Chapter 1195 – A Retrospective Moment

Traveling across the multiverse was a lot easier with a Godqueen handling the transportation, but even with her, it wasn’t as simple as just teleporting a single time.

With each faction covering its entire domain in massive formations that prevented teleportations going in and out, they would first have to leave the territory of the Pantheon of Life before they could teleport to another universe. This was done by first teleporting to one of the border planets, where they would cross the border into “open space,” as many referred to it, though it had more names than Jake bothered to memorize.

Open space was essentially just a term to describe territory of the multiverse not claimed by any faction or powerful individual. Galaxies tended to cluster together, forming, well, clusters, which in turn made up the territories of the different major factions.

Between those clusters tended to be massive amounts of empty space, with mostly nothing there except for the rare meteorite or other interesting discoveries. It was a surprising fact, but despite how powerful gods were, there remained areas of even the first universe that hadn’t been fully explored yet. This was not just because it was dangerous to go some places, but simply because no one had the time or bothered to put in the effort to scour the empty nothingness of space with the hope of finding a few rocks.

Occasionally, gods did stumble across truly interesting discoveries, but for the most part, even a god could spend a million years flying through nothingness. Especially with how easy teleportation was for gods at higher levels, as they could go from one side of the universe to another in a mere moment, a trip that would take them countless years if done by flight.

Anyhow, the point was, each universe was impossibly big to the level where it defied understanding, something Jake had already known before the system from his cursory interest in astronomy. After the integration, the ninety-third universe had only grown bigger, reaching a scale that just seemed dumb in Jake’s mind. Alas, the multiverse did have to be truly gigantic to allow for gods like the Primordials to exist.

If someone could wipe out a galaxy with little effort, the best countermeasure was to just have a lot of galaxies to go through.

Back to the trip across the multiverse, they were soon outside the territory of the Pantheon of Life, the weird pineapple-shaped vessel flying through space to reach an area it could teleport again.

“The formation isn’t merely a thin barrier, but covers a vast distance… think about it almost like the atmosphere of a planet, just one that covers the entire Supercluster,” Artemis explained as they flew through space.

“Does it defend against anything else besides teleportation?” the Sword Saint asked curiously.

“Yes, like the atmosphere of a planet, it also defends against external attacks and even invasions through flight,” Artemis continued. “Moreover, the Mother Tree is connected to the entire barrier and knows of anyone and everything that goes through it. There are very few existences in the multiverse that can sneak in unnoticed… the Seeker counted amongst them.”

“The Seeker?” the Sword Saint asked curiously as he seemed to recall something. “Oh, isn’t that the one who crafted that puzzle cube Jake can’t stop being effusive about?”

“She is pointing out his prowess, seeing as he recently paid a visit to the Pantheon of Life and ended up leaving with the Shimmershroud Planeswarper Jake had used his powers as a Harbinger of Primeval Origins to create,” the Forest King quickly explained before even giving Jake a chance to.

“Ree?” Sylphie asked.

“I don’t actually know where the Seeker took Jasper,” Jake shrugged, still having a bird sitting on his head. He looked at Artemis, but she also shook her head.

“Seems like we missed quite the event,” the old man chuckled. “Since we have some time, let’s hear what everyone has been up to since we met last. Allow me to start…”

The Sword Saint did exactly that as he narrated the hunting he’d done since they last had a reunion, slightly after the King was revived. Same as Jake, the swordsman had primarily focused on getting class levels and improving his combat prowess, though he had also taken the time to go sightseeing a bit and had returned from the Pantheon of Life with a collection of paintings, some of which he also showed off.

After him, Dina spoke of her own hunting – most of it with the Sword Saint – but also of some of the training she had undergone with her grandfather and other members of the Pantheon of Life. As a dryad druid, she didn’t have a profession to work on but only her class and race levels, which was both a boon and a curse. On the one hand, she could gain levels in both from doing the same things, but on the other, it took a lot more effort for her to progress, and her race level tended to always fall behind her class, as dryads were naturally slow-growing creatures, courtesy of their Lineage as tree spirits.

Sylphie’s narration was short and sweet and just involved a lot of flying in circles in a tornado.

The Forest King decided not to join in, besides briefly mentioning he was still working on “solidifying his foundation to ensure future excellence.”

Jake gladly shared what he had been up to, including his sparring session with the other archers from the Pantheon of Life and, of course, his recent thirty-nine-day hunting trip. He got a few glances when they learned just how many B-grades Jake had killed by now, yet none of them seemed overly surprised.

All in all, they had all benefited massively from their trip to the Pantheon of Life. The Sword Saint had gained a solid amount of both class and profession levels and had even improved his skills. Despite not fighting, Sylphie had also gained a lot of levels simply by existing as a monster within a massively beneficial environment. However, more than levels, she had gained several skill upgrades, making Jake feel a bit lackluster in comparison.

Even so, there was one person who had benefited more from this trip than anyone else, seeing as when it began, he had kind of been dead. While the King didn’t share much, Jake knew simply from his aura that he was more powerful now than before, with his recent meditation also showing results.

What he did know was that the King had primarily worked on the aspects of his Path revolving around being just that: a king. Jake would be lying if he weren’t looking forward to what a Golden Forest King that had fully realized his Path was capable of.

Finally, there was Jake.

Looking back, Jake’s time at the Pantheon of Life had definitely also been a productive one, to say the least, even if things certainly hadn’t gone entirely to plan. He had originally gone primarily to meet up with Artemis and Dina again, as well as just to experience a change in environment.

His reunion with Artemis and everything that followed kind of ended up swallowing all his attention and time, not that Jake had any regrets whatsoever. Especially not now that she was going back to the Order with him so they could continue to spend more time together and perhaps even do a bit of archery together, even if he got the feeling she would be busy with her new job.

Then again, that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

As they were just sitting there anyway, Jake opened up his full status to see his gains while at the Pantheon of Life… and perhaps slightly before that, as he compared it to the time just after he had his meeting with the First Sage.

Status

Name: Jake Thayne

Race: [Human (C) – 305 –> 329]

Class: [Arcane Hunter of Horizon’s Edge – 302 –> 332]

Profession: [Heretic-Chosen Alchemist of the Malefic Viper – 309 –> 327]

Health Points (HP): 295,950/295,950 –> 344,062/344,062

Mana Points (MP): 518,125/518,125 –> 584,734/584,732

Stamina: 294,987/294,987 –> 329,537/329,537

Stats