he was.


    "I offer half of my empire for him."


    The gods who understood Kayden''s potential began to bid for his presence. They could not turn this into a universal war¡ªcases like this were too rare. sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I invoke a divine auction," Thoth murmured, and time stopped for all mortals. Only the gods continued their thoughts. The skies opened with golden clouds, ready to receive the words of the divine.


    A divine auction was very simple. The representative of the heavens merely needed to call for it, and the gods would begin offering things to the heavens. The one who placed the highest bid would be rewarded, while the rest would retain their offerings but would no longer have a say in the matter.


    "I offer a child of destiny for him."


    One of the gods made his bid immediately, and the others nearly laughed. A child of destiny was a mage on the level of Achilles¡ªit was truly an insane offer. But it still did not even come close to Kayden''s true value.


    "I offer a fundamental law stone of the highest level."


    Now the offers were getting truly terrifying. A stone of this caliber could teach the law even to a monkey with two neurons. It was one of those treasures capable of putting an organization on the map of the gods without any difficulty.

 Chapter 621 621: The Monarch[11]

    "I offer a thousand high-level universes." This was also another insane offer. The number of universes was practically infinite, but high-level ones were rare and controlled by major organizations.


    The bids continued as the gods fought among themselves like madmen, but only the greatest were truly competing. Those near the top couldn''t even understand the reasons behind what was happening. They understood that Kayden was special, but at this level?


    It made no sense in anyone''s mind. This was just a medium-level universe, and not even a decent one¡ªit was isolated, with no contact with the outside. It was so weak that even the presence of gods had been banned to allow it to develop. This only happened in weak worlds.


    "This mage must not have his fate altered by the gods." The heavens ended the matter without giving any justification. The gods simply had to accept what was happening.


    Many times, the gods had their wishes denied¡ªwhether for obvious reasons or unknown ones, as was the case now. This was so common that none of them said anything while the clouds disappeared and time resumed its normal flow.


    "Master, what was that?" Han was the first to come out of his stupor and try to understand what had happened. The power required to kill a mage of that level was insignificant to Han and Atlas, but the way it happened was completely inexplicable¡ªand that was terrifying.


    Kayden did not respond immediately. He was looking at his own hand, lost in thought. This action¡­ it was so easy and yet so complex. For the first time in a long while, he didn''t know exactly how strong he was or how superior he was compared to his peers.


    All his life, Kayden knew he was a genius. He had always been above average. Even in his earliest days, he was ahead of the curve. But there had always been an average, something to compare against. Now, there was nothing. Kayden couldn''t place a single mage on his level.


    It wasn''t a difference in strength or talent anymore, Kayden had taken a step that he had never even heard of in another wizard, it wasn''t just strength, it was something far beyond that, Kayden had taken an insane leap in quality that had no logical explanation.


    "Han and Atlas, do you want to have one last fight before I intervene?" Kayden''s voice, his calm tone¡ªeverything about it was strange yet terrifying. Most mages present could not comprehend it.


    Who exactly was Kayden? That was the question every mortal was asking at that moment. Everyone knew the legends, but none of them truly believed they weren''t just myths. Moreover, the high-level mages had grown up without Kayden''s shadow in the universe. They had never witnessed half of his deeds.


    Meanwhile, those who had seen everything from the beginning were trying to determine whether this was a bluff¡ªwhether this confidence really meant something more than it appeared. In the end, none of them could come to a solid conclusion. Kayden was perhaps the greatest enigma in this universe. He had always been present in all major events¡ªwhether as a main participant or as a secondary figure¡ªbut he had always been in the middle of everything.


    The greatest names in this universe were his disciples. Kayden had literally created mages that even the gods couldn''t produce. He had made geniuses who defied common laws and reached levels incomprehensible to most. Not only that, but he had performed feats that defied conventional logic.


    "I would like to face Han again. Our last battle did not push me to my limit." Atlas spoke before anyone else could say anything. Kayden nodded without much thought.


    "Wait for the flows to end. Let the weaker ones fight and show their full potential." Kayden was looking at nothing. The strongest among them perfectly understood his words¡ªit was about not disrupting the flow of mortal beings.


    The battles of the weaker mages were boring to watch, but they still served as inspiration for others. Not only that, but they were a stepping stone, a way for organizations to gain visibility and recruit them. With a simple act of humility, Kayden had just changed the destiny of an insane number of people.


    "I also recommend that the weaker among you fight. The first place is no longer your concern," Kayden said without looking at the mages around him. "Try to show your best so you can be recruited by good organizations."


    The way Kayden was acting was almost like an old man passing down knowledge from a long life. His words were strange, but they were exactly what was happening. None of them had any chance against Han or Atlas, making their presence here a complete waste.


    "Felix, I think a good opponent for you is Matheus." Kayden began organizing the pairs based on the laws and strengths he had observed. Some simply ignored his words, but a large portion listened to his advice¡ªincluding Felix and Matheus.


