The Ultimate Support Character

"You downplayed yourself and told me you're from a Mortal World when in fact you're from a much higher world probably on par to those three. If I didn't follow you, I will never know, right?"

"You still can, if I look for you in the future and you're still interested in me."

Packing up and sorting out the loot we got while waiting for Alwyn, Irja and I continued our talk. There's just a lot of stories that a day was not enough to finish all of it.

Although there's a blank in my memory, my utterly normal middle school days piqued her curiosity because school is a foreign concept for her. Although kids in the Dark World also received education, it was all basic information taught by their parents and the rest were self-study except the combat and Pathway part. Every tribe has its own method of teaching.

That's why I kept going on what I could still remember. On her part though, she passed onto me everything she knows about the tribes around her tribe and their customs.

Apparently, even if two tribes were under the same Great One, they could still engage in war with each other when conflict arose. Moreover, there's a hierarchy between each Great One.

With Zaraya as the known strongest among them, Illiana comes second despite the current situation of the tribes under her. Apart from the two who were somewhat fixed at the power hierarchy, the other four had their ranks interchanged each year.

Through the information Irja told me, I remembered each of the details that I could use in the future. At this point, it's now harder to forget than to remember.

Of course, when one's memories were ripped or altered, that's another story altogether.

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[Advanced to Noble Spirit]

[Current Connection: 5 Seas]

[Advanced to 5th Stage King Realm]

[A Pillar has been successfully created]

[Advanced to Diamond Rank Tier-1]

[Energy Manipulation has been enhanced]

[Advanced to 5th Stage Elemental Forming Realm]

[Aether/Void Secondary Core has successfully formed]

[Support Hero System has leveled up to 5]

[Support Bonus has been enhanced]

[Level 4 Psyche Boost: 5.7 Int > 6.1 Int]

[Level 4 Physical Boost: 35.2 Str > 37.6 Str]

[Level 4 Health Boost: 35.2 End > 37.6 End]

[Level 4 Energy Amplifier: 23% > 24% Amplification Bonus]

[Supplementary Skill has been created]

[Support Hero's Protection: Protect every recognized ally caught within your eyesight from any kind of attack with an Energy Barrier. The duration of the skill depends on your total Intelligence stat and once destroyed, it will not be reformed again. The total amount of damage the Energy Barrier could protect someone depends on the combined maximum UPL of you and the affected ally times three]

[Duration: 5 minutes (Minimum), 10 minutes (Maximum). The higher the number of affected allies, the shorter the duration of the skill regardless of your Intelligence stat.]

[Activation Cost: 2000 units of Level 1 Flux Energy or 1000 units of Level 2 Flux Energy]

[This Supplementary Skill will also instantly activate on every created clone upon using the Support Hero's Awakening]

[Received 20 Strength, 20 Endurance, 0.5 Intelligence]

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[Level 5 Support Hero System (0%)

Strength: 199.8 (302.5)

Endurance: 209.7 (317.3)

Intelligence: 17 (22.8)

UPL: 302.64 (Rank 2 Transcendent)

Updated Skills:

Support Hero's Bind

Support Hero's Haste

Support Hero's Weaken

Support Hero's Protection

Heavy Rain (Sword Skill)]

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Time passed and I successfully absorbed all the gathered energy within two days of focusing on it. Alwyn contacted us that night that it will take her 3 days to come back due to the long wait she needed to meet the Tribal Sovereign as well as compiling the information her subordinate gathered about the currently opened Mortal World Portals.

Because of that, Irja and I somehow lived like a newly-married couple for two days.

Most of our time was spent absorbing energy and talking about everything we could talk about. And during the nights… although I got her to sleep next to me, I restrained myself by not doing anything untoward except holding her in my arms and of course, stealing some kisses when the mood was perfect.

When Alwyn showed up three days later, her hair was a bit disheveled and it looked like she hadn't taken any sleep at all.

She presented me with a bunch of scrolls regarding the Mortal Worlds she thought we could use to enter from.

From the more than 10 choices, fortunately, one of the worlds listed was the World of Barbarian.

The other nine were worlds I haven't gone into yet. Although some of those already had the status of 80% conquered, I still lean towards the more familiar World of Barbarian where my Companions are currently residing, especially Yuko.

After picking, Alwyn asked Irja to leave the tent first.

