Nova took a deep breath and pushed those thoughts aside.

There was no need to think too deeply about any of that now.

If he ever reached a point where the only way forward was to steal from the Universe, then…

He would do it. Without hesitation.

Nova then asked, "Did you learn Force in a week and clear the portal?"

Nox's lips subtly twitched.

A week?

Inwardly, he couldn't help but sigh in lament.

Why was everything Nova said so outrageous?

"Boss, I've been stuck at mastery 35 for years." His lips seemed to twitch before he composed himself and said, "Shortly after I entered the portal, I found a ruin and inside there was a scroll."

Nox paused and took out a pristine white scroll.

Nova opened it but it was blank.

A question mark practically appeared on his face as he looked at his General.

"There were characters written on it before," Nox explained, not wanting to be seen as crazy. "They were written using Force, but they were already on the verge of fading when I found it. Then, once I comprehended Dagger Force, they dissipated into thin air."

He continued, "It was thanks to them, and my past years of experience, that I managed to comprehend Force."

Nova nodded slightly as he listened, but before he could ask more, Nox spoke up once again.

"Boss, Force alone wasn't enough at the time to clear the portal. The emperor and his guards could use it too."

The more Nox spoke, the more puzzled Nova became and he fell into thought.

'From what I've seen, Force should be equal to, or even a step above, Aura. Albeit, the two can't really be compared, as they follow very different paths. Still, when they are compared, a first stage knight would never win against someone who just learnt how to use Force. Perhaps only someone on Senna's level would have a chance. A slim one at that. The difference is truly too large.'

Nova quickly ran through a few scenarios in his head.

'To end up in such a civilization means Nox's level, when he entered the portal, was a lot higher than mine. Then, if Force didn't give him the edge over the natives, how did he kill the emperor so quickly?'

Seeing Nova's expression, Nox already knew what his boss wanted to ask.

"Boss, I only took a week by sheer luck," Nox said as he raised his hand.

A black swirl of energy silently condensed in his palm.

It was darker than the night surrounding them.

Nova's eyes went wide open, and he exclaimed, "Darkness?"

He couldn't believe his eyes.

He had thought he would never find the darkness element on Earth, yet now one of his Generals possessed it.

Didn't that mean, given enough time, he would be able to form a Darkness mana core himself?

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When that happened he'll have a Mana Core for each of the base elements that he knew of.

Fire. Water. Wood. Metal. Earth. Wind. Lightning. Ice. Light. Darkness.

It was the completion Nova was looking for.

Nox nodded. "The civilization I ended up in had darkness mana."

"No wonder, no wonder." Nova calmed himself down and sighed. "An assassin with both Force and darkness… I doubt there are many people who could survive that."

This General of his was too lucky.

He had entered a portal and, in just a week, managed to reap so many benefits while also clearing it without wasting years on the outside.

'When will it be my turn to be that lucky?' he wondered as he glanced at the Luck 10 (+10) Stat in his Status.

Then Nova quickly asked, "Have you felt darkness mana on Earth?"

Since Nox had already attuned himself to darkness, his senses toward it were surely sharper than Nova's own.

If there was anyone on Earth who could sense the presence of darkness it would be Nox.

Nox nodded but wore a troubled expression. "There are traces of it on the ocean's surface, but…"

"But?" Nova prompted, already surprised.

He had recently crossed the ocean himself but hadn't sensed anything even remotely close to darkness.

"I think it comes from the deep depths, but that place is extremely dangerous," Nox said slowly. "The pressure at the bottom isn't a problem for us anymore, but the sea beasts are a different matter altogether."

"How strong are they?" Nova asked curiously.

Apart from the recent plant he'd reduced to ashes, he had yet to encounter a beast.

Even if he knew they were Grade 1, he had no idea how strong they actually were.

After all, two Grade 1s were never equal.

Nox took a moment to think before answering.

"This is just a guess on our part, but we believe there are Grade 1 sea beasts close to reaching Grade 2 and they aren't weak either. One of them could easily take on dozens of land beasts of the same grade."

"A guess?"

Nox sighed. "The Federation has a report of a squad of five Grade 1s being attacked by a sea beast while they were exploring the ocean. Four died in the blink of an eye, while the fifth reacted in time and used wind to escape. Since then the ocean has been categorized as a danger zone for everyone."

Hearing that, Nova could only momentarily drop the idea of visiting the ocean depths.

He asked Nox a few more questions that had been on his mind before taking his leave.

As Nova walked toward his new residence, a villa Cassidy had given him, he was deep in thought, his gaze tilted toward the night sky.

'I tried not to believe myself strong after coming back, but now it seems I'm truly not strong at all. Even Earth has zones that can threaten me… I can't even imagine what other dangers exist in the more developed civilizations.'

Click.

Nova entered the villa and headed straight for the basement.

He'd learned that every villa in this part of the city was built for Nemesis' higher-ups and came equipped with a fully furnished training room below ground.

'I still haven't checked the rewards from the Purple portal,' he thought as he sat down in the middle of the spacious room.

Taking out the Low Mana Stone and the Bloodstone from his inventory, he silently stared at them.

Two notification windows appeared in his mind.

[Low Mana Stone] (It's the common currency of the Universe. It can also be used as a form of energy to power anything mana related, such as arrays, spaceships, or even as fuel for one's own Mana Core.)

[Bloodstone] (A stone that, when added during the forging process along with a drop of the user's blood, is said to form a contract with the item. Once the contract is formed, the item becomes bound to the user.)

While the Mana Stone didn't impress Nova at all, in fact, he felt scammed by the system, the Bloodstone did make his eyebrow rise.

"Forming a contract with an item… is that even possible?" he muttered aloud as he read the description again.

Then he shook his head, a dejected expression crossing his face.

"I thought I could use them to increase my strength, but I have no use for either of the two at the moment. My blacksmithing skills are too lacking right now, using the Bloodstone would just be a waste. As for the Mana Stone, my array skills have the same problem. And absorbing it… that sounds like the least useful option. Since it's treated as currency, it must be common in the Universe. I doubt a single Low Mana Stone will make any difference now."

He took another look at his Inventory.

Inside, there were all sorts of materials.

Hides, fabrics, along with ores and many other resources that piled up into small mountains.

These were part of the supplies Nemesis had gathered over the years and the Generals had set aside a portion of them, remembering their Boss had a need for them.

Bzzz.

As Nova smiled happily while looking over the pile, his old device, that looked brand new and sat in the corner of his Inventory, began to buzz.

"Hmm?"

He had completely forgotten about it since he started using the one Darius had given him.

Nova glanced at the caller for a moment before picking up.

"I saw your contact go online the other day but I was busy training so I'm a bit late. You almost gave me a scare, you know? Nine years… that's a long time to spend inside the portals. By the way, you didn't forget the ten-year agreement, right?"

The caller's voice started light and casual but turned serious by the end.

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