"I'll go with you." Tia and Gunther said in unison. After hearing what happened to William, neither of them were willing to remain in the Sect any longer.
Even better, they might have a chance of entering the Gravitas Ruins, which would have been impossible until the following month when they reached Rank 1 on the Ranking Board.
Filipe wasn't as convinced, "I think I'll stay in the Sect and take my chances."
William nodded. He didn't blame Filipe for his decision and looked at Yuming.
"Of course I'm going! But you'll have to help me carry my Alchemy equipment." Yuming replied with a goofy smile.
William laughed and pulled a specialized Titanium Space Ring from one of his Starmetal Side Carriers. He handed the Space Ring to Yuming, who looked at the item with interest. He had never seen a specialized Space Ring before, since they were incredibly rare and expensive.
"Where did you get this?" he asked.
William smiled as he revealed an identical Space Ring, "Take a guess."
"Don't tell me...you stole it?"
"What kind of person do you think I am?!?" William shouted out with anger. Yuming's comment stung, but he had to admit that under the right circumstances he probably would steal something this valuable.
As long as I don't get caught, what does it matter if I steal a little?
Yuming noticed William's ever-changing expressions and laughed. This was what Yuming missed all this while that he wasn't around William. The boy was so absurdly chaotic that it was guaranteed to brighten up one's day.
"I made them, thank you very much." William said suddenly.
"You made them? How?" Filipe looked at William with unconcealed surprise. How old was William? If he could create a Space Ring now, what could he do in the future?
Carl, who hadn't said a word the entire meeting suddenly dropped his fork, "You made it? But that Ring looks like it's worth a fortune! How?" he couldn't believe that William even had the money to acquire the materials required for this Space Ring, much less craft it himself.
He knew William was very good with Arrays, but that couldn't explain where he managed to buy Titanium. The only place Carl knew of that sold Titanium readily on the market was the Hillvire Empire, which was thousands of kilometers north of their current position.
William nodded slightly, "It's a secret, but I can mostly thank my Master, who taught me everything I know."
"You have a Master too? Who is it?" Tia asked. She was curious about what kind of person would take this idiot as a Disciple. It was either someone stupidly powerful, or incredibly eccentric, or both.
"Let's not talk about this. For now, I hope you can pass my words along to Charlotte and Natsu Mori when they get back to the Sect." Thɪs chapter is updatᴇd by n͟o͟v͟e͟l͟f͟i͟r͟e͟.net
Hearing about Natsu Mori, the others became downtrodden. Filipe's head hit the table as tears formed in his eyes. He had lost his appetite and wanted nothing more than to leave now.
Tia spoke up after a few seconds, "We can tell Charlotte, but..."
"But...? What's wrong with Natsu Mori." William asked in confusion.
"He's dead." Filipe said.
William became saddened when he heard about Natsu Mori's condition. He paused for a long while, then asked, "How did it happen?"
It was Gunther's turn to respond, "He was sent to the Foam Desert to defend against a wave of Magical Beasts that have become abnormally aggressive. This has been happening for a few months now, and the Sect has been regularly sending people to help out."
"What's the situation now?" William asked. He remembered the Foam Desert, which was the same place he had to clear a long time ago as punishment for killing a City Guard on accident.
"It's getting better, but the Magical Beasts are still going wild. Thankfully there has been a steady increase in Cultivators lately, so Blue Moon City has mostly been able to keep things under control. There's even rumors that an Array Master has invented a new Artifact that can create long-distance portals without the need of a Space Mage."
William thought of Array Master Fowley, who had introduced him to Arrays when he first entered Blue Moon City. Without that man's help, William probably would never have upgraded the Arrays Talent until it was too late.
As his most useful Talent, William felt that he owed Fowley a visit sometime in the future.
"About Natsu, I'm sorry." William looked at Filipe, who he knew was Natsu Mori's closest friend. The man simply nodded and pushed his plate forward, signaling that he was ready to leave.
"Are you really not coming with us?" William asked Filipe.
"You're going to need someone to stay in the Sect and keep an eye on things. I'll keep you updated." Filipe said. He handed William a simple communicator that could range a few dozen kilometers. He revealed a second one that was identical in nature, which he would keep on his person at all times.
William looked at the Arrays on the communicator and reverse-engineered it in an instant. He waved his hands and removed the Intermediate Arrays on the communicator, replacing them with improved Perfect Arrays.
He pulled the other communicator from Filipe's grasp with the Space Element, then did the same to his. Once he was done, he handed the communicator back to Filipe, which could now cover a range of ten thousand kilometers.
"As long as I'm not in the Ruins or on another Continent, I should be able to contact you now." William said as he looked at Filipe.
Filipe accepted his communicator with a stunned expression. He could barely register what happened just now. Before he knew it, William had taken two communicators and improved them drastically.
Carl looked at the improved communicators with greed in his eyes, although he didn't actually plan to act on his instincts. He just improved the value of those items tenfold, no, a hundredfold! No wonder he can afford Titanium!
Yuming knew that William was very good with Arrays, but he didn't expect the boy's mastery to reach this level so soon! He wondered if the Array Hall could compete with William's skill. Probably not even the Elders could compare.
He's grown so much in such a short period of time! Last time we saw him, he could fight against the Golden Core. Can he fight at the Nascent Soul Realm now? Tia and Gunther both thought.
Seeing that William had once again grown past their expectations, the two became depressed. They had been training so hard and so long because they were both competitive and didn't want to give up first place to William, who was only slightly older than both of them.
Not only Tia and Gunther, but Carl and Yuming were also inspired. They became even more determined to follow William, wanting to receive training from a Master that could improve their skills to a whole new level.
Carl thought about his semi-failed trip to the Great Oasis, which would have been much simpler if someone like William was around to battle with the Magical Beasts. He wondered if there were any strong creatures that could be contracted where William had come from...