[Olivia: Your AREC rank as an adventurer is gold, you belong to the highest rank currently opened by the autonomous ranking system. The platinum rank still hasn’t been opened due to a lack of processing power, and the gem ranks are being held out voluntarily so forget about them. Anything else you want to know?]

“Hahaha,” triumphant laughter followed once Rune read this message as he didn’t care at all about his AREC rank.

“If I tell all the natives I’m a gold adventurer, I’m sure they’ll worship me! Haha!” Ridiculing the rank he was given as the whole system really wasn’t relevant for the adventurer career he wanted, he still felt a slight satisfaction at having been recognized to belong to the gold rank.

“You’re gold?”

As was usual these days it seemed, Rune was so disconnected from his surroundings when he focused on his own things that he didn’t see someone “appear” next to him.

Pulling himself together in less than a hundredth of a second, the fact that he hadn’t even known who had talked from literally next to him would forever remain a secret as his perception told him who it was.

“Whatcha doing here my little Utopia?” He asked without turning his head.

“Are you perhaps trying to sound trendy?” Utopia noted the weird intonation, “I don’t think the Unending Mountain Dimension’s native will care about how you pronounce your word as only your intent will be comprehensible for them.”

“Am I too old for trying to sound trendy? How old am I anyway? I lost track of it when it became completely irrelevant,” acting like the veteran he considered himself to be, Rune brought a hand and supported his chin with it while raising his brows, trying to look mature.

“You’re not 30 yet, but if you wait a few more weeks, 42 days to be exact, you will be,” the younger rululu informed him as he sat himself at the table, “Does the prospect of becoming 30 impacts you in some ways? I remember reading about 30 being a culturally engraved age in human culture.”

As his purge was still ongoing, Rune was unable to give him a drink much to his dismayed hospitality, but he quickly got over it, “Aren’t you the one who said no one here will die of old age? I don’t remember exactly who said that but I’m sure someone did… Was it Arik? Oh, I can’t rem-”

“Don’t even try to make a joke about your memory being affected by your age,” a smiling Utopia interrupted gently, “Even when you reach natural biological senescence your memory will not be affected, all your intellectual capabilities have been moved to your spirit and ether soul long ago.”

“Your kindness is overwhelming me Mr. Fanaru, but you don’t need to comfort this old grandpa anymore, go do your young’uns things and let old me think about life… Sigh… I remember when I was your age, or do I? How old are you?” Entering the play forcefully despite the warning, Rune knew that his ongoing purge was protecting him

Shaking his head as he resigned himself, Utopia attended the old senile Mr. Tudor, “I am 22, Mr. Tudor.”

“Ah~~” Looking at the sky, Rune emulated a wave of nostalgia with eyes lost in the distance, “22… I graduated at that time… My life was so promising back then… If only I had been more daring and not such a risk-averse coward…”

Inspiration overflowing, hundreds of typical old people sayings came to his mind, gradually forming a perfect picture that impressed even himself after he went on with his tirade for more than half a minute.

“How come it’s so easy to act like old people?” He stopped his monologue after he had enough and asked with a lively young tone.

“Probably because real old people aren’t like that to begin with?” Utopia reasoned rationally before concluding the matter by reminding Rune of the question he asked, “So you’re a gold adventurer?”

“It seems so,” he nodded without hesitating, then waited for the follow-up.

“Good for you, anyway,” it seemed the question had really only been a chat initiator after all as he unveiled the true reason he had come, “My instinct was telling me you’ll not be reachable anymore very soon, so I’m here to both confirm my instinct is sharp and to say goodbye.”

Changing his position slowly to not risk disturbing his purge, Rune sank into his energy fluff-covered wooden throne-like chair.

“Normally it should have been at this moment that I used my masterful and over-the-top intent craftsmanship to shape a nostalgic and emotional background vide, but as you can see, that’s not something I can do,” Rune couldn’t help but make fun of the situation while implicitly saying his instinct was true.

“I normally wouldn’t have come or at the limit, I would have sent a message, but…” Utopia seemed to have difficulty finding the right words, so he was beating around the bush, “The dimension you’re going in has a few implications, right?”

“You’re being too cringey. Me going to another dimension doesn’t mean I can’t communicate anymore. And what if my next destination wasn’t another dimension but the erosion anomaly? I still wouldn’t send back news for years once I got into it,” not understanding why Utopia was doing what he was doing, Rune tried to cut the chase short.

“Sigh… You and Nelo are really the two nutcases of the Undecided…” The handsome rululu really lost his words after hearing this answer.

“Hehe, how dare you ignore the biggest nutcase that is Arik? If he heard you didn’t include him in this group he would throw a grumbling fit,” responding in good humor, Rune didn’t see the situation they were in as being heavy or light, it was just normal.

Finding the right words after Rune lightened the mood, Utopia finally said what was going through his mind, “Your focus this time is your growth mastery, right? And you know about the leveling speed of growth mastery too, right? Then why aren’t you realizing that this trip will last years and years? I know you don’t think much when deciding a destination but…”

“So what if it takes a decade or two?” Rune cut him off gently as soon as an opportunity showed itself, “The path I created and want to follow needs time and a special environment to further it. And the Unending Mountain Dimension sounds lit as hell too.”

