Rise Of The Infinite Sovereign-Chapter 366: The Cultivation Era

With a stable universe governing structure set in place and the galactic society well established, civilizations sought to raise powerhouses to guard against astral beasts.

As such, power shifted forms once again as talented higher beings became the coveted item.

A thousand years have already elapsed since the beginning of the era.

With the lines of civilizations blurred, the chain of command was thus altered as the most powerful individuals became the most respected rather than the strongest civilizations.

Thus, creating intense competition for the available resources as every individual sought it as a way to advance ranks faster and easier.

All species racing to the rank of paragons-this was the overall theme of the current era.

Using the tactic of resource concentration, ten more paragons had been birthed since the start of the era, which is double the number of the up until now.

Yet tragically, three out the four remaining paragons of the previous era died off, eventually overcome by the injuries incurred in the Astral war.

Ezra now had a better grasp on the galactic society, and the reality surpassed his wildest imaginations.

But he didn’t dwell on it too much before diving into other books.

Reading on exploration laws, Ezra was able to piece together the motive of those who attacked Orion.

Apparently, there are stipulated rewards awarded to any to manage to discover new land. For example, star zones, galaxies, new dimensions or even just a planet.

Of course, the reward for each differed according to the size and scale, but from the little Zydrax explained, the rewards were mouth-watering even for Nascents, not to mention Transcendents.

Understanding didn’t equal forgiveness though-the attackers were still going to pay for what they had done.

Soon enough, Ezra had gone through enough books to not be totally ignorant on any major topic relating to galactic society and many more minor ones.

For one, some of the power ranks were termed differently.

With the mindset that it was unnecessary to distinguish between the weak with elaborate names, Orion’s Adept to Mythic rank were all packaged as one, with numbers to indicate the difference.

As such...

Adept rank >> Incipient rank 1

Advanced rank >> Incipient rank 2

Expert rank >> Incipient rank 3

Master rank >> Incipient rank 4

Grandmaster rank >> Incipient rank 5

Mythic rank >> Incipient rank 6

Then, you had Transcendent rank for Transcendents, Nascence for Nascents, Ascendancy for Constellations, Reality rank for Paragons and for Sovereigns...Zydrax didn’t know what it was called.

With Transcendent rank being the minimum rank needed to survive in space, it made sense why the rest were called weaklings.

Oh, according to Zydrax, there were apparently also Ascendants in Ascendancy rank as well, these were basically half-step constellations.

In addition to this, Ezra created a backstory for himself that would explain his appearance and lack of record on his existence.

This would also be what he would tell anyone who asked, as would inevitably happen.

[Now that that’s done, search up the Mercenary League on your communicator] said Zydrax.

"The Mercenary league? Wasn’t it called the mercenary alliance?"

[They changed it a while ago]

"Ok"

Responding to his voice, the communicator projected a 3D screen showcasing the mercenary league’s homepage.

On it was a depiction of a team of five in all suits of different colours battle ready.

Beneath were a few lines of words automatically translated to Oranian.

’Beyond the greatest dangers lie the greatest treasures, do you dare brave the dangers?’

"It looks stylish-I’ll give them that’’ Ezra remarked.

While the galactic society was indeed shocking, returning to the past had already made it such that his mind could easily accept such things, the initial shock had already worn off in just a day.

He simply couldn’t be bothered to be surprised anymore, thus regaining his calm spirit.

Ezra pressed the ’create account’ button, filled a form, and a minute later, he was notified of its completion.

With a small picture of his face imprinted at the top left corner, his credentials were spelled out on the right.

_________

-Mercenary Profile-

Codename: Silver Star

Credibility rating: 100 (starting value)

Power level: Early Transcendent

Faction: none

Missions completed: none

Remarks: Newbie mercenary with average strength.

Registration Date: 14th February 3088 UC (Universe Calendar)

----------------

[Profile creation complete. Silver star, the Mercenary league welcomes you]

"Hmm, the starting credibility is quite high?" Ezra noticed.

[It’s because you’re a Transcendent] Zydrax chimed in. [If you were less powerful your starting credibility would be 10 or even 1]

"I see. That’s good" Ezra nodded.

