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The rain around him moved as he commanded, his skills more responsive and powerful than before. The battle was swift but explosive as he cut down his foe, taking only a few minor wounds in return.

“Better,” he muttered to himself as a figure appeared beside him.

“You are about as powerful as you were when we battled,” the former Monarch of Blood, Iskar, said.

Miyamoto nodded, understanding this himself. He had still not regained all of his levels but needed seven more in total… but that he was already as strong as back then now was proof of how much his skills had grown. Not only in rarities, but there was a conceptual improvement.

Right now, he was in his winter. The period where he was weakened and regaining what he had lost. After he had regained all his levels, he knew that he would be able to invoke Springtime Advent once more, and the second time the consequences would be less. Not because the Transcendence had become less powerful, but because he would have become closer to what he was always meant to be.

Springtime Advent was not only about claiming power. It was about claiming a different him, a different Sword Saint that had walked the path closest to his heart. A selfish swordsman who only had the rain and his blade as company.

Perhaps one day, the skill would cease to matter… but for now, it was not only a power-up but a guide to his future. A guide to power.

As for why Iskar was here… the divine artifact had already imprinted upon the Miyamoto. While he could leave it back at home, he had chosen to wear it, as more effects had begun to appear. The constant whispers of embracing the Gift of Sanguine and ascending to a higher form were tiring, but the temptation was useless towards him.

Because he had already seen his ideal, and that was not one where the rain was red.

Three months after the Treasure Hunt, he had finally managed to get back most of what he had lost and knew that the last seven levels would be simple. The levels lost were evenly split among his class, profession, and race, and every time he gained a level, it would be to all three at once. Luckily, the method in which he gained them did not matter either. He could do it by painting, fighting, or merely meditating on the blade.

“Let us continue,” he said as he placed the blade inside his new scabbard and took out a paintbrush. He placed it upon the canvas that was the horizon as he painted himself standing at the edge of it. Miyamoto finished it by infusing power as the rain around him functioned as ink.

Iskar disappeared, and the Sword Saint stepped through the plane of water that was his painting as he appeared more than a thousand kilometers away. He was out of a lot of mana but otherwise ready to begin yet another hunt.

The Malefic Viper leaned back in the chair as he sat within the room, enjoying the backdrop of cogs and wheels turning in infinite patterns. All of it was one well-oiled machine that both existed and was merely a metaphysical representation of the concept of time.

Beside him sat a man, smiling as he also observed. He had orange hair, glasses, and a clean-shaven face. He wore a well-fitted black suit, but there were a few stains on the sleeves from his work. Vilastromoz doubted the man would be considered handsome by human standards as his face was rather long and angular and didn’t have many of those traditionally handsome traits.

Not that Aeon had ever cared much about how others perceived him.

“Have you made a decision yet?” the Viper asked his old friend. The two of them had observed the Sword Saint ever since Vilastromoz had his talk with Jake back then nearly three months ago. He hadn’t heard much of the Heretic since then besides some curses in his name, proof he was no doubt busy.

Aeon turned to him, his face relatively neutral. “He is incredibly powerful for a D-grade… within the epitome of talent, no doubt. His Transcendence also appears rather impressive as it clearly also impacts his future growth positively, turning the backlash into opportunity. Moreover, above both these, his sheer skill with a sword and his constant growth still stand. Personality-wise there are no complaints either.”

“But?” Vilastromoz asked. There was always a but.

“Tell me, Vilas, what is the most impressive thing about him in your eyes?” Aeon asked.

“His mentality and approach to life,” the Viper asked without hesitation. The Sword Saint was powerful because of many things, but the things that made him powerful were his mentality and life approach. Jake was a lot the same. You could give someone else his Bloodline and talent in energy manipulation, but without his sheer will and mind, the Bloodline could as easily become a pure hindrance no more useful than an inborn Sin curse.

“Yes… partly,” Aeon answered. “This man has truly died once… or at least been reborn. Do you believe that?”

Vilastromoz frowned. “Are you sure? Usually, you can feel it, and I am not sure how he would have? Without Yggdrasil or some sublime natural treasure, it shouldn’t be possible.”

“I would agree… which is why I am uncertain if he ever truly died or was merely reborn. A rebirth without death, if you may. A conceptual one. Moreover… this did not happen after the integration of the ninety-third universe… but many decades before. It is a mystery, likely even to himself.”

The Viper couldn’t help but break into a smile as he understood. “A mystery you aim to explore?”

Aeon returned his smile as he had clearly made up his mind. “Yes.”

