Chapter 1288 – Rude Interruption

Jake also immediately recognized what kind of item the Viper had left for him. It was similar to something Jake had seen several times before, though most certainly far more potent than any of those had been. Something a quick Identify confirmed.

[Supreme Token of Akashic Awakening (Mythical)] – Infuse into a piece of equipment to attempt to awaken or amplify the Records within, upgrading the item to a maximum of mythical rarity. If the item is already at mythical rarity, it will try to amplify existing effects through awakened Records. Grants the user some control over the infused Records of an item, enabling minor customization. WARNING: Touching directly upon the Records of an item may make others related to the associated Records aware. Requirements: User must be below lvl 400.

He let out a small whistle and nodded with satisfaction at not having to go get one of these himself somewhere else. What’s more, reading the description, this item was far better than any token he’d used earlier, even allowing him to customize the upgraded item to some extent. Perfect for Jake, who wanted to avoid giving any stats and instead focus on improving other aspects of the item.

As Jake was inspecting the item, his expected second visitor of the day arrived as the elven goddess appeared just behind him and looked curiously over his shoulder at the token.

“Those aren’t easy to come by, not even for a Primordial,” she spoke in an approving voice.

“Yet I’m pretty sure I overpaid for it,” Jake smiled as he turned to look at Artemis. She smiled in return, but Jake still felt a little awkward as he scratched the back of his head. “Should I be apologizing for not exactly being available recently?”

“Hm?” Artemis asked, looking genuinely confused for a moment before she understood. She chuckled a little and shook her head as she looked at him. “You don’t actually think I just sat around waiting, did you? Even if I did, I wouldn’t call a bit over a year long. We’re both busy people, and if any bond we have can fade just because a bit of time passes, perhaps it was just never meant to be.”

“I guess I was just overthinking,” Jake sighed, shaking his head. His last girlfriend got pissed if he took more than a few hours to respond to a message, so he definitely wasn’t used to Artemis shrugging over him taking a year.

“You most certainly were,” Artemis smiled. “Now, with that out of the way… slightly belated congratulations on your evolution to B-grade. I would ask you if it went well, but based on the fact that you got a skill that affected me and what you just traded with the Malefic Viper, I’m going to assume it did.”

“I would indeed say it did,” Jake nodded as he briefly explained what had gone down and even included a loose explanation of Primal Spirit of Man. Just the part that directly affected her, though he did also make it clear that he’d gotten a unique version that was very overpowered.

Artemis, in turn, gladly shared her recent triumphs and woes, as she was effectively the ambassador of the Pantheon of Life. The Order of the Malefic Viper could definitely be a struggle to deal with, and many of the gods who served Villy weren’t necessarily the most social or nicest of people, so it took some extra social grease to get things moving.

Coupled with that, both organizations had heavily wound up for the upcoming Seat of the Exalted Prima system event. No one knew for sure when it would open, but there were some theories. The foremost was that there wasn’t actually a set time; instead, it was a threshold that had to be passed.

Seeing as it was an event designed for B-grades, it made sense that it would only begin after a certain number of people who had qualified to become Administrator Candidates or even full-on Administrators, such as Jake, had evolved.

Which reminded Jake… at the end of the Prima Guardian event, five people from the Milky Way had been promoted to Administrators. Jake, Kindroth, also known as the Voice of the One… and three people who were now dead or no longer in the galaxy. Ell’Hakan and King Iludar, who had worked with the Chosen of Yip of Yore, had both died during their little war, and as for the person called Servant of the Holy Church, Jake wasn’t even sure who they were. Maybe they were dead, maybe it was Jacob, or maybe it was someone he had never even met. Either way, the Holy Church was gone from the galaxy.

Granted, it did mention that other Administrator Candidates could be promoted. Jake knew many people who had qualified to become Administrator Candidates, but weren’t actually Administrators. Unsurprisingly, all of these people were ones close to Jake, and he really didn’t expect any competition when it came to claiming the Seat of the Exalted Prima.

The same couldn’t be said about many other places.

While a lot of galaxies had banded together during the Prima Guardian event, that didn’t mean there were plenty of candidates who could, and likely would, compete for the galaxy’s Seat of the Exalted. Even within the same factions, there was a lot of conflict. Places like the Holy Church were especially dealing with this, but the Pantheon of Life wasn’t free from such internal strife either.

Artemis had a few followers who were Administrator Candidates and even two who had been promoted to Administrators due to their performance during the Prima Guardian event, so she was busy supporting them and discussing with other gods whose followers should be allowed to compete or claim ownership. It really was a mess in so many places.

But for now, the newly evolved B-grade and goddess allowed themselves to take a break from all such thoughts and considerations. Once they were done discussing recent events, they spent some quality time together and enjoyed each other’s company, sometimes still delving into more serious topics, but mostly just nerdy ones, like concepts and whatnot. As always, Jake learned a lot, and Artemis certainly also seemed to enjoy this time together.

He also put off upgrading his boots here and now, primarily because Artemis was there. While he shared a lot of things he wouldn’t talk about with others, things related to the First Sage were still ones he kept to himself. It didn’t help that the man was Forbidden Knowledge incarnate, so Jake wouldn’t even be able to explain much. Besides, he wasn’t in a rush to upgrade them, as it wasn’t as if the token had an expiration date.

On top of that, after working with his Lesser Primeval Energy, Jake definitely needed a good break where he didn’t need to think about complicated stuff, and this was the perfect opportunity to take one. He had many plans for what they could do, as neither had any immediate plans and had cleared their schedules.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Alas, sometimes, circumstances just wouldn’t allow such things, as only three days after Artemis had come by, while the two of them were out to eat in a restaurant, the flow of conversation was suddenly interrupted as a system message unceremoniously arrived.

The time has come.

As the natives of the 93rd Universe grow into their own and realize their Paths, the Exalted Prima has watched, judged, and reached a conclusion. Administrator Candidates have been given a chance to prove themselves worthy of graduating to fully-fledged Administrators, granting them the right to compete for each galaxy’s Seat of the Exalted Prima.

All current Administrator Candidates will gain the right to prove themselves worthy of this honor. Each Administrator Candidate can bring up to four (4) trusted allies to assist them during this promotion event. These allies cannot surpass the level of the Administrator Candidate themselves and may not exceed level 375. These allies cannot be current Administrators or Administrator Candidates from other galaxies.

Administrator Candidate testing will take one-hundred (100) days, after which all qualified Administrators will be invited to the Chief Administrator Selection, wherein the true leader of each galaxy’s Seat of the Exalted Prima shall be decided.

Testing for Administrator Candidates will begin in ten (10) days, with no restriction on where it can be accessed. Administrator Candidate must be in close physical proximity to any potential trusted allies.

Once the Chief Administrator Selection begins, all qualified Administrators are to use their Seals of the Exalted Primas to enter their respective Seat of the Exalted Primas.

Only once all Chief Administrators are selected, the next round shall begin.

Artemis immediately noticed Jake staring into thin air as she frowned.