    The false god didn''t need to listen to anything Kayden said, but there was something in his soul that compelled him. The respect Kayden had earned in their minds was no small thing. In fact, it was immense. The fear of Kayden was greater than his resentment, but that was something he would never admit.


    Everything seemed to be heading perfectly toward a controlled battle where everyone could gain some recognition¡ªor at least, that''s how it appeared to most mages.


    For those who remained still...


    "Spectators may stay outside." Kayden said these words in a normal tone, and suddenly, ten people disappeared from the environment as if they had never existed. Ten high-level mages were erased in the blink of an eye, their presences completely wiped from existence without any explanation. Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "You''re not using mana for your attacks," Han murmured.


    Kayden nodded.


    "This is the same as what the gods do." The realization made Han''s expression tighten and left the mages around them in doubt.


    Kayden was doing the same thing as a god... while still being a mortal.

 Chapter 622 622: The monarch[12]

    "This is something I''ve learned over time," Kayden didn''t go into much detail, but what he did began to spread among mortals and gods alike. It didn''t take long for his name to resonate trillions of times.


    "Who was this mage?""Where did someone like this come from?""How strong is he really?""Is he a god?"


    Dozens of trillions of questions were asked in just a few seconds. Every mouth and every eye turned to Kayden, completely ignoring everything else in the arena. In the end, all the main mages were around him; the rest were mere extras.


    Kayden''s actions were something entirely unique in the unfolding of the universe. Like Atlas and Han, they were things that had never been done before¡ªnot only in this universe but in any other. These three were truly special mages.


    "I don''t want to fight Atlas. He''s not a challenge for me." Han looked at Kayden and spoke a single sentence.


    It wasn''t hard for anyone to understand what Han was implying. He wanted to fight his master¡ªthe first and only one to teach him¡ªthe mage of legends, the oldest monster this universe had knowledge of.


    Of all the people present, the first to react was Atlas. He couldn''t remember the last time he had been underestimated like this. He admitted that he had been in a difficult situation before, but at no point had he truly felt like he would lose. Unfortunately for him, his fight did not align with his thoughts.


    "Your words are very bold," Atlas was not a mage who would take such an insult lightly. Without another word, he turned against Han and began attacking. In the blink of an eye, his soul extended across an insane region.


    All the mages in that area were instantly killed, their souls crushed until the very end of their lives. None of the mages who had gathered around Kayden survived. Not even Matheus was able to do anything. In the end, Atlas''s own brother was one of the mages who had grown the least throughout this period.


    A false god was not a common entity¡ªit was literally a mortal with the combat capabilities of a god. This was something completely insane, but also one of the races that needed the most time to develop, requiring at least dozens of trillions of years to reach their true potential.


    Across an unfathomable expanse, only Atlas and Han remained¡ªthe only mages capable of fighting on this level. Han was already in his godly form without a moment''s hesitation. Not only that, but a slash from his spear automatically shot toward Atlas, devastating everything in its path. The sight of two beings of this magnitude clashing again made the blood of the spectators boil.


    The excitement of the moment made them forget the mage who had caused all of this¡ªthe one who had been the catalyst for the entire confrontation. Kayden stood calmly where it all began, merely watching the battle, completely unshaken. He looked like a ghost amid the event.


    Nothing could touch Kayden''s body. He had no mana barriers or any active protection, yet no attack or residual energy could reach him. Everything simply seemed to hit his body and vanish as if it had never existed. Entire planets were thrown toward him and simply disappeared in a mysterious manner.


    Even the gods couldn''t fully understand what was happening. The way Kayden was carrying out his actions was strange and inexplicable to most. Only a few gods at the very top could grasp it, but even then, it did not make them comfortable. What they saw was not something a mortal should be capable of. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    In just a few seconds of battle between Han and Atlas, a massive portion of the arena had been destroyed. Kayden, however, was pondering something unrelated to the fight itself. He remembered clearly that there had once been gods in this universe¡ªnot only that, but they frequently fought among themselves. Of course, their battles were never to the death. Gods, after all, were rare beings to come into existence.


    The gods of that era did not possess even half the strength that these two were demonstrating now. Being able to destroy a portion of the universe with every movement was not common, nor was it something Kayden had ever heard of. This raised questions in his mind.


    Were the two before him superior to gods, or were the gods weaker than he had thought? Kayden wasn''t sure, but he believed in a third possibility: the universe itself had become weaker. Consequently, this allowed mages within it to go far beyond what should have been possible in terms of manipulation capabilities. But he suspected other factors were involved as well.


    The collision between Atlas and Han was a spectacle of absolute destruction. Each strike bent space, dismantled galaxies, and erased stars before their light could escape. Atlas''s soul consumed everything in its path, while Han''s spear tore through existence itself. The impact distorted time, creating fissures in the fabric of the universe.


    The spectators were caught between ecstasy and terror. Even the supreme mages felt insignificant before this confrontation. The gods watched in silence, unable to look away. This was not just a battle¡ªit was an event capable of reshaping reality itself.


