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Once the message had been delivered to his friends and subordinates and he finished making Dr. Riley\'s heart flutter like a love-stricken maiden, Kieran decided he would immediately return to Zenith Online.

Only briefly, however.

As it turned out, it seemed that his timing was slightly off. Not to mention, it also appeared that Dr. Riley volunteered to handle their packing to allow the team as much training and preparation time as possible.

This naturally gained Dr. Riley some brownie points, making everyone view her as a sweet little angel, but it was somewhat inconvenient for Kieran. 

Out of everyone, he wanted to meet with Alice the most to discuss the possibility of the entire team entering a Secret Realm at the expense of her changing her class.

Of course, Kieran doubted that there was much difference between an Elementalist and an Elementress, but he also had a few suspicions. 

In any case, the item\'s value wouldn\'t have been so high if it didn\'t present some kind of unprecedented advantage. 

In Kieran\'s opinion, that advantage was perhaps the Secret Realm tied to the class. Though, after further consideration of the answer, Kieran found that the answer could be far more complex than that. 

It could very well escape the scope of humanity.

After all, there was only one sub-race capable of spurring this kind of thought when it came to the natural elements—Elementals. 

In other words, lifeforms born from pure elemental energy. They excelled at manipulating, manifesting, and wielding the element or elements they were born from. On top of that, that talent was mostly innate. Next to no practice was required.

This sounded quite like the handicap given to players during the Early Metamorphosis. 

Yet, Kieran understood this advantage would continue to dissipate until it was no longer present, demanding players learn the intricacies and tricks of their abilities if they wanted to maximize their damage and skill output.

Since he was left with no choice but to find Alice in the game and have a conversation with her through there, Kieran chose to use what little time remained to prepare for and aggravate the very hellfire he talked about before.

\'I can\'t give them enough time to possibly snipe the benefits away from me. I feel like this short reprieve was enough to grant them some kind of false hope. It should be enough to lead them to believe that the battle merely involves them,\' Kieran inwardly muttered.

For a moment, Kieran considered the Leviathans, but then he recalled that the Leviathans didn\'t enter Zenith Online for quite some time. 

Not until they learned that Zenith Online was more beneficial than being on Earth itself, that is.

However, that appointed time was not too far away if memory served him correctly. 

In fact, according to Kieran\'s prior knowledge, the appearance of the Leviathans should take place around the time the Exemplar Series gained traction, revealing several talented youths.

\'Imagine being so broken and powerful that giving yourselves handicaps upon entry wasn\'t enough to stop or even slow your ascent in any kind of way. Thankfully, the Leviathans currently don\'t believe Zenith Online is worth the hassle. It gives me enough time to prey upon the Behemoths to become my source of ascension,\' Kieran thought, his gaze sharp and focused.

If there was anything he needed to overcome, it was those Leviathans—not Golden Brigade, nor the other Behemoths. 

After all, the Leviathans were quite literally the rulers of Earth. 

Though they were currently called something else, which in this case was the Supernovas, the name Leviathan came from the fact that they felt gargantuan enough to swallow and devour a world.

Deep enough to become a bottomless ocean.

Tall enough to reach the sky.

These aspects were merely the base embodiments of what a Leviathan represented—the pinnacle of Earth! 

As Kieran sat on the medical bed, thinking about all of this, his fist clenched tightly until his hands turned a pasty white color, devoid of the slightest hint of blood.

"It has only been slightly over a month since this has all begun, but I\'m reminded every day that I need to get stronger faster—on Earth and inside Zenith Online—inside Xenith…." Kieran muttered, his gaze dropping to his unclenched hands.

Generally, he was used to seeing the Mark of the Maddened marring his palms, but as he looked upon them now, he felt that the remnants of his fingernails driven into his skin resembled the sight of the Mark of the Maddened.

Curious and somewhat taken aback, a question surged into Kieran\'s thoughts. 

\'Could I replicate that here… on Earth? Could I possibly find a way to copy the abilities of the Mark of the Maddened… onto my body on Earth? However… the absence of Mana would make it an inferior facsimile at best even if I attempted it.\'

Though he was curious and somewhat driven to test his theories, Kieran\'s doubts and concerns doused the flames that were his ostensibly unachievable aspirations. 

First, where would he even begin these "experiments" or "attempts" that currently clouded his mind?

\'I need another one of those evolutions or whatever they call them. It happened when I learned Dread Culling. Maybe if I could learn a skill or ability of similar intensity, it could spark another change—one I can harness better,\' Kieran thought to himself.

