For the next month Tepo was caught in his own world. He only went to the most important courses, spent some time in the library and trained like a madman.

His friends were confused but didn’t find time to ask Tepo what was going on as the warrior was too busy.

Even Yerive felt ignored. Although he was the only one able to hold short conversations with Tepo, before his friend went back to training.

Consequently, Yerive spent more time with Inurol’ah and Droa’va, which in turn made Tepo worried again.

The young man stayed skeptical about gods. He read a lot about them in the library, trying to trace back the origin of religions. But he was soon met with limitations.

Frustrated, Tepo realized that the first floor of the library only contained basic information. Meanwhile the higher floors could only be accessed by higher-ranked warriors or by paying a lot of credits.

Tepo cursed the aristocrats in his mind. He didn’t know if they were really responsible, but over time the tension between Tepo and them only increased.

Luckily, Tepo was too busy, not giving the aristocrats time to spark more conflicts.

All of this only strengthened Tepo’s determination to grow stronger. He even talked to the organizer in the Four Elements Arena about getting a leave but was unfortunately denied.

Thus, he still had to come together with Yerive once a week to earn some crystals.

During this time the two young men were even matched with the Burning Whip and Green Giant again. Although they still lost, it was much closer, proving that the Force of Nine Suns continuously strengthened their bodies.

However, Yerive was disheartened after the loss. Unfortunately, Tepo didn’t have much time to cheer up his friend and went back to training quickly.

Luckily, they met Droa’va on their way back, who did her best to take care of Yerive.

This happened three weeks after the dungeon clearance event.

Now an entire month has passed. Just yesterday, Yerive reached the six-circled rank.

Tepo was in his room, meditating, his focus on his core. It was filled with the Force of Time.

A clear feeling was transmitted to the young man’s brain. His core was about to improve.

Taking a deep breath, Tepo concentrated on his absorption. He wasn’t excited, as this was only a small step forward.

Gradually the Core of Time filled up completely. It even slightly bulged. A golden color began to shine.

Suddenly Tepo’s body shook. His core used up a lot of force at once. It pulsed, inflating and deflating faintly.

The next moment the Core of Time abruptly contracted. A bright light shone and died down again. The core had finally advanced!

Around the Core of Time, nine rings solidified. Tepo had reached the rank of a nine-circled aspirant.

The young man allowed a fleeting smile to grace his lips.

But he quickly calmed down again. He contemplated continuing his training but felt exhaustion hitting his body. Tepo decided to grant himself a short break.

It was still early in the morning when Tepo left his room and went for a relaxing bath. His tense nerves were finally allowed to rest, leading to Tepo even falling asleep in the bathtub.

A while later Quordh was ready for his daily routine. He woke up and went to the bath. But when he wanted to open the door, he was surprised that it didn’t budge.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Shorey? Yerive? Did you wake up early today? What’s going on, do you have a daaate?”

The handsome man’s teasing voice echoed in the room. But no one answered. He knocked on the door again.

Suddenly two other doors opened. Yerive and Shorey entered the room, displeased about being interrupted in their training.

“Quordh? What’s with the ruckus?”

“Yeah, what are you doing?”

“Yerive, Shorey? You are here? But who is occupying my bath now?”

“Your bath…?”

“It can’t be… Tepo?”

The three dormmates looked at each other in surprise. Could it really be that Tepo, who had been stressed for a whole month, went to take a bath.

“Tepo?!”

“Hey, Tepo?”

“Are you in there?”

As the trio caused a commotion, the door to the bathroom finally opened. Tepo came out rolling his eyes, dressed neatly, his wet brown hair sticking to his head.

“Tepo? It’s really you?”, asked Yerive amused.

“Of course it’s me. Who else could it be?”

“Mate, if I head to bet, I would rather place my money on a thief instead of you.”

Tepo looked awkwardly at Shorey.

Was I really this busy or are they overdoing it?

