Merlin had no way of factoring her into his calculations; it was simply something random caused by forces he didn’t know. In his first centuries as a god, he tried to understand, and spent decades sitting and watching fortune change destinies in front of him without being able to blink.
"Seven rays mean you have the potential to become a god. As you are in my territory, I am responsible for guiding you through the basics, but you must prove yourself capable of doing so. I will offer protection against those in the sixth realm to you. Those in the fifth are under contract and cannot openly interfere with others. Keep seven rays until the fifth realm and we will talk again."
Merlin took a few hundred books out of his pocket and tossed them to Kayden. The boy had to hold them back with his mana as his ring didn’t have room for the amount he received. Each book was the thickness of a brick. Merlin threw a button that stuck to Kayden’s garment.
"Take this as a gift," the old man tossed an earring to Kayden. Instantly, the young man realized that it was a space earring and stored the books inside, but before that, he was shocked to see at least a kilometer of space inside. "Whenever you need me, just break the button and I will appear. Don’t call me for frivolous things like your life or any doubts in your cultivation. Also, present the brooch if you need help from any race on this planet. I’ll wait for you at the top, child." With that, the god disappeared.
Kayden was left floating in the air as he recorded everything that happened. The old man quickly blurted out a lot of information to him. Kayden didn’t even have time to thank him for the gift. Merlin didn’t know exactly how to talk to Kayden. Normally, only in the fourth or fifth realm could one get seven rays. This early was strange, and there were no easy protocols like recruiting and mentoring. After the third realm, the heavens lessened their vigilance a little, but with Kayden in the third realm, it seemed like Merlin would be killed every moment.
Without worrying too much about it, Kayden woke Felix, who was sleeping on his shoulder and explained the situation. He went down to gather whatever treasure he could and called his slaves to rise to the surface with him. Merlin’s information changed his plans; he needed new opponents. Kayden prepared for one final test in the three he would take with him.
This chapt𝙚r is updated by freeωebnovēl.c૦m.
Felix was already someone he trusted; their relationship grew over all these years. Felix often faced long years with him locked in his room. Additionally, the cat tried to help Kayden when he nearly died hours earlier. The young man felt the feline running towards him with good intentions. The seed was extended by mana in front of him, and he was running at his maximum speed. This was enough proof for him to trust the animal at all.
It was late at night, and practically everyone was in their homes. Kayden simulated injuries on his body with mana capable of deceiving any spiritual sense. His situation looked like someone who was about to die. He took random clothes and ripped them to make it even more truthful. His first visit was to Milena. He arrived with his completely chaotic aura, prevented any signals from leaking out, and it didn’t even take a second for Milena to be in front of him.
"Kayden! What happened?" She tried to heal Kayden’s injuries but was unable to do so; it seemed like they were permanent.
"Forget it, here," Kayden took out a golden stone filled with mana from his ring. "This is what makes me able to be so strong in my rank. At the moment, I don’t have the strength to resist an apprentice or give orders under the slavery contract. If you crush this stone, I can be healed normally as I will lose my divine gifts forever. Just don’t eat her, please," Kayden said the last part barely audibly, but Milena was able to hear him.
For a second, her mind led her to greed; her eyes lit up at the thought of the power she could obtain just by eating this stone. But her emotional side got the upper hand, and she crushed the rock in Kayden’s hand.
"Congratulations, you passed the test. Just wait here and I’ll be back." Kayden disappeared without giving any further explanation and went after Astolfo, who would be the second person to be tested. Kayden prepared the environment in the same way.
"Father! What happened?" Astolfo stuttered in his characteristic manner, and his complexion turned pale when he heard the sentence Kayden told Milena. He didn’t even have any excitement before he instantly crushed the stone.
"Congratulations son. I’m proud of your choice. Wait here and I’ll be back," Kayden said a more sentimental phrase so that Astolfo would be happy. His quick decision impressed Kayden; There wasn’t even a hint of greed in the boy’s eyes.
Without wasting even a second, he did the same situation at Han’s house, the only problem was that his son was drunk and it took a little longer for him to leave. Furthermore, there were some women in the house; Kayden stopped them from continuing to use simple illusion spells.
As soon as he saw his father injured, Han instantly shook off his drunkenness and quickly expressed his concern. He was in the third realm with six rays and tried to heal Kayden immediately, but as soon as he heard the sentence that Kayden had already repeated twice before, he froze.
His eyes shone with various feelings: anger, desire, lust, practically all of them turned in a negative direction. It took him a while to react, but after a few seconds, he instantly pulled out his mana and pushed Kayden away at the same time as he grabbed the golden stone.
Without even blinking, he took it into his mouth and forced it down his throat. He ignored the pain; power was much more rewarding when it came with a little difficulty. He looked at Kayden meanwhile and saw his father standing there, destroyed and thrown into a corner.
"Old fool," he said and was about to kill Kayden, but he couldn’t move even a finger of mana. All sides began to pressure him. When he turned to Kayden again, he saw his father standing and smiling at him.
"Good riddance to hell," Han didn’t have time to respond as his body was crushed into the size of a tennis ball by the mana around him, meanwhile, Kayden regretted giving his son his father’s name. His father was someone so great and impressive, while this son would only be forgotten by time. His memory would not last even a century.
Kayden burned the ball of meat and left the house without looking back. He took to the skies and lost himself for a few seconds thinking about whether he should let the people of this city live or eliminate any trace of his coming here, but he put those thoughts aside after a few minutes.
"Come here," Kayden called his three slaves and within a few seconds they appeared in front of him. The three seemed a little lost and didn’t know what to do. Everyone could feel that Han had been killed.
"I will go to the surface in a year. You are invited to join me or stay inside. The choice is yours," Kayden was curt and waited in silence. He changed his hasty decision to go to the surface. After thinking for a while, he decided to update his domain and spells for the new kingdom. This shouldn’t take long, just a year at most. "
I will go. I’ve been waiting for this for ages," Felix was the first to respond. Next was Astolfo.
"I will accompany you, Father," he managed to say without trembling. Lastly, it was Milena, who had also made this decision a long time ago.
"I will too," with that, Kayden gave them some advice and went down to loot the resources he thought were worth it. This included dozens of natural treasures and hundreds of pills. The books he left; he didn’t want to take up space on his giant ring. Julian had already died a few years ago of natural causes. Other people in the third realm appeared, some even with five lightning bolts, but none of them caught Kayden’s attention.
Something was always missing, either they didn’t have a path or their personality was weak. Kayden didn’t let any of them advance to the fourth realm; this would be a hindrance to him in the city, so he only killed those who were not useful for his purposes. A few hours later, the four were gathered near the crystals. Kayden looked at the horizon for a few minutes as he thought about the years he spent there.
"The language of the gods that I invented is nothing more than the language of the surface, so don’t be surprised. Hold on to that rope and don’t let go for anything in the world", Kayden gave some more instructions and began to float upwards. The trip would take days, and Kayden had already warned them not to be afraid, they would just have all their sensations cut off, but...