Closing his profile, he saw two other columns beneath it.

[Mission list] and [Mercenary Groups]

Before he could ask, the program got to explaining.

[Use the mission section to start your first assignment, and you can use the mercenary group section to join a suitable mercenary group-it is preferable]

Lightly nodding, he tapped open the [Mercenary Groups] function, and a column with different names popped up.

Ezra was surprised to see only nine names.

-Verdant Dragons-

-Crimson Light-

-Gold Ring-

-Fort X-

-Bounty Creed-

-Dragons Cross-

-Hammer’s Fort-

-Purple Serpents-

-Dark Specters-

He tapped on Verdant Dragons.

[Verdant Dragons Mercenary Group]

Credibility rating: 11533 (Very High)

Missions completed: 305

Scale: 933

Early Transcendents: 626

Late Transcendents: 306

Nascents: 1

Active region: Black Dragon Galaxy Cluster

Exploits:

|Dragon princess rescue operation|

|Subjugating Planet Sylen’s Troll rebellion|

|Defence against Astral Beasts|

|Capture of Planet Volsan’s head of Dark mages ’Reifen Drava’|

|Battle against scavenger syndicate|

{299 more missions...Open/Close}

Creation date: 10th March 3046 UC

Creator: Razadren Ivess

Entry requirements: Must be at least Transcendent rank. Must be part Dragon.

’Why are there only nine groups?’

[Hmm...I think I know why...hmm, I hadn’t thought about this possibility]

[Its seems there are a lot of clans here]

"Oh" Ezra intoned, he understood the gist.

With civilizations of the same race having come together as one body, clans were formed as a means to maintain individuality.

These were essentially groups formed from civilizations in order to easily pick out the best talents and concentrate their resources upon them.

As civilizations had come together, the allocation of resources became the source for inherent competition as each civilization, or branch race as they were now called, sought to make a member from their circle the next paragon.

In a way, clans were simply the new form civilization had morphed into, but there were differences.

Where civilizations had governments that could appoint new officers and officials based on loyalty alone, while ignoring the wishes of the citizens and so on, clans could not.

Clans were organizations that worked on the interchange of benefits between the clan and clansmen, just like profit oriented businesses.

From Zydrax’s knowledge, there were actually sets of people that opened clans as a way to profit.

Since clans were the bodies used to filter out the best talents and churn out the best warriors, the structure put in place was naturally stricter in order to avoid wasting resources and at its helm were not necessarily elderly figures, but powerful figures who would monitor the progress of the clansmen and maintain order.

Usually, even within galaxy clusters, clans were sparse in number.

Moreover, from what he knew, there were highly exclusive, and rejected nine hundred and ninety out of every thousand applicants.

Not to mention, applications were rarely an annual thing-it was more common for it to take place every five, ten, twenty, sometimes even fifty year intervals.

But in a rare case where there were either a lot of clans or an astronomical member count, it made sense that there would not be much need for mercenaries, because it was common for clans to issue missions to their members.

Which meant the clans had wiped out many of the jobs that should’ve been needed, hence eliminating the need of mercenaries along with it.

This was what Zydrax’s words meant.

’Then, is joining the mercenary league still the best choice?’

[Doesn’t matter, you’ve already opened an account anyway, and it’s not like anyone is going to force you to accept a mission. Even if they do, you can simply not go, very simple]

Ezra blinked several times before nodding with a dismayed expression. ’That’s true...I seem to have been overthinking things ever since we got into space’

[I think I know why]

’You know why?’

Ezra raised a brow-Zydrax’s tone was full of mischief.

[It’s because you’ve lost your biggest advantage-you’re now back to guesswork just like everybody else]

’Lost my biggest advantage? How? Isn’t that you?’ Ezra was confused. Wasn’t having Zydrax as a mentor his biggest advantage?

[...]

It took Zydrax a few seconds to get his bearings back.

[Cough...ahem, you’re right. I meant your second biggest advantage]

’My second biggest advantage...?’

