Immortal Kingdoms

It was a protracted war that night.

Actually, call it a one-sided invasion with Leonardo on the losing end. Before he knew it, the golden rays of the morning sun invaded the bedroom through the balcony, forcing him to begrudgingly wake up.

This intense session was a much-desired stress reliever for Leonardo who was pressured and occupied ever since he left his home planet. He lay there, on the bed, dazed yet invigorated. It took some time, but he came to terms with his new status and position in House Hestia.

Leonardo quickly got off the bed and looked around the empty room. The servants seem to have changed the sheets, and he could tell that there was yet another servant waiting outside due to the repetitive knocking that awakened him from his sleep.

"Come in!" Leonardo shouted at the door, and a pretty maid walked in with a change of clothing in hand. She bowed respectfully before announcing, "The bathing chambers are ready as per the young lady's instructions. She arranged for your immediate transfer before she left earlier this morning."

"I see," Leonardo responded in a low voice, somewhat disappointed that she just wound up and left without saying a word. Hell, he doesn't even know her name for all it's worth. Then again, he shouldn't hope for any fantasy love stories with that woman; she clearly treated him as her property in every sense of the word, so having a taste once in a while is but natural.

He couldn't be her only slave in that context, right? This question suddenly popped up, and he tried his best to suppress it. Taking a deep breath, Leonardo moved the sheets away and climbed down from his bed, startling the maid with his naked body.

An Immortal constitution enjoyed the peak of aesthetic perfection, albeit a well-endowed body never stood as the primary criterion to seek immortality. Leonardo was a tall young man who enjoyed keeping up shape for his sports hobbies, and years of brutal practice in the Exiled Paradise helped draw out the raw potential of his physique.

Hard sculpted muscles lined up neatly across his abdomen, chest, back, arms, and legs. Not a blemish could be found on his nigh-perfect build, messy silver hair, and dull black eyes. The expression of melancholy in those eyes begged for solitude and salvation, drawing the curious gaze of these innocent, naive, young girls.

The maid felt her heart flutter afloat before she lowered her head immediately. She felt stiff, hot, and bothered for some reason.

Indescribable urges tugged at her heart but she reminded herself that this eye candy of a man is off-limits. Leonardo wasn't aware of the civil war between the maid's heart and mind, he walked directly past her and headed into the indoor bathing chambers that connected directly to the room.

"When will she come back?" Leonardo asked carelessly the moment he entered the bathing chambers where a small pond of hot water welcomed him. He yawned, stretched, and descended directly into the pond as though it was a hot spring.

The young maid hurried over to deliver the necessary hygiene materials while replying, "Do you mean the young lady? We servants don't know. She has been awfully busy lately, and this small house is just one of her numerous private properties connected to one of her private planets…"

"The planet she arranged for my transfer to? What's the deal with that?" Leonardo leaned forward, allowing the maid to scrub his back above the water while he listened to her explanations.

It wasn't only the Interstellar Supreme Court who explored the lower realms, also known as the lower dimensions, for planets and the like. However, they mainly focus on the lower realms, whilst the noble families such as House Hestia are mainly focused on the middle realms where Tier 2 planets and hidden dimensions are located.

The planet Leonardo is meant to visit is one of the Tier 2 planets, a place where Saints stand at the top of the food chain. According to the Tier System, planet Earth is so behind it couldn't even be listed.

Humans on that planet are stuck below level 10, which is a joke. A mortal must cultivate at least to level 11 to qualify as a slave, as those are the basic standards to learn the use of basic spells such as fire sparks, enough to at least start a fire.

After a night with Nier, Leonardo's cultivation level shot from the standard 10 to 25, a pleasant yet weird surprise. Leonardo wasn't aware that he obtained the remnant energy lingering in Nier's body ever since she finished going through the mortal cycle of her cultivation, which was almost nonexistent at this point.

Ascending stipulates a conversion in one's internal energy. A mortal's energy lacks attributes, a saint's energy contains world essence, a divine's energy contains the quintessence, and an immortal's energy is the embodiment of ether.

For Leonardo to successfully ascend from a mortal to a saint, he must comprehend a martial intent, cultivate to level 40, and eventually complement the aggregated energy with the martial intent to provide it with essence. From there on, ascending to become a saint is nothing short of guaranteed.

"The young lady hopes for you to comprehend a sword-related martial intent as per your training, but it doesn't have to be limited to the sword. We weren't paying much attention to that planet so we're not sure about the levels of its saints." The maid continued to clean up Leonardo while struggling to maintain a sane mind, keeping her hands where they belong.

Regardless, she was doing an absolutely horrible job hiding her intentions. Her hot intermittent breathing kept striking at Leonardo's nape, but he was way too invested in his thoughts to notice.

Knock! Knock!

"The portal arrangements are ready! Convene in the assembly hall as soon as possible!" A rough, dry voice interrupted the pair's independent thoughts. The maid clicked her tongue in secret disappointment, and Leonardo snapped out of his deep thoughts and voiced a reply.

Half an hour later, Leonardo joined the crowd— at least he thought of them so, in the assembly hall. He wore plain white clothes; a shirt and pants. However, a resilient leather vest could be outlined through the shirt, and faint traces of magical symbols were stitched into the long pants. These were basic defensive measures.

Three people were in the assembly hall.

An old butler who seems to be responsible for this house and two youths. One of them, was a stout young man with a bulky build, fierce countenance, and sharp facial features unjustly marred with a long scar from the corner of his left eye to the base of his chin. Next to him stood a petite young lady clothed in black leather armour, a mask, and a long cape bulging with the outline of what looked like a bow. Leonardo could discern two long daggers strapped to her thighs as well.

The old butler spoke, "I assume you have been updated on the young lady's arrangements for you. These two are Mordred and Pandora, they will act as both advisors and guardians as they accompany you in your training experience."

Mordred flashed a wide grin unbecoming of his fierce aura, taking a step forward to pat Leonardo's shoulders.

"Don't worry! All of us want to become Saints on this expedition! This must be your first time attempting planetary invasion, huh? Hm, good physique!" Mordred scanned Leonardo from top to bottom, pleasantly surprised.