“There’s nothing here!!” Jaime Sigley, Horseman War of the Gloomsiders, shouted to the sky. “You’ve led us on a wild goose chase!”

“Gahahaha! Pure white earth and unlimited sky as far as the eyes can see! How wonderful,” Tanael happily laughed.

“Tanael-sama, why are you so insistent on going this far out? Anne, Oscar and the others didn't even try. There are plenty of precious resources near the World Tree,” Sakuya, Horseman Famine, searched around for treasures among the clouds they stepped on. So far, she didn't spot any.

After the Gloomsiders reached the top of the World Tree in the race, they got some time to explore the surrounding flying islands for treasures. However, Tanael insisted they go very, very far.

“Because you’re so sure, I thought there really was some amazing treasure out here… We’ve wasted too much time,” Izabella, Horseman Conquest, sighed because they had braved through hazardous terrains for nothing.

“Can't you see, folks?” Tanael said with bold glee, pointing at each one of them. “The treasures are the friends we made along the way! Huzzah treasures!”

Jaime tried to kick Tanael’s butt, though he evaded it without seeing, Izabella massaged the area between her eyes to ease the headache, and Sakuya clapped her hand together in realization as if she found truth in Tanael’s words.

“All right, all right, chill. Seriously now. War, try to pull the cloud that you're standing on,” Tanael said.

“...Wha-? It won't come off. Mmh? It is actually very sturdy.”

Sakuya and Izabella tried it too but to no avail.

“Why? The previous cloud islands were not this sturdy,” Conquest pondered.

“Because this cloud is not a mere cloud island,” Tanael said confidently. “If you examine closely, you’ll find a trace of divinity in the cloud. My guess is this was the corpse or a body part of a once-mighty being. Probably a Level 6 -or higher- cloud elemental.”

Divinity was a type of profoundness that only those above Level 5 possessed. Although Tanael didn't know much about it, he could still recognize if something was extraordinary using his Euryale Sight.

“Horsemen, prepare to mine the cloud!” Gloomsiders’ leader, Horseman Death commanded.

Finding and reaching the ordinary-looking, massive white cloud was one thing, taking it for themselves was another. The other three were able to gain a fingernail’s worth of cloud before doing other things. Tanael, using great effort, cut out a melon-sized cloud and brought it with him.

They didn't stay long because the next part of Stage 4 had started.

***

“...the friends we made along the way, huh?”

Viers was in Dia’s Biome, he’d just finished working on an ambitious project of his. Unlike the standard skills of a xianxia MC, he wasn't doing alchemy, blacksmithing, or array making.

Like writing or making a poem, he was engaging in the art of the soul, quite literally. This kind of thing was better to be done in a suitable environment so Dia helped a bit. Viers was surrounded by purple flowers and other soul attuned plants that the master of the Biome relocated. It created a place suitable for soul cultivation but that was for the future. Currently, the place was occupied.

After two weeks of hard work, the assets had reached a stable phase. Now Viers only needed to wait.

I wonder, how many ‘friends’ do I actually have?

“Kin, kinnn! It’s hatching, come and see--!”

Viers turned his head to the trio of girls nearby.

Inside Viers’ soul space, the White Flowers Meadow.

From the screen in the sky, the V-Stream as Viers named it, his tenants were seeing what Viers was seeing. In the Biome, Luca, Dia, and Gwen were giddily watching the Silver-Pink Salmon baby fishes hatching.

Viers decided to introduce Gwen to the two girls outside. The little girl was still in soul form similar to her sister but Viers made her able to come out and interact with the outside world. Luca and Dia happily accepted her, glad to have more friends.

Paina was playing a relaxing tune with her flute. It was also a form of training for her.

“...They should go to school,” Viers muttered and his voice resounded in the soul space.

“School, Lord Viers?” Farley asked, stopping her spear practice for the moment. “You mean to enroll them in a Pathseeker School?”

“Naaaw, I mean a place where they can learn math, history, science -if that’s a thing- and so on. Children of their age should be taught precious knowledge for their future.”

