Before the time ran out, Richard accomplished a great step. He didn't waste his opportunity and successfully formed his foundation. One of the things he had learned from Rose before the battle was about the Inferno Bull Cultivation technique and he utilized it at current moment.

Even without knowing the technique, it was possible to make a foundation and grow in strength. However, there was a huge difference between an individual with a technique and one without. The one without the technique was only growing from the point of a human being while different techniques allowed the user to mimic the growth of other species that had better stats.

The inferno Bull was a beast of power and flames. Its maximum capacity was a city level disaster, as it could turn a city to ashes and it could crush mountains. That was the strongest version of the beast and people that followed its path had the potential to reach such a realm of power.

Getting back to the foundation building, most people focused on few parts of their body as the foundation. This meant these body parts developed special abilities and were the major source of all their future growth. Majority of the people focused on the skeletal structure, the lungs, the heart and the skin. Dividing focus between many meant more effort and time, which was why many people focused on few. This did give them an easy growth and fast speed, but it put a limit to their final level. Nonetheless, it was possible for the talented to start focusing on the other parts once they realize their mistakes.

The foundation was one of the real indicators of potential.

Inferno Bull style focused on the heart, skeletal structure, skin, lungs and eyes. From the skeletal structure, it put huge focus on the skull and the limbs. Richard was fortunate enough to reach atomic level of control, so he decided to make his whole body the foundation. Richard also commanded Rose to make the whole body her foundation, meaning give equal focus to all body parts and not leave anything. Even then, it was different from Richard because he was doing it on a different scale. He could have gone deeper than atomic scale but Richard didn't know how long he had left to finish his objective. He didn't want to risk losing his chance at building a powerful foundation by being too greedy.

Regardless, Rose didn't question Richard as she believed him more than she would her father. He had proved to be a unique existence that stood out. Leaving Rose to finish her ascendance, Richard built his foundation from the atomic bonds of his existence. His body continued to create unlimited energy and absorb it for the foundation building. The energy reserve was also one of the difficulties of building a good foundation. It was the reason that people took years to build it since such energy wasn't available for everyone. People with good background were able to consume medicine or rare herbs with energy to build it faster and with additional abilities.

Richard was blessed and he flooded his body with the Ki while drawing up the Inferno Bull as his source. He knew the story of the Inferno Bull, but he was going beyond such a creature. So, he modified the image of the creature. The process of mimicking involved the energy movement and rhythm along with the image in the mind of the user. Most people wouldn't dare imagine beyond what they had known about the source as energy process was already heavy work and such extravagance was extremely dangerous. Richard drew upon his imagination and thought of the bull that fought Gilgamesh in his epic.

Gugalanna was said to be the size of a mountain. Its size was such that just its hoof and leg alone towered above even the tallest trees. It was made from gold with large blue horns and wings of gold. It was clad in storms that could cover countries. It was a creature that caused famine across the world with its mere presence. It turned rivers dry and raised cities by just appearing. It was strong enough that it required Gilgamesh and Enkidu to fight together against it.

Richard knew that he couldn't get the power by just imagining it, but this was just the foundation and he could add the required parts later after acquiring other cultivation styles. He would research and make his personal style. For now he imagined the beast and went further by add space abilities because that was his final goal. He imagined the bull being able to disregard distance and teleport. He imagined the ability to traverse to other dimensions and the ability to become intangible. He also imagined the mastery of gravity, which allowed it to freely move across the universe.

Richard knew he was pushing it as he felt the huge amount of energy being utilized and stopped going deeper into the realm of imagination or he would make the process too long and miss the chance to succeed at this moment, which would then delay the process by unknown years since he might never have access to unlimited energy.

The foundation build was visible as Richard's body was shining with silver energy since each atom of his body was being transformed. His presence was growing and affecting the world around him. His mass seemed to grow exponentially as the earth under him was being pressed. Just as Richard expected, the process barely finished at the last minute. Regardless, he was victorious and he had ascended to a new realm of power. Richard could feel the difference as his body became perfect. His physique made his previous strength seem like an ant. His energy was dense and the reserves had deepened, allowing him to use his abilities freely even in normal circumstances.

With the process finished, Richard observed the changes inside before checking the situation. Rose had succeeded as well and both walked together to join with the others as the battle had finished. Jack and Max were friendlier by the end because of Duke and invited them to visit from time to time.

The battle ended and everyone celebrated the grand occasion while calling upon Athena. While the mortal land was in commotion, Athena was sitting in her Grand Library with her pet Owl. She was present inside a different that was separated from the mortal world. She was in Olympus, the name designated to the dimension built for her kind by the King.

