Chapter 922: 919: Ascend (Bonus)
"I'm sorry, my King. But that's enough training, we have to leave."
Corey calmly turned in the direction of the voice, having noticed the group that was approaching them a long time ago.
Jeremy was taken aback by the voice that suddenly appeared, and he looked in the direction of the tree.
When he saw who it was, his eyes brightened.
"Caesar."
Approaching Corey were two groups.
The first group consisted of Pamela, Kiefer, Selene, and Willow- the Terror Queen and mother of Selene.
And in front of this group was the second group which consisted of three individuals- Two men and a young woman.
The young woman had chestnut-brown hair that was tied into a flowing braid. Her emerald eyes shimmered faintly as though countless sparks of light danced within them.
She wore a robe that was patterned with shifting elemental runes that made it seem like she was surrounded by a halo of multicolored radiance. Fire, water, wind, and earth lights wove together around her like obedient spirits. Her expression was calm, almost serene, but hidden in the depths of her gaze was concern as she took subtle glances at Jeremy.
This woman was called Elizabeth Keen, and she was said to be the most talented elementalist in the entire Haven Continent... At least until Pamela and Corey came along.
Pamela became the undisputed number one, and she was still number two because none knew that Corey could fight like a magician.
Beside Elizabeth Keen was a tall, broad-shouldered man whose bronze skin gleaned faintly under the light. He looked like the Spartan of legends with his shirt hair, and stern jawline that only amplified his imposing presence.
He wore a simple, sleeveless combat leather armor that was reinforced with tempered steel along the chest and arms. Every breath he took carried the subtle ripple of restrained strength as he walked.
This man was called Matias Solomon.
The last man was the person who had called out to Jeremy Draker.
He was an unassuming man in his mid-twenties with brown hair that was cut short and forgettable brown eyes. His face was neither handsome nor ugly, and he was neither lean nor muscular, his physique was just there. He would have been the kind of man one's eyes could easily pass over in a crowd if not for the clothes he wore.
He wore a three-piece suit of dull charcoal, a plain black tie, and a long overcoat that looked more useful than fine. A fedora sat low on his brow, and a round non-tinted glasses rested on the bridge of his nose.
This man's name was Caesar Gray, and if not for the man's rather expensive looking clothes, he would have been a man one would ignore.
These three individuals were whom Corey had seen with Jeremy on the island of the Black Sea.
Elizabeth Keen was the woman he had seen with an extremely high affinity for more than one element.
Matias Solomon was the man who gave Corey the feeling that his physical stats were also in the Black Star, or at least some of them.
And Caesar Gray was the unassuming man he noticed back then who had been the first person to look at him when he appeared on the island.
Elizabeth Keen, Matias Solomon, and Caesar Gray were the true vice-leaders of the Kingdom of Miracles, and they were also Jeremy's trusted friends.
The two groups stopped in front of Jeremy, and the mage, Elizabeth Keen knelt before Jeremy, brought out a towel from her inventory, and began wiping the sweat off his face with a worried expression.
"Are you okay, my King? Did he hurt you?"
She gave Corey a side glance of slight anger, and Jeremy shook his head. He took the towel from her hand, and wiped off the sweat from his face.
"I'm fine. I'm not hurt. Just a little bit exhausted, that's all."
Caesar Gray shook his head with an exasperated sigh. "My King, I understand that you're a training maniac. But you should know when to train and when not to train."
"One should always train no matter what. Even the slightest increase in strength can be what would save your life."
Jeremy replied with an extremely solemn and serious expression, and Caesar covered his face while shaking his head with an exhausted expression.
He looked at Corey. "You should not have agreed to train him."
"He threatened me. He said he would not allow me to ascend the Chains of Sovereignty."
Everybody raised their brows. Most especially, Pamela, Kiefer, Selene, and Willow who looked at Jeremy like he was a fool who had a death wish.
Caesar's lips twitched, and he looked at Jeremy. "Please don't tell me you actually did that."
Jeremy looked away without a tinge of embarrassment on his face.
"I did what I had to do to get stronger."
Everywhere became silent, and a vein popped in Caesar's forehead. Elizabeth chuckled, and then she went to pick up Jeremy's robe, armor, and sword.
"Sometimes I wonder why the Universal System gave so much responsibility to a training freak and a clear muscle head like you."
"And that's why I have you as my trusted advisor, Caesar." Jeremy looked at Caesar, and Caesar exhaled with a tired expression.
"Sometimes I believe you don't me pay enough for the trouble and amount of work you give me."
Jeremy raised his brows as he took his armor from Elizabeth.
"What you earn is more than enough to fill the stomachs of a quarter of the average citizens of the kingdom."
Caesar shook his head, "I know. I know. I'm just joking."
"Hmm." Jeremy hummed as he finished wearing his armor. He collected his robe from Elizabeth and wore it.
"So, everything is ready? We're ready to ascend the Chains of Sovereignty?"
Caesar nodded. "We've been ready for about an hour now. We should be able to reach the top of the Chained Firmament."
"Good. Another opportunity to grow stronger."
Both Caesar and Corey's lips twitched.
'Maniac.' They both had the same thought.
"Ryan. Thanks for teaching me something new. Are you ready to ascend to the Chained Firmament?"
Corey looked at him dead in the eye, and he seriously had the urge to beat him black and blue.
'Maybe I should have done a training where I would hit him. He clearly needs to be hit in the brain.'
As nice as his thoughts seemed, he knew that it was pointless.
Jeremy had clearly fallen on his head a lot of times when he was a baby.
"I've been ready ever since you barged into my room." Corey said.
Jeremy nodded, and then he took his sword from Elizabeth.
"Then let's ascend the Chains of Sovereignty."