    The destruction spared nothing. In mere minutes, every mage in the arena had been eradicated, unable to withstand the overwhelming pressure of the battle. Entire civilizations, scattered across the ten universes of the arena, were reduced to dust before they could even realize what was happening.


    Not even the most powerful had time to react. No barrier was sufficient, no ability was strong enough. The mere existence of Atlas and Han in combat was a death sentence for all living beings around them.


    Unlike the first fight, there was no hesitation on either side in this one. They were two fights of pure strength and technique. There were no probing attacks or anything like that. They were just attacks aimed at finishing the fight as quickly as possible, without any sympathy or middle ground.

 Chapter 623 623: The Monarch[13]

    There were no tests of strength or probing; both were going all out from the start, and it didn''t take long for Atlas to once again fall behind in the exchange of blows. Like it or not, he was facing a god. Even though it was a weakened god, it was still a god.


    Gods were unique beings across all universes. Each one of them was a mortal who had managed to elevate their existence to an absolute peak. Even the weakest gods, who had ascended only through resources that transcended common sense, were still gods capable of surpassing all mortals. There was something about divinity that mortals would never be able to grasp.


    "They are strong, but in the end, they are just mortals," Matheus appeared beside Kayden, completely surprising him. Kayden had thought Matheus had been expelled from the arena like all the others.


    The first time Kayden encountered the mages of this generation, he thought Matheus was the strongest. After witnessing the power of Han and Atlas, he had placed this mage below the two. But it seemed he had been mistaken somewhere in his conclusions.


    "I thought you had been expelled," Kayden commented without dwelling too much on his thoughts. The truth was that he wasn''t entirely focused on these battles, nor was he paying much attention to the mages around him.


    Matheus was also a god. He hadn''t had time to develop, and something was extremely wrong with this whole situation. But Kayden didn''t care in the slightest. His instincts were screaming at him that the battle of his life was approaching. Kayden''s fingers were itching; his soul was recognizing something above him.


    Kayden had reached the apex of his life. His entire journey, every second of his existence, every moment had led him to be there, fulfilling all his functions. He could feel the threads of fate bending toward him, like a tangled ball of yarn. Everything was converging on his existence.


    Kayden''s entire body was tingling. The instincts he had developed over thousands of centuries were all activated at this moment. In truth, it wasn''t Kayden''s body that was tingling¡ªit was his soul. Kayden could feel it expanding and struggling to begin. He needed it; it was a physical necessity to carry out his next actions. S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I just faked it very well," Matheus fell silent after that. He and Kayden were simply waiting, each lost in their own thoughts.


    The fight between the two continued at high speed, each attack devastating entire stretches of universes with ease. Each slash could split a universe in two as if it were nothing. Meanwhile, Atlas''s soul continued devouring all existence with infinite hunger, trying to advance against Han like a raging beast.


    There was no rest or hesitation. Atlas''s soul continued without the slightest pause, his laws spinning perfectly to support his will. It was an insane amount of power for a mortal to possess. Without a doubt, he would be the most powerful mage in the entire universe¡ªif not for someone like Han, who was practically cheating.


    Time in this arena had been completely destroyed. Its flow had become a joke, with massive areas of accelerated or decelerated time. There simply were no laws capable of prevailing in the entire arena. The fundamental laws were desperately trying to regain control, but they couldn''t continue after facing the power of the two combatants.


    A single slash from Han was enough to turn the law of balance and dozens of other laws into a chaotic mess, searching for a way to restore the universe. Kayden was simply amazed by the sensation of destruction. He felt closer to something¡ªcloser with every passing second. For the first time in infinite time, he was feeling anxious.


    "How strong have you truly become?" Matheus asked after a few minutes. The battle was already slowly reaching a victorious conclusion for Han.


    "I ask you the same question, with those five perfect fundamental laws in your soul."


    Kayden''s words made Matheus look at him in shock. With just one sentence, Kayden revealed what he had spent billions of years building.


    "The god who sponsored me was special. He made me stay silent during this entire period," Matheus began to speak without the slightest fear.


    "It was Thoth, wasn''t it?" Kayden could only think of one mage capable of such intricate schemes. In the end, it seemed Kayden had found Thoth''s final bet for this universe¡ªand once again, it wasn''t him.


    Kayden didn''t understand Thoth''s actions, but he was capable of understanding what was happening at this moment. Kayden would never be something Thoth would place all his bets on. Every time, Kayden defied all possibilities. It simply wasn''t worth it to invest entirely in him.


    Matheus was a more certain gamble. He was a mage with insane potential who could go much farther than any ordinary mage in this universe. Kayden, on the other hand, was always a wild bet, always defying all probabilities. No matter how much Thoth calculated, he was never able to see the next step that would put Kayden on the same level as a mage with greater potential.


    "Yes, Thoth has helped me since the moment I became a true False God." Kayden nodded. "I know I have become something above everyone in this universe. But what about you? My first master shouldn''t disappoint me."


    Kayden sighed.


    "I think I will be able to offer a true spectacle."


    After that, the two exchanged no more words. In the end, they were old acquaintances, and that was all. Their lives were no longer merely connected.


