As time rolled on, Reisen Riou's tech prowess hit absurd levels. Studying ancient civilizations and soaking up Raiden Ei's demon-god knowledge let him cram a mid-tier supercomputer into a 15cm sphere.
His real leap was in micro-tech. He could handcraft 0.2nm chips—stuff cutting-edge labs from his past life couldn't touch.
Ei, his mentor, wasn't slacking either. She could manipulate double-digit picometer forces. No Geo for chip-making, but her forging hit triple-digit picometers. Paired with pinpoint Electro control, her latest Musou Shadowblade Machine matched a supercomputer from his old world.
Over the next few days, Traveler Aether faced tougher foes—big shots with Visions.
Good news: he cracked Inazuma's power hierarchy. Hatamoto generals were common enemies. Word was some daimyo joined, but Aether didn't cross them.
He got his life energy certified at the One System, Ten Thousand Minds Machine.
Weird result: LV74/LV90+. Two levels, part of his energy sealed by some unknown force.
The Machine confirmed the seal.
But that's later. In his last fight, Aether nearly lost. He faced a semi-famous dojo master.
The guy's life energy was lower—LV72+—but not by much. Swordsmanship at LV7+.
A rare Geo Vision holder, his Dominator Body and shields were a nightmare.
If not for the dojo master's thick martial spirit—thinking a timeout win was dishonorable and peer-mocked—he'd have conceded before the sandglass ran out.
Aether almost got knocked out by time.
He'd faced similar fighters before, so he knew the playbook, earning the master's respect. Otherwise…
Aether's lack of a faction hurt. Big groups could snag an invite, hole up at home or work, and auto-advance.
Shogunate allies blocked challengers, citing "official duties."
The Invite Defense Battles wrapped up fast.
But Inazuma City got even more crowded with samurai and scholars—not competitors, just spectators.
The next round was simpler: 1,000 invite-holders tackled unique quizzes. Topics ranged from humanities to elegance to artifacts.
Aether lost it over Inazuma history questions. Who studies that? Who knows the 33rd Tenryou Commissioner's name?
He barely scraped through, sweating as he checked the questions.
"Hold up, have I seen this guy?" Aether squinted at a fast-answering competitor.
The guy arrived way later but blazed through, handing his paper to the examiner without checking and bolting.
"Looks familiar, but… whatever." The examiner's death glare made Aether sheepishly review his answers before submitting.
This round was straightforward—no hidden rules.
But Aether's score just barely passed.
"I'm really not cut out for this," he muttered, scratching his head while scanning the leaderboard, spotting his name near the bottom.
His single-character name stood out in Inazuma, where multi-character names dominated, especially among scholarly types.
Finding the shortest name was easy.
"Next round's fine. I'll just bulldoze through."
…
"What? Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's dead? How? Wasn't she just missing?" Reisen gaped at Ei.
"I've known for a while, but it's confirmed now. The Dendro Archon's seat passed to a new god, Lesser Lord Kusanali," Ei said, rubbing her chin.
"The Akademiya just informed the other Archons," Ei continued. "They say Kusanali's power isn't strong, so to guard against Khaenri'ahns, Sumeru needs Inazuma's military support."
Reisen scratched his head, thinking of the Khaenri'ahn immortality curse, and shrugged.
"Ei, what's your take? I'm fine either way."
Per Dottore, Sumeru's sages were slacking hard. Recent Inazuma students in Sumeru brought back nothing valuable, and Sumeru's dispatched scholars were half-assed.
They'd promised elite researchers, but sent duds.
The only standout was Dottore, an SSR exiled by the Akademiya.
Sumeru was getting lazier with Inazuma. If not for diplomacy, Inazuma would've cut funding to Sumeru's academies.
If Sumeru had honored past agreements with top scholars, Inazuma would've sent troops no question.
But now? Sumeru broke trust, so Inazuma was like, "Send troops? Maybe, maybe not."
If Sumeru thought mentioning Khaenri'ah would force Inazuma's hand, they were dreaming.
Reisen's old grudge was with Khaenri'ah's royalty and elite.
They're all dead now. Those in Sumeru were mid-tier at best, with a few higher-ups, mostly commoners, border nobles, and troops.
Unless they provoked Inazuma again, Reisen had no beef.