Unfortunately, Olivia couldn't stay calm, and her expression changed immediately.

"Little brother," she said in a complaining tone, as if she were being bullied.

She looked like she wanted to laugh and cry at the same time.

"What's wrong with you? I don't think this is any harder than crossing storms and seas of fire," Richard said.

"Cough!" Olivia unconsciously coughed when she heard that.

But then, she seemed to get an idea.

"Little brother, how about we use someone else instead?" she said.

"Someone else? Who? You know it's useless if that person denies it and lets themselves be searched," Richard replied, not expecting that Olivia actually wanted to replace herself with another person.

She truly knew how to avoid trouble.

"That person will deny it, of course. But they won't let themselves be searched, so they'll just keep running away," Olivia answered with a faint smile.

"Anyway, just wait, I'll arrange the plan," she added.

After saying that, she suddenly ran off on her own, leaving Richard behind.

'Is she fooling me?' Richard wondered, uncertain about her words, feeling she was just spouting nonsense.

Whether it was true or not, he could only wait.

Richard frowned slightly and eventually chose to stay at the mountain's peak, relaxing while enjoying the view of the capital below.

He waited for the real body of the White Ancestor to arrive.

Unexpectedly, not long after he sat down, he saw a white crow flying toward him at high speed.

'How is it this fast?' He was astonished, having no doubt that the white crow was the White Ancestor.

It should've been far from the Holy Star Kingdom, yet it appeared just like that.

"Boy!" The crow spoke as it arrived before the seated Richard.

A moment later, a sword appeared, dropping onto Richard's shoulder.

It was about one meter long, but Richard couldn't sense its greatness.

There was no aura from the sword, and it was wrapped in white cloth like a mummy.

"Boy, this is still sealed. You can naturally observe its power once you reach the World Realm and unseal it at the Ruler Realm. For now, even though your strength is powerful enough to fight Magi of the World Realm, you don't have the qualification to even glimpse the power of a Grand Weapon," the crow said.

Richard rolled his eyes at that, but he still examined the sword curiously.

It was somewhat heavy, requiring extra strength just to lift it.

"By the way, boy. I already know about your father. He's Edward Skylight, the current rising star of the Skylight Clan," the crow continued, suddenly talking about Richard's father.

"Is there something strange about him?" Richard asked in response.

He had grown up in an orphanage, and throughout his life, the only person he really knew was his mother, Rebecca. He had never met his father, so their relationship felt distant and foreign.

"Your father's talent was exceptional. The Skylight Clan originally intended to support him to become a Grand Sovereign. He even had the qualification to obtain the Skylight Sword. But, he had a problem."

"A problem?"

"He liked to fool around with women. That wasn't the problem, but one woman named Rebecca—your mother, I assume—made him do whatever she wanted. I'm not saying your mother took advantage of him for gain. I don't think she's that type; she seems like a proud woman. It was your father who went out of his way to make her benefit from everything he did. That was his way of pleasing her."

Richard: "..."

He didn't know what to say after hearing that, realizing his father was a troublesome man too.

Maybe it made sense if he truly wanted someone like Rebecca, but still—why her?

Was her beauty that blinding?

Richard didn't know how to comment.

"Ehmm..." He cleared his throat.

"Why are you telling me this? Honestly, I feel like it has nothing to do with me since I grew up in an orphanage," he said.

"Just so you know. And now, the clan elders have decided to support you when you reach adulthood. Only the elders know this; even your father hasn't been told that you're still alive. He believes you're dead because that's what your mother told him about eight years ago," the White Crow replied.

"Alright, I'll be going now," it added before flapping its wings toward the sky.

As Richard watched it move, he finally realized how it had arrived so fast.

Its body could pierce through space-time directly, traveling across different dimensions.

It was almost like teleportation.

Before such power, even teleportation itself seemed meaningless, since beings like that could reach any location instantly.

"Well!"

Richard finally descended from the mountain peak as it became increasingly crowded.

The tournament would begin tomorrow, and the capital was livelier than ever. But Richard wasn't really interested anymore since his strength already surpassed all participants.

With the amount of Aether he had gathered in his new realm, his motivation to train had risen even higher.

He hoped to soon fully maximize his Aether so he could begin focusing on advancing to the World Realm.

"Right, how's Athena doing now?"

Richard remembered his horse as he returned to his inn.

He immediately entered the Dragon Hall to check on her.

Last time, Athena hadn't even reached Tier 10, and at Tier 11, she was supposed to have wings.

Now, Richard was certain she had surpassed Tier 30.

Soon, he saw his horse inside the Dragon Hall.

The changes were obvious. She now had a pair of massive wings—not mere light but real wings.

Her body looked far more intimidating. Her red skin was even darker now, a kind of deep crimson.

And most striking of all was her size. The horse had grown enormous, standing about ten meters tall and over fifteen meters long.

In addition, the horse now bore armor—not full body armor, but enough to protect her vital parts.

The armor wasn't something placed on her body; rather, it seemed to have manifested from her bloodline.

"Tier 37!"

Richard was even more amazed when he realized the horse's tier.

From Tier 26 to Tier 50, Primordial Beasts were roughly equivalent to average Magi in the World Realm.

Before his Aether was full, Richard wasn't confident he could defeat a Tier 37 Beast even if he used all his trump cards—from his Mind Attack to the power of his Black Heart.

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