Chapter 129: Heading To Tristan

Remedy looked at him and said quietly,

“It has to do with the fact that large-scale attacks are easier to execute in the lower regions. Security is lackluster. Oversight is weak. Most sectors are… backwater.”

Adam’s jaw tightened slightly.

Sector 418 had been called backwater countless times by the heirs.

He had ignored it, since they complained about everything.

But hearing it from Remedy made him question if the heirs were right all along.

“So because the low-tier sectors are underdeveloped,” Adam said evenly, “they use them as testing grounds.”

“Yes,” Remedy replied. “But not just that.”

She kept walking.

“The destruction and death caused by those artificial rift mutations are necessary.”

Adam’s eyes narrowed.

“Necessary for what?”

Remedy didn’t hesitate.

“To advance to the Saint rank.”

Adam pupils constricted.

He knew there were extra steps needed to advance in rank beyond the Master rank .

But this…

This was different.

“You’re saying,” Adam said slowly, “they need mass death to break into Saint?”

“Yes.”

Her tone didn’t waver.

“The anguish. The collapse of life. It accumulates and fuels something vital for the rank up.”

Adam stared ahead, he didn’t immediately think about condemning the family for their actions nor did he think about justice for the masses at first, instead his first thought was cold.

Where would I even find that many people… if I wanted to rank up?

The thought surprised even him.

He wasn’t defending the family for their actions, he still despised them for what they had done.

But if reaching the Saint rank required mass sacrifice. Then the path upward was tainted at its root.

Fight fire with fire… but on my terms.

He would not become like them.

But he also wouldn’t remain naive.

If the system demanded blood.

He would find another way.

Or he would bend the rules until they broke.

Remedy had already resumed walking and Adam followed.

The jungle swallowed their figures as they continued deeper into the Tamara wilderness.

****

On their trek through the Tamara Jungle, monsters came. Level 2 vine lurkers. Level 3 iron-backed boars. A stray Level 4 razor beak, but compared to the Foul Hound, they were fodder.

Adam could have released his killing intent and cleared the path instantly, but he didn’t, as that would be a waste of existence. So he let them approach and commit.

A boar was charging at Adam, but he activated bone Generation D and a spike erupted from his forearm, piercing straight through its skull.

[+3 Existence]

A razor beak dove towards him next but with rapid E he sidestepped, bone scythe carving upward in one clean arc.

[+4 Existence]

A vine lurker lunged at him from above and this time he used mind Control E.

“Hang yourself.”

The vines twisted inward and snapped its own core.

[+2 Existence]

It wasn’t challenging.

But it was productive and distracting.

Better than thinking about Saints and mass sacrifice. His Star Power remained steady at 30+ and was a domineering force in the jungle.

Soon…

The attacks stopped, no predators stalked them anymore and the jungle changed.

Trees grew thicker. Leaves broader. The air heavier.

Humidity clung faintly to his skin.

Then he heard it, the sound of something flowing, as Remedy and him stepped past a dense cluster of roots…

And Adam stopped in his tracks.

A natural moving river.

This was the first time he had seen one.

Five hundred years ago, when essence descended upon Erdes, the planet’s geography had shifted violently. Continents fused and fractured. Oceans condensed under immense essence pressure and now there were only two continents.

The Northern Continent, surrounded by Oceanus Minus and the Southern Continent, where they stood, bordered by Oceanus Magnus at the southern hemisphere, which was the larger ocean occupying most of the planet’s mass.

The oceans were compactly dense and because of that, natural rivers and lakes were rare.

Most sectors relied on artificial reservoirs, atmospheric condensers, or simple rain.

Adam had grown up without ever seeing flowing water like this.

Sector 418 didn’t have one either.

So this was completely new to Adam.

He stepped closer, the surface shimmering under filtered sunlight.

So this is what natural water looks like.

For a moment, he simply watched it flow.

****

Adam stood at the riverbank, watching the water move. It wasn’t violent or turbulent, as it flowed steadily.

Remedy stepped beside him.

“This is one of the few natural rivers on the continent,” she said. “Its source is Oceanus Magnus so it flows north.”

Adam’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“If it flows north… that means—”

“Yes,” Remedy said. “It leads to the mid-tier region.”

Adam went still.

Mid-tier…

They were still in the low-tier regions.

So we’re not gone yet.

Before fighting the Profound Lord, he had already accepted leaving for good. He had stood before his mother’s memorial and said his farewell.

That had been enough.

He thought that Chapter had closed.

Now he realized they were still technically within the outer edges of it.

But he didn’t feel conflicted.

If a place could no longer sustain growth you outgrew it.

If home holds you back, you let it go.

That wasn’t betrayal.

That was progression.

He shifted his gaze.

“Which mid-tier sector are we stopping at?”

Remedy pressed something on a small device in her hand, the river stirred and water rippled outward.

Then…

A sleek, compact submarine-like vehicle surfaced smoothly from beneath the river.

It made minimal noise and had an essence-stabilized hull.

Adam’s eyes flicked over the pre-positioned transport quickly.

Remedy looked at him.

“We’re going to Tristan.”

“Tristan?”

Remedy nodded.

“Yes. Unlike the low-tier regions, mid-tier sectors have names.”

Adam blinked.

“They have names?”

“Yes.”

He frowned slightly.

“How come I never knew that?”

Remedy adjusted the device in her hand.

“It’s cultural. Under the Alliance, sectors are still officially numbered. But people in mid-tier regions started naming their sectors based on history, geography, or founding clans.”

Adam processed that.

“So it’s a cultural shift.”

“Yes.”

The river beside them stirred again.

A hatch slid open atop the submerged vessel, revealing two seats separated by a compact dashboard filled with glowing controls.

Remedy stepped inside without hesitation.

Adam followed, taking the second seat, before the hatch sealed shut. The interior dimmed slightly as the vessel submerged fully.

Then, the submarine shot forward beneath the river’s surface, its essence propulsion humming softly around them.

Adam leaned back slightly as the scenery blurred through reinforced glass.

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