    The battle between Han and Atlas was reaching its end. Atlas''s soul was being increasingly torn apart, while Han''s power seemed to be growing by the second. It was amusing that a battle of this level had allowed both to grow. Atlas''s soul was shredded but was expanding further into the universe. The problem was that Han took two steps forward for every step Atlas managed to take.

 Chapter 624 624: The monarch[14]

    The arena had been completely destroyed at this point. All civilizations and forms of life were wiped out without the slightest mercy. They hadn''t even participated in this battle, yet they paid the price for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.Atlas... began gathering divine mana into a strange spell, his entire soul embracing the divine mana present in the arena. He pulled it in the same way a man drinks water in a desert¡ªthirsty, with an unrelenting will to overcome his current situation. Kayden watched in surprise as Atlas''s soul began to become almost transparent.Kayden didn''t need much time to understand what was happening. Atlas was breaking one of the fundamental rules of this event¡ªgods were not allowed to participate. But Atlas was simply elevating himself to the divine level in the middle of this battle, without any fear. The way he was doing it was also something new to everyone.Atlas was forcing his ascension to the divine level. He was ignoring the clouds in the sky and continuing to pour divine mana into his soul. Kayden could see his laws fighting against all external influence and absorbing that mana in its entirety. The technique Atlas was using was completely unique.The mage had isolated his soul from the rest of the universe and was elevating himself without the permission of the universe. Against everyone''s expectations, Han was simply observing. Perhaps he would lose this battle when Atlas ascended, but it would undoubtedly be an infinitely superior experience to what he was currently experiencing.The light from Atlas''s ascension began to spread, and his soul, once torn apart, now seemed to merge with the deepest layers of the universe. The space around him trembled, unable to support the overwhelming force of this process. Mages and gods who were still observing the confrontation felt the change¡ªAtlas was about to surpass the boundary that separated the mortal from the divine.Han smiled slightly. His expression didn''t show surprise, but rather a genuine interest. His body radiated a presence that defied the concept of absolute power. Even in the face of Atlas''s imminent ascension, he did not move. It was as if he was waiting for something else, a decisive moment that had not yet arrived."Come to your master," Atlas''s voice echoed as the mana from outside the arena began to flow toward him.Crack!The sound of the arena''s barrier breaking forcefully was phenomenal. The spectators jumped up, frightened and at the same time euphoric. They had never seen anything like it. The barrier was something raised by the gods, but it was broken as if it were nothing at all.Kayden immediately understood why the barrier had been easily broken. It had been made to withstand attacks from the inside, not from the outside. Especially considering that any mage who tried such madness would quickly be killed by the mages organizing the event. But...The divine mana from the entire universe was responding to Atlas''s call. The barrier was completely shattered when everything gathered into a single point and entered. There was no resistance as the amount of divine mana reached an unimaginable level. Kayden found it amusing how mana monsters were emerging.They were a little stronger and more intelligent than those of common mana since birth. Kayden had tested them in a previous period, and they were truly superior. But their main difference was their ability to reach higher levels than those who came from normal mana.The problem was that the amount of divine mana in the entire universe was absurdly low, and it wasn''t even enough to bring a single mana monster close to the seventh realm. This was a grotesque difference because Kayden had thousands in the seventh and eighth realms accompanying him at this moment.In just a few minutes, Atlas had accumulated the mana of the entire universe into his soul. Kayden had never seen so much mana around him before. In the past, it would have made him shiver and feel cold, but today, even this sight didn''t faze him. He had reached a point where he understood that the amount of mana no longer mattered in high-level battles.Atlas knew this too. The difference was that he was using all this mana to turn his soul into something divine without it being able to do anything other than accept its new state. Every centimeter of Atlas''s soul was condensed into just a few meters around him, and all the divine mana was placed there as well.This was one of the most insane events the universe had ever witnessed. It was almost at the same level as Yan, who had been able to reverse time in search of a single soul. The difference was that Yan had prepared for what seemed like an infinite amount of time and had been extremely assisted by circumstances and some people who knew too many secrets about this universe.Atlas''s soul was completely engulfed by the amount of divine mana. He must have been feeling one of the greatest pains of his entire existence. What he was doing was practically going against the basic laws of his soul and this universe, but even so, he continued without fear. This was the moment of his life, and he knew it. Everyone knew it. It was the peak of the peak, ascending to divinity at this moment.The pressure on Atlas was indescribable. His spiritual body trembled, his laws twisted, and parts of his soul were continually undone and remade in a desperate cycle of reconstruction. Every fragment that condensed into its new form resisted the transformation, trying to return to its mortal state. But Atlas did not yield; his determination was absolute. He advanced like a condemned man walking toward the forge of a god, carrying a burden that no one had ever attempted to bear.The universe itself seemed to reject him. The energy around him oscillated violently, and small fragments of reality were destroyed and remade at random, as if the fabric of the cosmos was trying to find a way to deny his ascension. Even the watching gods felt a chill. Atlas wasn''t just becoming a deity; he was rewriting the very process of ascension. If he managed to survive this, he wouldn''t be an ordinary god¡ªhe would be one of the legendary gods who defied the desires of the heavens.


    Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 625 625: The Monarch[15]

    It only took a few minutes under that pressure for Atlas''s soul to become entirely divine. It completely changed, elevating to the level of a god. Atlas''s aura shifted; everything about the boy was different. The process was so smooth that it made it seem easy to the other spectators.


    What few were able to observe was Atlas''s proficiency in manipulating his soul. The boy could see his soul and adjust every inch of it as it was being created. Only two magicians in the universe were capable of this: one of them was Kayden, and the other was the Emperor of the Universe.


    Atlas had become a god, but at the same time, he still had not fully become one. He still needed to go through something different, a process that all gods, even those who became gods in controversial and meaningless ways, were forced to undergo. The heavens needed to test Atlas to prove he was worthy of being a god.


    "Don''t worry, the heavens will only test me when I want it." Atlas''s voice drew Han''s full attention to him. This was an extremely shocking piece of information, but at the same time, not so much.


    Atlas''s power grew instantly, and his soul is now at this level. His soul easily spanned five universes across the entire arena. At that moment, he was omnipresent. He had truly reached a new level, something no mortal should ever step into. Han felt completely pressured.


    Even though he was carrying a divine soul, Han was not a god. This difference meant a lot. He could only perceive the universe as a mortal. It seemed trivial, but Atlas was able to see the laws of the universe shifting before him. He could feel the flow of the laws without even understanding their basics. He could even see space-time itself.


    Atlas was capable of manipulating reality without using mana. With a single move, he could cut time throughout his entire soul, even without knowing almost anything about the law of time. This was the primary difference between a god and a mortal¡ªtwo worlds of strength difference, but the key difference was the quality.


    A mortal could have the same strength as a god. This was no secret. Many mortals in history reached a level of strength like Atlas, magicians able to match gods in raw power. But the difference was in the quality. A god would use 1/100th of the effort a mortal would to perform the same movement.


    At that moment, Atlas''s mind was at another level. He didn''t take even ten seconds to fully understand his new state and all his new abilities. This allowed him to elevate his skills to the divine level without difficulty.


    "If I were a god, you wouldn''t be able to match me," Han commented, and... the heavens opened to him, surprising everyone witnessing it. S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Become a god and truly entertain me," Atlas smiled and waited just as his opponent had done earlier.


    Strange clouds filled the entire universe. Every inch of the universe was able to see this ascension. This was not merely a magician leveling up; it was an authentic ten-ray magician reaching divinity. This was a unique event that the universe had never witnessed in all its existence.


    The clouds parted, revealing nine thrones. Even after the gods had reached the peak of divine status, they still felt insignificant in comparison to these chairs. Each one possessed a presence that... simply couldn''t be compared. It was like nine centers of the universe, so to speak. There were no words to express the feeling of seeing them.


    The nine thrones floated in the cosmic void, but their presence was like black holes, devouring any trace of sanity that tried to approach. They did not merely radiate power, but an overwhelming pressure on the mind, as if each one carried an absolute, insurmountable concept. Magicians and gods who dared to stare at them for too long felt their consciousness unraveling, as if their thoughts themselves were unworthy of existing before these entities. They were not just thrones for gods; they were pillars that held something greater than reality itself. The mere sight of their presence forced those around to confront their insignificance because before them, there was no room for doubt, pride, or even identity.


    "The heavens recognize your capability, Han Heart, the first tenth-ray magician to attempt divinity," a voice echoed in the minds of all those listening. "No rays beyond the tenth are needed. Prove yourself a legend, or die as one." The voice stopped, and...


    The universe trembled as a spell emerged from the space between the new thrones. It was a lightning bolt made entirely of laws. Kayden couldn''t tear his eyes away from it. It was a force beyond anything he had ever witnessed in his entire life. There were no words to describe how perfect that law was. It was dozens of times more refined than a high-level, perfect fundamental law. Kayden couldn''t even compare it to his current knowledge.


    The lightning bolt was a living law itself, but even so, it was capable of destroying an innumerablenumbert of galaxies simply with its presence. Weaker mortals couldn''t even look at that spell unless protected by the heavens themselves. The law descended upon Han with all its might.


    The lightning descended like an inevitable sentence, and before it even touched its target, its mere presence shattered the sanity of the spectators. Magicians and gods felt their thoughts fragmenting, as if something greater than reality itself was pressing down on them. Trying to comprehend that power was futile¡ªminds trembled, memories scrambled, and for a moment, many didn''t even know who they were. It was an absolute abyss between what it meant to be mortal and what it meant to touch the divine.


    The laws of the universe trembled, twisting like a body in convulsion. Space folded into impossible shapes, while time became inconsistent. Some regions collapsed into vacuums of nonsense, while others became storms of pure energy. The very cosmos resisted, trying to prevent its structure from being broken by that divine force.


