Epoch: A Berserker's Rise

Adam's change in attitude did not escape from the old man's eyes, who merrily smiled and said "How much do you know about cultivation young man? Which realm are you in? How advanced are you in it?"

Adam scratched the back of his head and said "To be honest, I don't know much. I'm in the beginning of the Bronze Realm."

This made Searing Light smile even more, and he said "You really are an incredible prodigy then. Did you open your Gate of Limit before breaking through?" Adam nodded, so Searing Light exclaimed "Congratulations, you are the first Sovereign to ever appear on Earth!"

Adam was surprised, was there really no other Sovereigns before him? None? With a small frown he asked "What is the highest Gate anyone ever reached on Earth? And if you don't mind, could you tell me more about cultivation?"

Searing Light nodded and said "You have a lot to learn then. First, only the four first Gates have been discovered so far."

Adam nodded, he expected this. Still, he had a question that needed an answer "Are there only the first four Gates in Epoch then?"

Adam already knew the answer was no, as he had successfully simulated the Fifth Gate thanks to the scroll he earned when freeing Johan, and Henry later demonstrated the powers of the Fifth Gate. Then, he also felt the power of the Sixth Gate coming from the King of the North.

Even though he never opened the Sixth Gate, he had met a few experts who opened it as Old Adam, and so he was very familiar with it, and knew the King of the North had really opened it.

Searing Light didn't answer right away, he seemed to think of an answer. Only a few seconds later did he say "Epoch is… special. There are all the gates, but I can't tell you why. Only if you become stronger will you be able to find an answer to your questions."

Adam sighed, he wished he could have all the answers now, but this would be against the rules. Searing Light, seeing his disappointment, said "Although I can't tell you this, I can tell you about cultivation. First, the realms."

This brought back Adam's attention to the old man who said "Cultivation in the same world, as you may have noticed, is similar to the leveling system in Epoch. The way to level up is different, but the realms are the same, just that the names are different.

In Epoch, the ranks are Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Hero and Legend. In real life, those are Body Strengthening, Qi Gathering, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul and Golden Idol. Then, each of those realms are split in Early, Intermediary and Peak level. You are an Early Qi Gathering Cultivator."

Adam nodded and asked "I guess that to level up for me, I need a way to bring Qi inside me, and I need a cultivation technique to do that."

Searing Light nodded "Indeed. There are two ways to get a cultivation technique, you either get one from someone else, or you create it yourself. Creating it yourself is extremely complicated, but as the first Sovereign of humanity your chances are high. As for receiving one… those techniques are considered very precious, and one would only share it with the most talented and loved ones of their family."

Adam sighed, he already suspected this would be the case. But that didn't affect him too much, as he had already made considerable advancement into creating his cultivation technique.

Recently he had realized that he could take the experience of promoting to the Bronze Realm and apply it to his cultivation technique. After all, at that time his body had absorbed a lot of Aura.

Although he absorbed the Aura stored inside the altar instead of the space around him, there were still a lot of similarities, and so this boosted his progress.

Adam looked at Searing Light in the eyes and asked curiously "Which realm are you in? And in which realm are the strongest humans?"

Searing Light grinned and said "I can answer that! I'm an Intermediate Nascent Soul, and the strongest cultivators to ever exist are the gods, who are Golden Idols."

Adam froze, and repeated "Are?" Searing Light showed a toothy grin and said "Yes, are. Not were." Adam fell silent, gods were real and still alive? And they still hadn't managed to open the Fifth Gate after hundreds if not thousands of years? How talentless can they be?

Adam sighed and asked "So, why did you become an Elementalist?"

The old man replied "For experience. I have been stuck at the Intermediate Level of the Nascent Soul realm for decades now, so there is obviously something wrong with my cultivation. If I just became a swordsman in Epoch too, then I would make the same mistakes and I wouldn't get to see where my mistakes lies. That's why, I am cultivating from scratch with a different power system, in hope I can find the way to advance again."

Adam then asked "But why did you become a Sovereign? Even though you are powerful now, if you have remained unable to open the Fourth Gate until now you probably never will, and so you will never reach Silver Rank."

It was Searing Light's turn to sigh now as he said "I know that, and that's why many of the older cultivators decided to pick classes going with their own talent. But I want to experience a perfect foundation as I believe only with such a foundation could I really see my shortcomings. Moreover, I think you are mistaken about my class."

Adam asked "How so?"

Searing Light pointed at Liara, who was on the wall watching the two armies fight, and then at the army before saying "The Governor of this city, she must have held you in respect when you met, right? And this army, they accepted you as their leader right away. This isn't only because of your achievements, the bigger reason is that you are a True Sovereign."

Adam asked "True Sovereign?"

Searing Light nodded and said "Many, many Sovereigns appeared as we old fellows promoted to Bronze Rank. But you and us aren't the same Sovereigns. You are a True Sovereign, while we are False ones. The game could feel our true talent, and that's why we aren't treated as Sovereigns should. The NPCs know we don't have much talent and will never go beyond the Bronze Realm for most.

But you, you are a true Sovereign because you are also one in real life, and so your status is very high. The NPCs only treat us old fellows as ordinary players, but you have an exalted position. And it is also why, although you will meet a lot of other strong Sovereigns in Bronze Rank, the vast majority will disappear for Silver Rank, and if you ever reach Gold Rank, you will be the only Sovereign from Earth left in that rank."

Adam chuckled and said "You want to make me nervous or something?" Searing Light laughed "Of course not, just keep it in mind. But I have taken enough of your time, it is time for us to go back to the battlefield, don't you think?"

Adam nodded, and after a moment of hesitation he asked "Is you guild based in this city?" Searing Light nodded, so Adam said "Be careful, I feel like there is something weird going on. Even if nothing happens during the battle, you should watch out."

Searing Light nodded with a serious face, for experts like them intuition was a powerful tool, and they were often right. So it was with caution that the two of them went back to the fighting.