Jake had a bucket list of things to do, and do the bucket list he did. From the beginning, he grinded out potions like a madman. He did a bit of preliminary research on making uncommon potions but found it still above his ability to do, as the common-rarity ones spanned quite a lot. So common ones he made.

He spaced out his activities between doing everything on the list to avoid it getting too samey. Whenever he got bored making potions, he researched curse rituals a bit, and whenever that got boring, he made a few elixirs and chugged those down.

Lillian had handed him the entire storage she had purchased from the System Store while it was available and had given him quite the haul. He should be good for a while when it came to all basic ingredients for most potions and low-ranking elixirs.

Sylphie had ended up sleeping for nearly an entire week straight, and on the third day, her parents had returned and were both incredibly worried. Jake had to convince them both she had just eaten something good and was digesting it, which seemed to calm them down a little. Especially when he promised to look after her.

The lab was also soon getting done, but there was still work to do, and while they no doubt could have it all done, Jake didn’t want to make Hank focus more resources than necessary on it. Many other construction projects were underway that also needed the best builders Haven had to offer, so Jake couldn’t monopolize them.

When Sylphie had finally woken up, Jake felt nothing different from her at first, but she told him that the wind was slightly louder. Jake wasn’t sure what exactly she meant, but she said it was a good thing, so it was all good.

She had taken off into the forest and, last he heard, managed to join up with her parents to spend some quality time together by murdering beasts.

Speaking of quality time… the teleportation circle to Skyggen had been established, and Jake had his family visit him. They had only come by for a day and hadn’t met anyone besides Jake and Miranda. His parents had come with Caleb, with Maja staying home to take care of the kid, and while it was only brief, as they knew Jake was busy, but it had been pleasant. Sultan was also a happy man as his trade network had just expanded significantly. Oh, and Jake could now get dark-affinity stuff more easily.

Anyway, back on the alchemy front, Jake had crafted around a thousand potions in total of different variants. Around four hundred mana potions, four hundred health potions, and two hundred stamina potions. Of those thousand, he had given out the majority to others or sold them using Sultan. However, he had naturally kept the best for himself for a rainy day.

For elixirs, he actually hadn’t needed that many. Jake had just crafted thirty-three Perception elixirs giving five each, and that had gotten him capped again. Not to scoff at it, thirty-three times five was still 165 extra Perception before all bonuses.

On the research front, Jake was beginning to have a good idea of what he wanted to do with the curse ritual. He had to admit, he had put off finding out more about the Pollendust Bee Queen ritual to focus more on the Sin weapon. He found that the curse ritual wouldn’t be that difficult; it would just be taxing. He had considered using the legendary Carbonic Catalyst, but all research indicated that would be unnecessary or even mess something up.

In fact, the primary thing he needed for the ritual wasn’t about the ritual itself but to keep himself calm during it. For that, he had prepared a certain something: A vat full of Serene Water. This was only to get him through the hardest part, as he was becoming more and more sure that keeping his head cool throughout it all would be impossible.

His research had been done through a variety of means. He had, of course, Sagacity, but the knowledge gained from that was often a little iffy and ultra-specified in certain areas. It could randomly contain some insights into creating an artificial sun, but not a whiff on how to grow a plant.

Thus he had used his other mean method: all the books. One had to remember, the first thing Jake found during the Treasure Hunt was a bookshelf with valuable books. With Reika, he had also raided an alchemy lab full of even more books, and just generally throughout the Hunt, he had found books in Vaults. He also still had the ones from the challenge dungeon. All of this is to say that Jake actually had a lot of books to put in the library down in his alchemy lab and had made sure that was one of the first areas to be finished.

When it came to growing a garden, Jake had put some feelers out, but Haven didn’t really have any alchemists of note. Miranda had taken it upon herself to try and recruit some, and it had been just in time as she had received a message from Saya and Skyggen a month and a half ago that Reika was about to head out. She would bring with her alchemists of the Noboru clan, which should fix Jake’s gardening issue. So now he just had to wait for them to arrive. Oh, and about the artificial sun… he hadn’t even begun to do anything regarding that. Too much to do.

Anyway, all of this had naturally led to one more thing. Levels.

*’DING!’ Profession: [Heretic-Chosen Alchemist of the Malefic Viper] has reached level 132 - Stat points allocated, +10 Free Points*

…

*’DING!’ Profession: [Heretic-Chosen Alchemist of the Malefic Viper] has reached level 138 - Stat points allocated, +10 Free Points*

Seven profession levels in two months and three weeks didn’t seem like a lot, and for Jake, it honestly wasn’t. But this time had been primarily spent doing research and crafting products he had made many times before, so it wasn’t unexpected.

