“Don’t worry about it. It was better this way. I would have never been able to kill so many of them if I were followed by you guys.”

“How did you do it? The forcefield is still up.”

Liam smiled under the mask.

“You’d be surprised at how impulsive soldiers can be when it looks like their enemy is about to lose. Besides, I’m an unknown human. There was no way for them to know I was as strong as them.”

As Liam had seen before, there were other humans in the battle for Cinzolia. They mostly stayed back, supporting the Drakkhan army and avoiding direct confrontation, but their weakness as a species had gradually been revealed over the last week. No humans except for Liam and a few others could bear to face one of the enemy soldiers in battle. The human casualties had been high. Additionally, as they were very physically distinct from the Drakkhan, it was easy to identify them in the crowd, especially with Aura Sight. Over the last few days, humanity had been specifically targeted by the defenders. He took advantage of this newly-built common sense to help craft his facade; it didn’t take a lot of work, since he was truly as weak as he seemed, just hard to kill.

“Two was right. You’ve done a good job.”

One’s tone changed. If before he spoke to Liam as if the youth were lesser than him, now there were traces of respect in his voice. The rest of the squad remained silent, but Liam could feel their gazes.

‘Now that all my stats are maxed out and I can finally level up, I’m about to get much stronger in a short period of time. I’ll need an excuse.’

He needed a way to explain his explosive increase in strength. As he thought about this, he continued to run in the direction of the ship alongside his teammates. Soon, they reached the boundaries of the forcefield. As he entered it, Liam felt like he could finally relax. It was time to plan what he would do until the next rotation, approximately two months later.

Quickly crossing the remaining kilometers, they arrived at the gigantic ship. Only the support personnel were there to welcome them, alongside a few humans who had joined them. The Elite Squad that would replace them had already departed and likely arrived at the battlefield while the soldiers’ rotation was shorter than theirs. The Drakkhan personnel walked over to the other Squad members to tend to their needs, but the humans were the ones to approach Liam.

“Great job, sir! Please allow me to lead you to your resting area, designated to you specifically by the Commander. Please.”

The human in front was a young man, looking to be about 20 years old. He bowed and spoke to Liam, admiration clear in his voice. The shining eyes of the others behind him made Liam unable to decline, even though he didn’t wish to bother them with such a trivial thing.

“…Alright. Thank you.”

The young man almost jumped in place.

“No, sir, please don’t thank me! I should be the one thanking you! You don’t know me, but I was part of Lord Wang Lei’s encampment back in the Tutorial. I’ve heard much about your great feats.”

So that was why he was the first one to come forward; he already knew who Liam was.

“How do you know I’m the same person you’re thinking of?”

“There’s only one man in this world capable of getting into an Elite Squad of the Empire shortly after the opening of the Tutorial. I did not question who you were for even a second, sir.”

The youth’s voice resonated with absolute confidence. Liam rubbed his nape awkwardly, mostly because the young man was right. He truly couldn’t think of anyone else who would have survived the battlefield and achieved the same things he had. In spite of this, while he had grown used to leading Arthur and the others, he had also never grown accustomed to the admiration coming from the common hunters. Running about from place to place and from Titan to Titan, he had never stopped to truly understand how his achievements sounded to the ordinary human in the Tutorial. It wasn’t strange for him to be idolized, but that made him uncomfortable.

“…I guess. Thank you for the help. Lead the way.”

“Yes, sir! Of course!”

The young man bowed repeatedly before turning around and walking as if he were leading the King of the Empire himself. With a puffed-up chest and head held up high, the youth managed to catch the attention of even the surrounding Drakkhan. The other humans in the group exhibited the same demeanor, not intimidated in the slightest by the giant lizard aliens looking at them. It was as if they wholeheartedly believed that since Liam was there, nothing would happen.

One watched this all unfold with an unknown expression, hidden by his helmet and mask. Nonetheless, Liam could feel his gaze jump from the group of humans to him, as if analyzing their behavior and trying to find a reason for it. Liam looked at him and nodded, receiving a nod back. It seemed like the Drakkhan had truly begun to respect him more; if he’d done this before, the lizardman wouldn’t have met his greeting. Liam then followed the humans into the ship and through its winding corridors, passing by thousands of soldiers and support personnel before arriving at a large door. The metal door was over ten meters tall, with navy blue lines throughout its surface.

