Grant emerged from his divine realm and met up with the guildmaster.

  The guildmaster was not alone at this moment, as he was surrounded by a group of guards at the moment, adorn in some rather valuable armor, made out of level 4, or S rank/nascent soul level monster hide and scales.

  The warriors themselves were only at the A rank, as they eyed him cautiously and disbelievingly. Likely the bottom of the royal guards.

  This was the solution? This young man? Even if they believed that the man in front of them was some high level secluded master, who are known for famously concealing their true age, his aura was only at the A-rank.

  Grant sighed before revealing the aura of a 5th level being, forcing them to their knees, leaving them gasping for air.

  It was fun, no doubt about that. Crushing the weak with the strong, who doesn't enjoy that intoxicating feeling.

  But the real reason was to show them a real sense of presence, of power.

  To lend credibility to his capability.

  He wouldn't show power at the 6th level. Doing that is dangerous to say the least. There were few 6th level beings in the world, each more than enough to destroy the world. Because of this, most of them were eager to know the current status of one another, to check and balance each other.

  Respectively, whenever a new presence was discovered, they all rushed to "inspect the new goods".

  Honestly, he was no different. When LuBu hit the 6th level, he also rushed to inspect the newcomer at the time.

  Grant knew how the pinnacle of the world thought.

  Even though currently Grant was using a technique that purposefully limited him to the third realm, he could always switch to another technique, and return to the 6th realm.

  It was easy for him to return to his peak. Once someone advances to the 6th level, their entire being undergoes a qualitative change. Even if they lose their body, they can always construct it. And even without their body, they were already at the top of the world, their soul capable of emitting 5th level power.

  He wasn't scared of being discovered, just unwilling.

  A bunch of nosy old geezers peeping in on his life. He would avoid it as much as possible.

  The 5th realm was a nice balance. Strong enough to be highly respected, but not too strong to be feared.

  The pantheon of the Romana empire had plenty of 4th-5th level beings, and Ra himself, if his previous life was a worthwhile comparison, is a 6th level being.

  A pinnacle 5th being wasn't enough to shake the pantheon's grip but it was worthy of their attention and respect. It also escaped the prying eyes of the top.

  To the 6th level, all things are ants.

  "Well? Do I look professional enough?" Grant asked the terrified guildmaster and the scared guards.

  His aura was different from how the guildmaster usually saw him, now cool and indifferent, scrutinizing them with a coldness unlike before.

  A difference of view. Before, they were friends, comrades perhaps. It was like hanging out with another old man, one who was in his twilight years and free and easy.

  But now he was someone else entirely.

  The cultivator. The man who saw all things below the 5th level as ants.

  They were lucky to receive his grace.

  That he dained to help them with the problem at hand.

  "Of course! Come with us sir." The leading guard said with gritted teeth.

  What could he do? As a royal guard, even if he was only a minor captain, but even so, he was always treated with respect and awe. Even the nobles had to act honestly.

  Only the likes of the dukes or high mages could act like this in front of him.

  But what else could he do? The man before him was nothing like in the reports. He was cold and terrifying. Those eyes, eyes that felt like they could see everything about him, stripping away all the layers and laying his thoughts bare.

  It was heartless. A beast that saw ants dare to dance in front of him.

  The guildmaster sent him a quiet transmission.

  'What's up with you right now? You seem all bent out of shape.' Grant had gotten familiar with the guildmaster after all. Even if he acted terrifying, the guildmaster wasn't convinced by the act.

  'It's for their own good. I already read their thoughts. The emperor sent them to welcome me, but also to test me. Why else would he send such a weak, disposable group of guards?'

  At the very least, the captain's intuition was on point. He was in fact using the appraisal skill to read their thoughts, and their orders.

  Blocks in their minds? He saw through them.

  After he heard this, the guildmaster understood why Grant would act like this.

  Even if he never said anything, Grant was a powerhouse in his own right, one who could be generous at times, and quite cruel at others.

  Such people, even when the appear generous, have their own pride.

