Chapter 28: Starry Heart

Maya’s eyes widened.

"Three cycles already?"

Ben nodded weakly.

"Yeah."

Maya looked at him for a moment before shaking her head.

"You really don’t know when to stop, do you?"

Ben gave a tired smile.

"I wanted to see how far I could go."

Maya sighed.

"Come on. Amanda told me to bring you to her when I returned."

Ben slowly pushed himself up.

"Give me a moment."

He took a few deep breaths before finally standing.

"All right. Let’s go."

Ben followed Maya through the city until they reached a beautiful private residence.

Fortunately, Maya had taken him on a quick tour of the area earlier, so he already knew where everything was. After washing himself and changing into clean clothes, he headed toward the private room Amanda had booked for him.

If he had arrived in his sweat-soaked clothes, he probably would have been kicked out immediately.

When Ben entered the room, Amanda looked at him and smiled.

"Hmm, it seems you’ve completed three cycles. Not bad."

Ben nodded.

Amanda maintained a calm expression, but she was actually shocked.

This kid is a monster.

As far as she knew, no one had ever completed three cycles of the first layer in a single session.

The pain became increasingly unbearable with every cycle, and most people needed to rest even between individual cycles.

Yet Ben had completed three cycles without showing any serious problems.

It seems we seriously underestimated him.

His talent is far greater than we originally thought.

Amanda quickly hid her surprise and took out a bowl of food.

"Here. This was made from the meat of Grey-Rank monsters. It will help you recover faster."

Ben looked at the food.

"Thank you."

He wasn’t shy about accepting it.

He immediately began eating.

The meat was much more nutritious than ordinary food, and he could feel his exhausted body slowly recovering as he ate.

Amanda watched him quietly.

His appetite is also quite impressive.

Ben quickly finished the entire bowl.

He wiped his mouth and looked at Amanda.

"I feel much better now."

Amanda nodded.

"Good. Rest for a while before you do anything else."

Ben nodded.

"Understood."

After he was done eating, Ben sat with Maya and Amanda.

Both of them looked at him as Amanda placed five files on the table.

"Hmm, now that we are all here, let me show you the five secret realms we have access to," Amanda said.

Ben looked at the files.

Each one contained information about a different secret realm.

Amanda opened the first file and explained its basic information before moving on to the others.

After going through all five, Ben noticed that they were all Bronze-Rank Secret Realms.

"You can choose any one of these for your first trip," Amanda said. "But after this, you will have to earn the resources needed to obtain another entry ticket yourself."

Ben looked through the files again.

Maya pointed toward one of them.

"I recommend the Starry Mountains Secret Realm."

"It has a relatively stable environment, and you should be able to earn resources from there quite easily."

Ben picked up the file and looked at the information.

"The Starry Mountains..."

He opened it and began reading.

"The main monsters there are called Starry Creatures."

"They come in many different forms, and all of them possess some degree of star power."

Ben became interested.

"These star monsters are valuable?"

"Very," Amanda answered.

"Not only are Starry Creatures rare, but their bodies and materials are also extremely useful."

"Their star power can be used in many different ways, so their materials are always in demand."

Maya nodded.

"However, they aren’t easy to find."

"Some Starry Creatures are extremely rare, and even finding their remains can be difficult."

Ben looked at the file again.

"If they’re that valuable, then this sounds like a good choice."

Amanda smiled.

"It is."

"But don’t forget that it’s still a Bronze-Rank Secret Realm."

"Even though it is considered one of the safer realms available to you, there are still powerful creatures inside."

Ben nodded.

"Understood."

He closed the file.

"I’ll choose the Starry Mountains Secret Realm."

Amanda nodded and took out a small metallic ticket.

"This is your pass."

She handed it to Ben.

"It will allow you to enter the Starry Mountains Secret Realm for twenty-four hours. Once the time is over, you’ll be automatically rejected from the realm, so make sure you use your time wisely."

Ben accepted the ticket and looked at it curiously.

"Also, you’re currently at the ninth level of the Grey Realm," Amanda continued.

"After you reach the peak of the Grey Realm, you’ll need to choose a natural resource to break through to the Bronze Realm."

Ben looked at her.

"Isn’t it just a matter of breaking through like I did in the grey realm so far?"

"No."

Amanda shook her head.

"Going from the Iron-Grey Realm to the Bronze Realm is different. You’ll need specific resources and a suitable foundation."

"Depending on your choices, you might even awaken another ability during the breakthrough."

Ben became interested.

"Another ability?"

"Yes."

Amanda nodded.

"For humans, the ability awakened during a breakthrough is usually a sub-ability of their main innate ability. However, the new ability also gains additional characteristics from the resources used during the breakthrough."

She raised her hand, and a layer of ice appeared around her fingers.

"For example, my innate ability is Ice Empress. It gives me control over ice."

"When I reached the Bronze Realm, I chose a resource called Emerald Camellia."

"Because of that choice, I awakened this."

Amanda’s ice energy gathered in front of her, forming several beautiful vines made of translucent ice.

"Icy Emerald Vines."

Ben looked at the frozen vines with interest.

"So the resource determines what kind of sub-ability I can awaken?"

"To a certain extent," Amanda explained.

"Different resources can influence the ability you awaken, but there is no absolute guarantee of the result."

Ben nodded slowly.

"Then I should choose my resource carefully."

"Exactly."

Amanda pointed toward the Starry Mountains file.

"That’s why I recommended this secret realm."

"Inside the Starry Mountains, there is a special resource called a Starry Heart."