Although confused why, Irja followed her.

Well, it's easy to guess why Alwyn wanted privacy.

Illiana sent a message for me that should be specifically told to me in person. Using telepathic messages is also an option but knowing this woman, she's faithfully following Illiana's every command.

Illiana's message is short.

"Beware of the other Invasive Worlds encroaching upon your world."

Saying 'your world' specifically, she's certainly pertaining towards the Breached Portals from the Otherworld of the other Heroes outside of our class.

Because all of us in that class confirmed that we removed the Portal Traces, the Dark Cult members shouldn't come from the Dark World.

Looking back, that one Breached Portal Yumiko and I first discovered clearly showed that they were from the Dark World.

That means, one of the unaccounted Heroes who share the same world as someone from our class failed to erase his or her traces that resulted in the breach of that Portal.

Moreover, with a lot of Breached Portal appearing within the past month, I am unaware whether all of them were from the Dark World.

If Illiana was warning me about them… then there's a high possibility that she's correct and there's not only one Invasive World invading the Earth right now.

Now the question is… do they also use Zaraya's method? If so… then that Zaraya was working with other Invasive Worlds and perhaps, there's someone behind all of them and they're all under the same banner.

With Illiana alone, she couldn't oppose it openly and was biding her time...

And that time was when I returned with the strength strong enough to oppose Zaraya or whoever's backing him…

This is all my speculation at the moment but I'll have that sly principal confirm this.

For now, I will take her warning in mind.

After thanking Alwyn, Irja was ushered in again and together, Alwyn gave us the same crimson garb she's wearing.

We will be traveling under the guise of being a member of the Dafirae Tribe. That way no one will be suspicious of our identity.

The only problem will be how to enter the Portal once we arrived there.

Surely there will be Transcendent managers stationed there. Just like that one I encountered when I arrived here or the Dark Elf at the other side of the Portal we closed at the World of Spirits.

Most likely, it will be a group of Dark Beastmasters at Transcendent Rank.

Ah, with the knowledge about the main tribes I gained from Irja, the Dark Beastmasters' tribe was supposedly the one who was under the Great One Halion before the return of the trio.

It was the tribe taken from Halion and was now under the Great One Onimbus.

Moreover, they're not called Dark Beastmasters but the Basste Tribe. The 1-star to 5-star Dark Beastmaster designation was only for their Mortal Ranks. Once they become a Transcendent, they'll be accordingly called based on their Universal Power Ranking like the other tribes. Just adding 'Beastmaster' in it to indicate which tribe they're from.

Dafirae Tribe Transcendents also have that kind of indication, the Crimson Transcendents. Alwyn is also known as an Exalted Crimson Champion. Only by becoming a Monarch will they be granted their own title like Remilia's Blade Monarch as well as the Oxflame Monarch.

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With Alwyn leading us, we passed through at least 10 Teleportation Formations and hours of traveling by air to reach the stretch of wild territory where the Portals to the Mortal Worlds were opened.

The reason why we still need to travel by air despite the existence of the Teleportation Formations was that the wild territory was outside the large plot of land occupied by the main tribes. There are no Teleportation Formations erected within it.

It was purposely made like that so that if someone like me entered the Portal from a Mortal World and ascended here, he will have limited land to traverse and there's no Teleportation Formation he could accidentally use in his favor.

And that explained my situation back then…

As we're flying, I noticed that although a number of Portals could be seen from afar, the distance between one opened Portal to another was huge. Remilia appearing minutes after I arrived was still somewhat of a mystery but knowing she was ordered by Worldy, she's probably the closest among their spies.

"Stay sharp. The Basste Tribe is antagonistic to the tribe under the Great One Illiana. Even if we had a perfectly forged letter of appointment here for the two of you to descend to that world, there's a huge possibility that the manager will not look at it and make it difficult for you. Even if I'm an Exalted, they might ignore my existence." Alwyn reminded us.

"That's the worst-case scenario, right?"

"Yes."

"Then what if we kill them before they could understand what's going on?"

"… As long as there's no Exalted, it's viable. Leave the clean-up to me."

Although I said that as a joke, that cold glint filled with killing intent that flashed from Alwyn's eyes was enough to tell me that she's also leaning toward that idea.

This woman could surprisingly have that kind of killing intent. Just how much she hated that tribe?