Preparations For The West

An hour earlier. . .

Akiol lifted two boxes from the front door and carried them inside the apartment. Rue stepped out of her room and eyed the boxes, "These are. . . those illusions?"

"The VR headsets. I had ordered some when we secured the apartment, and now they're finally here."

Walking over Rue picked one up and spun it within her palms to read the box. She then twirled the box around on a finger and asked, "You got two! Am I to enter this illusion again?"

"I got it in case you wanted to. It's your choice."

Rue eyed both Akiol and the headset. With a huff she grabbed the box and entered her room. Akiol watched her disappear and scratched his head. As of late Rue was seemingly more and more displeased with his answers. He wasn't sure why, he had been answering them honestly. . .

Perhaps he should change how he speaks to her.

It had been a bit since Akiol logged back into A World's Legacy. Having now settled down properly he wished to pick up his pace in his research of Aura, and his finding of the next strand. It took about 15 minutes before Akiol had finally completed the set up of the headset. Once it booted up he didn't log in right away however.

He spent another 30 minutes quickly making a meal. A skillet roasted steak, along with some greens. Akiol even made another share for Rue. Plating the food he carried one to Rue's room. Knocking on her door he awaited an answer, but found silence. Had she already logged in? 

Akiol instead covered her plate of food with foil and set it aside for when she wished to eat it. Enjoying his own plate of food he cleaned up and then prepared to log in. First came informing his party members however.

Turning on his phone he opened the group chat and messaged them. After ensuring them all he was fine he paused for a moment. Considering Kan'na was capable of sending them across continent back during their trip to the East, perhaps she could send him west? 

Additionally her teleporting them was before her ascent to Third Stage, and before the creation of her Key to All. . . this could be possible! So he quickly asked her to chat before moving to log in. Completing some extra basic steps Akiol finally logged back into A World's Legacy.

His surroundings remained where he logged out last time. The Slime Kingdom. The last remaining slimes bounced about, many stopped to give their respect. Or rather that's what it felt like. Akiol knelt and picked up a smaller slime. It jiggled about excitedly. 

The remnants of the Slime King allowed Akiol to know that this Kingdom would be fine for a while. Plenty of time before Akiol could figure out how to properly ascend into the Slime King. Although he did feel guilty about leaving the slimes alone without a King.

Kan'na informed him she was at Torch's, Akiol still had a number of those teleporting scrolls so he didn't need to ask for more. Spending some extra time with the slimes Akiol then used one of the teleport scrolls.

Thus we return to the present.

. . .

Kan'na furrowed her brow and thought for a moment. Akiol allowed her to think as he returned his attention to Mira. The boy's gaze seemed tired and for that Akiol felt guilty. The two chatted in hushed tones to not distract Kan'na. 

At least until Kan'na suddenly asked, "Why do you want to go west?"

"I want to gain a fundamental understanding of A World's Legacy and its abilities. I figured a trip west to learn from foreign masters could be a good way to broaden my understanding. Additionally the Slime King mentioned I should head west.", Akiol had already prepared his reason ahead of time.

Scrutinizing Akiol Kan'na continued to think. She felt there was some other reason Akiol wasn't mentioning, but he must have a reason for omitting it. Not bothering to grill Akiol for all the details she instead talked about her concerns, "It's technically possible. Before I was able to teleport us from the east because we already had coordinates for an end point. Although I'm guessing the creature that resides in the sea between the East and the Central continent interfered with the coordinates.

"That made us teleport to random positions previously. I could replicate this in a sense. Just ensure the direction you're heading is west, and the guard dog would probably interfere again making you appear at a random place. This sort of method is within my ability. . . the only concern is you getting back."

"Would it be too much to ask for you to teleport yourself over and bring me back when the time arises?", Akiol asked.

"It's not technically an issue. But if something occurs and we need your assistance I might not be in the position to bring you back manually. . . Give me a day? My commission should be complete around that point and if my experiment goes well I should have a solution."

Akiol nodded, "That's more than enough time. I'll go make preparations. Mind sending me to The Gated Arena?"

"I can. Mira going with you?"

Akiol looked towards Mira and the boy nodded. Kan'na raised a hand and several magic circles formed under their feet. Kan'na looked towards Akiol and said, "Oh Akiol, you do know if there's something troubling you we can help right?"

Making a wry smile Akiol answered, "Of course."

"Very good then.", Kan'na snapped her fingers and the two vanished from sight.

The Gated Arena soon came into view as Akiol blinked. Mira took a few steps forward and immediately found that Akiol was being swarmed by players. Out of all the Six Lights members, Akiol was undoubtedly the most popular. Not only due to Six Lights' performance in the professional competition, but also because Akiol was the sole player who had managed to take down Dot.

These two things coupled together with the rumor that Akiol had lead an army to take down the Undead made his popularity rise to another level. Once several players verified that it was the actual Akiol, he was swarmed with even more fans.

With a professional level of avoiding Akiol calmly handled the swarm of players. Casually answering various questions with simple answers, allowing a few to take screenshots with him, and shaking hands with others. All of this occurred as Akiol steadily made progress towards The Gated Arena. Mira followed while orbiting the crowd. 

Reaching the entrance to The Gated Arena Akiol made farewells and entered through the portal. A few players tried to follow him, but upon entering the group found that Akiol was nowhere to be found. Mira himself entered and found a group of flabbergasted players. With a confused look Mira decided to follow the link and find Givale. Akiol came here to pick her up after all.

Meanwhile Akiol was stunned to find that he wasn't at the standard entrance. Instead he found himself at the room of the Honorable Leader Xo. A faint laugh rang across the room as Xo explained, "Your popularity would cause a disturbance. So I had you arrive here instead."

Xo flicked his wrist and a badge whirled towards Akiol. Catching the badge Akiol inspected it, "This is?"

"Another way to enter. The Sword Saint has a similar one. Due to your popularity we find it's best if you have a backdoor of sorts to enter through."

"How does it work?"

"When you're near one of The Gated Arena's entrances you can use the badge to teleport inside instead of the main portal. It doesn't have much range, but if you're near one of our entrances it will lead you to it."

Absorbing the badge Akiol thanked Xo, "I appreciate it."

"This is a small thing to help out the more outstanding members of The Gated Arena."

To this Akiol chuckled, "I don't know if I'm among them."

"To the Semi-Immortals you are.", Xo made an amused smile, "Now I've taken enough of your time. The Gated Arena welcomes you back."

"I'm just stopping by."

"As are many. While you're here could I perhaps request something of you?"

"What do you need?", Akiol was unsure if he should accept the request.

"Stop by the South Province. Ever since the fight between the Sword Saint and The Azure Phoenix the South Province has seen a heavy increase in talents. However they're lacking in Seniors to quell the hot blooded newcomers."

This was a reasonable request. Akiol didn't want to be caught up in something that would take a while to solve since he planned to go west soon. This seemed like something he could solve within a few hours. So it wasn't an issue.

"I can do that much.", Akiol agreed to help.

"You have my thanks."

With a wave of his hand Xo transported Akiol outside of his room. Appearing in the center of The Gated Arena Akiol took a moment to gather his bearings. With the link Akiol was able to deduce both Mira and Givale's position, and thus made his way towards them. After picking them up he can make his way towards the South Province.

As for how he was to quell the newcomers. . . he'll figure that out when he got there.