Waking up, Ezra stretched languidly, his muscles rippling as he shook off the last remnants of sleep.

His body had fully recovered, but a faint undercurrent of fatigue lingered—remnants of his harrowing encounter in the secret realm.

Getting dressed, Ezra heads out of the sovereign universe to meet Sidal, and in turn meet those he had left to learn about the galactic society.

Garbed in his signature white tuxedo, the lizardmen maintained his professional demeanour.

"It’s good to have you back sir" Sidal said, his deep voice calm yet edged with curiosity. "You were inside that realm for quite a while. Two weeks and three days, to be exact"

Ezra’s brows furrowed. Two weeks? He had spent far less time within the secret realm—at least by his perception.

This confirmed a disturbing suspicion.

"There’s a time imbalance," Ezra mutters to himself.

The healing crew in the watchtower had failed to mention this detail.

His thoughts drifted briefly to Vorath.

How long had he actually lingered within the secret realm? Decades? Centuries? Perhaps even millennia?

Putting the thought out of his mind, Ezra asks Sidal to gather all the Transcendents.

Having not informed them of his arrival, they are surprised to see him.

After a quick exchange of pleasantries, Ezra opens a portal to the sovereign universe, gesturing for the Transcendents to follow behind him.

In the grand expanse of the sovereign universe, the Transcendents assembled on a barren planet.

Vanessa, Theron, Roxanne, Frederick, Fressia, Johan, Deneris, and Ashton stood in a loose semi-circle, their expressions a mix of curiosity and excitement.

They were no strangers to Ezra’s unconventional methods, but his sudden summons always carried a sense of anticipation.

Ezra appeared before them, his presence commanding their attention instantly.

"I’ve reviewed your progress," he began, his voice steady and authoritative.

"You’ve improved, but you’re still far from where I need you to be. Today, we’re taking the next step."

The group exchanged glances, a buzz of energy sparking among them as they wondered what Ezra meant.

"I’m taking you to your first secret realm" Ezra announced, his words hanging in the air like a challenge.

Vanessa’s eyes lit up with excitement, while Theron’s brow furrowed in thought.

Here, Roxanne crosses her arms, skeptical.

"A secret realm?" she asked, her tone laced with both intrigue and caution. "How are we supposed to get in and out? Aren’t those usually safeguarded by large clans?"

Ezra smirks, impressed. "You’ll be accessing it through my spatial ability. As for leaving..." He trailed off, realizing for the first time the oversight in his plan.

The secret realm wasn’t officially open, and his <Gatemark> was essentially a backdoor.

If he couldn’t enter due to his cultivation level, neither could he retrieve them directly once they were inside, then getting them out of the secret realm would need a readily prepared exit.

Roxanne raised an eyebrow. "You don’t have a plan, do you?"

Ezra shot her a look, silencing her with the sheer weight of his gaze. "I’ll handle it."

Without wasting another moment, Ezra vanishes, appearing in a random section of space to which he summons Viprus, the entity in charge of managing the sovereign universe.

"Viprus" Ezra said, "I need a way to keep a <Gatemark> portal open indefinitely. Is it possible?"

<Theoretically, yes> it replied, its voice smooth and mechanical. <However, maintaining such a portal would require a continuous energy stream. The amount needed would depend on the portal’s size and stability>

Ezra and Viprus worked to test the concept. After several iterations, they succeeded.

The concept of a perpetually open <Gatemark> is proved to bs possible, but demanded a steady energy supply.

In turn, this meant that utilizing other skills during this time could jeopardize it’s stability, or even disable it—a tolerable disadvantage.

After an hour of tests, Ezra determines the energy cost to be manageable.

He then returns to address the group, giving them an exposition of what kind of place the Alchemist Tomb is.

"The portal will remain open for the next twenty four hours" Ezra states. "So you will have a way out if things go wrong. You should explore the realm in two teams of four to avoid any mishaps"

Minutes later, the portal shimmers into existence, its edges crackling with energy with its surface swirling with iridescent light.

The Transcendents stood before it, their expressions a mix of determination and trepidation.

Ezra watched until the last of them disappeared, his expression a mix of pride and anticipation as the portal swallows them whole.