“This room was prepared for you only, sir. Thank you for letting us lead you here.”

The young man bowed once more.

“Thanks, all of you.”

Before they could protest to his thanks, he pushed the doors open. They were thicker and heavier than he expected, over twenty centimeters thick. The room inside was revealed. Walls, ceiling, and floor made of otherworldly metal, it looked like a makeshift bunker. Around a hundred cubic meters in volume, the room was spacious enough to be almost needless. On the floor, a circular pond filled with a mysterious pure white liquid could be seen in front of a black mat. The pond had a radius of only a few meters but stood out in the otherwise almost empty room. Next to the mat, there was a small stand with filled, different-colored bottles, around ten in total. Liam’s Aura Sight spread throughout the room, feeling strangely drawn to the pond. Whenever his Sight touched it, he felt a wave of calmness and peace wash over him. He pulled it back, intrigued.

Liam entered the room, waving to the humans, who kept bowing. The door closed automatically, shutting without a sound. Liam could hear them locking shut, but wasn’t too worried. He felt like he could get out of the room forcefully if he really tried. Walking over to the mat, he sat down on it, looking towards the stand. It was only then that he noticed a small black pyramid, in a lower rack.

‘What’s with them and geometrical shapes?’

He grabbed it and inserted his Aura into it. Arimiar’s voice sounded out.

“Greetings, Liam Allister. I recorded this message to help you understand your new quarters. There isn’t much to see, but this is actually standard for Commander-class training rooms. First, the stand and the bottles,” Liam looked at the stand next to him, “They were made for Drakkhan, but will still work for you as long as you pour them in the pond instead of drinking them. They will provide you with a variety of effects useful for training.”

So far, so good. Nothing complicated.

“Next, the mat. It’s a tool recognized by the System. Circulate your Aura through it and it will help you clear your mind and focus when meditating, allowing for faster recovery and clearer thoughts. In more System-like terms, it provides a passive buff to Skill Proficiency to its surroundings and especially when sitting on it, buffs your recovery speed, and amplifies the effectiveness of your Intelligence stat.”

Liam’s eyes widened. To think the simple-looking mat was such a powerful item. There was nothing like it within the Tutorial. Had the Empire created it? Or had they found it somewhere? Were there Ruins outside of the Tutorial where Items could be found?

“Lastly, the pond. I’m sure it’s what you’re most intrigued about and it’s also the greatest feature of the Commander-class rooms. The liquid inside it is called Ether. It comes straight from the Ethereal Sea, under the control of the Navalon Autarchy, one of the strongest factions in the Convergence. The Empire pays a steep price for every bit of Ether, so please use it well.”

Liam’s brow furrowed. Why would the Autarchy sell Ether to the Empire? Presumably, that meant it sold it to other factions. If Ether was that precious, why would they sell it at all, especially since every other species in the Convergence could be considered to be an enemy? Making a mental note to ask Arimiar about it later, Liam continued to listen to the rest of the recording.

“Ether is one of the materials with the greatest Aura affinity in the known universe. This makes it possible to do all sorts of things with it, but those aren’t relevant to you. What matters is that allows for a special kind of training. First, you should know that just being around it grants one part of its effects, so the mat is still useful; being submerged in it is what the real training is about. Circulating your Aura while inside it will cause the Ether to resonate with your Pathways, following one of the most efficient paths possible. Trying to imitate that path is greatly beneficial.”

It allowed one to improve on their Aura pathing? It was worthy of being considered a precious resource. Aura pathing was one of the most important factors when it came to Aura circulation, allowing one to have a greater output with less effort and with faster speed. It was one of the traits that differentiated Aura users.

“That isn’t all. It also improves the effectiveness of all stats for some time, clears the body of impurities, and strengthens one’s Aura passively, all without being consumed or spent. It can be used for a long time, being capable of purifying itself but also having the ability to absorb and amplify the effects of certain solutions poured into it. That’s how the bottles next to you come into play; the pond will be able to provide you with an amplified version of their effects for some time until it purifies itself. It would be better to drink it and then enter the pond, but you can’t do that.”

Liam tried to absorb as much information from Arimiar’s monologue as he could, memorizing all of it due to his Intelligence. It allowed him to truly understand how great Ether was. The thought that there was a veritable sea of it under the control of a single faction was enough to send chills down his spine.