While Tepo questioned himself, Quordh also spoke up:

“What happened for you to take a bath? Do you have something to celebrate?”

The handsome man even winked at Tepo, but he was already used to these antics.

“You can say so. I reached the nine-circled rank.”

Suddenly the room fell silent. Especially Shorey and Quordh had disbelief in their eyes, their mouths almost gaping open.

“You… what?”

“Congratulations!”, exclaimed Yerive with genuine joy for his friend.

As Tepo nodded with a smile on his face, the other dormmates also snapped out of it.

“Wow, congratulations Tepo.”

“Yeah, congratulations.

Say, can I ask you how long ago you awakened?”

“About half a year I guess?”

“This… how is this possible? Your force must have an incredible synergy.”

Tepo could only shrug his shoulders. He thought back to his first advancement and the talk with Quill afterwards.

Obviously, the Web’s member had a different standard compared to his dormmates. In Quill’s eyes his speed wasn’t outstanding.

But Tepo’s thoughts were only partially correct. The boost brought by time dilation would’ve even surprised Quill. Especially at higher ranks.

Noticing that Tepo stayed silent, Shorey could only smile wryly. His question was indeed a bit too personal, not something warriors would tell each other.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t mention it. My speed isn’t that great anyways. I can’t wait to leave the aspirant rank behind.”

“Haha, I guess that’s what every nine-circled aspirant wishes for. But unfortunately, we are all trapped for quite some time.”

“What? Why?”, asked Yerive in surprise.

But Tepo already anticipated the answer, explaining right away:

“Because now your spells need to be finalized. At higher ranks your foundation wil be set, and it will be impossible to change spells.”

“Really? This indeed sounds like it takes a long time.”

“Yes.”, added Quordh. “That’s why I don’t know anyone who filled their entire spellcircle. It is common practice to choose one powerful nine-runed spell and build your fighting style around it.”

Shorey nodded, turning to Yerive and explaining more:

“This is one of the reasons why warriors join organizations. Those most of the time have ready-made templates.

Depending on your preference you can get a whole set of offensive, defensive, etc. spells, which are already tried and tested.

And the organization with the biggest collection is most likely the forum!”

Tepo and Quordh agreed with Shorey as Yerive thanked the dormmates for the explanation.

With a curious tone the young man asked his best friend:

“So what do you want to do, Tepo? Are you going to follow a template?”

“I don’t think so. I would rather find suitable spells for myself.”

“Whaaat?”, exclaimed Quordh in surprise. “Why would you do so? Everyone is envious of you because you can choose a spell for free. With this, the most expensive nine-runed spell is already in your hands.

Why would you not follow a template with this advantage?”

“Well, I just think I can find more suitable spells by myself. And I want to keep my stealth.”

“But why take the risk? Is it worth it for this little bit more suitability? Finding your own spells will involve a lot of trial and error!”

As Quordh tried to persuade him, Tepo could only shrug his shoulders. He decided to keep his forbidden spell secret for now. It would be his trump card and the center of his fighting style.

Over the last month Tepo had thought a lot about it. The forbidden spell used by the general in the dungeon didn’t suit his taste, as the side effect was too severe. He would just keep it for now.

His hope was thus on the Ahiluscendum. If it was strong enough, he was ready to adapt to it instead of the other way around.

Suitability was nice among warriors of similar strength. But if you could crush your enemy with a single spell, your other spells were not that important.

Naturally Tepo’s dormmates didn’t know about his plans. They tried to change his mind for a while before giving up.

Still, the mood in the room was joyful. Since Tepo decided to take a day off, his dormmates forced him to make up for the last month.

They dragged him to eat a sumptuous breakfast together in one of the forum’s café’s, with Yerive even calling Inurol’ah and Droa’va.

Tepo was somewhat surprised as his best friend apparently got increasingly closer to the two women.

But during the meal he noticed how much more confident Yerive acted, feeling genuinely happy for his best friend.