At the table, Lily, Almond, and Natalia sat, each having a slightly different expression, but in the center was astonishment as they read the X-rank Trait Lily shared with them.
[Infernus Fons Intimacy]
-Rank: X
-Description: The inferno of love that no darkness can shade. This is the blaze that burns the brightest in all of existence. Nothing can douse it, nothing can bind it. This is the ever-growing blaze that no one can suppress, be it gods or devils, dreams or curses, but all of this is only…if its dearest amber embracing it remains.
-Effect:
—> In the presence of Almond, you are immune to all controlling-type effects that immobilize you in any way or affect your mind.
—> You and Almond can freely transfer vitality to each other as long as you two are in each other’s sight.
-Note:
—> #### is eager to see your adventure of life and witness how this blaze grows with your dearest after you emerge from the trial of the lower world.
“Separation makes love strong, eh? I thought this was bullshit, but damn.”
Lily smiled.
Almond looked at Lily and sighed. He disappeared without notice for almost two months, and everyone assumed he was in some kind of danger or in trouble.
But Lily poured her everything into believing him and making sure she would be ready to go with him the next time he left. Her most intense wish and desire was to stand by his side forever, and he knew she felt like she was behind.
It was eating her up, and in that state, when she knew Almond would return, and return even stronger than ever, she feared, and then she burned…brighter than ever, without caring about any kind of pain, all for a single, singularly focused desire.
“I can’t imagine what you went through, Lily. You worked so hard, and you went into the Black Will Temple for so long. And I know you must have suffered a lot…all for a single desire to be with me.”
Almond’s hand caressed her cheek. One could see immense happiness and pride as they welled up.
Lily smiled as she grabbed his hand. “When you told me about your chakra point training, I knew you were a monster, a demon, someone far more awesome than you let on. I know that pain, but you opened so many points through that method.”
Almond laughed, “I had a D-rank class, a weak-ass body, and no one behind me. The Labyrinth was only my chance to rise.”
“I can only imagine a demon possessing you when you were opening those chakra points yourself like that…”
“I wanted to reach that level,” Lily’s eyes blazed. “And I wanted to be with you forever.”
Almond grinned, “We are going to have so much now. The world above is big and awesome, so let’s finish the tutorial and go there.”
“You mean the place where this censored person is?” Natalia said as she looked at the #### on the screen. “Cuz someone’s eager’s to see you two fuck around and then find out who this person is. Ain’t that why she got this note at the end?”
“…”
“…”
Lily and Almond wryly smiled.
“Well, I went up, but I am not too sure about this person. In the first place, there are two layers above us. We are in the first. I went to the second layer, but the main ones that control Grimworld Tutorials are in the third layer.”
“And the second layer…well, it doesn’t have Grimworld Tutorial, but I don’t know much about it yet. After arriving in a random world of mine, I was sent to an Academy that existed in a different dimension. By the way, this academy is like the best one in the second layer, and you can access its facilities until you die.”
“And dying is common there, but so is reviving, though there are different types of resurrections. But you need the backing of an organization or any kind of force headed by an Immortal Emperor to do that.”
Lily and Natalia attentively listened in curiosity as Almond told them about what he experienced there for ten minutes.
After that, more people arrived. Marcus, Maya, Mira, and Emma.
Almond met with them, and their emotions became whack. Mira and Emma even teared up.
These four usually trained here with Natalia since they joined GAA and also lived here. Emma also transferred to GAA from Steelheart Guild after paying for the contract nullification. The demands were steep, but Emma was strong and deadly, the deadliest after Lily in Grim Breakers.
The other Grim Breakers occasionally visited, but they were mostly occupied with other activities and training from the organizations and families behind them.
The group talked for a bit, but Almond didn’t have time.
“You all begin your training, I do mine,” Almond said with a smile. “I have to return to the above world.”
“What?!”
Everyone was startled.
Lily frowned and said, “Then take me with you.”
Almond chuckled, “My bad. I am not going there physically. Actually, this is my clone. I made it after learning an ability. It’s my own flesh and blood molded with a vitality source. So I am just going to send my consciousness back to my real body.”
“Interesting.” Natalia blinked, amazed. “Wait, but why are you going there?”
“I have to create an ability up there so I can create a skill. I need my full focus and mental power for that, but most of my mental power is being used elsewhere, and whatever I am using here is the limit of Epic-rank,” Almond smiled.
“You told us many things, but you didn’t tell us how strong you are up there.” Lily narrowed her eyes. “Tell me.”
“Well, I am at peak Mortal-rank, which all of our ranks here up to peak Mythical-rank. All my stats are 10,000 right now.”
“Dayum,” Marcus was tongue-tied.
“Woah!”
“But that’s just the start,” Almond laughed. “Once we go up there, I’ll get as many as possible in the academy. How long everyone survives depends on the individual. I haven’t gotten my first quest from the academy, but the academy gives quests, and if you fail to complete them, you usually die, or even if you survive, you are expelled. Forever.”
“But why is the academy so important?” Maya curiously asked.
“The facilities there are immensely useful, and they have resources to make one strong faster and stably, given that we managed to continuously survive in there.”
Almond reserved his smile and added with a slightly serious tone, “Start training for now and gather everyone tomorrow at 10 in the morning. There’s going to be a big operation, and every one strong with high elemental mastery needs to contribute to making it happen faster.”
“You all stopped at the peak of Platinum rank, but we still have the last three days of the Labyrinth remaining this month. The next war event is most important because it’s going to be the last one, and if we all want to live, we have to give our everything.”
“Roger. We’ll gather everyone here tomorrow,” Natalia said as she saluted. “Off you go. We’ll also start training.”
Lily kissed Almond and smiled, “Good luck. Finish your project fast and come back.”
“See you soon,” Almond grinned.