At that time, Saint Alvaro had already returned to his room. He went towards a closet and picked two things from within before walking to the balcony. There was a table and chair there. He sat and placed the two things on the table. They were a portrait of a man and a bottle of Frone, aged two thousand years...

He looked outside. From his balcony at the top of one of the towers, he had a panorama of the void. It made for a nice and intricate sight as colors mixed and moved randomly. Then, he turned back his eyes upon the two items.

He took out a glass from his spatial ring and filled it with the Frone. Then, he bowed slightly, glass in hand, at the portrait as he said: "Master, you may now rest in peace as your disciple returned the favor in your stead"

He downed the glass.

"An incredible taste"

And he poured another. Tonight, he would drink. After waiting for two thousand years, waiting until he could no more, else he sabotaged himself, he managed to return the favor that his long deceased Master received.

His Master belonged to the era of Cheng. At the time, he was part of an evil faction. Cheng and him were friends and rivals.

And one day, after a ferocious battle against the so-called forces of good, he was stuck between death and death in a different way. His Master had no ways out at that time. That's when Cheng appeared and saved him. His Master counted it in many different heroical ways to the point that Alvaro was not quite sure what exactly happened. Regardless, that favor was remembered but his Master never had the opportunity to pay it back. Cheng moved on to become a Saint and then went beyond the End Point. His Master did not. He did not win the trial. On his death bed, he hoped that Alvaro could go beyond the End Point and repay the favor in his stead...

Saint Alvaro had planned to do so at first.

But then, he became Saint Patron two thousand years ago and met the remnant of Cheng. They recognized each other. Unknown to others, they spent some time chatting together. Quite a few encounters throughout the years. As a Saint, if Alvaro did not want to be seen by the remnants, it was easy. That enabled them to have a few meetings.

They talked about this and that, mostly the old times and his Master.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Then, the favor came up.

To be honest, Saint Alvaro decided to repay the real Cheng in his Master's stead but never how. This remnant counted for Cheng himself. If he dealt with that before ascending, wouldn't the ascension be less difficult? Wouldn't the inner demon make it less painful? He would have no regrets or duties left.

So, when he was asked to do such a small thing... He agreed.

Two thousand years ago, the remnant of Cheng asked him not to send Sarina to the typewriter if it was due to a champion with a soul channel escaping.

At the time, he agreed carelessly, believing it impossible anyways and very easy. He had nothing to do and the favor would be repaid. That being said, since he reached the 70th stage, he was quasi-immortal. He did not want to spend an eternity here waiting for a miracle to happen somehow. They made a pact for him to do so and wait for two thousand years, or rather, 20 trials.

He agreed back then.

"Who knew that it would truly happen? How peculiar and mysterious this fate is!"

Still, whatever happened next would not matter to him. He would have ascended or died trying before that. Let the calamities fell upon the next generations, what did he care?

He was not even curious. He was glad to be done with this whole thing, that was all. A weight was off his shoulders.

That night, many bottles were drunk...

...

Going back in time when Jin entered the void.

As the marble entered the void, Jin's vision shifted. There were no longer any castles or mountains. Only revolving colors.

The marble itself was flowing around randomly. It was fortunate that the laws seemed different inside and outside. While the marble was revolving upon itself, Jin's feet remained firm on the 'ground' with absolutely no stress on him. It was as if the changes of position of the marble didn't impact whatever was inside.

That was perfectly fine by him.

He would have had a hard time otherwise.

Since he did not know how long he would be in there for, he sat down and decided to meditate to heal himself. As he did so, he could ponder on that peculiar state he reached against the swordsman. It had been strong. He succeeded once so he should be able to succeed again.

It was not that easy though...

And time flew by.

Then, he began to feel the need to relieve himself and notice how the space was limited within his marble. If he shit and peed in here... Yeah, not good. He racked his brain for a solution and only managed to come up with a sad one. He did his thing and send the wastes into his spatial ring. Not the best plan but at least the surroundings remained clean...

Then, he got hungry and thirsty. It was fortunate that it was this ring that survived. All his food was in there. He packed a lot after hearing Hae-Hyuk speak about the trial after the bridge, thinking it could take time. He was glad it did not since he now had a big supply of food. All the other rings were bought later on with the goal to fill them with elements. It would have been a shame if he ended up with only one of those. Dying of hunger after all this...

Better not think of it.

Then, days went by and he began to truly wonder how long it would take for him to leave this space...