    Author''s note: I was supposed to post it on Friday after arriving from a meeting with friends where we were going to drink lightly, in the end it wasn''t light and I ended up stopping almost a thousand kilometers from home after riding in a private jet, but anyway, this arc is getting long already, are you liking the way it is or should I have made it shorter?

 Chapter 626 626: The Monarch[16]

    The process of ascending to divinity was not something that should affect the space around it; it was a process primarily based on laws without any other interference. However, against tenth-realm mages, this rule ceased to exist simply because the lightning was capable of affecting fundamental laws.


    Fundamental laws were the foundation of any universe; they defined how things should be done and how they would behave in any situation exposed by the universe. The fundamental laws regulated everything, from the smallest event like the flap of a butterfly''s wings to the birth of a child through the river of souls.


    This lightning simply defied all of that. The universe was thrown into chaos, unlike anything even during the time when the Ice Emperor attacked with his dragon. All laws had turned into a meaningless mess, struggling to grasp onto any remnant of order.


    Han smiled and¡­


    "Truly a genius." Kayden smiled as he saw Han''s soul fuse completely with the divine soul. There was no longer any difference between the two souls. There was probably some escape point somewhere, but that was something only Han could see.


    The boy''s aura reached its peak. He was the personification of a god in all his glory and capability. His mortal soul was no longer able to contain his power, and not even the universe could prevent his actions. Han had fully become a god at this moment.


    Even so, that lightning was not something ordinary; it was far beyond a mere test to become a god. It was the trial for a ten-lightning mage to ascend to godhood. This was a unique event even across all universes. Ten-lightning mages were rare¡ªextremely rare¡ªand those capable of becoming gods were an absolute minority among them.


    Han swung his spear and¡­


    A fundamental law was released from his attack against the lightning. It was simply two laws facing each other. While the first was something artificial, created by the heavens, Han''s law was one of soul and fear, honed through an infinite number of cycles. The clash between the two attacks shook the universe.


    The arena was completely devoid of matter across its entire span of ten universes. There were simply no more laws or anything of the sort. Everything had been wiped from existence as if it were absolutely nothing. The remnants of the battle still managed to leak outside the arena through holes in the barrier. If not for the gods'' protection, the outer universe would have been erased from existence.


    The impact was instantaneous. The divine lightning collided with Han''s law as if two absolute truths were trying to cancel each other out. The space around them twisted into impossible folds, and the vacuums previously created became mere remnants of the impending destruction. Light and darkness became indistinguishable for a moment, giving way to a brute force that could not be measured by any known system.


    Han''s law roared in its existence, fear and soul intertwined into an unbreakable concept forged through countless eras. The divine lightning, on the other hand, existed without limitation, created by the universe itself as a force of final judgment.


    All timelines converged at this moment. If Han failed, his soul would be erased in an instant. Either he ascended to the divine level, or he would be completely eradicated from the battle. There was no middle ground¡ªit was an all-in gamble. He began executing millions of cuts at high speed.


    Each cut built upon the previous one. It was a pure law attack capable of matching the force of the lightning. The battle was a clash of two irreconcilable forces, but¡­ in the end, Han''s strength slowly started to overcome the lightning. With each passing second, he pushed the lightning back toward the heavens.


    The problem was his body. Han was using a power far beyond what he should have been capable of. His soul was already showing clear signs of failure, and his body was completely shattered, with dozens of missing pieces. To make matters worse, his spear was breaking apart entirely. Han was being defeated not by his opponent but by his own overwhelming strength. Yet, he continued.


    "This is it." Han smiled as he launched the last attack he was capable of and watched as his soul completely separated from the divine soul. In the end, he had only been able to reach his peak for a few seconds, but it was an insane display. S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    If Han had used this level of power against Atlas¡­ there wouldn''t even have been a way for Atlas to defend against the first cut. In the end, the result of this tournament became obvious to everyone. Han was the champion of mortals; his strength was simply countless times beyond Atlas''s. There was no competition between them.


    "Congratulations, Han Heart, for becoming the first and only ten-lightning god of this universe," the voice of the heavens resounded in the minds of all living beings. "Once this event is over, you will be placed in another universe¡ªone befitting your glory."


    With one of the most insane events this universe had ever witnessed, Han was elevated to divine rank. Atlas would have to face something similar once he opened himself to the gaze of the heavens. His confidence did not waver; he knew he was ready for whatever came next. Whether he liked it or not, he was also a ten-lightning mage.


    "Truly impressive," Matheus said. But there was no fear in his tone. In the end, he was also at this level, a true anomaly among all others.


    "Now we can finally fight on the same level." Han smiled and looked at Atlas. The two did not respond when another presence began to grow. It seemed that the surprises in this group were far from over.


    Matheus appeared clapping his hands as his aura continued to grow, the universe seemed to resonate around him in a strange way, the laws bowed to his presence without him taking any action, this was the same as what happened with the gods.

 Chapter 627 627: The Monarch Kayden Heart[1]

    His aura did not stop and quickly surpassed that of a common god. The laws continued toward him, and the universe began to press down on him. His race was an anomaly, an enigma that should not exist, something that made no sense at all. He was both a god and not a god at the same time. But Matheus was not a mortal either¡ªhe was simply a mistake.