  Thinking about it, the emperor only sent a group of A rank warriors. For your average adventurer, that would be grand, but for someone who took down an SS rank being? that was insulting. The emperor had 4th level beings in his service, yet only sent A-ranks.

  Grant could tolerate many things, especially if you didn't know who he was, but if you did, and tried to test his limits in such a way?

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  Well, he was quite generous still He only gave them a scare. Had they dared to push their luck?

  Well, it wasn't that hard to sink an empire. He'd done it before.

  The guildmaster had no complaints. Even he had to admit that what the emperor did was quite rude, especially since he was the one asking for help.

  They walked to a magic circle being managed by a group of mages.

  Supervising them was a brunette female mage, her power clearly at the 5th level.

  She was a quiet person, yet there was a hint of superiority. Not introverted, merely uninterested in speaking to the people around her.

  She looked over and sensing his presence, her demeanor changed, turning into a more friendly and warmer aura.

  "So youre the helper who the emperor called in? I'm surprised to see you've also reached the fifth realm."

  Grant looked over in surprise. "You cal it the fifth realm? I'm surprised you don't cal it the "disaster realm" or something,"

  THe woman clicked her tongue and complained. "That's stupid. Just call it the fifth realm. I've heard so many names. Spirit transformation, great magical powers, high level god. It's all so messy. I say we just attach numerical values."

  "But you have to admit, if we merely ranked all things into 5 major realms, it might mislead people about the gap in power between a high and low 3rd rank being, the difference between a medium B to an A-rank."

  "Well, I suppose that's true." She paused, before reaching her hand out in greeting.

  "Elena. THe current supreme mage of the magic tower. It's my pleasure to meet you. The emperor didn't tell me you were a 5th level being."

  Grant shook her hand as he responded. "I'm a man who loves his secrets. Grant."

  "Won't you take that costume off? It's a bit tacky to wear that into the imperial palace." She said, blatantly complaining abut the bird mask the person across from her wore.

  Grant chuckled. "We all have our eccentricities. I mean, that outfit! With that hair?I don't know." Grant teased, quietly eyeing the fit.

  "It's a bit tacky if you ask me."

  Elena's face turned a little cold. "It's the mandatory uniform for all imperial mages."

  "So you admit it's not actually that cool looking? Between you and me, I'd suggest asking for a revision of the outfit. I mean, the raven sages have it going on at least."

  "What? No they don't! You think they look cool? With those oblong bird masks? It's one of the most inconvenient things I've ever seen! You turn your head and smack someone else's!"

  "Well you're ignoring the fact that all that extra presence is actually storage for herbs and filtration, allowing them to deal with plage and gaseous poisons far better than nothing." The two argued back and forth, activating the teleportation circle and entering the palace.

  The imperial palace?

  It was nice.

  Truthfully speaking, Grant had seen better architecture, but he'd lived to the modern age and seen modern works of architecture, as well as travel across the world.

  The structure itself was predominantly medieval european in nature, mixed with hints of roman design as well as egyptian design features.

  Roman pillars and statues of the gods adorned the palace, many having egyptain features.

  Animal heads. A lot of them had animal heads.Although egyptian culture had a lot less of a far reaching impact on their society, a number of their gods had managed to wiggle themselves into important positions, but not so influential.

  The further they went, the more guards appeared, with many of the ones he saw now being of the fourth level, or S-rank guards to be precise.

  Though they managed to maintain the facade of being calm and welcoming, Grant could easily see that they were all tense and ready to move as long as he made the wrong move.

  Understandable.

  Walking into the main hall, Grant finally encountered the emperor of the Romana empire.

  The emperor was a handsome middle aged man with a slight stubble.

  Blond hair and blue eyes, he was adorned in a rather lavish clothing, especially since it was made with level 5 enchantments aimed at warding off poisons, curses and blunt force attacks.

  The emperor had an impressive demeanor, unfortunately worn down by a tired and bothered look, no doubt connected to the current problem at hand.

  Despite his currently cold demeanor, Grant still maintained a degree of formality.

  "Your majesty" he greeted, while observing the empire's luck up close.

