The sky was dark.

Bright lights illuminated the newly built streets of Quarath and the many people who walked on them with relaxed, joyful faces.

There wasn't any particular event.

This had been a common sight in Quarath over the past few years.

Amidst the laughter and the sound of footsteps echoing, Nova had a thoughtful expression on his face as he slowly walked.

He had talked with Cassidy for a whole day, and many matters now weighed on his mind.

The more he observed the city, the more he found it hard to match it with the one in his memories.

When he met the convoy and saw those new carriages, he hadn't thought much of it.

Earth had simply advanced, and that was it.

But, after talking with Cassidy and walking in the city for a few hours, he'd come to understand a lot of things.

One of them being…

When he left, Earth had regressed hundreds of years, technologically speaking.

They had gone from an age where he could do anything with a tap on the device while comfortably sitting in his home to an age where they had to use torches at night to illuminate the streets.

That rang true even after a few years.

But now, to him, he'd only been away from Earth for six or seven months, and he came back to what Earth was before everything happened.

No.

It was even more advanced.

Arrays had replaced technology and easily surpassed it.

He'd always known arrays were important, but after learning the basics from the booklet, he hadn't had the time to study more of them.

His hands were too full.

Now though, as he passed by several weapon shops, he'd seen customers fight projections with their newly bought weapons.

All of this was normal to others, but to him, who hadn't been present as the civilization once again developed…it gave him a reverse cultural shock.

Nova's steps halted.

He took a deep breath and thought, 'One matter at a time. I'll slowly get used to this, it's not what I should focus on right now.'

Turning around, he made his way back to the residential side.

'First, I need to check up on my generals.'

//////

Plop

A hook was thrown into the water.

On the shore of the pond, a man, fully dressed in black, sat on the grass while holding the fishing rod.

The area around him was silent and enveloped by darkness.

Even his breathing made no sound.

Dozens of meters away from him, a lanky man was kneeling, his head tilted downward.

It wasn't known how long he'd been kneeling, but he had yet to make a sound.

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Time passed slowly.

Suddenly, the line tightened.

The man holding the fishing rod smoothly jerked it back, successfully catching a fish.

He carefully removed the hook from the fish's mouth, released it back into the pond with practiced movements, and watched it swim around.

Then, he turned his head toward the man kneeling.

As if prompted, the latter respectfully said, "Leader, two of ours reported they are inside Univara's academy and await orders."

"Any change on the list?" the leader said.

The lanky man took out a scroll. "General Shira personally reviewed it."

The leader beckoned it and the scroll gently floated into his hand.

He gave it a quick glance.

Fifty names were written on it, along with a small description.

The leader nodded. "Start from the bottom. Work your way up."

Without a sound, the lanky man disappeared into the darkness.

Just as the leader was about to resume fishing, he stopped.

His eyes glinted coldly and he said, "Come out."

"Eh? You've really improved, Nox."

An exclamation rang out, and soon Nova stood just a few meters away, his eyes studying Nox.

He'd been standing on the roof of the villa for a while now, but it only took the slight movement of his foot for Nox to notice.

It was impressive, to say the least, considering his own strength and his Aura that passively hid him to weaker people.

Nox turned, and when he saw Nova, it was his turn to let out a low exclamation.

"Boss?"

Perhaps if he hadn't known Nova was already out, he would've reacted more strongly, but seeing the brief surprise on his face was enough to show his feelings.

"I keep getting the same reaction from everyone. Next time I visit someone, I'll call them earlier." Nova sighed quietly.

He shook his head and said, "Mhm. I wanted to see your progress and ask about your experience in the Purple portal."

Nox composed himself and nodded.

The two of them sat by the pond shore.

Nox didn't waste any time and immediately asked, "Have you reached mastery level 35 on any weapon?"

Nova didn't even have to double-check. He shook his head.

As if having expected so, Nox nodded and continued.

"When you reach it, you won't be able to immediately advance to the next level. Level 35 only gives you the right to see the requirement needed to proceed, and that requirement is Force."

"Force?" Nova echoed, with a thoughtful expression.

Level 35 was still a distance away for him.

Training the spear was a time-consuming endeavour, and he had no time to waste in the portal. If he'd even tried, forget nine years, he might've come out to see his friends' grandkids.

Putting it shortly, he was nine years behind everyone regarding weapon mastery.

Nox picked up a blade of grass and said, "From what I understood, Force is the next step after One with the World. It's not about the weapon anymore. It's about the individual."

Hum!

The blade of grass straightened, cutting through the air as if it were the sharpest of blades.

Nox lightly threw it toward the ground, and it silently sank, almost disappearing into it.

Seeing such display Nova raised an eyebrow.

While Nox made it look easy, he knew it was certainly the opposite.

"Everything can be made into the sharpest of weapons because once you understand Force, you will have transcended the concept of weapon itself," Nox slowly said.

Nova sank into his thoughts.

From what he'd seen, Force worked similarly to his Aura, but while the latter offered external pressure and an overall increase of strength in his body, the former was more about sharpness.

A sharpness that could turn everything into a weapon.

His thoughts slowly went back to the beginning, when he'd comprehended One with the Spear.

At the time, he had fused himself with the weapon, becoming one with it and thus drastically increasing his strength.

When he first was alone, he then added himself with the spear.

'A simple one plus one,' he thought.

Then, he replayed the time when he became One with the World, with the spear as the medium.

He had used the spear to make a bit of space for himself in the world, akin to a key.

In a sense, at that time, he'd already taken a step forward in overtaking the weapon's importance and focused more on himself and the world around him.

The spear had simply become a tool to bridge the gap between two very different but also very similar things.

Him and the World.

Now, Force was about taking from the World, a small piece of It to add to his personal collection.

Slowly, with every step, he felt as if the further he walked down this road, the more he had to rob the World of everything It possessed to strengthen himself.

Right then, the memory of when he first talked with Jack during the apocalypse's news replayed in his mind.

/////

"Do you already know what kind of God you want to become?" Jack shot out immediately. "The web's already flooded with ideas and it's only been five minutes!"

"I was about to call you, you know." Nova muttered, running a hand over his face. "You and your over-excited plans." He caught himself almost smiling.

Sometimes, he felt like Jack never grew up.

He had known this friend since childhood, and even now, Jack remained a child at heart in many ways.

"Actually, I had this idea, I'll be the Thief God" he said, throwing his hands in the air, as if imagining it already.

"Can you imagine? The perfect crime, except it's me, walking away with everyone else's stuff. That's a real God!"

///////

He couldn't believe it.

It's been so many years but what he'd said back then seemed to have a deeper meaning now.

An outrageous thought popped into his mind.

'Am I destined to become a Thief God and steal everything from the Universe?'

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