Upon closer examination, Lucas saw an intricate, ornate pattern on the bottom of the scroll. He couldn't even begin to comprehend the meaning and didn't know where to start. Lucas thought it would take an immense amount of time to memorise it.
Lucas furrowed his brows for a moment before relaxing and looking up at Seth once more.
"My student, I didn't want to give this to you so soon, but we have no choice but to go to the Central Zone. Somehow, the rulers have found out about you and demanded that you were taken to them."
"What?! Why? I'm just a Rank 2 cultivator!"
"You don't understand, it's because of the 10 Kings inheritance."
"What? What does that have to do with me?"
"The rulers want to take out everything from the inheritance, they have mostly succeeded, but there are still 4 Kings left to explore."
"Which Kings are they?"
"According to the Royal Family. It is the King of Soul, King Of Body, King of Space, and King of Time."
"Why don't they let me stay until I'm stronger?"
"I don't know the exact reason, but my guess is that they want to nurture you so you grow quicker."
"Isn't that a good thing? Why did you sound unsure about it?"
Seth didn't answer for some reason, he looked like he had pain on his face for the first time.
It would take 2 years to get to the Central Zone going by Lucas' speed, so he had time to get stronger and learn Time Reflection.
...
...
Days passed, Lucas made minimal progress towards Stage 2 of Rank 2 as they were going by foot towards the Central Zone. The smell of fresh air and the wind blowing against his face as he ran refreshed his mind. He could see past the lush forest that had many variety of plants and animals into the vast plains that would lead them to their destination.
Despite his progress in memorising Time Reflection, Seth continued to emphasise the importance of the technique, Lucas was forced into spending more time to study it.
Aside from casual conversations with Seth where Lucas asked about the Central Zone, he spent most of his time thinking and getting used to the new power that made Lucas' muscles more energized and invigorated, Seth had stopped putting the weight on him as well, making Lucas feel extremely light and agile.
'This is a huge difference from Rank 1, my body is so strong now.'
Lucas was feeling a confidence emanating from his very being, but that quickly was washed away when he started to study the damaged scroll once more.
...
...
In front of Lucas and Seth were 4 Rank 1 beasts. All of them were green, scaly snakes with white eyes that looked as bright as a fire in complete darkness. They were bigger than usual snakes and were about the size of Lucas' body.
Lucas knew what he had to do and activated his energy blade. The blade was overflowing with pure power and made it have a bright shine more powerful than a luminescent lantern. He ran towards the snakes, feeling the wet, thick mud from the ground sticking onto his shoes and the variety of different plants brushing against his ankle. With one slash, all the snakes were dead in less than a second. The gooey mud splashed as the corpses of the huge snakes dropped onto the ground.
Seth methodically clapped his hands and congratulated Lucas for being able to take on the 4 snake beasts, even if they were only Rank 1.
"Let's continue on our journey," said Seth as he and Lucas started running once more, the squelch sound from the mud was quite annoying, but they were almost in the plains, where nothing could surprise or hide from them.