After leaving the Virtual Simulation, not even 10 minutes had passed due to the time acceleration inside.
Because of that, we still had a few hours to spare before the Principal arrived.
Although there's the chance to ask him about the question I had piled up during these three months of not going back to Earth as well as the suspicions I had about his identity, there's probably no point anymore because of the impending reveal and knowing that Principal, he would beat around the bush while avoiding the main point.
Most of the girls were still hung up with what happened inside. Seeing how Irja fought and won against all Rank 2 Transcendents, even beating the two women with cheat-like abilities, they were inspired to continue progressing in their respective Pathways to also one day challenge her.
Nonetheless, those who hadn't seen me going all out were also surprised when I lasted that long against Irja. Although I often send my Incarnation to them, it was like me, only providing support at the back.
Because I accepted that condition, I spent the last few hours with Irja as we went over that fight, talking about her weaknesses that I exploited during it and how to fix them.
Well, before that, I helped Nysia in completing the 1st Realm of her Transcendent Pathway. Proving what Irja did earlier as an absolute certainty, the Elemental Pathway really helped Nysia understand its properties, easily assimilating the Elemental-type properties to her Payche-type Pathway.
After that, it was the normal intimate moment for Irja and I where I pampered the tsundere in my arms and praised her for her achievements this time.
Although she's initially the strongest Companion I got after Sofiel, her quick improvements negated the 20 years she spent in that Irreverent Dungeon. According to her, her progress this time was exponentially quicker than even before she got locked up in there.
During this time, I watched how she created an Elemental Spell and improved it up to 10-nodes before our time's up.
Because she already completed the Elemental Pathway, she could somewhat bypass the requirement of raising the Proficiency to Master first.
Of course, that gave her spell some kind of imperfection.
Nonetheless, at her current progress and strength, that imperfection in her created Elemental Spell was negligible.
At least she didn't directly create a higher node Elemental Spell. That one would take her a long time to finish since she needed to arrange the nodes blindly.
I learned that knowledge from Sofiel and Fleur.
Even if these Elemental Spells would be irrelevant in the future, creating one and enhancing it to become a Transcendent Spell would be proven beneficial to anyone treading the Elemental Pathway.
Like Fleur, Sofiel possessed her own Transcendent Spell. The two of them didn't use it against Irja because of this woman's machine gun-like barrage of attacks.
They're not in an anime where someone would wait for their opponent to finish casting their spells after all.
Nonetheless, whenever they had time, the two were continuously raising the Proficiency of their Elemental Spells. In time, they would become like Irja.
With the three of them or if Reinys, Leianne and Elise could also catch up to them, they would be able to carpet bomb an area, razing it to the ground in less time.
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When we emerged from our room, all the girls as well as all the Transcendents existing in this world were already gathered in one place.
With Yuko at the forefront, everyone's eyes were trained on the glaring Portal that was slowly widening in front of us.
As everyone waited in bated breaths, I joined Yuko and stood next to her to welcome the arrival of her father in this lifetime.
A few minutes later, the gentlemanly appearance of the old man emerged from the Portal. While carrying a cane in his hands, he elegantly stepped out of it.
At this moment, the enigma veiling his person could now be perceived by me.
It's like his whole identity was clad in a thick sense of mystery. His eyes were too deep as if he already witnessed the end of the world.
If my guess from before about him being a living fossil from the previous civilization was right then it makes sense how he's like this.
At the moment, even if I'm already a Rank 2 Transcendent and had my Energy Control enhanced to an unimaginable level to someone at the same level, I still couldn't gauge his real strength. Something or someone was preventing me from doing that and it was not him.
? Perhaps the reveal of his true strength would also happen on Earth. For now, he still had his amiable smile upon seeing me and Yuko.
"Father…" Yuko called out to him which he answered with a nod before switching his gaze to me.
"Kuramoto-kun. You don't have to look at me like I'm a villain in your eyes. By now, you should have guessed some things, am I right?"
Instead of answering, I just shook my head and that resulted in him closing his eyes and tapping the ground with his cane.
"Well then, I'm aware of what you ask of me. Have you decided where to go?"
