NOVPUB"Today is your fourth day in the Capital Bulerida."
"On Monday, after you wrote down the principles in the classroom, just one day had passed, and you’d already aroused considerable attention at the Saint Kray Monastery, meow."
In a suburb of the Capital Bulerida of Crystal, inside the living room of a high-end mansion exclusively for professors.
Lanci was eating bread while looking at the black bread on the table, which was broadcasting punctually.
"Alright, Cat Boss."
Lanci was just about to press down on the Cat Boss’s head to end today’s broadcast.
On Tuesday, he would also continue his lectures on the fourth floor of the Elliot Building, with Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays being his workdays at Saint Kray Monastery.
Suddenly he felt the Cat Boss deftly raise its front paw and, with a technique akin to Wing Chun boxing, skillfully deflect his hand with high proficiency.
Lanci, "?"
"Many professors from the Faculty of Magical Engineering came to discuss with you yesterday, and they highly recognized your strength and the contributions you will make to the Empire."
The Cat Boss continued to speed up its broadcast,
"Some friendly professors advised you from their experience that in the coming days, more and more influential people from the Empire might contact you. You need to take good care of your safety and discern each person’s purpose in contacting you. Be careful of spies from the Silvermoon Reform Association and the Allied Forces."
By then, it triumphantly sat on all fours atop the dining table, looking at a bewildered Lanci.
The Empire’s autumn sunrise streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, adding a touch of lazy comfort to the classic two-story villa and illuminating Lanci’s expression of life-questioning stillness.
"Master Cat, so you know boxing too?"
Lanci realized that since the Cat Boss had evolved to Eighth Order, it was now comparable to a powerful Fifth-order magical beast, and it seemed like its broadcast couldn’t be stopped.
"Of course. Back in the day, my Meow Meow Fist was so good, no stray cat dared to steal my food!"
The whole wheat, sugar-free black bread proudly declared.
It had gone through its Zero-order and First-order phases, where its combat prowess was weaker than an average cat, so it needed some skills to keep its belly full.
It had lived through the days as a restaurant owner before meeting Lanci, which it clawed its way into through persistent struggle.
"I see..."
Lanci hadn’t realized that the Cat Boss had once had such tough times.
But the Cat Boss, relying on itself, had struggled for many years, eventually settling in Ichrite and becoming a shop owner. It was quite inspirational.
By comparison,
"It’s good that you never met someone who would fight cats for food at the foot of the Nanwantina walls..."
Lanci was just about to sigh with a smile, ready to start the day in high spirits when he stopped mid-sentence.
It seemed that he couldn’t bring himself to finish the phrase and just continued to eat.
Better to just finish breakfast quietly and without fuss.
But without reflecting on it, he would almost forget that his first casual conversation with Talia had been about feeding cats.
Mindlessly, Lanci continued to eat his oat bread sandwich, loaded with ham, pickled cucumber slices, fried egg, and cheese.
Today’s breakfast was made early by Talia, Lanci took one bite and knew it.
Her cooking was clearly different from the Cat Boss’s. She didn’t aim to create fancy dishes, but rather homely, delicious breakfasts.
"..."
After Lanci thought of this, he found that he could speak again, which surprised him slightly.
It seemed that realizing Talia was the one who made breakfast, he suddenly became happy.
"Heh..."
Lanci shook his head and smiled.
How could he possibly fail to discern who had made the breakfast placed on the dining table?
Only Talia could make that kind of breakfast with "a mother’s touch," something that isn’t possible without the sediment of years.
As he felt a chill up his spine, he quickly suppressed his thoughts.
"By the way, Cat Boss, if you evolve to Ninth Order, wouldn’t you be invincible to anyone below Seventh Order?"
Lanci asked, turning his attention back to the Little Black Cat.
"...Oh, right."
The Cat Boss pondered, considering its ability to overcome three orders, as a Ninth Order it might indeed possess the power of Sixth Order. Plus, with Ninth Order Magic Cards at its disposal, it would truly be invincible below Seventh Order.
Not only was its species’ base value low, but it was also the weakest individual among Elf Cats, with no combat talent. Accordingly, it needed less cultivation and ordeal to enhance its feeble body for promotion. Along with its lucky talent of selecting a life-preserving Space Series skill, it had survived countless disasters, sleeping its way to Seventh Order.
Once it could participate in the high-order Shadow World, which it had originally no capability of engaging in, and with Lanci helping it gain contribution points, its level might be the one that rose the fastest in the team.
"Ninth Order would mean becoming a real Divine Spirit Beast. I’ve never dreamed that big, meow."
The Cat Boss soberly shook its head.
To break through to the Ninth-Order Divine Domain was not just about reaching the Eighth Order Limit. It also required fulfilling two more challenging conditions.
The first was the Power of Faith related to the true Divine from the Divine Era. The second, an immortal symbol capable of carrying the legend of one’s own self.
This was also why Sigrid wanted to become Pope. Once Pope of the Rebirth Church, she would possess the entire Church’s Power of Faith. Furthermore, the Papal Authority could serve as an enduring symbol. After consolidating and controlling all the branches of the Rebirth Church, it would be sufficient for her to ascend to Ninth Order.
Aside from the routes of Church authority like Pope or Pope,
The only other path was through Imperial Authority. Becoming a king of a sufficiently large nation, the Emperor could also harbor enough Power of Faith.
