Chapter 105: Breakthroughs upon Breakthroughs
A month after Elton and Christy's synchronized cultivation, Christy finally came out of seclusion.
"I've returned from my seclusion, guys!! Have I missed anything?" asked Christy as the White Star Radiance group was once again having a meetup after hearing about her breakthrough.
"Wow, Christy, you've broken through! Congratulations to you!" said one of Christy's friends. The others, including Sofia, also gave her praise while also feeling admiration as they were still stuck at the peak of Silver Tier 5.
"Sister Christy beat me to it! Congrats!" excitedly exclaimed Shayleaf.
"Congratulations, Christy. I will certainly be joining you very soon," said Erica with a determined expression on her face.
"Hehehe, Congratulations, Christy! I'm fired up now! I will certainly also become a Gold Tier 2 soon. I will race you to it, Erica," shouted a fired-up Ramiro.
"Hmph, do your best then," retorted Erica.
Almost everyone in the group gave all of their heartfelt congratulations as Christy walked around with a proud expression on her face.
"Hehehe, Thank you all for your congratulatory remarks! Ahem… Gege?" replied Christy as she smiled and then looked at Elton expectantly.
Elton looked at her with a warm smile on his face as he walked up to her and spoke in a soft tone. "Congratulations on your advancement into the Gold Tier 2 stage."
Christy couldn't help herself but jump in glee and wrapped her arms around Elton's neck in a hug, and naturally, Elton caught her as he wrapped his arms around her waist. Erica and Shayleaf, upon seeing this, grumbled a bit as a fire suddenly lit up in their eyes! This man was hardly ever showing much sign of affection. They decided that they must breakthrough no matter what. Similarly, Amberleaf also grumbled as her eyes burned with competition.
"Say, Rami. You owe me… I broke through a while ago, and we only sparred…" said Seralily, slightly dejectedly.
"Ehh? What of it? Sparring was exciting, was it not?" said the clueless Ramiro.
Joe-Pine stepped in by walking over and tapping Ramiro's shoulders and then he says, "Hey Ramiro, can you spread your arms for a bit and then flex your muscles? I'm interested to see how much stronger you've gotten so far."
"Ohhh?! A test of strength is it? Hehehe, certainly! Watch this guerrero de gran fuerza!!" exclaimed Ramiro as he spread his arms like an eagle and flexed his muscles.
(Translation: Warrior of great strength)
"Seralily, does he look strong? Why don't you wrap your arms around him in a little test of your own strength?" said Joe-Pine with an amused expression on his face.
Seralily, as if right on cue, did not hesitate to swiftly move to him and wrap her arms around his body with her face in his neck.
"Mmm.. Strong. Yes, very strong… R-R-Rami, can you check my b-b-back muscles and hip muscles from this position?"
Ramiro was slightly flustered by this sudden turn of events, but then without much thought, he wrapped his arms around her, seriously trying to inspect her muscles.
"Hmm, not bad… I think you still need a lot more work in certain areas, but you're an elf so your anatomy is a bit different, plus you're a female. Hmm, in my opinion, you should—"
Everyone was looking around at this scene in utter astonishment. Joe-Pine turned his entire head away as he was trying to hold back his laughter.
"This guy… Is he actually an idiot?" muttered Erica.
"This Princess thinks that he's definitely not on the bright side of things," muttered Amberleaf.
"Nii-chan… Do you think that this will work on—" Before Kuroha could finish, Kageha broke out into a sweat.
"Kuro… Please don't say something unnecessary. Look for yourself…" said Kageha as he glanced at Zoro, who was initially sitting with his eyes closed.
Zoro was actually now standing with a very dumbfounded expression of disbelief. Afterwards, he started shaking his head in pity as he sat back down and closed his eyes again. The word "Idiot" was somehow the loudest and most grating to Ramiro, even though it was the most silent.
"Oi!! You bastard, who are you callin' an idiot?!? You're the idiot!!" shouted Ramiro.
"…I understand, nii-chan… Though to be honest, the reason I asked was because I think a similar method might actually work on Elton Aniki…" Kuroha said quietly. Kageha would not give a rebuttal. He did not want to know the answer.
Two weeks later, both Erica and Shayleaf both ended up going into seclusion after they both each had one synchronized cultivation session with Elton. The week after that, Amberleaf also went into seclusion. Even the two Fanged Elf women and Sofia went into seclusion not long afterwards, and finally, after an entire month after that, both Kageha and Kuroha went into seclusion. Elton couldn't help but be proud of all of his acquaintances suddenly possibly breaking through, but it also felt slightly lonely.
Ramiro, on the other hand, started training extremely hard so that he could finally break through after seeing so many of his friends suddenly going into seclusion. Seralily naturally stayed by his side, also vigorously training while saying stuff like, "The 1st lady can't be surpassed by any newcomers."
And so, seven months had passed since Elton and White Star Radiance appeared in the Bright Brilliant Blade Sect. Interestingly enough, everyone had long since been out of seclusion, but Elton and now even Zoro had been in seclusion for quite a while now. 45 days for Elton and 29 for Zoro. Ramiro had finally managed to swiftly break through two months ago as well. Seeing the upgraded power of their faction, known to all under their alias as the White-Black-Fanged group, just after seven months of entering the sect, put every other faction on high alert within the sect.
As a matter of fact, it wasn't just the Bright Brilliant Blade Sect who were keeping tabs on them, but it was also various other sects and clans, mostly due to the Fanged Elves, and the mixture between clans like the Soloman clan and the Aka Boshi no Tengan clan.
After reaching Gold Tier, most of the members immediately felt their overall status had soared. Seralily and the two Fanged Elf women were even immediately upgraded to core disciples of the sect.
On this very day, as everyone once again had gathered, news swiftly broke to them through Kageha.
