Three more days passed as this routine continued. In the morning it was training with the royal confidants, trying to get Fetters to get a bit more confident in ordering her superiors around, teaching them more modern team strategies used by adventurers in The Realm

In the afternoon he was sitting down with the King. Trying to go over rules and regulations for a larger and more encompassing Adventurer’s Guild. The current system was completely disjointed with terrible communications and politics that had left it completely defunct.

As always, King Theskar would listen and nod at his suggestions without giving input. He only promised to implement it exactly the way Ryan wanted it. Of course, it wasn’t said in a condescending manner.

Ryan just knew the King didn’t believe it would work.

So he took more time to think about it. He told King Theskar to start spreading rumors that armies did not work against powerful individuals. The Demon King and Artigan simply mowed down their armies and did as they saw fit. The rumors would say that they needed more outstanding powers of their own. Teams that specialized in taking down individual raid bosses.

Platinum rank would be created and given to the royal confidants and worn as badges on their armor. Those with platinum rank would be awarded deeds and titles, giving them a stake in the country that they lived in and would protect.

It would be prestigious and something to aim for.

Yet there was still something missing.

He tried to think on how the Adventurer’s Guild back home had been created. It hadn’t started off as a massive over-encompassing entity. It was something that the Witch Tyrant created and then publicly left alone. It had grown over time into a behemoth and a standard for everyone to apply to. But Ryan doubted that anything the Witch Tyrant created was natural.

But it had seemed that way. Nobody actually orders the Guild around. Not even the Tyrants.

At least not publicly.

Now it was autonomous, respected and trusted by all at the same time. A seemingly neutral entity that was technically stronger than every government on Earth and The Realm at the same time.

It was an impossibly insane construction if you thought about it.

Ryan shook his head. “Right, nevermind, we’re going to change the timeframe and a bunch of other things. Theskar, how much are you willing to be subtle about things?”

“I’ll be as subtle as you request it to be.”

He gritted his teeth at the non-answer.

“Well, I want you to make some of these changes over a generation–no, ten years. Send the same rumors to all the other nobles but try to keep it more discreet, you’re supporting the Adventurer’s Guild and it’s like a secret project they would want to be in on. Implement a couple of other things like an honorguard as competition but keep the Adventurer’s Guild as the target…”

He got into more detail as they went on, Ryan coming up with ideas at blazing speeds and scrapping them as needed. Then they moved on.

“Slow down the benefits to higher rank adventurers. Give a platinum rank to the strongest adventurer you can find and give them stuff as support but don’t add the confidants, not yet. I also need someone that is both intelligent and headstrong to place as the head of the Adventurer’s Guild. Do you know someone like that?”

King Theskar shook his head. “I will not make value judgments myself. The files of all experienced adventuring personnel are over there.”

A box about the size of his torso was filled to the brim with dusty parchment. One that he was going to have to go over and read through himself.

“Goddamnit.”

========================================================

During the evenings Ryan sat down with the demon teen, Agrinth, two of the mage confidants and one of the royal knights. He would have preferred all of the confidants together but they had duties elsewhere. This was a task that was perhaps just as important as implementing a better functioning Adventurer’s Guild.

Knowledge on how to progress.

Only, Ryan was trying and failing to teach anyone the visualization techniques he’d learned.

The main problem was that Ryan lacked the foundational knowledge to really guide them in any way shape and form. The Trial people knew that mana and qi existed, but most of them preferred to naturally let their cores or channels develop into the next stage.

When you hit a bottleneck? You simply stopped progressing. Over ninety five percent of people that attempted to force the issue died. Those numbers got worse the higher they were.

It wasn’t worth risking advancement at those odds.

The visualization techniques Ryan learned from the Obsidian Sect would lead to much fewer bottlenecks but came with problems of their own.

Fetters, the mage confidant shook her head. “This is way, way too complicated. Older people can’t use this and if we implemented this at a younger age, then the mortality rate would skyrocket.”

That… was probably true. The Obsidian Sect had been improving but the older generations had far, far too many disfigurations, likely even deaths that he didn’t know about. Progressing with visualization techniques when they didn’t have high realm [Healers] and a steady supply of potions was far, far too risky.

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Ryan turned to Agrinth, the demon teen trying to memorize the dizzying array of visualization techniques in front of him. He had attempted to make his qi flow in the image of some of them and ended up with another huge problem.

“I don’t know which one sounds good?”

Ryan threw his head back on his chair.

“Fuck.”

He could use his intuition because his body was changed by the Trial System. Regular people couldn’t. They had no idea what would and wouldn’t work for them. To know would require trial and error from someone that had a similar build and energy level as you did.

In the end, it seemed like this bit of knowledge would have to be scrapped.

How did the Obsidian Sect fix their problems again?

Gamielle had said that Larix had drastically changed the injury rate of the Obsidian Sect by himself. But that wasn’t a solution at all either.

Wait for a prodigy to come and guide them all? Would it work without [Healers] and healing potions?

It was unlikely.

The royal knight, on the other hand, stared at the visualization techniques like they were priceless treasures. Artifacts that could determine the bright and powerful future of his kingdom. He stared at a particular visualization of a great root system, the one Ryan used for his right hand.

“We can create schools of learning from this. Experiment with younger generations and—”

Ryan’s glare silenced him. “Use children as sacrifices?”

The knight gathered his thoughts, the greed of the bounty in front of him overshadowing good senses. “That is part of being a ruler. Making decisions and sacrificing people where needed for the greater good.”

“I feel like I’ve heard that before.”

