A gigantic portal opened in the middle of a humongous dark hall. Many other, smaller portals were lined along the wall of the hall. Every portal had a different color, and there were thousands of them. The hall itself was many kilometers wide, and mortals would take over an hour to jog from one end to another.
CRRR!
A big green bird came out of the portal. Skye quickly noticed that there was a floor right beneath her, so she extended her talons and stopped her flight. Her talons scraped across the ground due to her speed, but the floor was completely undamaged. Instead, her talons got ground down a bit.
Skye's and Gravis' eyes widened immediately in shock. Skye's eyes widened because of the imposing hall and the hard material, while Gravis' eyes widened because of the Energy he felt.
"How is there such an unreal amount of Energy?" Gravis asked involuntarily. When he had left for the lower world, he was sure that he hadn't felt such an overwhelming amount of Energy. The sheer volume of it was so overpowering that Gravis even felt it challenging to move. It was like the Energy in the air was pressuring his being.
'I never noticed that there was so much Energy in the air,' Gravis thought. 'I feel so suppressed that I probably can't even reach the sound barrier. How did I move with my weak body back then? I shouldn't have been able to move faster than a snail with so much Energy constantly pressing into me.'
Gravis' eyes shone. 'Cultivating in this environment would probably allow me to achieve breakthroughs in a matter of days.'
Whooom!
Suddenly, Gravis felt himself get disconnected from the Energy. Now, he felt like there was no Energy in the air. He couldn't even absorb it anymore. First, Gravis was shocked, but he quickly realized what had happened.
'Father has probably isolated me from the Energy,' Gravis thought and then sighed. 'I nearly thought about cultivating here. Like this, I would become more powerful, but I wouldn't be able to temper myself. It's better this way.'
"Alright, one returnee with a beast companion," one clerk that Gravis hadn't noticed before said as he wrote something down on a clipboard. The clerk stood around 50 meters away from them.
Gravis was surprised that he hadn't noticed the clerk at all. Yet, he quickly realized why that was the case.
'My Spirit can only reach a distance of ten meters? This is insane! First, the Energy suppressed me, and now my Spirit is also suppressed? How have I not noticed this before?' Gravis thought as he scratched his chin.
"Why is this weak human not afraid of me?" Skye transmitted to Gravis with confusion. She also felt a little bit insulted. This human felt identical to a mortal. She could crush him just by moving her wings a bit.
Before Gravis could answer, the clerk spoke up without looking away from his clipboard. "You're not in your lower world anymore, bird. I advise you to never underestimate anyone in this world. When you feel that someone has no power, it doesn't mean that they are weak, but that their strength is too powerful for you to notice."
Skye was surprised that the clerk had heard her message. She had only sent it to Gravis, so how could another human hear her?
"Skye, he's right," Gravis said. "This is the highest world, and even beggars can teleport. Someone that is able to work in here is surely more powerful than a beggar."
Skye received a culture shock as she tried to understand that.
The clerk nodded. "He's right. If you want to know, I am at the later stages of the Immortal Emperor Realm. If you consider the Body Tempering Realm as the first one, and the Unity Realm as the fourth one, I would be at the ninth one."
Skye's eyes widened even further, if that were even possible, while Gravis' eyes shone. 'So, the Immortal Emperor Realm is the ninth Realm? Finally, I have some frame of reference. Star Gods are obviously more powerful, so that should be the tenth or eleventh Realm then.'
"Anyway," the clerk said as a clipboard appeared before Gravis. "I need you to fill out this form if you want to take your companion outside."
Gravis looked at it but shook his head. Then, he looked at Skye with a sad smile. Skye also looked at Gravis with sad eyes. Then, Gravis looked at the clerk again. "That's not necessary. I've taken Skye from a lower elemental world to transfer her to a middle natural world," Gravis said.
The clipboard in front of Gravis vanished as the clerk nodded. "Makes sense. That makes things easier. Please move away from your companion," the clerk said.
Gravis jumped off and hugged Skye's beak for half a minute. After that, he stepped back. "We'll see each other again. I'm sure of it!"
Skye nodded back. "Don't get left behind, younger brother!" she transmitted with mirth.
Gravis also chuckled a bit. "Goodbye, big sister."
With that, Gravis walked away.
"Any preferences?" the clerk asked Skye.
"A world with lots of trees and a wide sky sounds good," Skye transmitted.
The clerk nodded again and looked through a book. After that, he found something and pointed to the wall, at a portal.
Whooom!
The portal flew forward and increased in size. After some seconds, it landed in the middle of the hall, and its size was big enough for Skye to step through. "Alright, you can enter. Wish you luck," the clerk said.
Skye and Gravis said their goodbyes. After that, Skye took flight, circled the hall once, and then shot into the portal. The portal shrunk and went back to its previous spot.
Gravis released a sigh. 'I really hope we'll see each other again, Skye,' Gravis thought with melancholy.
"That's four Immortal Energy Stones," the clerk said to Gravis, taking him out of his melancholy.
Gravis turned to him in shock. "I need to pay for that?" he asked.
The clerk snorted. "Of course. You think using a portal doesn't cost us anything? We have to build connections with the worlds. Do you have any idea how difficult that is?"
Gravis rubbed the back of his neck with awkwardness. "I guess that makes sense. What are these Immortal Energy Stones?"
"They are a resource to cultivate in the immortal Realms. That's Realms seven to nine for your info," the clerk explained like he had done that a million times, which was probably also true.
Gravis' eyes widened. "How am I supposed to get one of these? I just came from a lower world!" Gravis said.
The clerk waved his hand dismissively. "Eh, don't worry. You're a Research Adept now. Training ten classes of Research Assistants gives you one Immortal Energy Stone. So, in total, you only have to work for 40 years. Isn't working for a measly 40 years a good exchange for giving your companion a future?"
Gravis grimaced. If he had known that previously, he would have still gone through with the trade. After all, Skye was too important to him.
But 40 years? That's a long time. Though, 40 years was what people needed to reach the Unity Realm anyway. Yet, it still felt so long to him. Gravis released another sigh.
"Okay, I'll see what I can do, "Gravis said.
The clerk nodded and wrote something down. "Anyway, now that that's out of the way, we should get back to our protocol," the clerk commented dryly as he looked at another clipboard.
"Name?" he asked.
"Gravis," Gravis answered.
"No, you're not," the clerk answered directly.