"Aniki is finally coming out of seclusion!!"
This excited all of them, but then seeing that Zoro came out so much sooner than Elton caused them all to worry a bit. Zoro, upon coming out and receiving everyone's congratulations, gave his thanks but he immediately had one question.
"Has Elton not come out of seclusion yet?"
Upon hearing that question, the noise died down, and quite a few dejected faces could be seen.
"Ahhh, I don't know what's up with that guy! Taking so long in seclusion when everyone else didn't take nearly as long," complained Ramiro. "But I think he'll be fine! Hahaha, right, guys?"
After hearing Ramiro's statements, all nodded in agreement and tried to put on joyous faces again.
"Kufufu, of course that man will be fine! He has this Princess' Royal blood flowing through his veins!" said Amberleaf as she psyched herself up.
"That's right! Brother Elly will come out just fine! Just fine… Uuuu…" said Shayleaf, though she didn't sound too convincing towards the end.
"Just give him time, he will be out soon enough," replied Erica with a cold expression mixed with slight worry.
Christy simply silently nodded, and then she eventually said, "We have to start making preparations to head out and complete certain missions soon. The status of our faction has greatly risen with the number of Gold Tier experts along with some of our families and clans… I told the Elders to try and delay as much as they can for now, and they agreed to do so because of our status, but eventually…"
"Hmph, then that's fine. If Elton does not come out soon, I will be designated surface leader of our group, but you will be the leader the group will follow for most things," said Zoro, cutting directly to the heart of the matter.
"Haah, why do you get to be the leader?" Ramiro complained.
"Because I'm stronger than you, have better judgment than you, and most of all, I have experience leading. Any other questions?" replied Zoro.
"Sounds like you're picking a fight! Alright, Zoro, I—Mmmmph!" Before Ramiro could finish his statement, Seralily covered his mouth with her hand from behind while the other two Fanged Elf women of the fan club (?) hugged his arms as if attempting to restrain him. Everyone simply ignored them.
"Then we will do just that if it comes to that," said Christy in agreement.
After all of the agreements were made, everyone went off on their own to make preparations as well as to rest, cultivate, and do whatever else.
The Royal Fanged Elves like Shayleaf and Amberleaf had recently received a distant video call via a Nature mystic communication talisman from none other than the Royal family. Aeloria was also on the line, and information about each other's well-being was being passed back and forth between them.
"Ohhh, I'm so glad that this Crowned Prince's royal daughter is living so well! You have even shockingly reached Gold Tier 2 at your age at last!" shouted her father, the Crowned Prince of the Fanged Elves, Amberdawnleaf.
"Kufufu, Oh Royal father, it is only natural that I would surpass my limits eventually! But most of all, you must once more thank your Royal adoptive son Elton! Kufufufufu!!"
"Fukukufuhaha, I will certainly be sure to do that once more. How could my Royal self not thank my benefactors?"
The back-and-forth conversation between the two would be an interesting one to behold if various others were around to see it, but the ones here in question were already used to it. Many years ago, upon seeing his oddball son, King Ambertonleaf couldn't help but wonder to himself about where he went wrong in his upbringing… Speaking of oddballs.
"My wonderful daughter Shay Shay!! I too see that you have once more ranked up and became a Gold Tier 2! Hahaha, Oh blessed Elven ancestors, look at this stunning daughter of mine! You see Shearleaf?! Look at her! Hahaha, Ah yes, Amber, I too am proud to see your progress as well! You as well, Joe-Pine, but my Shay Shay!" said the overly excited Jewleaf while Shearleaf was trying to settle him down.
"Dad… Please calm yourself," said Shirleaf, who was also there. Shirleaf, while technically a part of the sect, tended to move about on the outside doing other work.
"Hehe, thank you, Daddy, for your praises!" said Shayleaf with an innocent smile and a giggle.
"Fufufu, I also receive your praises wholeheartedly, Uncle Jewleaf," said Amberleaf.
The Fanged Elf Royal family was in truth quite huge with its various branches of descendants over the many years. Jewleaf is from another branch of the Royal family that married Shearleaf, who is actually Amberdawnleaf's little sister.
"Putting all of that aside, have you all finally found a location to settle in?" Shirleaf asked with curiosity.
"We have indeed, and honestly, it's for the best for the sake of peace and safety until we can migrate to a place far better," replied Amberleaf's mother with a tired expression.
"Is that how it is…" sighed Shirleaf.
"We currently don't have much choice with the way things have been going with all of these wars and disasters. It's truly hard to catch a break. But I'll tell you one thing for sure, it ironically feels safer here than being surrounded in that damned pocket world even with the much greater essence in the air," replied Jewleaf with a serious expression.
"We can't settle for too long, though. Other preparations must be made as we work alongside some of the sects in battle as we agreed. Heh, we might even end up visiting that Pocket World again, which isn't really bad," said Amberdawnleaf with an overly confident expression.
"Mmm… You all be careful," said Joe-Pine after listening for so long.
"We will be fine. Actually, we should be more worried about you all, but in my vision, well… I'm just so ecstatic that things will continue to fall in place even through the future turmoils," said Aeloria as she suddenly said something cryptic. "By the way, Shay… Remember, you are not to break the promise that was made about crossing any lines with Sir Elton before reaching at least the Gold Tier 5 rank. …You neither, Amberleaf."
"Wawawa, Why would you say such a thing!?!?!" cried Shayleaf in embarrassment as she covered her face and ran.
"T-t-t-t-this Princess would not do such a thing so soon! Daddy, I've not had such thoughts! Mama, don't listen to her!" cried Amberleaf as she became very flustered without knowing what to say.
Seeing their reactions caused everyone to smile wryly. Certain people had tears slowly well up in their eyes with lost expressions.