* Raon POV *
I asked if she could deliver the food to my room, and after receiving confirmation, I went up to my room and took a bath. Once refreshed, I enjoyed my meal and then ventured into the astral realm.
My first task was to call Stephanie and inquire about the Prince operation. Stephanie seemed ecstatic as she recounted how initially people ignored the rumors, but things changed when the Crimson Tide, a major group within the alliance with the Sun family, spoke up. They officially cut ties with the Sun family, declaring war on them after confirming the truth behind the rumors. Consequently, people grew interested and initiated their own investigations. This led to a negative perception of the Sun family, causing a boycott of their products. Despite having good merchandise, no one wants to support rapists and murderers. The young master of the Sun family had committed the heinous acts of raping and murdering the young Miss of the Crimson Tide.
"Alright Stephanie, could you arrange a week's worth of high-quality food, water, and a full wardrobe of clothes?" I requested.
"I understand, Master. I'll get it done," Stephanie assured me.
Following this, I visited the Astral Institutes' sponsored shop and purchased a handy machine called the Time Stopper:
[ Time Stopper
Rank: Epic
Description: Able to stop time within a small space, primarily used in storage rings.
Price: 1.5 billion ]
To fund the purchase, I exchanged some credits for Astral Coins and placed the Time Stopper in my storage space. Its effects were immediately noticeable. I organized my storage, allocating a small corner for hard currency and discarding everything else.
Returning to the Astral Store, I acquired various items, including manuals on sword basics, information about mana, and a sword, though not a particularly powerful one. It was more of an investment:
[ Nameless Sword Rank: Unranked Description: A sword designed solely for development, crafted from priceless materials by a grandmaster forger, enchanted by a grandmaster enchanter, and blessed by an unknown concept. It possesses limitless potential and primarily grows alongside its master. Price: 250 billion Note: The seller is interested in bartering ]
The manuals and books cost me around 850 million Astral Coins. However, knowing that I lacked sufficient funds to purchase the sword, I contacted the seller and proposed a deal, which carried its risks. However, I believed it was worth it, especially considering Void's statement. According to Void, the sword was blessed by the concept of Time, one of the three supreme concepts, the others being Space and Fate.
To my surprise, the seller promptly responded and agreed to the deal. I reminded him that I would not be responsible for any damages or losses. Once he consented, we completed the trade through the Astral Shop. I received the sword, while he obtained a crystallized part of the void. Crystallizing a portion of the void had taken a tremendous toll on Void's mind, rendering him dormant for a few days. Nevertheless, Void didn't seem to mind, as the blessing from the concept of Time was incredibly precious.
The sword was scheduled to arrive in a couple of days. During the waiting period, I dedicated my time to reading most of the mana and swordsmanship books I had purchased. Stephanie had also successfully fulfilled the task I assigned her, providing me with a complete wardrobe, a week's worth of three meals a day, and water. I deactivated the Multi-Realm Space-Time stabilizer for my stay in the Astral Realm. I met with Stephanie and even Ms. Sun, who expressed her dissatisfaction with the marketing department and requested a transfer. However, I declined her request, explaining that she needed to consult her immediate supervisor. Meanwhile, Stephanie's behavior started to concern me. She became extremely clingy, constantly holding onto me when we were together. Additionally, she exhibited intense jealousy whenever I mentioned Ms. Sun or interacted with others. Initially, I thought she had become attached to me due to her misconceptions, but recent events shattered that assumption. The previous afternoon I had found her in my room. The events went as followed:
"Master! Hehe~~~"
"..."
"Master~"
"Stephanie…"
"Hehe~~"
"STEPHANIE!!"
"Huh? What— Master!? When did you get here Master?
"I saw enough to have a guess about what you were doing."
"Oh... uhm... it's not what it looks like, I promise."
"Really? Then why were you sleeping with a full-sized body pillow of me and moaning?"
"Uhm? Oh? I need to do something at the company. Ill see you later Master."
She hastily left the room. I could only shake my head helplessly, yet the strange feeling in my chest lingered. I realized that just as she had grown attached to me, I, too, might have developed feelings for her. However, I decided to address this matter another day. I had no time to get into a relationship, at least not yet.
When I was sitting down on my balcony, drinking tea and looking at the reports from Ron. Ron had given me the first reports of the espionage and shadow group he has been developing. He had recruited more people and have gotten spies into most of the powers inside the alliance. While I was looking over the names of the spies and their positions inside the groups a drone had approached me. The drone was carrying a brown package. It dropped the package in front of me and said,
"Sir are you Raon White?
"Yes I am."
"Alright please sign here Mr.White."
I signed the papers and the drone flew off. I opened the package and found the sword inside.
When the sword was finally opened, I noticed it possessed a pristine white handle and sheath. The blade, also pristine white, featured intricate and elegant golden designs. It bore beautiful golden markings and took the form of a katana rather than a conventional sword. Mana seemed to surge uncontrollably near the blade, but in reality, the blade froze the mana in time. The sheath successfully suppressed this phenomenon. Due to my limited appraisal skill, I couldn't glean much information about the katana. As I gazed at the sword, one name naturally came to mind. Unconsciously, I murmured its name.
"Nova. Your name shall be Nova."
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A/N
Hey guys! So I have a new novel up and I plan on changing the upload schedule. So I plan on uploading a new chapter every day I don't have work. So expect a new chapter every day this week except for Friday, Sunday, Monday, and Thursday ( July 13 ). The new novels name is
Rebirth: New Beginning.