He jumped to his feet.
His body felt light and much more powerful.
His control had improved drastically. At the same time, his senses’ range had reached unprecedented heights.
If Neo focused, he could sense the blades of grass as far as thousands of kilometers.
He noticed Ava staring at him stiffly.
“Is something wrong?”
She looked at the barrier that shouldn’t have been broken by even early Exalted, then back to Neo.
Swallowing her doubts, she shook her head.
“Let’s return.”
Neo nodded.
He used Water and Darkness to clean the filth that had been released by his body during the breakthrough and followed after Ava.
“I’m sorry about the barrier. I didn’t think it would break.”
“Don’t worry about it. It has a self-restoration function.”
Ava felt relieved that she hadn’t told Neo to breakthrough at the Yasagori Pond.
Had she done that, the Pond might’ve disappeared by now.
They reached the home in a few hours.
The journey could’ve been much shorter; however, they took their time, as according to Ava, there were powerful monsters lurking in the forest, and attracting their attention was dangerous.
Kane was at the porch.
He was waiting for them, half-worried, half-expectant.
“Good job,” he said, sensing the endless power emanating from Neo. “You should be able to fight a weak Grade 3 Exalted now.”
“Is that so?” Neo smiled bitterly.
Kane’s words smashed the delusion of invincibility he was feeling.
On the other hand, Ava was petrified.
Neo had jumped from being able to fight Grade 5-Grade 4 Exalted to Grade 3 Exalted in a single day.
According to her master, Neo was a Paragon.
It made no sense how a single breakthrough of his could rival the breakthroughs of Exalted.
“Come inside. I’ve prepared lunch. The others should be here in a few minutes too.”
…
Four Hours Earlier
Olivia and Nicolas surveyed the forest.
They guarded the perimeter with utmost vigilance, making sure Percival’s breakthrough was not interrupted.
“What are you planning to do?” Nicolas suddenly asked.
Olivia was surprised. It was rare for Nicolas to initiate a conversation.
“About what?”
“The boy.”
“…”
Nicolas kept his eyes on the surroundings as he opened his mouth.
“If he became an Executioner, it’s sufficient to say Sphinx made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.
“It’s likely that it was to save the Tyrant who was injured during the attack on the Temple of Void.
“Even if the offer wasn’t about it, the boy must be trying to save the Tyrant,” Nicolas said.
“I’m not going to do anything,” Olivia replied bluntly.
“Why?”
“He is the prince of the Underworld, and my daughter is there.”
“The Reapers of Death are impartial. Even if the boy wants to harm you, he cannot do anything against your daughter.”
“I would rather not take risks.”
All their knowledge about the Underworld came from rumors, myths, and claims of the Temple of Death.
It was said the Angels of Death were impartial, but was it really true?
Olivia had too much on the line to take the gamble.
“Good to know that,” Nicolas said curtly, eliciting a surprise from Olivia.
“You are okay with that…? I thought you would want to eliminate Neo, especially because of his bloodline.”
“I’m not young anymore. I would rather not fight if I can.” Nicolas shook his head and stepped away from Olivia. “I can sense a powerful monster coming for Percival from that direction. I will go look into it.”
Before he could take another step, Olivia asked again.
“Will you really not attack Neo?”
“I won’t. Even if I wanted to, I can’t do it. The dragon protecting him is beyond what these old bones can handle.”
…
Present
The group ate dinner.
Percival and his group returned late.
They had encountered a powerful Grade 3 Exalted-rank monster, which took them time to subdue.
After dinner, they sat on the porch.
“I’m a Paragon now. So, when can we start the training?” Percival asked eagerly.
“From the morning,” Kane replied with a wave of his hand. “The birds don’t wake up until the sun rises.”
“…?”
His cryptic words confused the group.
However, they kept their silence.
They would know tomorrow what Kane was talking about. There was no need for haste.
Instead of sleeping, Neo meditated.
He created Essence and learned the Concealment Spell Kane had given him.
It was not hard to learn.
However, learning it by the time he met the Grand Expedition would be a challenge.
The morning came quickly.
As the first light of dawn touched the forest, Kane led Neo and Percival through the trees.
The air was cool, and the ground was covered in fallen leaves. Birds chirped in the distance, and a soft breeze rustled the branches.
After traveling for hours, they stopped in front of a long fence that stretched far in both directions.
A large wooden sign was nailed to the entrance.
[Do not cross the fence unless you can outrun the ostriches.]
Neo and Percival stared at the sign.
“Ostrich?” Percival asked, confused. “You guys have those here?”
“Yeah,” Kane replied simply.
“What is this place?”
“A farm,” Kane said. “Each side of the fence is 1.5 kilometers long.
“There’s a single Golden Apple tree in the middle of the farm. That tree is why I created this farm.”
“…Just one tree?”
“Golden Apples are rare and hard to grow. Having even one tree that bears fruits is extremely lucky as is.”
Percival nodded, looking a little unsure.
He had heard many terrifying stories about the First Executioner, but the man standing before him seemed surprisingly normal.
Neo, however, wasn’t paying attention to the conversation.
His eyes scanned the farm.
Something felt strange.
“What’s our goal here?” he asked.
“Bring me a Golden Apple—one each. I want to make an apple tart.” Kane smirked.
“…That’s our training?”
“Yeah.” Kane shrugged. “Pretty easy, right? I used to send Ava to do it for me.”
Neo turned his gaze to the farm.
The tree was only 1.5 kilometers away, combining the distance they need to cover in total.
For someone like them, who could cross over a hundred kilometers in a single step, this task was easy.
Too easy.
‘I have a bad feeling about this,’ Neo thought.