Earth was a world every Player had visited, and it was synchronized with the Nexus as well. It thus met all requirements.
However, returning there would force restrictions on the Player. Earth had an Overlord figure, in the form of Dreamland, and allowing Players to return with their powers unchecked would result in massive catastrophes, and the inevitable destruction of Earth, which would stop the production of Players.
Hence, anyone who returned to Earth would have their powers sealed, or be forced to live in extreme isolation if they wanted to keep some of them.
Still, Eden was sure quite a few Players chose this. Were he to have a better life back there, he might have as well, considering what he had gone through, but Eden felt no attraction towards Earth anymore. Life in Dreamland, despite all the hardships, suited him far more than one on Earth. The only thing that really tethered him to Earth was not really his room, but his memory of it.
He could infer where the different Guilds got their powers though. If they had members back on Earth, they most certainly had formed secret societies of some kind to recruit interesting recruits ahead of time.
This was exactly what Eden's last reward of 2 Recommendations had been. Every Tier III received one Recommendation for their promotion, and more could be earned through missions from what Eden had seen. He guessed that Guilds trained their recruits back on Earth and sent the particularly talented ones to Dreamland.
This meant that Eden could recommend three people as well. Three people from Earth, Eden could instinctively tell.
This did raise the question of whether someone had secretly recommended Eden to Dreamland, but he doubted so. His life back on Earth was nothing special, and neither was his family. Besides, by this point, they would have surely shown themselves already.
Of course, there was always the possibility of someone like him acting in the shadows, as that was exactly the type of cryptic shit Eden liked to do to throw people into chaos and benefit from it, but even if that was the case, it was not like it was a bad thing for him. Besides, it was a minuscule probability, Eden would far more easily believe his nomination had been random.
Once he finished his discussion with 666, whose exact role and goals were still a complete mystery, Eden turned his attention to the near future.
"I cast Surface Records."
A seven layered spell circle appeared before Eden. However, unlike before, it was not silver, but blood red. The spell flickered, and almost looked like blood would drip down from it.
And for the first time, Eden did not feel like he was overreaching as he cast the spell, only requiring the normal amount of mana to cast it.
Because of the Tier difference, Eden used to need to use more mana to cast higher tiered spells. It was like he had to plunge elbow deep into his mana sources every time he cast those spells, grabbing just what he needed, but some sticking along his arms as he took them back.
But now that he was Tier III, 7th Circle spells were of his level, and even required 30% less mana because of his Perk, so not only did not additional mana attach to his arms, but he also had to grab less of it.
A fragment of Eden's mana was consumed, and he was given a surface-level access to the Akashic Records, allowing to see into his own future. As always, it was blurry with possibilities, but moving forward a couple of months, he quickly found his destination.
Invincible.
An interesting one. As far as he knew, there was no magic in that universe, nor would he be able to find any particularly powerful items, but that no longer bothered him. He was learning his own magic now, and the only real worth of most items to him now were as products to be sold.
Only weapons held any kind of appeal to him, and even then, he preferred to fight with his fists. So Eden would rather go to a reality he personally found interesting that one that suited his particular skills.
It was not like he could do anything about it anyway. Without system rewards, it was impossible for him to get VIP Passes anymore, so he could only take whatever was thrown at him.
Retrieving his gaze from the records, Eden cast Simulacrum, replacing the old one that was still Tier I, and set it to train, while he looked into his Inventory.
He had gotten quite a lot of things from his last mission, most of which would get sold, but he took out something he had gotten even before that.
Sukuna's Fingers.
He had only consumed one so far, and gotten far more value out of it than he could have ever expected. Still, he had stopped at one because consuming any more would waste them, considering his Sorcery had been capped. Now, though, he could eat them.
Taking out all six, he gulped them down, and the fragments of Sukuna's soul were destroyed even without Eden using his Talent.
[All Attributes +3]
It was quite the boost, all things considered. He was Tier III, and were it not for his Perk distributing any attribute he earned, his Sorcery would have increased by three for each finger, for a total of 18.