“Yeah… Anyway,” Utopia took an exquisite glass bottle out of his pocket dimension with a light heart as he had finished saying what he wanted to say, “I just know you’re going to disappear for a long time and not send news back, so I’m here to send you off.”

“Good for you, but I don’t really care why you’re here, why didn’t you ask for my opinion before coming? And why can’t you just find me because you want to? We’re sort of best friends after all. You’re hurting me with your words,” contradicting himself while being sarcastic, Rune still didn’t hesitate in taking the offered glass full of ruby-like fruit juice.

“I accept this blood sacrifice, and in exchange, I offer you a powerful invitation to my incoming restaurant tour!” Slowly bringing the glass to his lips, he took his first sip and relished in its particular fruity taste he had never tasted before.

“Why not. Send me a message when you start it and I’ll come,” Utopia agreed to the invitation.

…

*Ding* Cohesion: Specialized Adaptation has been purged

*Ding* Cohesion: Specialized Self has been purged

*Ding* Cohesion: Specialized Isolation has been purged

*Ding* Cohesion: Specialized Rejection has been purged

A few days after Utopia passed by, Rune finally completed his week of purge.

‘What a timing.’

He looked at the 2 investment plans he had prepared: One towards the entertainment culture he was indebted to where he didn’t want or plan to make any benefits, and one towards the very restricted radiation-material gardener pioneer field he wanted to add to the training park.

He contemplated whether he had missed anything but didn’t find anything, but it had already been a few hours since he had started believing he was finished, so he accepted the end of his purge as the conclusion signal.

‘I’ll bring them up to Utopia when we eat.’

Freed from the half-paralysis brought by the purge, he stood up and waved his arms here and there before mobilizing his energy and dramatically gaining back his true tier 4 entity capability.

‘It’s sort of the build I’ll keep for years to come as I explore a whole new dimension, that’s pretty impactful said like that.’

Remembering concepts he had kept using for his energy compression, all the provided masteries he had pushed to tier 4 came back to him naturally with a slight push.

*Ding* Do you want to fill one of your empty mastery slots with Energy Compression: Provided Energy Defense?

‘Yes.’

*Ding* Do you want to fill one of your empty mastery slots with Energy Compression: Provided Energy Structure?

‘Yes, bis.’

*Ding* Do you want to fill one of your empty mastery slots with Energy Compression: Provided Energy Armor?

‘Yes, again.’

*Ding* Do you want to fill one of your empty mastery slots with Energy Compression: Provided Quick Compression?

‘Another yes.’

He knew that his path didn’t lie in pushing his energy compression ever further, but seeing those 4 energy compression provided masteries made him feel a bit… Weird?

They were like the foundation, but no one ever saw the foundation after they built over it.

They allowed his path and his life to remain standing and even take on natural disasters as if they were nothing, but they never shone as much as the sophisticated-sounding specializations.

As he thought this matter over, he started to slowly wake his body up by initiating a pseudo martial dance.

Slowly feeling his humanoid body inside out and how his muscles tensed or relaxed, he sent a punch with all the strength he could muster.

A punch worth 38 000 strength didn’t affect the ambient ether even the slightest, only a weak airwave spread for a few meters before silence returned.

But this single punch had been enough.

*Ding* Do you want to fill one of your empty mastery slots with Body Control: Provided Humanoid Body?

‘Yes. And now my masteries are complete.’

He brought up his masteries to look up his build.

Masteries

Tier 1 Masteries

Physical Fundamental: Reinforcement: Tier 4 Level 73

Physical Fundamental: Fighting Instinct: Tier 4 Level 80

Physical Fundamental: Body Control: Tier 4 Level 80

Energy Fundamental: Fine Manipulation: Tier 4 Level 63

Energy Fundamental: Grand Manipulation: Tier 4 Level 63

Energy Fundamental: Energy Compression: Tier 4 Level 80

Spiritual Fundamental: Perception Control: Tier 4 Level 11

Spiritual Fundamental: Awareness Division: Tier 4 Level 72

Spiritual Fundamental: Momentum Manipulation: Tier 4 Level 27

Tier 2 Masteries

Energy: Specialized Cosmic Mist Element: Tier 4 Level 13

Cohesion: Specialized Cohesion Infusion: Tier 4 Level 93

Cohesion: Specialized Endless Adaptation: Tier 1 Level 10

Tier 3 Masteries

Cohesion: Specialized Threshold Burst Rejection: Tier 1 Level 1

Energy Compression: Provided Energy Defense: Tier 4 Level 7

Energy Compression: Provided Energy Structure: Tier 4 Level 7

Tier 4 Masteries

Energy Compression: Provided Energy Armor: Tier 4 Level 7

Energy Compression: Provided Quick Compression: Tier 4 Level 2

Body Control: Provided Humanoid Body: Tier 4 Level 2

‘I’m back to where I left. But in between, I learned more about my endless adaptation and replaced sense invocation with a tertiary cohesion specialization. I’m sure it’s a good thing?’