“Those kinds of facilities are almost nonexistent in towns, though big cities might have them. Usually, only children of nobles require such a thing. Alternatively, you could hire teachers,” Farley spoke to the sky in normal loudness but Viers heard it.

“Like Roxy in Mushoku? I see, I see,” Viers had a realization. “That could work…”

“Can I go with them?”

“Rissa?” Farley was surprised.

“I’ve never been to a school before,” the lamia princess said. “Doing studies with your friends sounds like fun, doesn't it?”

Hmm… Is this a foreshadowing for a school arc? Viers suspected the mysterious workings of the universe.

Do I want to go that route though? Seems overused…

A butterfly flew closer and landed on a purple flower on Viers’ right.

Dia’s Biome no longer only had flora inside it. Just like the salmon that he decided to cultivate inside the Biome, he’d bit by bit brought fauna into the habitat.

Viers was quite selective in his choices. The animals were all magical species that would benefit the Biome as a whole which in turn would benefit him as well.

Viers used the Rushton Trading Company to procure some of the magical animals. An easy matter when money was used but the hard part was getting those animals and monsters inside the Biome. Dia couldn't make the entrance wherever she wanted; it must be near a Gate Plant.

There was only one such plant in Regidana city: his home. Since logistics was an obvious issue, Viers settled with small animals in small numbers for now.

Butterflies dancing in the air, bunnies hopping on the grass, fish coming out of their eggs in the water, and three girls laughing near the pond.

Ahhh… Home sweet home.

Two years after he arrived in the other world, Viers had made a home for himself.

***

Boram fell from his chair, just after he was finished with dinner. His body was paralyzed, he couldn't even sit straight. The plate shattered on the floor because of the drag from Boram’s hand. Boram was utterly confused.

“Congratulations, you’ve been poisoned,” Arsène said.

“Ma-master?”

“I poisoned your meal. If the poison was the lethal kind, you’d already be dead. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Always be vigilant, Boram. Well, time to learn how to combat poison with your Victa. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Mavveerrr…”

Boram’s paralysis had affected his tongue.

Arsène wiped his mouth, took the dirty plates, and left Boram groaning on the floor. The poison made him feel a serious case of pins and needles throughout his whole body.

The villainous master of Boram was thinking of constantly poisoning his pupil so he would get resistance to poison.

While he was washing the dishes and thinking what kind of poison he should use next, he got a visitor.

“Hello there,” he opened the window.

A white cat with gray spots jumped in and looked around. It tilted its head, a code between the two.

“Boram is paralyzed currently, you can shift,” Arsène hastened his dishwashing.

The cat transformed into a busty, red-haired woman wearing a pointy hat. The last time they met was a month ago. Viers wanted information about a place with the trace of Giants.

“What happened to him?”

“Poison training.”

“You, are a bad, bad master,” Izabella said.

“So I am. Remembering your own poisoned experience in Stage 5, are you? Hehehe… To what do I owe the occasion?”

As time went by, the observation on ‘Avel’ loosened. He was no longer watched as closely as before. Furthermore, the inside of the house was protected by multitudes of enchantments and arrays.

Izabella scoffed and gave Arsène a white arrow that she took from inside her hat.

“Ooh, it is done then?” Arsène looked excited.

“Yep. Per request, the tip is made using the hardest metal I could get my hands on but changing it for something better shouldn't be hard. All it lacks is the power source. You need something very, very powerful to do what you visualized though. You can also use mana crystals as an alternative. Ten thousand mana crystals give ten seconds of operation time,” Izabella explained.

“Is the test drive satisfactory?” Arsène asked. He had forked out that ten thousand mana crystals and gave it to her the last time they met.

That amount was enough to buy a house in a town.

“I used five thousand to test it in the lab, then the remaining five seconds I used it to kill a Rank 3 monster in the wilds. The arrow has been tested and blooded, containing the absolute most of my current enchanting skill. Giving this beauty to you is like giving away my baby.”

