Three weeks passed since Sirius left Bright Village.
His body was now adapted to the mid stage. He was trying to concentrate his energy into a part of his body, but for now, no sign of success could be seen.
He simply had no idea how to do it.
But Sirius wasn't worried at all. All beings reach at least the late stage of their realm if they have enough time. Sirius, who reached it in two months, would gain some enlightenment about how to reach it in less than one more month, and he'd probably take another two months to actually reach it.
Sirius didn't think he would hit any wall before reaching the peak stage. His first real wall would probably be reaching the Completion realm.
Nothing happened since the attack from the bandits. There was still that strange warning about a war, but Sirius didn't think much about it. There was no war in the Ash Realm after all.
The human race was too strong.
And the Imperial Family was so powerful that no one could even dare to defy them.
Why would any war happen?
At some point during the journey, Sirius started to hate sleeping. He had somehow accepted the fact that he killed, but each time he slept, only blood and skulls were in his dreams. The bandits he had killed were talking to him, cursing him for taking their lives.
So Sirius limited
his sleep to once per week. He was a little tired, yet his body still felt fine.
He was in the mid stage, after all. Sleep was less important.
He asked Marn how long someone at the Completion realm could go without sleeping, and if he knew about higher realms. He said that at the Completion realm, one had to sleep one night every three weeks to a month, depending on the stage. At the Echo of Resolve, one had to sleep once every three to six months. From Crimson Step onward, sleep became irrelevant and useless.
In fact, from Crimson Step, one began to elevate their authority, slightly becoming something greater than human. Lifespan increased, sleep and food became useless, and abilities were truly beyond what a human could do.
There were, in fact, three kinds of authority: human, lord, and king. These authorities corresponded to the three Boundaries.
So even if a Crimson Step or a Pinnacle had greater authority, they were still human. That only changed at the Lord Boundary.
Marn even said he had heard that at a certain realm within the Lord Boundary, one could kill lesser beings just by existing—their presence alone was too far above, killing others simply by being near them.
It was still a rumor, and Sirius had no idea if it was true or not. He would discover it when he ascended to the Lord Boundary.
But if it was true... it would be terrifying—to think that someone could be strong enough to kill living beings just because they existed. And that wouldn't even be a King, but a Lord?
Time continued to pass. Sirius, Saelira, Caelan and Aurelia were discussing happily as old friends who had just reunited after a long time. They were quite sad that Sirius would leave them in Sephoria City, but that couldn't be helped.
Only one week remained before he left them. He spent most of his time with them.
He would truly miss them when they separated.
Friendship was truly something beautiful. When you're with your friends, everything is fun and time passes too fast.
They would definitely gather again in the future, as soon as possible.
Sirius looked at the Virelys family's chest. It was the size of his fist, purple with a red gem at the center. Two blades pointed toward the heavens, each blade with a diamond inside.
The chest was magnificent.
Sirius didn't know how exactly valuable that chest was, but the diamond alone was enough to show its rarity.
A single diamond piece had the same value as one million copper coins. That was enough for an entire village to live comfortably for a hundred years.
The gap between the poor and the nobles was so wide…
And finally, a month passed.
The convoy, though slow, continued to advance—a vast wheat field to the left, and a wide forest to the right, filled with birds singing in its trees.
Time passed extremely fast. I still remember when Darin talked to me about the convoy, or when I first met Marn. Now, the journey was soon ending.
Marn said Sephoria City was close. We would soon reach it.
They were all sad because I was leaving, especially Aurelia, who stayed with me for the last two days. She still hadn't accepted that I would leave.
I, too, was sad to leave them, but I had to go to Sephoria City—follow my grandfather's path, become a mercenary, reach higher realms. Then, I would be able to stand beside them as a dear friend.
It was dawn. The sun was slowly rising, and the orange light reflected over everything.
Seventeen people were happily chatting—all either friends or acquaintances. No one hated anyone. Even Sirius, the red-haired child, had stopped being hated after a while.
The calm wind gently ruffled the hair of the red-haired young man. His black and golden hanfu was shining under the light as he gazed into the horizon.
The sight was so beautiful that the young man couldn't turn away.
Another young man, with black hair and eyes, was talking with him, laughing about something insignificant, teasing Sirius with his sister. The black-haired young man loved shipping the two.
He loved even more seeing their reactions. Both always blushed at his jokes, embarrassed. His sister always hit him on the shoulder, while the red-haired boy pinched his cheek.
They were happily talking under the dawn light, as if nothing would ever separate them.
Then, the eyes of the red-haired young man widened.
Something was in sight.
A wall.
A giant wall, behind which a city stood.
Sephoria City was in sight.