And with profession levels also come the sweet race levels.

*’DING!’ Race: [Human (D)] has reached level 138 - Stat points allocated, +15 Free Points*

*’DING!’ Race: [Human (D)] has reached level 139 - Stat points allocated, +15 Free Points*

*’DING!’ Race: [Human (D)] has reached level 140 - Stat points allocated, +15 Free Points*

Now, level 140 did not normally mean anything special besides being a multiplicative of ten, and humans liked that kind of thing, but for Jake, it meant it was time to get a new coat and a new stabby-tool.

[Nightprowler Armor (Ancient)] – Armor created from the hide of a powerful C-tier Nightprowler variant. The hide is incredibly sturdy against physical and magical attacks, especially piercing and slashing blows. Due to the Records left by the Nightprowler, any time you are not under direct sunlight, activate the passive ability Shadow Prowl, increasing all effects of stealth-based abilities as shadows hide you. The armor also slowly repairs while not under direct sunlight. Enchantments: +300 Perception, +250 Agility, +100 Endurance. Shadow Prowl. Shadow Mend.Requirements: lvl 140+ in any humanoid race

[Bloodfeast Dagger (Ancient)] – A dagger created from the bones of slain enemies of Yalsten, all melded together to create a ceremonial dagger typically only used during the Bloodfeast, a sacred tradition among vampires. Once Yalsten fell, the dagger was left in the pool of the last Bloodfeast, forgotten. The dagger is extremely sharp, and any cut made with it will result in increased bleeding. Blood spilled using this dagger will have its properties improved. Enchantments: BloodfeastRequirements: lvl 140+ in any humanoid race.

He had put the armor on right away and sold his old one back to Sultan. As for the dagger, he didn’t replace anything due to the broken Nanoblade. He had handed it to Arnold long ago but told the man to only try and do something with it if he had the time.

With the new armor on, he had instantly felt the effects. It felt like everything was slightly darker around him while underground in his lab, and instinctively he was aware that he was more hidden. Jake wasn’t the most sneaky sort usually, but he did believe this armor would help, and to be honest… it did give him some ideas related to his own Expert Stealth skill.

He had also naturally put on the bracers he had bought.

[Bracers of Cursed Thorns (Epic)] – A pair of bracers formed from the vine of an unknown but highly toxic plant-like lifeform by a vampire from Yalsten long ago. Allows the user to infuse the bracers with mana, releasing highly toxic thorns that can be used in melee or ejected as projectiles. Due to the remnant connection with the main body during the crafting process of these bracers, a curse was placed upon them to release spikes that penetrate into the wearer’s body, injecting the highly toxic poison.Enchantment: +250 Vitality, +150 Agility. Cursed Thorns.Requirements: lvl 135+ in any humanoid race

These were cursed, sure, but it wasn’t the kind of curse whispering stuff into your ears, just the sort that liked to stab your forearms.

Jake decided this would have to be good enough as he didn’t want to grind five more levels to put on his new legguards. Jake had upgraded his bracers, bow, quiver, dagger, and chest armor already through the Auction, and he believed that had to be enough.

However, he did discover one thing… he didn’t get full value from his new chest armor. He was missing some Agility, and he quickly noticed the reason: that darn equipment cap. Villy had told him long ago how one could only have an extra 20% in a single stat. Jake had luckily saved up 115 Free Points and decided to put it into Agility as, quite frankly, he needed the stat.

This still meant he was missing 42 Agility, but he would eventually get those just by leveling. This is to say, it didn’t really matter much.

With that… Jake had more or less done everything he felt like he needed to do before heading out. He had a plan for the curse ritual in place, the items gathered to make it happen, and delaying it any longer felt unnecessary.

Now, the Chimera weapon still had a level requirement of 150, but Jake felt things should be fine. In fact, he was certain the requirements would change to Soulbound anyway. Heck, it was probably at least somewhat beneficial as Jake couldn’t bind it, meaning the curse had to overcome the weapon by itself. This would consume a tiny bit of the energy, but with the sheer quantity within the Root, that didn’t matter at all.

On that day, Jake left Haven as he headed towards the place he had chosen to name the Insect Plains. Not the most artistic or original name, but he wasn’t known to do that anyway. A part of him considered doing his first order of business in Haven but ultimately decided it was probably safer to do somewhere far away lest it resulted in a battle.

As Jake took off, he spoke to the mask on his face.

“Soon,” he promised, something he had done several times during these last two months and three weeks or so.

Jake felt an emotion of recognition from the King within but also a sense of annoyance and impatience like he had just been left on a cliffhanger.