    This was one of the greatest problems Yan had ever faced in his life. How could he become a god when the universe itself did not know what he was? The common means would not work for him. In the end, he opted for an easier path, a truth that very few knew. One of those few at this moment was Matheus.


    "So, are we three?" Han commented. "Our universe truly produced some unique beings."


    This was something all the gods had to agree on.


    Finding individuals at the level of Han, Atlas, and Matheus was not insane, but finding three people of this same level in a single universe was completely abnormal. Not only that, but the number of ten-ray mages present was also abnormally high. The average strength and all other factors were ridiculously high compared to regular universes.


    None of the gods could fully understand the reason why. Only Thoth had suspicions about two individuals.


    The first was Achilles, a mage who should not have been there and who was capable of manipulating the threads of fate in a way no mortal should be able to. His actions closely resembled those of the gods.


    The difference was that the gods could not do such things without suffering the consequences of the heavens. They could not freely kill or influence the lives of high-level mortals. All of this rendered them incapable of performing half of the actions Achilles had. The threads of fate that Achilles had altered were beyond comprehension.


    The other factor was Kayden. This mage was simply an anomaly among anomalies. It was not his strength that influenced the universe¡ªfar from it. Kayden had always been a secondary figure in all the major events of this universe. He had never led any organization or built an empire. He had never even formed a family. And yet, every action he took had an insane impact on the universe''s grand scheme.


    Every decision Kayden made resulted in an unprecedented shift in the universe. From the moment he was revealed to the world, Kayden never stopped, pushing forward like a madman, conquering space without hesitation. His trajectory never had highs and lows¡ªjust a straight line from start to finish. Every one of his disciples became an insane mage.


    Kayden was the master of Atlas, the first emperor of this universe. Kayden was the master of Matheus, the first true false god of this universe. Kayden was the master of Han, the first ten-ray god of this universe. Each of them stood at the absolute peak of magical power.


    A universe producing even a single mage of this caliber would already be a cause for celebration¡ªbut three? That was utterly insane. And all of them had a strong connection to Kayden, a man who had no support since birth, someone who grew up alone through the crooked paths of the universe.


    "Are you two going to team up against me?" Han smiled. He was not afraid at all. In the end, this was merely the final battle of their lives in this universe.


    "I still have my honor," Atlas replied.


    And then¡­ Matheus attacked both of them at the same time, converting an insane portion of the universe into mana for his own use.


    Matheus'' conversion area was so vast that the universe itself employed the law of balance to restore it at high speed. This caused even more mana to flow toward him. But this alone would not be enough to place him on the same level as the other two. Like it or not, Matheus was facing gods.


    The key to his power lay in his ability to convert the laws of the universe¡­ into divine mana.


    This action shocked all the gods and mages with privileged knowledge. Matheus'' race was extremely special and also well-known¡ªmages banned from most universes because of the destruction they caused in battle, as well as their abnormally high power.


    Matheus manipulated almost the same amount of mana that Atlas had used for ascension in mere seconds, revealing a combat capability far beyond what the previous battle had suggested. But even this was not enough to make either of the two mages falter. S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Han simply used a single cut. At this moment, he was capable of keeping his mortal soul and divine soul fully unified. He easily possessed the power of two gods, but¡­ it was obvious to those who thought deeply that this was not enough to sustain him in this fight.


    This mage''s combat style required time and souls to grow stronger. At this moment, he possessed only a single divine soul. Against mortals, this was insane, but against other gods, it was merely above average¡ªnothing truly spectacular.


    Atlas was the opposite. His soul had ascended to a new level in mere moments after his ascension process. His combat capability had multiplied thousands of times without even needing to train his new power. At this point, his soul extended across entire universes.


    He simply devoured all the mana Matheus had sent and erased it with the pressure of his soul. Both defended themselves well and understood the situation¡ªthis was going to be a free-for-all, where each mage was free to attack anyone at any time while also needing to remain vigilant for incoming attacks.


    The three forces clashed with absurd violence¡ªHan swung his spear in a slashing strike that split Matheus'' conversion field in half, but the fragmented energy was instantly reformed into a whirlwind of mana that spun unpredictably, consuming the surrounding space. Atlas reacted by expanding his soul, crushing the distortions before they could spread, but Matheus used this interference to channel even more power, transforming the very laws of the universe into fuel for his next attack.


    There was nothing left in the arena. Not even a single grain of dust survived the battle that had lasted only a few seconds between these mages. The universe beyond had already plunged into chaos due to the sheer amount of mana they had pulled, but remnants of civilizations still remained, protected by the gods.


    "Finally," Kayden spread his arms and took a deep breath. The anxiety in his mind vanished. The itch in his fingers was gone.


    He was ready.