“You never had a baby.” Despite Izabella's unwilling expression, Arsène naturally pocketed his commissioned item. “How’s Alan?”

“He just became Level 1 yesterday.”

Putting the soul in the fetus would make the fetus grow rapidly. However, one must cultivate from scratch once more. That was why Viers had yet to give Paina the green light to proceed, for he doubted Valkut city would be a simple affair.

His reasoning? It was the main quest.

The same rules applied to Oscar. How fast he returned to his peak was proof of how deep the pockets of his family were.

Since Alan knew Avel, to prevent information leak, and because Viers did not believe someone that he killed would bear no grudge against him, he had erased Alan’s memories using soul manipulation. Just the part about Avel, all other things were untouched. It was a requirement in the contract so Izabella must swallow that condition.

“Well, I’m sure he will become a staunch ally for you.” Arsène poured a cup of tea for her. “Tea?”

“No thank you. You booked a ferry ticket to the south. You’re leaving?” Izabella asked.

“This is no ordinary tea,” Arsène said, sipping from his own cup. “And yes, I’ll be leaving in two weeks. Might be for a while.”

“Oh,” Izabella drank the tea. The tea leaves were from Dia’s Biome. It provided slight cultivation benefits. “So this is where our path separates then.”

“Temporarily. Here.”

Arsène gave Izabella a white card. It was something that his other self created for Izabella.

“The one that you gave Sakuya?”

“Same function. I can transmit my voice to you using that. Just works one way for now. If I die, that card will also vanish. Always keep it close.”

It is also a tracking device, alerting me when you’re dying, and one other secret thing. Hehehe.

“I should have guessed you’re not the flower type of guy. We’ll both be busy it seems. Until our paths cross again,” Izabella extended her hand.

“Until our paths cross again,” Arsène gave her a firm and confident handshake.

Izabella morphed into a cat and left through the window, walking with the night wind of autumn. She had cult work to do. Rising in the ranks of the Blood Church was not for the weak-willed.

***

Every day the preparations for the journey to Valkut were progressing. The last major reason that held Viers back was gone today.

“It liveeeeeesss!!”

Dr. Frankenviers shouted with joy.

“Kyaaaaah! So cute!!” Paina’s fervor didn't lose.

“It, it licked me! Absolutely adorable! Hwaaa~” Farley melted from the cuteness of the newly born baby.

The loveable palmtop cloud was trying its hardest to float. Equivalent to a trembling baby fawn trying to stand, its flying was shaky. Those adorable tiny eyes and mouth, body as soft as heavenly cotton candy… the girls’ hearts were hit by cupid’s arrows and got smitten immediately.

The little cloud that was ogled by the girls did a spin.

“Clarissa, look look! …Rissa?” Paina eyed to the side.

The lamia princess was stunned looking at the tiny ball of flame sleeping on her palms. It had the divine beauty of a sleeping baby.

“...This is my baby,” Clarissa declared.

“Rissa, that’s Vi-” Farley tried to say.

“I don't care. This one is my baby and that’s final!” Clarissa’s mother instinct went into overdrive.

“Ohh, let me see that one! Ohmygoddessohmygoddess this one is super cute too!”

If cuteness was a drug, Paina would have died from an overdose. The trio of younger girls was also fawning over the baby cloud and baby flame.

Looking at the spectacle, Viers was smiling.

Viers split his own soul and gave them to the divine cloud and Anne’s last remnant of phoenix fire. As a result, two elementals were born.

The necessary skill to pull this off was given by Aletro.

“People, you may call me Big Pop from now on. Dwahahahahaha!! What should their name be? Zeus and Prometheus? Gwahahaha!!”

“Aw, don't be so loud, kin. The red one is waking up,” Dia gently caressed the forehead of the flame elemental. She got burned a bit.

Viers suddenly had a realization, a bolt out of the blue.

Holy shit! One is grass, one is fire, one is… sort of water. They are my three starter Pokémon!

Now there’s no question, I’ll be the very best like no one ever was! It’s my destiny!!