It had been more than a week since Liam arrived in South Korea, and over the past seven days, he had experienced something close to bliss.

Every morning, he woke up with the same excitement, wondering what new thing he might try. Every night, he returned with a strange warmth in his chest.

It was a warmth born from simple human experiences he had never allowed himself to have before.

He visited places he had only seen in pictures: Gangnam's fashion streets, Hongdae's neon nightlife, Myeongdong's food alleys, Bukchon's hanok villages, and the frozen slopes of Pyeongchang.

His days were filled with snowboarding, street food, bookstores, clubs, temples, rooftops, dojos, and quiet cafés.

It was all adventure after adventure. And more importantly, interaction after interaction.

For someone like Liam, who holding even a five-minute conversation with strangers used to drain him. But this week… he surprised himself.

He spoke with baristas, taxi drivers, students, elderly hikers, and even random people who wanted to practice their English, or who simply thought he looked interesting.

None of these interactions became friendships. But they mattered to him, as it meant that he's improving himself.

And they reminded him that he didn't have to live every second of his life in the shadow of secrets, power, and responsibilities on a cosmic scale.

After seven days of this slow, gentle healing, he realized it was time to move on.

South Korea had served its purpose. It was time for a new destination, which is Japan.

The land of culture, he told himself.

Culture. Right, He chuckled when he thought of it.

Tonight was also his eighth weekly sign-in. But strangely… Liam was unsure whether he should sign in immediately.

He was contemplating if he should sign-in or not, and where to sign-in if he's going to. The magic universe? Or the cultivation universe?

He decided to put it aside as it there was still time for him. It's almost midnight in South Korea but it's barely 6 am in Los Angeles. There's still a lot of time for him.

"Later," he murmured.

As for where he will going to in Japan, he's thinking of Roppongi. With his decision made, Liam vanished from the spot.

***

It had also been more than a week since Kristopher and the others returned from Dubai.

And their houses had been, well, very noisy.

The parents of the eight had been pestering, poking, and repeatedly circling them like curious hawks.

Their parents has been pestering them to tell them everything that happened on the trip.

They have told their parents, while leaving out the bit that involves Liam's connection to Lucid and the fact that he's the owner of Nova Technologies.

Of course, there was no way that they will be able to fool their parents, especially when they can see the Lucid.

Naturally, their parents also understood why their kids can't tell them about it and they didn't press them.

Besides, there was no need knowing about it as they have no idea what might happen or if Liam will actually be happy with that. That's what they feel at least.

As for Kristopher, he had been unusually busy since he got back from Dubai.

He was currently busy planning how he's going to increase his influence, completely take over his dad's company and grow it to a level that he will be satisfied with.

After spending a week standing beside someone who possessed world-shaking influence and unimaginable discipline, he realized something profound:

If I don't grow, I'll become dead weight.

And that was unacceptable to him.

This isn't because of his pride. But because of respect.

He wanted to stand beside Liam, not behind him. He wanted to be someone useful, not someone protected.

He wanted to be a brother in arms, not a burden. And he wasn't the only one who felt that way.

Alex. Matt. Harper. Stacy. Kristy. Elise. Lana.

Each one of them was changing.

They were driven, focused, restless, hungry, not with envy, but with admiration.

They had made a decision in Dubai:

"We may never reach Liam's level. That's fine. But we refuse to be people who drag him down."

They understood a harsh truth better than anyone:

Liam wasn't normal. His background was monstrous. His resources were unimaginable. His influence insane. He could do anything he wanted, and the world would bend to accept it if it has to.

He's someone that the three royal families of the Middle East wants a meeting with. That goes to show his status

They would never reach that. They didn't need to.

But they could become the best versions of themselves.

Strong enough, skilled enough, influential enough. So that when Liam looked beside him, he saw equals, and not dependents. Not liabilities.

But a form of equals.

They knew Liam didn't ask for this. He never demanded they rise and he doesn't treat them like they were beneath him.

But that made them want to rise even more. Because standing beside someone like Liam was not an obligation. It was an opportunity.

And opportunities like that only come once in a lifetime.

Their sudden freedom from boring social gatherings only increased their determination.

Before Liam's presence was known to the world, their lives were filled with pointless banquets, empty meetings, networking dinners, and tiresome arranged interactions with families their parents wanted alliances with.

All of that was gone now.

All those families suddenly became too polite and too accommodating.

This freed the eight completely.

Now, they had time, energy and space to grow, to build and to prepare themselves for the future.

They can see that Liam has a lot that he plans to achieve. Though he doesn't look like someone ambitious, they can clearly feel it and it's also the same for them.

As Kristopher closed the last document on his laptop, his eyes sharpened with determination.

"We have three to five years," he whispered to himself.

Three to five years to build new foundations.

Three to five years to become men and women worthy of standing beside a titan.

Three to five years to forge themselves into something unrecognizable.

He leaned back and exhaled.

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