Once they were gone, Ezra closes his eyes, his thoughts briefly lingering on their success.

They needed this, and he trusted they would rise to the occasion.

With that set in motion, Ezra doesn’t intend to simply wait around for them return.

Instead, he had already planned for what he ought to do next.

Leaving the sovereign universe, Ezra returned to the Red Dragon Clan.

As the youngest Elder, his presence always caused a stir, but he had taken a formal leave beforehand.

His arrival, therefore, drew much smaller attention.

Still, he didn’t have long to settle in before a messenger arrived, summoning him to the clan leader’s chambers.

"Sylvester" Asadon greeted, his voice deep and commanding. "I trust your leave was productive?"

"It was" Ezra replies with a curt nod.

"Good" Asadon responds. "The guardians responsible for evaluating your entry into the main branch have notified us that they’ll be arriving soon"

Ezra’s eyes lit up, a grin spreading across his face, replying with a voice brimming with confidence.

"Wonderful. I’m looking forward to it"

Asadon chuckles lightly. "I expected nothing less. But you should still be prepared. The guardians are not known for leniency"

"I will" nodding, Ezra takes his leave.

Leaving the chamber, he couldn’t help but feel a surge of anticipation in his heart.

Ezra made his way through the winding corridors of the Red Dragon Clan’s central estate.

The soft glow of crimson lanterns cast dancing shadows on the walls, their light reflected in the polished black marble floors.

His mind was already on his next task.

Skyfall, his trusted weapon, had seen its share of battles, but its edge had dulled, and cracks faintly lined the blade.

Ezra had pushed it to its limits during the battle with Vorath, and though he hadn’t spoken of the encounter openly, he knew the weapon’s condition spoke volumes.

Without a second look, he teleports to Sidal’s place to get the coordinates to meet the blacksmith Galvan.

Though this had him wondering why he hadn’t just collected Galvan’s number the last time they met.

Reaching his forge, Ezra finds it to have to gone through a massive upgrade, doubling in size with other dwarves working there.

After tussling for a bit, Ezra is able to meet the person he had been waiting for.

"Mr. Sylvester" said the dwarve. "What brings you here?"

"This" Ezra replies, showing him Skyfall. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"Ehh?" The dwarf is visibly flabbergasted.

"I strengthened it with so many materials. How in the world were you able to dull it’s edge this quickly?!"

*Cough* "That’s a secret" Ezra replies, looking away.

Sighing, the dwarf shakes his head. "I swear, you’ll be the death of me. Give me the blade"

Handing it over, Galvan looks over it, doing a diagnostic.

"Hmm, apart from its dull blades, its body also suffered...you really pushed it to the limit didn’t you?" Says Galvan, giving Ezra the look before turning his attention back to Skyfall. "Hmm. I will done in a week"

"A week? Can’t you reduce that time to say, five days?"

Ezra words broke the last straw of Galvans patience and he snapped.

"It’s only a week because I’ll be working on it personally! Do you think this is magic?!"

"My apologies" says Ezra, understanding that he had erred.

"Just leave"

Heaving deep breaths while massaging his forehead, Galvan flaps his palms, shooing him away.

Ezra left the forge with a sheepish smile, the air still heavy with Galvan’s exasperation.

He made a mental note not to test the dwarf’s patience again—or at least not anytime in the near future.

Done with that, Ezra uses his authority as an elder to source information on what methods had been used in previous asessments.

While Ezra did have confidence in passing, there is nothing bad in being thorough.

Not to mention, he doesn’t have much anything he could be doing at this point in time.

’I should get a new weapon’ Ezra thought.

With the repairs taking a week, he had surmised that he wouldn’t be able to use Skyfall in the upcoming assessment.

....which was why he had tried to have it reduced to five days.

Either way, Ezra isn’t the least bit worried.

His haul of artifacts boasted a suitable number of weapons.

The following hours blurred as Ezra focused his time on preparation, studying not only the upcoming assessment but also the Scarlet dragon clan itself.

And after twenty two hours, he returned to the sovereign universe to welcome back the Transcendents from their short journey.