Back at his complete tier 4 adventuring capacity, he cycled his compressed energy in the same way he did when he tested his threshold burst mode.

It had to be said that from an additional efficiency of 480% to one of 2 126%, there was a slight hard-to-ignore difference.

‘From 417 armor per second to 3 710… It’s like upgrading my armor regeneration rate from tier 2 to tier 4, skipping a tier completely. I wonder if it’s possible to have such a regeneration at tier 2 with a few beyond capabilities…’

Putting a stop to the endless pondering and musing all purges brings as a side-effect for him, he felt lucky at having missed half a day of the infernal 7 days by executing one of his most serious and favorite activities: Sleeping.

Going through his preparation document where he had listed all he needed to do prior to departing, everything, from confirming he would be able to enter the gravity corridor, updating the cosmic mist domes, visiting the Secluded Corner, publishing his book online, reading Astryde’s acquired tier 6, 7, and 8 intel report, to clearing his debt to the entertainment culture…

Everything was checked and done or pseudo-done.

Except two things including one that wasn’t even present on this list: First, his restaurant tour that had only been planned at the last second, and second, filling his EP storage.

As he started moving towards the exit of the training park, as if by instinct, his energy started pumping into his reinforcement shape, wasting away into nothing as he now stood at an extraordinary reinforcement efficiency of -823%.

According to the efficiency loss scale, his reinforcement was now “cut by 256”. Meaning he would need to invest 256 energy to equal 1 energy for a normal reinforcement user without any additional efficiency.

With 10 000 energy at his disposal, it also meant that his maximum reinforcement now equaled a magnificent 4%.

10 000 energy for an extraordinary 4% single-move strength enhancement.

‘Well, now my reinforcement training is pretty much just me pumping my energy into a bottomless well filled with mercury that can’t be disturbed. I should have gotten pretty witty recently to have come with such a comparison in an instant.’

Sending a message to Utopia that he would wait for him at the minor node, he exited the training park and reached the minor node a few tens of seconds later.

A few minutes later, what came his way wasn’t just Utopia.

There were also Astryde and Arik, his two bone region journey companions, as well as Adreana.

When they arrived before him a few seconds later, only one thing came to his mind.

“I expected a romantic date with Utopia…” He used his most sad and dismayed tone to say the only funny line he had thought upon seeing them together.

Utopia had his brightest smile as he started explaining his action, “Knowing how dense you can be sometimes, I took it upon myself to call everyone for your restaurant tour. No need to thank me, I just did it out of my own goodwill!”

Putting a hand over his heart and another facing him and indicating to him to not try and stop him, it was clear that no logic could fight his reasons for doing that.

“If your goal was to invite everyone, then one is missing. Are you really going to settle with a half-assed job?” Rune critically asked, fully conscious that he was talking about Utopia, and that there would of course be a reason.

“He’s waiting for us on the other side, you’re not in control of your restaurant tour anymore as we already took control of it!” Not only Utopia, even Astryde, Arik, and Adreana seemed to agree on that statement as they all nodded like wise old men.

“I had years to discover newly-opened extraordinary places, you wouldn’t want to die before experiencing them all,” Adreana interjected.

“I need to find new restaurants where to sell my massive stock of bone region liquor… I really made too much…” Arik said matter-of-factly.

“The occasion is perfect to rediscover the capital, I’m just hitchhiking the occasion, don’t mind me,” Astryde didn’t even try to hide her ridiculous motive as she looked straight into his eyes.

Knowing his restaurant tour had transformed into something else, Rune didn’t try to fight anymore, preferring to adapt, “Let’s go then… Gar must be waiting…”

Forcing them to follow him to express his slight frustration as he entered the minor node that didn’t even have a VIP priority area, he eventually let Utopia take the lead as if he remained stubborn, he would have to interact with other people.

And what was a bit of frustration against the monumental task of talking with people he didn’t know?

The group of 5 then became a group of 6 as they exited one of the innumerable minor teleportation nodes disseminated in the capital that still didn’t have a name.

The absence of Nelo wasn’t really obvious as they all knew what he was up to these days and Rune even watched a few of the travel videos he posted online.

The restaurant tour turned Undecided gathering and goodbye ceremony quickly made Rune’s slight frustration vanish as obviously, the 3 who had remained in the capital for all this time knew it much better than the current him.

Or, in other words, it was a feast like he had rarely experienced.

Universal foods that had been recreated in the Endless after years of research.

Spiced and braised meats that melted in contact with his tongue.

Crunchy and fragrant salads he couldn’t stop chewing with their infinite choice of delectable sauces.

Drinks that perfectly complemented everything that was served, becoming part of the meal.

Calorie-disregarding and biology-destroying meals made of the most powerful and tasty chemical additives that his human tongue couldn’t help but become addicted to.

Appetite-opening starters that made him perpetually feel hungry when the main course was brought.

Specialized themed meals that made the most of culture-defining dishes like noodles or rice.

Anything Rune ever wanted and didn’t know he wanted, he tasted with his friends on a gastronomic journey that went to last over 2 days as there didn’t seem to be an end to “amazing restaurants that needed to be visited before dying”.

To his utmost gluttony and enjoyment.