Ning went through many countries, many lands, many seas, and ocean floors, all in his search to find what he wanted. 𝒐𝑽𝓵xt.𝗇𝓔t

He found as many Essence crystals as he could that weren’t being used by anyone and took them all with him. By the time he was done with it, nearly 2 hours had already passed.

“Did I overdo it?” he wondered given how much he took away. “It’ll be fine.”

When he was done, he decided to leave.

He teleported away, arriving back in the spaceship.

“Aah!” Clara shouted the moment he appeared. “How did you get here?”

“I teleported,” Ning said. “Where are we?”

He looked out of the window and saw that they were flying around a few hundred meters above the ocean.

“Nowhere, just roaming the ocean,” Emma said. “I’m showing them around.”

“Ok,” Ning said and looked toward Clara. “Are you ready to leave? It is mid day for the people in Blackhawk Dominion now.’

“Oh… we’re leaving now?” Clara asked.

“Do you not want to?” Ning asked.

“No, I want to,” Clara said and stood up from her seat. She turned toward Emma and the Shadow Puma, and then outside.

“I never thought in my life that I would ever get to see something so incredible, and I’m not sure if I will ever get to see something like this again. Thank you very much for what you did for me,” she said.

Ning smiled. “It’s alright,” he said. “You did a lot for me that you didn’t have to as well.”

“Bye Clara,” Emma turned around to wave at her. “I hope we meet in the future before we leave.”

“Farewell,” Clara said.

“I’ll see you guys later,” Ning said and teleported away with Clara.

They arrived back in the Whiteowl region, on the very pillar that Ning had created. The height gave Clara a moment of dizziness before she calmed down.

“Why did you bring us up here?” she asked.

“I wanted to see how things were going on before heading down there,” Ning said. “You did kill their Emperor.”

“Right,” Clara said while moving toward the edge of the giant pill. Dark threads flew out of her body, attaching herself to the pillar. She looked down at the city and was surprised how big it looked from here.

She would’ve expected for everything to look smaller.

She looked toward the new arena that was created and searched for any humans there. There wasn’t even a single corpse remaining there.

Not even Ning’s corpse was there.

“They must have taken it away,” she said.

“It’s their Emperor’s body. I doubt they would leave it for everyone to see,” Ning said.

“What about yours?” Clara asked.

Ning spent a second asking the system the question and was surprised. “Oh… they’re going to hold a funeral for me,” he said.

“For your dead body?” Clara asked.

“Yeah, the academy is all there,” Ning said. “That won’t do. I can’t let those poor guys go on thinking I’m dead.”

His body transformed to look like the one that he had been using until yesterday. It shifted to become the young him, except without any Essence in him.

“Let’s go,” Ning said, and jumped.

He hurled through the sky like a meteor, landing on the ground with a large bang that shook the entire arena, leaving the rest of the place in a bunch of cracks.

He looked up to find Clara, but she was already next to him. “You got down here fast,” he said.

“I can travel through the shadow with my technique,” she said.

“Ah, right,” Ning said. “Anyway, let’s go.”

He quickly got out of the arena and followed the direction given to him by the system to go find the location where his body was being burned.

The funeral was already halfway complete, and people were already leaving. The only ones that remained there were those that cared even the tiniest bit about him.

Ning walked up close and saw the sad look on everyone’s faces. “Uhh… hey guys,” he said slowly. “I’m sorry you thought I was dead.”

Heads turned immediately as they all stared at Ning with confused looks on their faces. “Wh-what?” Kaleb spoke up first. “Y-you! How are you— what’s going on??”

His reaction got everyone’s attention and the people around him turned to look at the source of the commotion. When they saw Ning standing there, they momentarily paused.

Then, a giant humanoid Earth Essence Soul with parts of tiger in it. “Who are you?” the headmaster’s deep voice seemed cold like never before. He had never been this angry in his life.

Ning sighed. “I am Ning, the same person whose corpse you are burning,” he said. “This is a different body of mine, which I can change on will. That was one killed, so I took a different one.”

“What?” the headmaster shouted. “Lies!”

“Storage ring, crystal, and a Skill book. Those were the three rewards that you gave me the night before during the dinner. Does that prove it?” Ning asked.

The headmaster wavered. “No, you—”

He wasn’t sure what to say. Ning had been correct in what he had received, but… whose body had they burned then?

“This is Ning,” Clara explained. “I can confirm that for you.”

“Who are you?” the headmaster looked at her.

Clara paused for a second when posed the question and took a deep breath. “Clara Grazer,” she said. “The rightful ruler of the Whiteowl Region.”

Several people gasped when they heard that. Kaleb and Yorsha especially the most surprised as they knew about the Grazers.

“You are…” the Headmaster paused, thinking about something.

“I am also the one that killed the Emperor,” Clara said. Suddenly, a spider appeared out of her back, turning into a giant Essence soul that was bigger than the Headmaster’s own Essence soul.

“S-Stellar Harmony!” the headmaster shouted in surprise.

“Now, can we move on with things?” Ning said. “I truly am Ning, and I have come here to say my goodbyes.”