Considering Sukuna was Tier III himself, having only six of his fingers increase an attribute by 18 was quite something already.
The fingers were only Epic in quality after all.
Meanwhile, as he gulped down the last finger, his Simulacrum chuckled, though it lacked any real emotion, and said, "7th Circle magic feels so much easier to learn now, it's like there used to be a fog, and it disappeared now. My mind's also working so fucking fast."
Eden nodded, having felt the difference as well, and commanded, "Start with magic. Fire and darkness, bring the two spells to 7th Circle."
The Simulacrum nodded, while Eden himself left his personal room, soaring up with a single leap.
With a flap of his wings, Eden broke through the sound barrier, flying over the marketplace in an instant.The Nexus was rather small, all things considered.
As Eden approached the Nightmare Realm, the bar for Nightmares, he felt several gazes settle on him. Some of them felt dangerous, even to him, but he ignored them as he landed in front of the establishment, and walked in.
Every head turned with his arrival, which was unsurprising since Perfected One III also incorporated Divine Presence. This made Eden wonder what kind of impact his Demon King aura would add onto that, as he currently had it down.
Glancing at the Deadpool, Eden was surprised to see that his image there had been updated to his current appearance. That would explain how he had been recognized, and why they were all looking at him with hostility.
There was a 500k bounty on Eden's head, and before going into Baldur's Gate 3, the Deadpool had set the odds of his survival at 16 to 1, showing how many Dream Points had been placed on his death.
His survival meant these Dream Points had been lost.
Despite the time that had passed, Eden was struck with a feeling of familiarity. It took him a second to figure out why.
He had already experienced this. After his mission in Pirates of the Caribbean, he had made a similar entrance. And back then, he had opted against countering the killing intent aimed at him because he thought it would be too weak.
He no longer had any such concerns, so he loosened the lid on his Demon King Aura, letting some of it pass through.
Eden expected something similar to what would happen with Omen of Death, like a wave of powerful killing intent, but it was nothing like it.
There was no wave, nor did Eden even emit any kind of aura. And yet, the lower tiered Players paled and looked away, while several stronger ones shot up from their seats in alarm.
This was not killing intent, or any other kind of intent, for that matter. This was a rawer, more primordial kind of suppression, one that was acting on their very souls. Eden would have let go of it to rub it in the faces of the stronger Players, but he noticed that the weaker Players, those Tier 0 newbies, were looking very uncomfortable, and releasing it whole might injure their souls, so he took it back.
The whole bar took in a collective breath, and Eden shared a peculiar look with Mad Maggie, before walking over the counter, where a frozen Guts sat. Patting him strongly on the shoulder, he asked with a grin, "Tell me, how much did you lose?"
Guts unfroze, the magically reinforced glass shattering in his hand as he growled without looking at him, "I was almost happy you made it through. Almost. And what the fuck was that pat, trying to punch my shoulder off?!"
Eden laughed. Of course he was referencing the fact that Guts had bet on his death, and thus lost all his Dream Points.His laughter only seemed to bring Guts even lower, though the big man said nothing, which Eden took as Guts being torn between his friend surviving and losing all his Dream Points.
Meanwhile, Maggie walked over, a solemn look on her face. Eden smiled nonetheless, greeting,"Maggie, long time no see, though I guess it was only a week for you."
She narrowed her eyes at him, muttering, "Clearly longer for you… how the fuck are you Tier III?"
Her words caused a ripple, as several people gasped. Guts rolled his eyes, having already felt the difference with the earlier pat.
Eden was quite famous in the Nightmare Realm, especially for a Tier I, so everyone knew he should be a Tier I, and even Tier II would be a stretch. There was no way to cheat the waves either, especially at that Tier.
But if Maggie said he was Tier III, then he was undoubtedly Tier III. Adding to that the aura he had exuded, they were left staring at him in shock. That meant he had gone from early Tier I to Tier III in a single mission.
Eden did not mind the cat getting out of the bag, having never intended to keep it a secret anyway as he answered casually, "Let's say it was a mix of some good choices, a few bad ones, and a shit-ton of killing."
