Looking at my hand as I open and close it, the thought of being able to use my original concept made the restrained feeling that I was experiencing before loosen. The thought of having to fight without holding back made my body feel excited only for it to cool down as soon as the memory of experiencing that excruciating resurfaced from my mind.

Trying to forget about that, I tried containing the power of my concept inside and compressed it to see how much burden my body could bear while using the concept. After a few minutes of raising my output, I finally felt the limit as my body started creaking from the burden.

'Enough to use the third stage for five seconds, huh.'

Dispersing the power inside my body, I couldn't help but smile as the thought of the future battles becoming easier took a lot of weight off my shoulders.

"Sir Resha… you might have a problem with the Bairu empire with how they treat their royalty."

Hearing Anna be worried made me amused as she didn't think that she would be involved in the incident.

"Don't worry about them. Anyways, I hope you remember what happened to that guy if someone that doesn't have 'sense' goes around provoking others."

"Ah… yes."

"Oh yeah, if you find someone that's spreading their aura that's straight up announcing they are weak, you better avoid them as best as you can."

"Why?"

"Because they will kill you if you fall for it."

As if not expecting what I said, she suddenly flinched before peeking towards me making me smile at her.

After walking for a while, we finally arrived at the accommodation that the Flaro Company gave to them while waiting for me.

Looking around, I can't help but be impressed with how luxurious this part of the space station is. A way for Riflaro to keep showing off his wealth to those who want to visit him.

Hearing the door open, I looked inside and was surprised by how spacious it was compared to the outside.

"He really went all out to make it look like a mansion from the inside…"

As soon as I entered the room, the temperature inside was set in a comfortable range through the use of a magic crystal at the ceiling. Something that should be more expensive compared to the labor to make the inside as big as a mansion.

"Oh! Anna, you're back. And you even got Sir Resha with you."

"It's been a while, Theia Aran. Seems like you enjoyed your stay here."

"Of course! Even father or big brother can't stay in here. I heard that only those who are considered a friend of the president or four executives of Flaro Company are allowed to stay in here. Though I guess you are at least close to one of the executives."

"Why did you only think I'm only close with one of the executives and not the president?"

"That's impossible. Lord Riflaro is a god so I doubt he got a lot of friends."

Her evaluation of Riflaro made me chuckle knowing that he has at least a thousand friends with how long he's been living.

"Let's go to the conference room, I already told them to gather up in there before you arrived. Though I didn't expect this place to be so huge that it has a conference room as well. I wish we could afford to install at least half of this room's space inside the ship so we have more space."

Following her as she continued complaining about their ship as well as her crewmates made me interested as I only travelled through the universe alone. The thought of bringing along someone that time barely passed through my mind as my hate was burning wildly and I never stopped hunting the parasites' followers.

A journey that spanned tens of thousands of years before I was able to completely wipe out their followers. A journey that ended with my soul crystal on the verge of shattering before I decided to settle down in Proto.

Arriving at the door of the conference room, Theia Aran suddenly stopped as if she remembered something and turned towards us.

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"I forgot to mention, Leno and Arstin are back."

"Their timing of coming back just when we're leaving is perfect as always."

"Haha!"

Watching the two of them joke around, I can't help but be curious about the two new arrivals of their crew as their name got mentioned sometimes when Theia Aran was complaining.

Opening the door, instead of seeing the conference room, a muscular body blocks our sight as a guy with a familiar aura is staring at us. Noticing that his gaze was directed at me, he suddenly directed his aura towards me without hesitation making me feel disappointed that he's one of those that can't sense someone's strength.

Just as I was about to crush his aura, it suddenly moved around me before trying to crush me without clashing against me as if it knew that it couldn't fight me head-on. Feeling surprised, my disappointment disappeared and was replaced with interest.

'He knew yet he didn't hesitate to try.'

Feeling it slowly tightens its grip, I decided to activate my concept and snapped his aura with brute force. Seeing what I did to his aura, the man grinned before he moved away and took a seat in the room.

Theia Aran suddenly reacted as she didn't expect the man to do something like that out of nowhere.

"Leno, I kept telling you that doing that thing is rude to the guest. Please forgive me, Sir Resha. He just gets excited whenever he sees someone strong."

"He's not going to get offended, leader. He's just like me who finds it entertaining when someone weaker tries to fight us even when they know that they can't win. Well, in this case, I'm the weaker one who tried to pick a fight even when I know that I can't win."

"But…"

"Don't mind it, Theia Aran. He's correct in that I find it entertaining when someone tries to go past their limit. Instead of feeling offended, I even respect him for trying that."

"See! I knew this guy would never get offended by something like that. His aura feels so stable compared to those with inflated egos that will get offended if you even look at them longer than ten seconds. Haha!"

Laughing loudly as he mentioned something so specific made me smile.

A happy-go-lucky person in a group always helps control their morale compared to those overly tense group.

Watching their friendly banter made me remember the days when I was traveling with Riflaro and the others. Days where we did whatever we wanted as long as it made the adventure more entertaining.

"Anyways! Sir Resha here is the one that Elder Hastur wanted us to find. As of now, we're going to bring Sir Resha back to the Observers Council. Oh, Sir Resha are you okay leaving right away?"

"Yeah, I don't mind. I already have everything that I need."

"That's done then. We're going to leave right away as soon as you guys finish your preparation. Dismiss!"

After getting dismissed, the big man stood up and approached me before reaching out his hand.

"Let me introduce myself, I'm Berdleno. Just call me Leno like the others!"

Taking his hand for a handshake, he suddenly increased his strength without using his concept and strengthened his grip on my hand making me feel a slight pain. Deciding to play along, I put some strength on my grip making him wince from pain before attempting to put more strength only to fail.

The thought that this guy never gives up made me think that I wouldn't be bored before I reached Hastur. Someone who continued going on even when he couldn't win just to continue testing his limit made me think of trying to teach him with Anna while traveling.

After failing to win against me a second time, we left the conference room and went to the entrance to wait for the others.

Remembering the feeling of Leno's aura, I was sure that he used the same concept tree but a different branch compared to mine. A concept that enhances what the user wanted to become the strongest in what they chose to be.

Feeling the desire to be stronger made me eager to help him. A desire that I was so familiar with as it was the desire that I had to obtain what I considered the most precious treasure in my life.

After they finished gathering up, I followed them toward the space dock of the space station. Seeing various designs and kinds of ships, I can't help but smile as the advancement of technology felt so much more advanced compared to the time when we were just exploring.

Looking around I suddenly stopped as a familiar portrait attracted my attention. A giant portrait of a woman smiling happily while driving a familiar interior of a ship.

A ship that I would never be able to forget as it was the ship that I stored in my treasury even when it was reduced to what people call junk.

"Sir Resha?"

I was suddenly jolted awake from spacing out making me turn towards Anna who was staring at my face with a puzzled look.

"Sorry, I spaced out."

"No… it's okay. But… why are you crying, Sir Resha?"

As soon as she mentioned it, I felt something warm flow through my cheeks making me wipe my eyes unconsciously.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes… yes… I just remembered something in the past. Let's go."

Looking at the giant portrait once more, the feeling of longing for the distant past surged through my chest before disappearing.

'I guess I'm back to the universe, Fia.'

Turning my gaze to the walking figure of Anna, I continued to follow her as I took control of my emotions once again.