"Yes, father. Hiroda, Sunohara, Akamine, Chiba and Iida's Otherworlds." Yuko answered as she listed the surnames of the five Heroes registered in my Support List.
Perhaps if we could finish easily, we might be able to move on and close another batch of Otherworlds. However, that still depended on whether the Dark World denizens in those worlds wouldn't have a Rank 2 Transcendent in their lineup.
"Five worlds at once. Alright."
Although his reaction appeared to be normal. I sensed some slight surprise in the way he gripped his cane. Like before, he probably failed to predict that we would be able to gather this many Transcendents. Especially when more than half of them were my Companions.
His eyes naturally scanned through everyone and when he fixed his gaze towards Irja, the slits of his eyes narrowed slightly.
Nonetheless, he didn't voice out his opinions about her. Even though seeing a Dark World denizen here should be surprising for him, seeing Irja sticking close to me should be enough for him to guess the reason.
As he said, his Clairvoyance wasn't omnipotent. Although he appeared all-knowing, he couldn't predict everything, especially when it didn't concern himself. He was probably even unaware of what I've gone through in the Dark World.
"Little girl. How was your father?" When his eyes stopped on Zerina, the words that came out of his mouth surprised the girl.
And when I looked at her expression, she appeared to have remembered something.
"Y-you. You're my father's guest at that time. The time he picked up the Orb."
I see. This just proved that theory about someone setting up the Orbs to be at the hand of my reincarnated Companions…
And as if he was deliberately proving that theory, after greeting Zerina and asking about his father who had gone missing, he moved on to Avelin, Jayna, Nysia and lastly Sofiel.
For Avelin, he seemed to be an old Barbarian that passed by when she found the Orb of Enhancement.
For Jayna, he's a mysterious man who visited her father the day she picked up the Orb of Ailment.
For Nysia, he's that Fortuneteller who told her about her destined man's arrival in 10 years. Moreover, upon seeing him this time, she remembered that old worker at that Outsourced Regenium Purifying Factory where she was working as a child. The one who handed the bulk of regenium ores where she found the Orb of Reinforcement.
For Sofiel, it's already too obvious that he's the one who helped her establish the Great Protector Church.
"Principal, it seems that you're aware of them before even meeting me… Should I attribute that to your Clairvoyance?"
Upon hearing my words, his gaze switched back to me as he responded with a meaningful smile.
"I know you won't answer me so stop being mysterious. By the way, how's Earth and my parents?"
"Earth… It's still manageable but I still need you to go back in a week. I will be picking you all up. You can bring anyone you like. And as for your parents… they're safe inside the Academy."
I see. So he's unaware that Yuko already told me about his relationship with my father. Being old friends. It could be translated to being a fellow living fossil from the previous civilization.
Well, in any case, until my father confirmed it to me, I would give him the benefit of the doubt. No matter what, what I felt from him and my mother is genuine familial love.
They might not be my top priority, however, they're still higher than any world that needed saving.
"I see. Before opening the Portals to the worlds Yuko mentioned, can I ask for a favor? Can you also open the Portals to the previous four worlds we've gone through?"
Since he's already here. Let's exploit his convenient ability to travel from every Mortal World.
This way, my Companions who still hadn't used the slot from their Flux Energy state could assimilate their suitable Source Energy and Pathways.
Yumiko needed to go to the World of Meta to assimilate the Meta Energy and awaken an ability related to her Spirit Channeling.
Sofiel and Fleur needed to go to the World of Spirits to assimilate the Spirit Energy that would help them in their current Transcendent Pathway. As for their 3rd Source Energy, it's already up to them which to pick
Nysia also needed to go to the World of Barbarian to complete her three Source Energy types. Since she's always at the forefront, with Physique-type Pathway, she could now tank more even without her Sanguine Aegis.
Zerina, Avelin, Jayna, Irja, Reinys, Caila, Leianne, Elise, Lunaria and Dannae also needed to fill up their Source Energy slots. New pathways will surely raise their prowess.
Ah. Ophelia and Lexie could also use this chance to assimilate to two new Source Energy types.
This sly old man is already here anyway, why not exploit his skill to the fullest?
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