As he said that, he tried to look deeper into Maggie, prompting her status up. As expected, he mostly saw question marks, although he did get to confirm something he had long suspected: she was Tier V.
Maggie shook her head at his answer, but she still started mixing something up, before sliding it over to Eden as she offered, "On the house, for the 'shit-ton of Points' you got me, as you'd say."
The drink itself was cold, yet it felt like fire as it went down. Somehow, though, it did not feel like his insides were burning, as a rich aroma he could not quite place settled in his mouth.
Eden would have said it felt heavenly, but after centuries of drinking demon blood, even water had felt amazing.
Conjuring a clone to take care of the other patrons, Maggie leaned over to Eden, and asked, "So, Tier III. You've become a real Player. Knowing you, I'd doubt you rushed it too."
Eden scoffed, swirling his drink, "I was forced to promote, actually. I was about to explode because of how much power I had inside me, so I had to leave my mission world and promote. Skipped right past Tier II."
Her mind worked quickly as she easily connected the dots and asked for confirmation, "You passed a Binding Vow to accumulate power? How strong did you get as a Tier I?"
Her question was bordering between personal curiosity and professional info-digging, but Eden did not mind sharing, "Strong enough to kill deities of that world, so Tier III. They had decent attributes, but terrible skills for them. Honestly, they mostly relied on their domain, so once they got faced with a stronger one, they crumbled."
He paused, before asking, "How strong would you say Sukuna is?"
"Full form?"
Eden nodded, and she estimated, "Hard to say, as affinities play a big role on our level," Eden noted down the our, implying she and him were equals, "but he is somewhere within Tier III. Could probably fight some Low Tier IV given the right circumstances. Domains are a major boost."
That felt about right. This also gave him an approximation of his own power. Cursed Energy-wise, Eden already mastered it better than anyone in the Jujutsu Kaisen ever had, and once he added in his physical attributes, he doubted many could fight him in Tier III. If he added his magic into the mix… he felt confident in fighting Tier IV.
Affinities would also mean little to him, with how hexagonal he had become. So those two months before his next mission would be more than enough time.
While he was estimating who he could and could not kill within the room, Maggie groaned, "Would you mind keeping your presence down? You're bothering my customers."
Eden gave her a nod, putting a heavier lid on it. He remembered how it had felt to face Lady Phoenix back then, he had not liked it, and it was with his Talent shielding him.
Only after it was completely suppressed did Maggie say,"So, I suppose you want to sell me some things? Maybe buy some as well?"
Eden acquiesced, giving her a full inventory of everything he wished to sell. Maggie did not react much to his items, including the several Legendary ones, yet she stopped on a Rare one.
Bringing up the status window of the Cobra, the Pack-a-Punched gun Eden had gotten at the start of his last mission, she said, "I'll buy this one from you directly."
Although Eden found it strange she would be interesting in a Rare gun, he chugged it up to some quirk of hers or something, so he tossed it over carelessly, "Just take it, its worthless to me anyway."
Rare pieces of equipment were worth 15k Dream Points on average, while Legendary ones averaged around 500k, so he truly did not care for it. Of course, he wouldn't just give away a hundred of them, but one was fine.
Maggie pocketed it without complaints, so Eden asked, "I also have some corpses with me. Most turned into skeletons several hundred years ago, but I've also got the corpses of a few gods. Think I could sell them to the Hall of Perfection?"
Guts, who had remained silent so far, scoffed, "You think they would accept business from you? You are on their blacklist. You pissed of their Guild Leader bad. He has been looking for Satoru Gojo's body for years, ever since Jujutsu Kaisen got introduced in worlds, and you helped the one who stole it integrating with it. Honestly, you could offer a viable Tier V body and they would probably still refuse."
Eden looked at Maggie, and she nodded, confirming, "Guts' right. That does not mean you can't sell these corpses to someone else, though."
She leaned over the counter, pointing to a table as she informed him, "There, are the fellows from Black Tower. They main in Necromancy, and would happily take the corpses off your hands. However, since you're a friend, I feel obligated to tell you that you might get a better price if you sold them to the Holy Order."