  As the emperor, he represented not only authority, but also the current fortune of the Romana empire, which took the shape of a western dragon, regal and proud, staring down from above.

  There were no cracks or signs of weakness, indicating that the Romana empire's prosperity was likely to continue for a few more centuries unless something drastic happened.

  The emperor accepted the bow with a tired smile.

  "I've heard a lot about you adventurer. My apologies for the urgent summons."

  "No, no problem at all" Grant said calmly, while analyzing the emperor.

  The emperor did not know the cause behind the boy's illness, but the illness had gone on for a while.

  A few days in fact. And all the capable doctors had already been brought in a few days ago.

  The emperor's small moves could not be hidden from his eyes.

  The emperor was watching him carefully at the moment, trying to judge how he reacted to a random summons.

  Gauging his patience, and how he reacted to random summons.

  Grant's tolerance limits. Even in such a situation, he was watching and judging.

  Grant wasn't all to bothered. This was what it meant to be a ruler. Everything must be calculated and judged before it can be used.

  ANd he was presenting himself as a fifth level being. Although he complained that the emperor had only sent a group of A-ranks to welcome him it should not be underestimated the power an A-rank has.

  A small town can be ravaged by an A rank alone, even though a small village is likely to have a high C-B-rank guildmaster at its head.

  An S rank can take down a small city as long as there are no S-ranks in the city currently.

  And SS rank? That was still within the fourth rank, yet an SS rank being can challenge three s ranks alone.

  The greater the level, the greater the gap. A low 5th rank being can tear down a small country in a matter of days, and a high one can take down a large one, as long as gods aren't factored in.

  It was only natural he gauged him accordingly. Grant would be more offended if he didn't do these small things.

  "So what is the prince's status." Grant asked simply and the emperor sighed. "Unfortunately, the boy hasn't woken up for the last two weeks. It's as if he's fallen into an eternal sleep. We've already checked for curses, diseases, or even poisons, but nothing has been found yet."

  "Haven't you asked the gods? Apollas Ra and the gods under his seat specialize in medicine, surely they've seen something."

  The emperor looked helpless. "I've already tried asking the priests. They say that he gods cannot figure out what is going on. It doesn't seem to be a poisonous thing, but something that is changing my son. But they cannot determine what it is. It is beyond their field."

  "Beyond their field. Oh my. That's not an easy standard. Well, I'm no medicine master, but I know a thing or two about such things. Let us go and see what's wrong with the child. It would be a shame for such a sunny child to be hurt." He said as he began striding in a certain direction, to the surprise of the emperor.

  The man dressed as a raven sage was heading in the direction of the crown prince's bedroom, as if he had know where it was in advance.

  He made not of this, and followed the adventurer Grant, telling the guards to make way.

  The prince's bedroom was filled with doctors and priests still studying the sleeping prince, with some raven sages sprinkled in amongst the group.

  The queen was there as well, holding her son's hand urgently, watching him carefully with worry filling those brown eyes.

  Everyone in the room turned to see this mysterious raven sage who had entered the room.

  Sensing the presence of two fifth leve beings, they respectively all made way for the two powerhouses and the emperor himself.

  "You may all retire to your rooms." He said calmly, yet his voice was commanding, accepting no refusal.

  The sound of bustling could be heard as the doctors and priests hurriedly left the room, leaving the emperor, Grant, and the 5th level mage in the room.

  The queen looked at Grant warily, but still asked. "Can you cure my son?" she said hopefully.

  Cure? He could resurrect the boy worse come to worse. He still had a few things that could do that.

  Hopefully it wouldn't come down to that.

  Grant quietly casted appraisal on the boy, observing the boy's current condition.

  A few moments of silence occurred before retracting his hand, turning to look at the worried family.

  "Well?" the queen urged and Grant sighed. The sigh caused her heart to shake and to stagger a little.

  Before she could say anything else, Grant continued. "Your child seems to have some rather good fortune."

  Hearing this, the queen nearly flipped in anger. Then why did you sigh like that!