Chapter 404: Kaise’s Power
Yuliya led Kaise a fair distance away, making sure no one was hot on their tails before slowing down.
She pulled out a ruby ring, gearing up to hand it to Kaise.
But then she suddenly paused, retracting her hand, “Kaise, can I take a quick look at this first?”
“Of course!”
“Heh, such an important thing for you. Aren’t you worried I might take a peek and decide not to give it back?”
“Ah? If Lady Riya wants it, I can’t really do anything about it!”
Yuliya chuckled, nodding at the response.
That was a good answer.
She didn’t say anything about trust but rather made a logical analysis based on the current situation.
This was a change in thinking, a part of growth—a trait that every independent person should have.
Of course, Yuliya couldn’t possibly snatch the ring.
Her eyes sparkled with golden light as her Golden Eyes activated, keenly scrutinizing the ring.
After what felt like an eternity, she shifted her gaze and handed the ring back to Kaise.
“Kaise, this ring was left for you by your father. Did he ever tell you what it’s for?”
Kaise immediately slipped the ring onto her index finger.
“Dad said that just wearing it is enough, and that it’ll be useful when the time comes.”
“Well… that’s not wrong. But just sitting around waiting? Who knows when that will be? This should be an heirloom ring, containing some serious power. I’m not entirely sure, but it’s definitely much stronger than that leopard person we ran into before.”
“That leopard person was the chief of the Kailei family, one of the strongest people here? Even stronger than him? This…”
Kaise was a bit tongue-tied or maybe just dazed.
Yuliya looked at her, smiling, “So, I’m curious, what kind of person was your father?”
Kaise could write and was quite clever—she had snatched something under the noses of several Silver Level folks when they first met, so her talent was undoubtedly impressive.
And with that heirloom ring, it was obvious she wasn’t just an ordinary person.
“I… I don’t know. Dad never talked about it with me. I only know we’re not from here. My mom passed away when I was very little, and Dad brought me here. Then… Dad passed away four years ago. I…”
“It’s okay,” Yuliya gently patted Kaise on the head, “Just take it easy. I was only asking out of curiosity. That place is called Kaistes, right? You mentioned it’s to the northwest.”
“Yes, Lady Riya.”
“Since your father specifically mentioned that place to you multiple times, perhaps it’s where the mystery can be unraveled. Lucky for you, I’m heading in that direction too. Let’s continue on together.”
“Thank you, Lady Riya!”
Kaise opened her arms excitedly, nearly ready to leap into Yuliya’s embrace, which seemed to be a trait of her race, but she managed to restrain herself.
Yet her heart was still brimming with excitement. She thought she’d have to part ways with Lady Riya, but instead, they could keep traveling together!
“Now back to the ring.” Yuliya took a step back, “The seal on this ring likely relates to your strength. With every level you advance, you can access a part of the power inside.”
“But right now, you’re too weak, and it’ll take you ages to improve. Let me give you a little help. Sit tight.”
“Yes!”
Kaise sat cross-legged.
Yuliya pointed at the ring.
The essence of sealing is to trap the target in a space, blocking contact with the outside world.
Given her skills in spatial magic, Yuliya was practically a professional at dealing with seals.
So, she pried open a part of the seal and transferred a portion of the dormant power to Kaise.
Kaise’s body instantly straightened, her brow furrowed.
After a while, Yuliya withdrew her hand, and Kaise relaxed a bit.
“That should do it, up to about the initial Gold Level. Any more would be troublesome—you can’t handle it yet.”
“Now, take your time getting used to this power, and hold onto that ring. It’s up to you to work hard from here on out.”
“Yes! Thank you so much, Lady Riya!”
Kaise stood up, clenched her fist, feeling a surge of power coursing through her body—she was itching to test it out on something!
The two continued on their journey.
Kaise was constantly on the lookout for a worthy opponent to familiarize herself with her newfound power, while Yuliya kept her eyes peeled, ever watchful of their surroundings.
This realm was not small at all; the area where Kaise was stationed was merely the far edge of it.
While Kaise trained, Yuliya would take the chance to check out the nearby stations.
Overall, the deeper they went, the larger and more prosperous the stations became.
However, the internal class structure remained the same, divided into upper and lower clans, marking territorial boundaries.
And the upper clans were basically the same ten or so families taking turns on top.
The class structure was quite rigid.
This was the Beastmen’s country, and Yuliya just passed through, mostly just observing without interfering.
Along the way, she picked up Kaise, the lone Beastgirl.
She only occasionally let Kaise go inside to buy a few things, mainly food.
Gotta try the local specialties, am I right?
After nearly twenty days of travel, Yuliya and Kaise finally reached the entrance to the other realm.
If Yuliya had been alone, she could have cut that down by a week.
But who cares? Food was acquired! Going solo might’ve made it harder to buy stuff from the Beastmen.
“Kaise, just ahead is the realm gate. Have you crossed through before?”
“I think… I might have, but I don’t remember it well.”
“Then no worries. Looks like Kaistes is indeed on the other side.”
This realm consisted of unchanged stations; there was no so-called dreamland.
Yuliya glanced at the map.
Crossing through this gate would lead to a massive area.
It looked to be dozens of times larger than the Jade Emperor Kingdom.
If we considered the Jade Emperor Kingdom a medium realm, then roughly seventy percent of the map consisted of small realms, while thirty percent made up medium realms.
And there were only three large realms, just like the one ahead.
Too bad they had no clue what lay on the other side.
Previously, Yuliya had sent Kaise into nearby stations to gather info.
The mid to low-tier folks knew nothing. The lower clans hardly ventured out of their villages, and the common clans had limited active zones—wandering around freely wasn’t allowed, not even a visit to the neighboring station without permission.
Asking the upper clans? Yeah, that was a hard pass.
“Stick close to me. Let’s head on through.”
Yuliya announced and led Kaise through the realm gate.
For Yuliya, this was second nature, but for Kaise, it was quite an experience.
Soon, they entered the large realm.
Yuliya quickly sensed her surroundings and, with her chin held high, remarked, “This place doesn’t seem to have the strict distribution like before. It’s not divided into zones.”
This indicated that at least things were a bit more relaxed here.
But without fully grasping the situation, they couldn’t let their guard down.
“Let’s go. We’ll find someone to ask.”
