Passing Time
When Ryker come out of his cultivation, he was greeted by a hug from Ina, and Era, while Miriam, Mashia and Lisha watched from the side.
"Wow, why you all suddenly so clingy?" he asked, the women looking at him with a serious expression, confusing him slightly.
"You have been there for 3 days," as in cue, his stomach rumbled, confirming it desire to be filled.
-x-
"So, I have been inside the cultivation room for 3 days," Ryker summarize while taking another spoonful of stew into his mouth.
By his side, both Miriam and Era claimed the spot, hugging and pushing their assets to him.
"You must have an enlightenment or something, because you are now at the 5th Stage Genesis Foundation," Mashia said. Ryker merely nodded, seeing it is the truth.
"Well, you sure are lucky. A prodigy in cultivating, not to mention a prodigy in the 5 main profession. What else you can do?" Mashia groaned, feeling overwhelmed by the sheer talent of her lover.
She knew he was not normal to the cultivator standard from the start, but this is just terrifying. Even though she was still stronger than him in cultivation realm, she don't think she will come out alive in a real life-to-death battle with the man.
"..." Ryker remained silent, letting the dragon girl vent her frustration. Soon, she exhaled a particularly heavy breathing before looking at him with a complicated look.
'At least he is my lover. If father was still alive, he definitely approve of this union,' she thought.
"So, how long before the agreed date for the expedition?" Ryker asked Ina.
"In three more weeks. Looks like they calling all the top experts of the Barony. Which make sense. With the treasures the secret realm is rumored to have, it will help a lot of the Barony powerhouse become stronger," Ina explained, earning a nod from Ryker.
"Oh, those the Adventure Guild knew of this?" Ryker turned towards Lisha, who nodded.
"Yes, the Baron decide to inform the higher-ups, and allow some adventurers to join in the fun as well, but on one condition, everyone who entered must keep this a secret," she told him.
"The Barony want to monopolize the rich resources of the Secret Realm, so it stand to reason why they do everything in their power to keep few people in the know," he said out loud, guessing the intention of the Baron.
"So, what should we do while we wait until the agreed time?" Era asked, unsure of what they will be doing.
"We are going to do thing as usual. Taking missions, going for walks, whatever we want to do. Though we should try to get as strong as possible. After all, who knew what challenges is inside the Secret Realm?" the other women nodded, the sole exception being Mashia, who need time and more experience.
-x-
"It's nice to be invited for a relaxing time once in a while," Ryker commented as he drink tea with Shuri, Ina and Miriam besides him.
Actually, he did not want to come but when he learned two of his women went to the sole granddaughter of the elder of Hal Family, he proceed to intervene. After all, he could guess their intention are to bring the white-haired girl into his harem.
A fact that was proven correct when they opened their mouth and the first sentence that come out is an invitation to see him topless. He shut them down, literally by gagging them with piece of clothing to prevent them from saying anything else.
Of course, he remove it afterwards, though not before telling them to cut it off, allowing the four to have a somewhat normal evening.
"Are you going to the Secret Realm as well?" Shuri asked, the three other people immediately catching the word as well.
"Yes. You too?" Ina asked, clearly surprised. After all, the white haired woman in front of them is only at the peak Genesis Formation, which can be considered weak in front of the many different experts of the Barony.
"My family have a lot of slots, and both myself and Solance will be send there in hopes of finding opportunities to raise our cultivation," she told them.
Ryker nodded. Aside from favouritism, which he could not blame them as he will bring Miriam with him as well, they also possess greater potential, due to being younger, meaning their growth had not reach their limit, unlike many more powerful experts of the Barony.
"So, what do you think of our proposal?" Ina asked, not bothering conceal her reason for accepting the invitation.
"W-well, maybe after a date or two I consider it?" her reply is more like a question, but at least she was not pulled into this like Lisha did, even though Ryker had to admit her experience as well as fine aged body is different compared to the rest of his lovers.
-x-
"Rooooaaarr!" a loud roar echoed inside the forest, as a large Leopard Beast is battling against Ryker, though it is more accurate to call it a one-sided massacre.
Creating another wall of earth, blocking the claws of the beast from reaching him, Ryker disappear into the shadow, before plunging his sword in it's back, the beast barely dodge though it suffer a large gash from the sneak attack.
Seeing it is in great danger, the beast roared once more, slowly sacrificing its lifespan in order to gain more strength to fight against Ryker, increasing its strength from peak Tier 4 to pseudo Tier 5.
Ryker merely snorted before appearing in front of the beast, his fist swinging to the leopard's face.
"Monkey Chief Fist," combining his Martial Technique with the Law of Earth, his rock-encased fist slammed into it's face, crushing it's skull and killing it immediately.
Seeing the beast's body dropping, Ryker removed the earth wrapping his hands before taking the beast's body inside his storage ring.
"One mission done. With my strength, I could probably contend with low-stage Tier 5 Genesis Beast and it's equivalent," he muttered. While against Mashia he would stand no chance, against newly ascended Genesis Core, he has a much better chance.
And he is still just in the 5th Stage, not at the peak yet. If he reach the peak of Genesis Foundation, he might be able to contend with late-stage Genesis Core expert.
"I should focus on cultivating after this. The test in the Secret Realm should be hard,"