After cleaning up Sienna, Ryan found an unoccupied bedroom and activated a portal into his palace.
He ordered two guards to watch the room outside the portal and then made his way toward the training tower, not for work, but to check on the girl's progress.
As he got close, however, he saw Timmy and switched his path.
"Timmy, how goes your training?" Ryan asked, seeing the slave boy he saved.
"Master Emerald!" Timmy responded as he halted his sword midswing to turn and bow in Ryan's direction. "My training is going well, Master. Teacher Priya has been doing a splendid job."
Ryan had instructed Priya to give the boy some lessons since Ryan now knew that everyone could become cultivators. Timmy's skill that allowed Ryan to resurrect him would make him a key asset in the future.
"The boys are doing good, my Lord," Priya said. "He's a natural."
"Is that so," Ryan said, arching an eyebrow.
As they were talking, the tower's doors opened, and Emily, Lizzy, Izzy, Grace, and Zoey stepped out, clad in their skimpy battle armor.
'Got to love magical logic,' Ryan thought, grinning. "What floor did you get to today, ladies?" Ryan asked.
"Master!" Grace beamed. "We were able to get to floor 42 today, only 8 off our goal."
"And reward," Izzy added, licking her lips.
"Do you know where Asmaya is?" Ryan asked, getting to the topic of why he was truly here.
Lizzy nodded. "Come with me."
A sign that read, "Master's family, Do not disturb." greeted Ryan as he walked into the harem members' building.
Opening the door to one of the large master rooms, Ryan saw his aunt lying on a kingsized bed, seemingly asleep.
By the side of the bed were two of his servants who appeared to be sleeping from exhaustion, their bodies practically falling off the chairs they were sitting in.
Walking close to the bed, Ryan activated energy vision, trying to see if he could sense anything.
But, unfortunately, he couldn't. Ryan sighed and left the room.
"Message me if her situation changes," Ryan said. "It's time I move us to our new destination."
"What do you mean?" Emily asked.
" I just got expelled from the academy," Ryan scratched his head. "It's not like there was much for me to do there anyway."
Emily paused before exclaiming, "I know! You should go to the Red Dragon Empire!"
Raising his eyebrow, Ryan asked, "Interesting; why?"
Ryan was planning on heading there anyway after his conversation with Yoko. Still, all he was going there to do was try and find unique materials to speed up Yoko's hatching so she could free become free of her shell before the wedding in 53 days.
"Because I overheard some teachers talking, and they said that the Dragon Empress was looking to expand her harem and was holding a competition!"
Emily continued, "If you could get into her harem without anyone knowing and win her over, that would be the power of an entire empire on our side against the human empire."
Taken aback by the news, Ryan put his hand on his chin in thought. 'That's actually not a bad idea.'
"Good job, my princess," Ryan walked over to Emily, patting her head.
Addressing the rest of the group, Ryan simply said, "Then I'm off," and disappeared.
===
The next day (52 days until the wedding)...
'I still can't believe they make you walk the last few miles between the borders,' Ryan said telepathically to Yoko. 'It's not like the empires aren't on good terms.'
'Well, that's probably not entirely true,' Yoko replied. 'The main reason is because of the empire's spatial barrier.'
'Can you sense it?'
'No, but even on a non-Multiverse world like this, they are very common,' Yoko said, saying non-Multiverse like it's the plague.
Ryan frowned. 'Why do you always say Multiverse like it's the holiest thing in existence?'
'You don't understand. When you're integrated into the Multiverse, everything changes. You are no longer trapped in one singular world but now have access to an almost infinite number of others, right at your fingertips.'
Thinking about it, Ryan could see Yoko's point.
Ravier was already so much different from earth. Ryan couldn't wait to go out and explore. 'But is it civilized?' Ryan asked.
Ryan couldn't imagine such powerful beings trillions of times stronger than him willing to coexist with others peacefully when they had another, more profitable option.
'In the multiverse, there is one central world known as Omega. The closer one gets to Omega, the more energy there is in the atmosphere, and the faster one can cultivate.'
Yoko continued, 'On Omega and the seven surrounding planets. There are even anomalies like energy sprits that cultivators can form contracts with because of the density.'
'You've heard me talk about the Big 7, yes?'
'Yes,' Ryan said, reflexively nodding.
'They each own a planet around Omega, called 'the seven gateways to heaven' as every cultivator wants to go to Omega, known as the paradise of cultivation.'
Yoko explained, 'It's unlike any other world in the Multiverse, unique in its lack of technology.'
Ryan raised his eyebrow and asked, 'What does that have to do with my question? Is the Multiverse civilized? Do uber-strong beings go around blowing up planets?'
Yoko shook her head but, realizing Ryan couldn't see her said, 'No. Though I don't know why, I assume it's due to some sort of heavenly protection.'
'So to answer your question, the closer one gets to the center of the Multiverse, the more civilized it gets because if you own a planet, you are in some way related to the big 7. The closer to the center you are, the closer you're related.'
Trying to figure out how to word it, Yoko fell silent for a few seconds before saying, 'It's like seven big alliances exist in the Multiverse, and you have to choose a side or get pushed away. The closer you are to Omega, the higher rank you can obtain in the alliance.'
'At least when it comes to planet ownership,' Yoko finished.
Ryan tried to process the information, but after a few minutes of flying on his magic sword, he had arrived at the border of the Red Dragon Empire.
"What is this place?" Ryan muttered, awe struck at the sudden change in atmosphere and environment.
Ryan could instantly tell he had entered a new environment because of the misty, cloud-covered sky and the reddish terrain surrounding him.
There was a sharp sting in the air, almost as if it were irritating the eyes, but as soon as Ryan began walking through it, he realized it wasn't painful to breathe as much as it made his body tingle slightly, like his blood feeling hot and prideful.
'The pride of a dragon is no joke,' Ryan chuckled.
"Looks like I'll like it here more than I thought," he muttered.
Flying for another mile, Ryan came upon a floating structure that appeared to house a guard station.
"Halt!" a booming voice echoed through the mountainous terrain. "Who goes there?"
Ryan stopped short, seeing two massive dragons with a large flag that read "Red Dragon Empire".
Thinking he would have to fight, Ryan reached for his spatial bag but heard Yoko say, 'Wait!'
The first dragon stepped forward and said, "A pleasure to meet you, traveler," turning into a man. His skin had a steel texture and was the color of a bright red sunset. He wore what looked like leather armor and had a long white beard.
"You've come far," the bearded one continued.
"We don't get many humans, especially males, in our neck of the woods. Care to stop for a drink?"
The second one also transformed into a male, looking at Ryan curiously before nodding.
"Don't mind Garf," the first one said. "He's a bit shy."
Ryan paused at the unexpected display of friendship. "You won't ask why a man is coming to your empire alone?"
The two dragons looked at each other before the bearded man shrugged. "I don't see why it's any of our business."
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