Just like always, Athena was busy learning something new. She was categorizing and mixing the knowledge gained from Richard while also observing the world outside. It was a minor action for her kind to participate in multiple actions at the same moment. She was satisfied with Richard’s actions, not impressed or anything. She had lived too long for such a reaction and she wasn’t one to express much emotion.

“Athena, I have an enquiry.”

Athena looked up from her work to see Nemesis enter her domain. Nemesis was an extremely beautiful woman with long black hair and black eyes. She wore a black dress and gave off a fear inducing aura. Nemesis was the Immortal of Vengeance and justice.

She was a woman that didn’t ignore injustice and encouraged people to get revenge when they were in the right. Such a personality clashed with most immortals and forced Nemesis to fight them. However, her personality matched with Athena.

Her presence was expected and she wasn’t the only one looking at what Athena was doing. Immortals didn’t interfere in mortals affairs without a good reason. They had to watch out for each other and were careful about their steps since they didn’t want to cause a war. Immortals of different pantheons had been at war since the beginning and it had caused many deaths amongst them. It was especially true for the First Great War. After that war, they made some rules and stopped fighting each other.

But, it wasn’t long after that there was the Second Great War. It was between the children of the immortals along with their mortal followers and it caused rivers of blood to flow, and almost destroyed the world. After the war came to a tragic end, there were further restrictions and the immortals made sure none of them would fight in the mortal world.

However, things weren’t meant to be and a third great war happened. It happened only 100 years from the current date and it was amongst the mortal empires that followed each pantheon. The immortals were very competitive and selfish. They were creatures of great power and unlimited life. The mortal’s belief continued to increase their power and they sustained it by performing minor acts of intervention. However, things got boring for some of them and things went haywire.

With the end of the third war, Immortals had extremely strict rules and watched each other carefully. They only gave minor help and for a very good reason. The reason for such selflessness lay in the fact that they needed the mortals to believe in them. Without the mortals continued support, their unlimited energy would stop and they would stop having such inflated powers. It would make them return to a lower realm of power and no one wanted such a thing.

“What is your question?” Athena asked calmly as she summoned a chair for Nemesis.

“Do you plan to support that child?” Nemesis didn’t talk around the topic and asked directly. She wanted to know if Athena was taking Richard as her chosen warrior. It was rare for immortals to choose mortals in this new age but they would never choose a summoned individual. It was like unspoken rule because the main culprit behind the third Great War was a summoned being.

That person was the first successful summoned individual and he was born to royalty. He rose to power easily and led his small kingdom to become one of the top powers in the world. He manipulated the Immortals and their followers into a war, causing their empires to weaken. That person was summoned 130 years before Richard and many had been summoned in between. All the summoned could be divided into the category of good or neutral, and all of them were unique.

Nemesis spoke such words because of Athena’s choice of blessing and support to Richard. She was unaware of their transaction. She also didn’t doubt the possibility because Richard was the type of person that Athena would choose.

“No, I haven’t made such a decision. My actions are related to our transaction. The young man has given me his otherworldly knowledge in exchange for my assistance. Is that enough to sate your curiosity?” Athena replied while Nemesis took her seat.

Her words surprised Nemesis as no otherworlder had actually done such a thing. None had thought of it or been forced into such a position. Some did try, but they gave partial knowledge and acted very arrogantly as they came from an advanced civilization. Richard was right to act humble as Athena had most of the knowledge he possessed.

“Did you learn anything knew from him?” Nemesis asked the second most important question from Athena. None of them knew who was sending the mortals from another world and it was disturbing them, causing them fear. It was frustrating for such beings to be forced into such a weak position. They also didn’t the purpose of such a thing. They had asked and forced out the knowledge from the mortals, but there was nothing important.

“Unfortunately, it was the same account. Though, I do have some theories about it. They could have been sent to fix the world by a higher being or this is all part of big game. All the mortals seem to have met different beings and were never told about each other.”

“They could be sent to fight each other after certain time has passed.” Nemesis finished her thought process and both thoughts were crazy, but possible. The Immortals weren’t the highest level of power as there were creatures above them.

“There is no proof, but we should always prepare for the unexpected. Also, please inform the rest as I don’t wish to converse with them. I am quite busy at the moment.” Athena continued and looked at Nemesis.

Both looked into each other’s eyes for a moment, “Fine, just don’t disappear for a year or something.” Nemesis muttered as she got up and disappeared like dark smoke.