NOVPUBAfter the Platinum Ancestors were long gone, Cassius turned his attention to the breakthrough phenomena that was just now finishing up. He blurred and descended to the fantastical lake where a beautiful feminine figure—just as mesmerizing as the reflective water—was sitting in meditation.
After setting down May, who was still fangirling over his recent display of power, Cassius approached the meditating figure. She looked almost the same as she had a hundred and fifty years ago, but there was something different about her this time.
'It would appear that Dear Master rediscovered her spark,' Cassius thought, able to sense her surging resolve from all the way over here. 'It's good that she did. All those years of "being in my shadow," as she called it, was something I never expected her to get over.'
He was glad.
Some odd hours later, after May concluded the consolidation of her cultivation, Cassius finally spoke up, saying, "It has been a while, Master."
"!??" 'An assassin—!?'
That notion perished almost as soon as it formed when she glimpsed the otherworldly handsome face staring at her with a fondness that she had grown to miss.
"Cassius… Is that really you…?" She pinched herself just to make sure that she wasn't dreaming.
"Who else would I be but me?" Cassius chuckled, finding his Master as cute as ever.
"B-But…"
Luma hid her face from view, but Cassius could still very much make out the difficult expression she was making.
"Couldn't you have…?"
"It's okay, Luma," Cassius comforted her as he pulled her close. "It's all okay now, because I'm bac—"
"Couldn't you have stayed in seclusion for just a little bit longer!?" Luma shouted as she pushed away from him, tears streaming down her face.
"Huh…?"
Cassius was rendered speechless.
What happened to the touching reunion? Where had the script gone off to??
"If you're back out of seclusion, then that means I'll be slung back into your shadow!" Luma pulled at her hair, feeling extreme dread. "Where are my dreams of grandeur and reverence now!? Damn it…!"
"This definitely wasn't her line," Cassius muttered with a twitching smile. "Where did my adoring Master who walked every step of this journey with me go? Oh, the woes…"
May giggled off to the side, having long since expected this outcome. Even without the existence of her overpowered Seer Ability, she still would've anticipated this development.
While crying tears of blood and chewing the collar of her robes, Luma glared at Cassius. "Why is it that you've come, unfilial Disciple?? Come to gloat??"
"No…"
Well yes, but now he definitely couldn't do it.
"I just missed you, is all," Cassius said with an obviously fake tone of affection. "You are the sun to my moon, the apple of my eye, the stars in the night sky—"
"Okay, that's enough!" Luma clicked her tongue, chucking shiny Body Source Crystals at him. "These are what you came for, no? Shamelessly snatching up the fruits of this queen's labor, humph!"
Catching the Body Source Crystals, Cassius revealed a helpless look. She was right; normally, he would seek her out to acquire the Body Source Crystals uniquely produced by her very special constitution.
But not this time.
Throwing them back to her, Cassius said, "I've no need for Body Refinement resources anymore. In fact, we'll be leaving this world very soon, so prepare yourselves."
"!!!" "!!!"
One was surprised by the announcement of departure, whereas the other was shocked by everything he said.
"Are you trying to tell me that you actually…!?"
"We'll be leaving!? Yayys~!"
Cassius looked to the astonished expression his Master was making, upon which he told her of his advancement to the absolute pinnacle of Body Refinement. There was no higher stage, and with nothing left to strive for in the Infinite Character Development Dimension, it was naturally time to leave.
"T-The Invinci Body Stage… The one that has only ever been theorized…" Luma mumbled in disbelief, on her knees. "How could my only Disciple do something so mind-boggling?? Am I forced to forever be an extra in your story!?? Gah!!"
"Your Master is such an odd one, Cass," May giggled as she latched onto his arm. "And she's only like this with you, by the way. Most of the time, she's very reserved and handles the higher-level matters of the Supreme Dynasty with reservation and elegance. But now… Hihi…"
Luma was rolling around on the ground, throwing a tantrum that she had been holding in for the last few centuries. Every time she thought she was radiating like a brilliant star, that damn Disciple of hers would show up and steal her thunder.
It was so freaking annoying…!
"Well, she had always been quite the character," Cassius mused. "Though it was only after spending more time with her that I came to know that. Believe it or not, in the beginning, she was akin to an eminent expert who could crush me to dust with a single thought."
"Was the disparity between you two really so great??" May asked.
Cassius gave her a few pats, and while looking ahead, replied, "Yes, she was a Godlike being, while I was but a bug. However, with the passing of time, the tables flipped."
"You speak a whole lot about time, Cass," May commented while wholeheartedly enjoying the head-pats. "But yeah, I can see now why Miss Luma is so peeved. I think I would be too if things changed so much."
Hearing of time from the mouth of another made Cassius recall all the years he had been alive. It had to have been past a thousand by now, with him having wandered all over the various Dimensions this reality had to offer.
"I suppose I do talk about time a lot," he sighed profoundly, an archaic air permeating around him. "But when you've experienced as much as I have, you begin to look at everything in terms of numbers. How much longer do I need to train this to achieve that? If I endure this much pain for this amount of time, will I advance? How much time is left until another breakthrough comes along?"
