Chapter 217: Ascension Requirement?

One thing that Jacob really loved about this school was the fact that nobody really knew who he was or what he had done in the past. Back in the Ironfell Castle, once people had heard news of his feat against the Demon King, they worshipped him, always making sure he had what he needed. Every day, there was a new person wanting to hear the story of how he was able to lead people to conquer the Demon King at the World Tree.

Maidens who would normally give their bodies to him—solely on account of him being tall and handsome—were even prepared to give him children. This was the reason why he spent very little time moving around the castle, and more time exploring other different worlds.

He knew that this school would eventually become boring when people found out how powerful he actually was, and so he would enjoy his time before then.

As a result of his very convenient teleportation skill, he reached the canteen in no time. He peeped through the window and let out a sigh of relief after seeing that Violet was still there, attacking her food with a fork, but not actually eating any of it. She seemed lost in thought.

He walked in casually. There were other people there who reacted in different complex ways as he entered, but as usual, he paid them no attention as his gaze was fixed on the purple-haired beauty.

"You know... it’s wrong to keep a girl waiting," she said without even looking in his direction, and he plopped into a seat beside her.

"I know, and that’s why I brought you something." He smiled and moved a hand behind his back, pulling a bouquet of neatly wrapped Witch Hazel flowers and presenting the bouquet to her. "I wanted to do something cliché like roses, but I got these instead. They match the color of your eyes."

Try as she might, she could not stop the smile that flashed across her face in this moment, but still, she wouldn’t allow this romantic gesture to cloud what he had done.

"How nice of you, although this doesn’t mean I’ll forgive you for making me wait 20 whole minutes. I could have easily finished my food and left before you came." She took the bouquet from his hands and rolled her eyes, a faint smile still tugging at her lips.

Jacob didn’t respond. He just sat there, looking at her. He knew the flower gesture had gone far enough, and so he would not push it any further. Of course, he had materialized the flowers in his hands the second she started to complain.

"Who was she anyways? You said she wasn’t your little sister." Violet continued. She had started eating her food now, and this made Jacob smile.

He decided to tell her the truth, which actually would not reveal anything too grand, as he barely even knew Allicent himself.

"Remember I told you I spent a while at my friend’s house? The Wutherhorn estate?" He started.

"Yes, I remember."

"During my stay there, they had this ceremonious tradition, a gladiator tournament. She was one of the contestants, but she got arrested for breaking the rules." Jacob narrated, placing his hands on the table and folding his fingers between each other.

"That still doesn’t tell me how you met." Violet raised a brow as she took another spoonful. She was rather serious when she wanted to be. It was somewhat cute and annoying at the same time.

"Relax, woman, I’m getting there..." He laughed and then continued. "She killed someone during the tournament, so she was taken to their dungeons indefinitely. Before all that, she kept shooting me weird looks and smiling, so I visited her in the dungeon, and she said the reason she kept smiling at me was that she could sense how strong I was, or something."

There was silence for a while, maybe because of the fact that she was chewing her food. She had gotten a plate of roasted meat and corned beef, which was somewhat hard to chew. Or maybe it was because she was processing the information that Jacob had just told her.

"I knew she was weird. That was not my first time seeing her, too. It was only the first time I heard her voice. I’ve seen her three times around the academy. She’s been shooting me those same weird smiles you spoke about." As Violet was a proper lady, she always waited to finish chewing her food and wiped her mouth carefully with a napkin before she spoke.

"She told me she thinks you’re strong as well."

"She’s absolutely right! What is she doing at this school anyways? Isn’t she a little too young to be here?"

...

The conversation continued like that for a while, with Jacob ordering a plate of his own food just as she was about to be done with hers. But considering she was a rather slow eater, they both finished their food at the same time.

The conversation had taken different turns at different points, with both of them sharing some details about their lives before coming to the academy, laughter and smiles between them.

At the end of the day, just as he had done the previous day, he walked her to her room and bid her goodnight before returning to his abode.

He lay on his bed with nothing but restlessness in his mind, so many things flashed in his head as he looked at the ceiling.

He breathed slowly, and less than a second later, a message flashed in his retina.

<You have received a breakthrough>

<You have currently achieved the required cultivation base to ascend to the next plane of existence!>

<Would you like to view the ascension requirements?>

This notification baffled him a little, but it was only to be expected, as he was currently breaking through realms as easily as it was for him to breathe.

"What requirements do you mean?"

<For the host to ascend, the host needs to complete 100 levels in the Tower of Sun at maximum difficulty>

<Would you like to continue?>