"Do you know why they call this the End of the World?" The Librarian asked, changing the topic.
"Because it's the last place anyone would look? Seriously, I checked most of the world before I found you." Cain replied.
"No, it is because of the portal in the middle of the valley. The Youkai have sealed it for ages now, but it leads to the world where the Human Gods were banished to.
They left that world millennia ago, but the power level there is much higher than here. It serves as a relief valve of sorts, preventing anything too dangerous from existing in this world.
Do you see what I am saying?" The Librarian asked.
"You think that if I learn what is in those books, I will advance and be forced through the portal." Cain sighed.
That was a risk he had considered. This world had many limits on it, and he was quickly reaching them. Eventually, something had to break.
"Close, I think that when someone or something is truly Spirit Quality the portal will open and won't close until the two worlds balance or the anomaly is gone."
Jessica looked confused at that. "But Djinn made someone spirit awakened without causing it."
"Not permanently. Since she's a transfer as well, she wouldn't know, but a Djinn wish only lasts a year and a day, then you die. The entire Djinn species is cursed, the wish is both their most powerful ability and their strongest revenge." The Librarian told them.
That was diabolical. You get what you want, but at a price. Their power was balanced in an unexpected way that allowed it to appear to be at a higher level than the caster.
That ends Cain's 'wish for all the things' plan.
"Do you have the next book after this first volume of Spell Crafting?" Cain asked, preparing for the inevitable. He could likely put it off for a while, but he was soon going to level out of the world like he did the Beginner's Valley.
Luna had just realized what they were talking about and she was starting to panic. "No, this is unacceptable. I am still new, they can't take him away yet."
"Relax, breathe, I'm not going to leave right away, there are preparations to be made before any great adventure, especially one to another world. First I need to finish things here, and then I need to study all these books before I go anywhere."
That, combined with gentle petting, helped calm Luna down. At least enough that she was rational again anyhow.
"Alright, fine. Let's see, it's been about a week. So I need to add the zero, carry the 1, and add the 4. I've got it.
If you prepare for just fifty more years I should be ready for you to go on an adventure." Luna declared.
That made the Librarian smile and stroke Luna's head. "I don't think you've got that long to prepare, but I can keep you busy for fifty years if you like."
"No thanks, if there isn't enough time, then I am going with him. Non-negotiable." She declared.
"We will talk about that later. For now, how about we all sit down and enjoy a good book for the evening? We are in the world's most esoteric Library after all." Cain suggested.
While Cain had solved the chaos in his immediate vicinity, his thoughts had caused chaos all over the planet. Until this moment, nobody knew what would happen if someone actually managed to make it to Spirit Awakened. There were a few Spirit Beasts on the planet, but in general, a single beast wasn't nearly as dangerous as a Transfer at the same ranking, so they hadn't caused any upset in the balance so far.
But Cain was a broken character, to begin with, he was insanely overpowered. If he reached Spirit Awakened and opened a portal that would dump mana into the world that already had too much coming in from the Elemental planes, there were no good outcomes.
The fact that he would do it, or leave through the portal the instant that it opened to prevent that from happening seemed inevitable, and the thoughts of the Guild on that topic were mixed.
Could he still be the Guild Master if he was on a different Planet, in a different Plane?
If he was leaving for a higher plane, did that make him an actual demigod of some sort? Should they make shrines for him within the Temples to the Gods of Creation that they had created?
And most importantly, if he did exit through that portal, would it attract the attention of the Human Gods to the planet that they had failed to conquer and then forgot about?
The Consensus was that if the System didn't let him be Guild Master, one of the other Puppet Masters would have to take over the position. The Guild Skill was simply too powerful to be changed to something mundane when they had over five hundred active members doing daily Outreach work that relied upon the Guild Skill for both combat and humanitarian reasons.
The news of his impending ascension spread through the Guild not long after it spread through the collective consciousness, since a certain scaly someone forgot that the voices in her head and the ones beside her couldn't hear each other, and she informed the entire tavern by accident.
The Guild took it much better than the Watchers and the Companions did. They already viewed the Guild Master as an almost Mythological Being, so news that he would be going to explore another planet to keep himself entertained, which was the rumor that was spreading after the patrons of the tavern retold it, didn't shock the Guild as much as expected.
The only truly distraught ones were Cyrene and Luna.
But Cyrene had a plan. The Watchers and the Echoes were clones of Cain. They smelled like him, had his abilities, and could take on all the forms he used. So, if they needed a replacement Guild Master, one of them could step into the role, maybe even Victor, who had earned himself a proper nickname for his luck.
If she was really lucky, the replacement would transform into Cain's favorite human and demon forms and let her wrap it while Cain was away. Her scales were already getting lonely just thinking about him going on an extended trip. It might not be the real thing, but it would be a pretty good living hugging pillow.
Cain wasn't concerned with all the chaos in the collective at the moment though. He had an incredibly interesting second volume of the Spell Crafting book waiting to be started now that he was almost done with the first one and a distraught Luna in his hand. Literally, she had her arms wrapped around his hand and wasn't letting go.
"Would you like to read with me? I can get you something new and interesting and we can learn it together." Cain suggested.
That perked her up a little. Learning new things was fun, especially when she wasn't the only one learning them.
So, the Librarian was sent to find them a new book, something Cain needed to know, that both of them could learn from the start. What she returned with was a book called [Introduction to Runes] a textbook that taught how to make Rune Weapons, an Ancient alternative to the traditional Magical weapons that scaled with the power of the user, and could be used not only in a magical world but one that was based on the various forms of Cultivation powers as well.
There was a good chance that the world on the other side of the gate had very little or no Mana, so Cain would be starting nearly from scratch when he got there. He would still have his power, but without mana, and with his system possibly frozen due to the distance to the Laughing God, he might need to learn to fight without using his System Powers and weapons.
With the knowledge of Runes of Power, he would be able to make a scaling weapon out of whatever he could find, using only his own internal energy. That would let him survive almost anywhere.
Luna thought it was great for another reason. She was quickly leveling up, and she didn't want to have to replace her gear all the time to keep within her level, not undergeared, and not hogging the good stuff that was meant for someone much more powerful.
First up on the creation list for Luna: A Runic blow gun.
Simple, unsafe, and effective, given that she could inject a bit of her Mythic Poison into the tube with the dart and turn a simple poke into a deadly injury. There was just one minor issue. While she was learning the language with Cain, she had never actually held a pen before, and her handwriting was terrible. It was going to take some serious time before she could actually write the runes well enough for them to work.
