Time flowed like a river, without stopping.
It has been two months since the academy held the tournament for Master Grade students.
The time Jarek has been in this academy now totals five months.
Needless to say, during these past few months, everyone has made tremendous progress.
Jarek was now immersed in a state of deep concentration.
While he was cultivating, his body was surrounded by shadow energy.
Then, Jarek stirred from his meditative state, as the shadow energy all around him underwent a slight change.
He opened his eyes to the sound of the system's notifications.
[Congratulations, host, for comprehending the 10th-level Shadow Elementary Intent.]
[Congratulations, host, for comprehending the 10th level Shadow Basic Intent.]
'The Crowned Empyrean Stage is indeed very strange.' Jarek thought as he saw the two notifications appearing at the same time.
This was the first time something like this had happened.
It was strange enough for there to be levels beyond the ninth, but for an intent stage that was once broken through to advance once again influenced by the current intent stage, it was bizarre.
However, that's how the Crowned Empyrean Stage worked.
Brynhild had already told him about the existence of hidden intent levels.
As he summoned a bit of shadow energy, he felt as if the efficiency and the control he had had increased significantly.
'It has increased by around 0.15%. So, it is a 0.15% increase per level.' He judged.
For intents to be able to break through to the next stage, they have to be at the peak of the ninth level, which is 99%.
Once that is achieved, one can access the next stage of intent.
The first stage is Elementary for any law one might begin learning.
And the second stage is the Basic Stage.
For one to advance from the Elementary Stage to the Basic Stage, they have attained 99% efficiency.
The same can be said for the advancement from the Basic Stage to the next stage.
Only phantom stages like the Crowned Empyrean Stage can somewhat break these rules.
Right now, Jarek's proficiency with the shadow element in both efficiency and control sits at 99.15% and it will only increase.
'If I continue rising through the levels of the Crown Empyrean Stage, wouldn't I eventually achieve almost 100% control over a law?'
He didn't know why, but he felt that even with his capabilities and the system, achieving a full 100% was impossible.
By his calculations, the maximum he can achieve is 99.9%.
That remaining 0.1% gap is something he could not bridge, no matter what he tried.
'And then there is her? How exactly can she reach beyond the ninth level.'
Logic dictated that only someone who has reached the Crowned Empyrean level can discover these hidden levels, but that rule didn't apply to that being.
He then thought about the conversation he had with the princesses two months ago.
"... I don't know how she managed to do it, but she could tap into the hidden intents even without entering the Crowned Empyrean Stage. As for what the Crowned Empyrean Stage is, you can think of it as a hidden stage that exists beyond the Empyrean Stage, but still below the next phase. It can only be accessed by those with an above-average foundation."
Jarek nodded, but he didn't reveal to Brynhild and Astrid that he had already taken a step into this mysterious stage.
"The higher your combat power, the higher you'll climb in this stage. So far, the highest one has ever reached is the third level. However, what was terrifying about her was that her control over her laws was even greater than that of a Crowned Empyrean at the Third Level. This led us to suspect that maybe there exist levels beyond that."
Then she looked at Jarek and said, "Though, seeing your foundation, that suspicion is likely true. Anyway, we speculated the reason she was able to bypass these rules was because of a heavenly physique."
"A physique?" Jarek had raised an eyebrow.
"As I said before, it is speculation. It was the only way we could make sense of such an absurdity. But Supreme Grade talents are unfathomable existences after all. And I can say the same thing about you as well. It's a mystery how you have such a powerful foundation. Is it innate or crafted by someone else?"
She didn't know what to think.
'Compared to that, the physiques I have seen are trash. Eira's is unique, but even that can't compare to that physique.'
Brynhild continued, "Those who witnessed her might and were lucky enough not to bear the brunt of her attacks described that they felt as if they were in the presence of the heavens. Her law utilization was simply transcendent. For that reason, she was called the Heavenly Empress. It was only later that her title changed to Dao Empress. And that's what she is known to the World..."
As he recalled this past conversation, he smiled as he thought, 'She is truly a monster.'
This was a monster that he will eventually have to surpass.
'I wonder when I will reach her level.' He wasn't worried about whether he would catch up to her.
No, it was only a matter of when.
'I will return.' He thought as he looked at the moon hanging in the night sky.
He then summoned lightning energy, his intention clear.
'Let's cultivate.' He then closed his eyes, once again falling into deep meditation in an effort to comprehend the lightning element even further.