[SIGH]

Seeing Ezra still clueless, Zydrax sighed heavily, he was extremely baffled.

If he had hands, he would’ve definitely face-palmed!

[How are you smart most of the time and then exceptionally dumb at times like this...?]

’Are you talking about me coming back to the past?’ Ezra conjectured.

[Ah yes. Of course it took you ten years to get it right...sigh]

’Will you quit sighing like an old man and talk already?!’ Ezra had also popped a vein at this point, irritated by Zydra’s antics.

[Your knowledge from the past, that’s what I’m referring to]

Zydrax’s tone was now lackluster, with all his excitement having died, he sounded like a stressed-out teenager.

But he spoke on, nevertheless.

[While you were still on Orion, your knowledge helped you glide through life with complete certainty most of the time, and even when it didn’t, what eventually transpired were things that you predicted to some extent, therefore allowing you to easily make the best decisions]

Zydrax paused.

[But now you can’t do that anymore] he remarked. [You’re now in an unfamiliar environment filled with unfamiliar elements-it only makes sense that you’re overthinking because you still want to or maybe because your brain has gotten used to the feeling of constantly making the best decision or at least having enough certainty before deciding]

[It’s a serious issue]

Zydrax chuckled. [Honestly. If you didn’t have me here, I wonder how you would fare]

’Well then, it’s a good thing I have you’ Ezra replied smiling.

Ezra hadn’t noticed it, but he had gotten addicted to the feeling of certainty.

Now that he wasn’t readily knowledgeable about what to do, his brain was trying to compensate for that by overanalyzing.

’Hmm’ Ezra tapped his head. ’This might take a while to get rid of’

[Just be aware enough to know when you’re doing it]

’Sure’ Ezra nodded. ’So what next?’

[Next, you need to get yourself an interpreter. You can’t go about not understanding anything other people are saying]

’Okay. But I don’t have any money’

[Then, find a way to get some]

Ezra went silent. While he could ask Zydrax and get a straight answer, he’d already done that more times than he was comfortable with, it would be better for him to think for himself.

Thinking for a bit, he opened the [Mission List] function or tab as Zydrax told him to call it.

Sure enough, there weren’t many missions. In fact, out of the twenty missions displayed, only two were still active-the rest had been greyed out.

(Cretis Hub Stargate Maintenance Guard)

Mission: You will be deployed to guard a stargate connected to Cretis Hub.

Payment: 10 Cryst per hour

’Looks like I’ve found my first job’

Cryst was the name of the universal currency.

Ezra accepted it quickly, as if it was going to run away.

As he was about to leave the library, he realized a problem. ’How do I get to the cretin hub?’

Normally, one would just board a commercial spaceship, but; he had no money!

Then he remembered how he arrived here in the first place and an idea formed.

With directions from the librarian, he found himself a map of the nearby areas.

Through it, he found out that the hub he was currently staying at was called Roz Hub.

’Zydrax, can you pinpoint Cretin Hub’s coordinates through this map?’

[Let me try]

A minute later...

[I’ve got it]

’Good’ elated that it was possible, Ezra exited the library for the first time in three days.

The librarian lived on the second floor, so she left him to his devices after closing times.

As for him stealing? She simply didn’t believe there was anything valuable enough for a Transcendent to steal.

After all, all the books were fairly common or only slightly rare. At most, he’d only need to say the word to borrow it.

Finding himself a small corner out of sight, he soon disappeared, teleporting straight to Cretin Hub.

Appearing at the designated coordinates, his expectations were foiled as he found himself stranded in the middle of nowhere.

[Seems the map wasn’t drawn to the correct scale]

’Let’s not use maps to record coordinates anymore’

[Agreed]

’Where am I?’ Ezra wondered, looking around.

Turning around, he spots rows of spaceships heading towards a lone planet.

Making out multiple stargates situated around it, Ezra concluded that he was looking at Cretin Hub.

It seemed the map’s scale wasn’t too inaccurate after all.

With quick strides, Ezra approached the planet where he would perform his first hire.

He looked forward to the experience, hopefully things wouldn’t go badly.