The problem was that Ryan couldn’t find a good argument against it. If you knew a disaster was coming then wasn’t the right decision to sacrifice some for the sake of many?

He hated the argument.

“Anyway, experimenting over generations will take too long for what’s coming. Don’t start implementing child experiments, we’ll think about it and come back to it another day.”

Ryan stood up, cracking his neck, still thinking, still planning and plotting. He wrinkled his nose and pointed at the knight.

“You, what’s your name?”

“Miles Knightly.”

“Of course it is.” Ryan shook his head at the ridiculous name. “You’re going to join me in the afternoon planning with King Theskar, got it?”

“I have duties.”

“We discuss the fate of your kingdom during the afternoon sessions. King Theskar is happy to implement whatever I wish, no matter how stupid he might think it is. If you don’t want me to ruin your kingdom, then that is where you should speak your thoughts.”

Miles Knightly shook his stupidly pragmatic head, eager perhaps to prove himself to his King.

It wasn’t that Ryan liked the guy, it was that a contrasting opinion was what was needed. He disliked second-guessing himself, but he knew something was missing. Something important.

What happens if I lose my mind and wanted to destroy this kingdom?

If the Witch Tyrant could turn dark, then why couldn’t he?

Ryan stared out the window, just like his mood, it was getting dark. He’d spend some time decompressing and then it would be time to strike once more.

==========================================

Once again, Queen Perinete started storming out of her chambers. Once again, Ryan hinted at an impossible far flung fantastical other world before she left. However, this time Ryan added a little line before she went out of earshot.

“You’re going to have a lot more sleepless nights if you keep this up, Theskar.”

“Ten more days is hardly what I’d consider a lot of sleepless nights. I assure you.”

“Ah, but currently the highest Trial is being attempted. Do you know what that means?”

Apparently the King did indeed know what that meant. His eyes grew wide at Ryan’s reveal. Then he looked over Ryan’s face for any trace of a lie. Ryan grinned, honesty written all over his helpful face. That was the thing, King Theskar was good at reading people, it just didn’t work when you used the truth as a weapon.

“The previous Highest Trial was completed in fifty nine days. Who knows how long this one will take. Maybe it’ll be another sixty days on top.”

“Fifty nine days is hardly–”

The Queen stormed back into the bedchambers, she pointed at King Theskar’s chest.

“I will not be accosted out of my own bedchambers for sixty days, Theskar! By a common peasant no less!”

And there was Ryan’s trap. King Theskar might have had the patience and stubbornness of a ruler but his fairly younger wife did not. The King flicked his eyes over to Ryan in annoyance, finally realizing the trap that he’d stepped into. Theskar turned to his wife.

“Dear he doesn’t know if it truly will be sixty days.”

“And what if it was longer?! Theskar Deu Jallinmar, you will sort this out or you will have to find another wife on this so-called iteration.”

Oh snap, she used his full name.

Ryan hadn’t realized just how frustrated the Queen would get, only being cockblocked for four days. For the first time, King Theskar didn’t seem to have it all figured out. The dutiful man was absolutely insulted that his morals had been called into question.

“I have always stayed faithful, across time and history. My vows to you has always been sacrosanct.”

The words had little effect on the Queen that had reached the peak of frustration. “And!? How would I know if that were true? I would never know, never!”

I really need to start carrying popcorn around.

The fact that Queen Perinete was insecure was completely new lore, even to Ryan. Perinete’s position was completely understandable. Imagine knowing that your spouse was continuously redoing their life over and over again? How could you truly trust someone like that to be faithful?

Hell, Ryan knew of adventurers that had managed to sleep with some of the royal bosses of the fifth Trial. Trials where things had turned sideways because a dashing [Warrior] or an opportunistic [Rogue] took their shot to sleep with a King or Queen.

Well, Ryan was, if anything, an opportunistic [Rogue]. He cleared his throat, gathering a glare from the discontent couple.

“Well, I know. Thousands of Trials, all memorized.” He tapped his head.

Then he took a step back and gave Queen Perinete an exaggerated performer’s bow. After all, she was a queen, and queens did deserve respect.

“Level with me Queen Perinete. Help me convince your husband to share some of his wisdom and I can tell you anything you wish to know about your husband’s decorum in other variations. I can also tell you stories of the two great worlds I’ve come from. The worlds that your kingdom has so graciously guided so far. One where adventurers bring chaos and glory and benevolent Tyrants try to maintain the balance between two worlds.”

He stood up and flared his aura at the King and Queen. Pride was perhaps a flaw for most people but not for the three here. After all, what kind of ruler were you if you weren’t proud of your own kingdom?

Though Ryan didn’t come here as a ruler. Not yet anyway.

“This common peasant standing before you today has managed to play against the Witch Tyrant herself, causing her the greatest loss of face in history. I stand before you both today as the [Undisputed Apex of the Fourth Realm], stronger than any of the Tyrants at the same realm grade. No expense has been spared for my growth. With the Manager itself declaring me as the key for completing the Trial System itself. In fact, you could say that I’m a prince of the great Trial System.”

Sometimes it was the way you framed it to your audience, the way you switched up from a cocky adventurer to a grand, respectful prince that meant his every word. It showed that you knew exactly what you were doing the entire time.

Ryan turned to King Theskar, once again showing complete honesty in his every movement.

“So, tell me King Theskar, am I not worthy of your consideration?”

King Theskar searched his face for a trace of a lie, then he blinked.

“You should have led with that.”

Ryan shrugged helplessly. “What can I say? Bragging is beneath me.”

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