The deeper he thought about this matter, the more Kieran found himself down the rabbit hole of recreating his augmented version of berserk powers. 

Sure, he had attained something rudimentary during his death, but he knew that in the depths of his soul that it was lacking.

This was an undisputed fact.

That orb of slaughter and bloodlust paled in comparison to what the power of a Blood Fiend could muster. In fact, there was no comparison to be made at all.

It was like comparing a toddler who barely managed to begin walking properly to a full-grown adult with refined motor skills.

Once he understood how far-fetched his current aspirations were, Kieran pushed them to the back of his mind. Instead, he threw his head back and consumed several X-hancers until his body felt topped up with energy.

Noting the remaining supply of X-hancers above the 20% concentration, he sighed. "We really need an injection of supplies very quickly. Hopefully, Lillian can handle that. If not, I\'ll just have to pick up the \'gift\' Khaos left for me. It\'s a shame… but you\'re too good of an individual to let perish. Only when the time is right will I intervene. I have to put my interests above all else.\'

…

Kieran opened his eyes within the Godhand Bazaar, where he had previously logged out. Though the time he spent logged out was brief, the time remaining on the grand opening read less than one hour. 

Fortunately, he had prepared everything beforehand. 

There was nothing to stress about, besides… Milana was handling the specifics for him. Thankfully, that included the matters related to the Merchant Association.

The only task Kieran left to himself was using the item supplied to him to achieve as significant an impression as possible. 

Not just amongst players but NPCs as well. 

He was confident that several NPCs would benefit from the body enchantments that would go on sale shortly.

With this matter handled, Kieran departed from the Godhand Bazaar in search of Alice and the others. However, it wasn\'t a search considering that he knew their exact location. 

Instead, he headed to the Adventurers\' Guild main building first.

The activity was bustling, but Kieran paid no mind. 

The Adventurers\' Guild was a great pillar of Aeredale\'s economy, so it was only natural that it experienced a lot of foot traffic.

Like last time, and all his visits prior, Kieran ignored the line made for accepting Adventurer Commissions and moved to the special desks where requests or orders could be filled.

Unsurprisingly, the meek little girl with pinkish hair and adorable freckles spotting her face named Sammy manned the desk. 

As she saw Kieran, her expression brightened, her somewhat weary eyes coming to life.

"Lord Aatrox!" Sammy called out, beaming. 

She could barely anticipate what his request would be today, but it had to be grand, considering that he rarely showed his face here. In fact, Kieran visited the Adventurers\' Guild building ten times less than the average player.

However, that was understandable because Kieran accomplished feats more than ten times greater than some elite players.

"Sammy," Kieran replied with a friendly smile. His memory of her name wasn\'t just a result of her name tag; Kieran had committed the small girl to memory just as he did Max.

Diligent people that worked hard for what they obtained would always remain at the forefront of Kieran\'s memory. 

After all, it was one of the main things Kieran searched for in a recruit.

"What can I do for you today, Lord Aatrox?" Sammy asked.

"Today? Quite a few things, I suppose…." Kieran nodded, first retrieving the Platinum Training Slip from his inventory. 

Kieran considered using it for training, but a Platinum Adventurer as a sparring partner wouldn\'t exactly… challenge him. He\'d undoubtedly need the level beyond that, even if Platinum Adventurers existed in a wide array.

After revealing the Platinum Training Slip, Kieran continued. "I\'d like to undergo a Rank Up Ceremony using this. I think it\'s time I stopped being a Gold Adventurer."

"Rank Up Ceremony? Hmm, the only one present to do that is Vice Master Hugo. But um… I should warn you, he\'s known to be quite vicious and demanding of those he allows to Rank Up," Sammy warned, her voice quiet as a mouse.

Hearing that, Kieran found her words funny because a challenge was something he sorely desired. Due to his upcoming trial, Kieran felt that he needed as much experience wielding his Aether-laden blood as he could obtain.

Seconds later, the sound of a door opening lingered behind the curtain leading deeper into the building\'s first floor. 

From inside, Hugo\'s hulking figure graced the lobby floor, eyeing Kieran.

"Did I just hear you wanted to Rank Up your badge?" Hugo questioned.

"Correct," Kieran answered confidently.

A faint smile found its way across Hugo\'s generally rigid expression as he nodded. "Very well."

Ding!

〈System: You have been approved for a Vice Guild Master\'s «Rank-Up Ceremony».〉