"Yes, I am. And who might you be?" Kayden responded with respect, but his tone was measured. His youthful appearance often sparked a sense of superiority in older mages when dealing with him.
"I am Hayler, the first mage of this empire," the man declared. At that moment, Kayden fully grasped the ancientness of the figure before him and recognized his identity. Still, Kayden’s demeanor remained unchanged. To him, this was just an old mage—not one of particular significance.
"It’s a pleasure to meet you," Kayden said, offering no embellishments or grandiose titles. He simply waited, his expression neutral.
Hayler, unaccustomed to such a direct and unceremonious reception, nearly reacted, but he held his composure. Kayden’s value—and the fact that he hailed from a different universe with its own cultural nuances—justified some tolerance.
"I will administer several hundred lessons on the tenth realm to you," Hayler said abruptly.
Kayden raised an eyebrow, momentarily taken aback by the scale of what was being proposed.
"The first thing we must understand," Hayler began, "is the principle of stacked concepts and their functions, alongside the laws they underpin. In summary, we use the accumulation of concepts to ascend to a level that does not exist within reality itself. At every realm, we cultivate 110% of our strength, and that excess is stored for later use."
For hours, the ancient mage spoke without pause, delving into the intricacies of the tenth realm. Kayden listened intently, absorbing every word with ease. Even as Hayler described the monumental challenge of requiring surplus concepts for the tenth realm—a path Kayden had never taken—he showed no sign of hesitation. There was always a way forward, always something to be done.
"Mages of the tenth realm," Hayler continued, "are not bound by mortal limits. We are no longer classified as mortals, though we possess no divinity either. We are simply mortals who have become... more. The tenth realm represents the culmination of a lifetime of study, cultivation, and refinement."
"Tenth-realm mages typically comprehend laws only when they align with their personal path and concepts. As a result, we often take much longer than ninth-realm mages to ascend to godhood."
"Unlike those of the lower realms, the tenth realm demands more than raw power. It is a journey of refinement, where cultivation is as much about balance and purpose as it is about strength. Every choice defines the path a mage can tread, and every neglected concept becomes an almost insurmountable barrier."
"There are exceedingly few of us. Each tenth-realm mage is someone capable of becoming a high-tier god. Our universe, for instance, has only about a hundred tenth-realm mages. Most of them, however, lack the potential to ascend to something greater."
"The tenth realm is also a sacrifice. The path becomes significantly more arduous. The likelihood of a tenth-realm mage ascending to godhood is less than 1% of that for a ninth-realm mage."
"A god who ascends from the tenth realm, however, is at least ten thousand times more powerful than a ninth-realm mage. The difference is incomparable—two entirely separate worlds."
"Our family developed a technique that elevates all ice-based spells into something singular, called the Winter Law. It is a composite law made up of millions of incomplete laws, making it extraordinarily difficult to comprehend. Only one mage from our family ever managed to ascend to divinity using this law, and we have had no news of him since."
Kayden’s curiosity was piqued. The complexity of such a law suggested it was fundamental in nature, yet his instincts told him no mage in this universe had fully mastered it. He was right—the one who had comprehended it had ascended to the divine.
"How long did it take him?" Kayden asked, intrigued.
"Several trillion years... along with a few unique events across the universe."
Kayden nearly let his jaw drop. Such an amount of time was incomprehensibly vast, yet, in the grand scheme of existence, it could pass in the blink of an eye.
If Kayden chose to solidify his path toward the tenth realm, he would face an almost infinite timeline to achieve godhood. Yet the potential that awaited him was unparalleled, placing him on a level no other mage had ever reached.
The challenge, however, was staggering. Kayden knew his journey to divinity was already an unprecedented trial. Becoming a tenth-realm mage would elevate the difficulty to uncharted extremes. It would be one of the greatest undertakings the universe had ever witnessed.
The abyss he had to cross to ascend to godhood was already unimaginable. His path and laws were perfect, yet they demanded an extraordinary level of mastery. Comparatively, a talentless mage ascending to divinity from nothing with nine realms of cultivation seemed like a trivial feat.
For Kayden, becoming a tenth-realm mage meant doubling his efforts for greater power. But that had always been his way. Were there ten more realms to climb, Kayden would ascend them all without hesitation.
Kayden’s threats against other mages had been a calculated performance. His true intention was to provoke them into strengthening themselves. Every few million years, he would make a decisive move to ensure progress among the magical community.
His first act was to eliminate several winter mages across different zones. It wasn’t a difficult task—he spent more time traveling to their locations than defeating them. Kayden specifically targeted old mages with limited potential, leaving neither side of the universe willing to retaliate. No one dared to confront him.
Afterward, Kayden returned to cultivation, this time without urgency. He had reached a level where he could not be easily threatened. Only a select group of extraordinary beings working in unison could hope to overpower him—and such a coalition was inconceivable.
"What did you say?" Atlas’s voice trembled as he listened to Honor relay updates on the universe’s events over the past millennia.
Under the shadowy influence of Thoth and supported by Atlas’s resources, the Honor organization had grown exponentially. Their power and reach continued to expand, shaping the course of history in the shadows.