 Chapter 628 628: The Monarch Kayden Heart[2]

    The battle between the mages came to a complete halt when they sensed something abnormal around them. The laws of the universe were calming down, mana was calm, divine mana was calm, the laws of time and space were calm¡ªeverything was settling, like the sound of the wind across a vast plain.


    At the center of this tranquility, Kayden floated in absolute silence, emitting no aura whatsoever, yet everything seemed to shift toward him. Mana subtly moved in his direction as if recognizing something greater, the laws of the universe trembled slightly upon touching him, and even time itself seemed hesitant around him. There was neither light nor shadow nearby, only a void that respected him. The distant mages and gods noticed this simultaneously¡ªit wasn''t Kayden revealing himself; it was the universe bowing, as if something was profoundly wrong.


    No god and no mage could perceive anything in Kayden. His aura was that of a common ninth-realm mage, his presence so minuscule that no one even remembered him. Of course, Kayden had taken some insane actions in recent moments, but the level of the battle had risen so much that no one thought of him anymore.


    Kayden''s aura began to grow, and with every passing moment, the universe calmed even further. It made no sense. Even the laws of chaos were being forced to lower their existence and acknowledge the new order. While everyone was focused on this, Thoth was clapping and laughing like a madman.


    "What is he doing?" Hypnos asked, and all the gods turned their attention to Thoth. The confusion on their faces was completely visible.


    "He''s engraving his name into history," Thoth replied, answering no further questions, his attention fully locked on Kayden.


    The universe''s tranquility continued, and slowly, more and more mana began to gather around Kayden. At first, it was merely a normal amount for a ninth-realm mage. Then, it surpassed mortal limits as if it were nothing. Within minutes, the mana of entire universes began converging toward him. It made no sense¡ªKayden was summoning more mana than should even exist.


    The question in everyone''s mind was: Where was all this mana coming from? It simply didn''t add up. Even if Kayden converted the entire arena and the universe outside, at most, he would be able to collect mana from eleven universes. Yet, within a matter of dozens of minutes, there was mana from dozens of universes.


    The sheer volume of mana should have given rise to high-level mana monsters¡ªeighth-realm mana beasts should have been appearing as if they were nothing more than common mages scattered across the universe. But there was nothing. Not even signs of space cracking under the sheer weight of so much mana.


    Everything was calm.


    At least, that''s what common mages could feel. But some mages were special, even among tenth-realm mages¡ªthese were known as Monarchs. They were not calm at all. Quite the opposite¡ªtheir hearts pounded as if this were the end of the world. It felt as if Kayden were an archangel descending to declare the end of existence, and they couldn''t even explain why they felt that way.


    The gods were another group of beings capable of sensing that something was terribly wrong. This tranquility was unnatural¡ªnot something that should exist naturally, nor something that could be forcibly imposed. The calmness of controlling so many laws and concepts wasn''t even normal among the divine; it was something only a rare few had the talent¡ªor the audacity¡ªto attempt.


    The calmness reached an absolute peak¡ªthere was no wind, no sound, not even the faintest vibration of space adjusting to the presence of such immense mana. Time itself seemed hesitant, unable to flow naturally, while light, once merely a witness to the battle, now stood still, with no refraction, no distortion. The laws of the universe had not just quieted; they seemed to have been erased momentarily, as if they had never existed. Mages and gods felt the deep void of this forced serenity, a silence so absolute that their own minds struggled to comprehend it.


    A crown appeared atop Kayden''s head. It exuded a fundamental law¡ªbut that interpretation was incorrect. It wasn''t a fundamental law. In fact, it wasn''t even a common law. It was, indeed, a law, yet no god or mage could recognize it.


    "I am the Monarch," Kayden''s voice shattered the silence. What had once been only mana and an eerily still expanse suddenly turned into absolute chaos.


    The laws returned like unrestrained storms, colliding against one another in pure havoc. Time and space tangled into impossible knots, while concepts like gravity and fire emerged in distorted forms, fused with incomprehensible ideas. Some laws gained their own will; others simply ceased to exist for brief moments, making reality itself waver as if on the brink of collapse.


    Mana erupted in fury, no longer flowing but roaring. It filled everything, overflowing from the void itself, compressing into unstable shapes that flickered between the real and the impossible. High-level mages felt their bodies tremble, unable to withstand that presence. Everything revolved around Kayden, as if he were the center of a newly forming universe.


    "Show yourself. Your existence ends today."


    Kayden''s voice was like a divine decree¡ªan absolute command given to an inferior being. There were no requests, no doubts; it was a mandatory summons.


    All the mana, all the laws¡ªeverything withdrew from the absolute chaos and returned to an eerie calm. Slowly, everything gathered together¡ªthe mana, the laws¡ªeverything returned to normal, placed back in its rightful order, as if Kayden had never done anything at all.


    A different soul appeared before Kayden. It was not the soul of a mortal, nor was it the soul of a god. It was something entirely different from anything these mages had ever seen in their lives. Of all the gods, only those at the absolute peak, capable of creating entire universes at will, understood the significance of this being.


    "A mere mortal dares to rise against the universe?"


    The voice of the universe echoed in the minds of all.


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