1446 Reasons

"B-Brother-in-law, is it okay? Giving your natal treasure is…wait, you aren't even a Palarian, how is that even your natal treasure?"

In the space of a few words, Sonya went from depression to surprise and confusion.

Varian shrugged with a wicked grin on his face. "It's not."

With a snap of his fingers, the space above his palm distorted and a red bladed sword appeared.

With just one look, he discerned what had changed.

"That old bastard…fuck."

Varian cursed under his breath with an angry smile. The old fogey was a tough nut to crack and never revealed his secrets.

Due to the important events taking up his focus, he didn't spend more time on the prisoner either.

To think that he'd cause trouble in such an unexpected manner.

But it's not that complicated.

Prince Merov and the old fellow were connected. Xeola and Prince Merov were connected.

"What now?" Sarah's voice was solemn and a bit apprehensive. "Two teleportations and we're pretty much visible to everyone. Even if we're away from Robert, that mad dog will find us in no time."

"Get as strong as possible, as soon as possible." Inhaling a sharp breath, he said with a determined gaze. "There's no other way."

For the next hour, the frozen desert they teleported to experienced a mini-apocalypse.

Mountains were razed to the ground, frozen lakes were blasted into pieces and the bright colors of blood stained the white canvas.

The stubborn snow melted from the sheer heat borne from the clashes that spread to every corner.

Boom!

Thud!

A white bear-like creature collapsed onto its knees and died a quiet death.

Varian grabbed his mangled left arm from its razor-like teeth and attached it back to his bloodied shoulder. In a few minutes, his arm fully healed back.

If he wasn't drenched in purple, yellow and green blood from head to toe, he'd have looked like a normal person again.

'Status'

[Paragon Body : 7,500/10,000 (+2500)

Death Giant : 7,500/10,000 (+2500)

Ignis : 3500/10,000 (+1500)

Order : 5,500/10,000. (+250)

Chaos : 5,500/10,000. (+250)

Space : 4,000/10,000. (+1500)

Time : 4,000/10,000. (+1500)

<These powers aren't enough to push your strength to the likes of your present enemies>]

While there had been considerable improvement in the paths of Sage Avenue, the rest were straight up depressing.

Yet, if he revealed his progress to anyone with common sense, they'd start beating up Varian for his outrageous words.

It hadn't even been two days since they entered Cradle and he'd already progressed greatly.

Even the paths of Order and Chaos, which saw the lowest improvement, improved by 2.5%.

At that pace, he could go from the bottom of rank 7 to the peak in a mere 40 days. Forget 40 months, even 40 years was just too quick for such progression.

The timeline of centuries was compressed to mere weeks.

'Fuck, this is too slow!'

Varian sighed in frustration.

While he was in that emotional state, Xeola Truz sat on the top of a mountain with murderous eyes.

The pristine silver ring on her hand was charred black and there's a fist-sized wound on her chest from which her beating heart was visible.

"That bastard…fucking liar!"

The sword or at least something on it exploded at an unexpected moment, catching her off guard.

The old man's soul which had considerably healed became the victim of the sudden attack and suffered some serious injuries.

Because Xeola was overenthusiastic and even slavish, she used up most of the healing treasures on the old man's soul right after finding him in hopes of pleasing him.

It spectacularly backfired.

The few healing treasures she had could still help but it'd take a while until he got fully healed.

'I don't care if he's angry with me…but if he's angry with my grandma and doesn't extend her life anymore…'

Xeola's cold and murderous eyes turned teary and weak.

She wasn't always like this. In her childhood, the girl named Xeola was as normal as one would expect from a noble family.

But her parents both faced a sudden and brutal death. Before they died, they suffered a lot of torture under the hands of the brutal Jai powerhouses.

The young Xeola couldn't understand why they were never returning. What she did know was that her family had gone from big to small, leaving only her grandma and grandpa.

By the time she turned a hundred, however, her grandpa too died. Xeola was more crushed by his death than even her parents.

Since then, she vowed to do whatever in her power to never seperate from her one and only relative, her grandmother Seraphina.

For that sole reason, she worked execptionally hard and risked her life countless times.

She loved her grandmother with all her heart. But that's where her emotions seemed to end. To the outsiders, she was as cold and ruthless she could be.

Due to her opportunistic nature and decisive actions, she grew rapidly.

By all accounts, she was a monster genius of any era. But the era she lived in belonged to a woman who surpassed the definition of monsters.

When Isadora died, Xeola decided not to draw any spotlight. If her grandma's enemies learned she had such a genius granddaughter, they might also target her.

If Xeola had an option to swap her genius with a normal life where her grandma could live a long life, she would do it without hesitation.

But alas, the people who envied her had no idea about her state.

She tried her best to heal her grandma. But what the old lady suffered from wasn't a normal depletion of vitality. It's a fundamental damage that distorted her divine path itself.

Precious elixirs proved useless. The best healers in the neighborhood couldn't help.

When the world seemed to decry her fate to loneliness in the end, a mysterious person appeared.

A powerhouse at the very peak of rank 9. He wasn't as strong as the King even back then. But there's one thing that made him way more important.

He had taken that step!

He's on the final leap before entering the divine ranks!

The powerhouse promised to extend the lifespan of her one and only grandmother.

In exchange, she'd have to help him in his endeavor.

The endeavor of...Fortune Anvil.