Guts added helpfully, being unusually chatty, "The Holy Order and the Black Tower are each other's nemesis, and both are experts in necromancy. The Holy Order would most probably accept a deal with you too since you only offended one of their Saints. They are important, but they have more than one."
"Why do you feel so bothered telling me about them then?"
Maggie and Guts looked at each other, communicating silently, before Maggie said, "You're not stupid like pea-brain here-"
"Hey!"
"So you've figured out that there are some things going on, hidden tensions. Sides are forming, and while the Black Tower is neutral, the Holy Order are enemies. Selling them a bunch of Tier III corpses would strengthen them, which would not be in our interests. However, you're a friend, so I at least owe you the choice."
Eden looked between the two of them, and seeing how solemn they were getting, he placed a hand on his chest, "I'm touched by your friendship."
It was Maggie's turn to roll her eyes, making Eden smile as he turned to Guts and asked, "By the way, will you be going to the mission in two months?"
He asked, because Guts was Tier III, just like him. Eden could easily see his status.
[Name: Guts]
[Title: Black Swordsman, Berserker, Hundred Man Slayer, Demon Bane]
[Talent: ?]
[Perks: Tier III, Superhuman Conditioning III, Indomitable Will II, Death Defiance, Enhanced Senses, Free From Fate]
[HP: 4080/4080]
[MP: 490/490]
[Strength: 150]
[Agility: 100]
[Physique: 150]
[Intelligence: 49]
[Wisdom: 99]
[Resistances: Magical Bludgeoning III, Magical Piercing III, Magical Slashing III, Psychic III, Fire III, Lightning III]
[Weaknesses: None]
Guts was strong, especially for a Tier III. Although he had no domain, Eden was sure he would be able to crush some of the gods from Dungeons and Dragons. Maybe not Greater Deities, but Intermediate ones, surely.
His status did not even take into account his equipment, which was bound to matter considering he had the Berserker Armor and Dragon Slayer. There was also the Talent that came from taking over Guts' body, which had to be strong.
Guts frowned at the question, looking around the room for moment, considering the question, before replying, "Depends on whether we can find something capable of sending me there. Should be, Invincible is not that hard to breach."
"You're going to Invincible as well?"
Maggie butted in, "There are only so many Tier III Players, so they all get sent to the same world. Most Guild Players only go with the rest of their Guilds on Tier IV and V waves."
Eden looked at her, and asked, "And you can't send him in?"
"Has to be someone who goes in with them. I have been working on cultivating a transporter, but it takes time. Transporting fees are high, and Invincible will probably be a shit-show anyway, with too many interested parties. It is a rather good for possession."
Although he himself was a solution to their problem, he still pressed on, "Don't you have allies?"
A bitter look flashed on her face as she replied,"What I have are people who don't hate me enough to outright refuse me. Spatial skills of that level are rare, which is a big reason behind the power of the Guilds. If only Guilds get to reliably go to mission worlds, they get stronger faster, and it snowballs in them dominating Dreamland."
She gestured at him, adding, "And you're treading a similar path. You have been on your own so far, relying only on yourself, and while I do respect the lone wolf path, there comes a point where alliances become mandatory. We-"
Eden held up a hand, interrupting her. He had heard enough, so he said, "Not to brag, but I have mastered Tier III spatial magic. And I can bring Guts and Stitch with me, no problem."
Maggie and Guts both stared, and after a moment he said, "You… did? And what about payment then? Do you even know what the usual fares are?"
Eden shrugged, "I don't, and it doesn't matter. I'm helping a friend out."
Guts' face hardened, and Maggie gave him a dry look, "You? Doing this for free? What for, to hold this over our heads for the rest of our lives?"
Eden smiled at the two, not bothering to hide his not-so-altruistic intentions, "I have my own reasons, yeah. But as far as you're concerned? Consider this being free. You won't be owing me anything."
Guts frowned, some killing intent drafting over as he asked, "So you are admitting to be using us?"
Eden's gaze suddenly snapped to Guts' face, his whole focus on him now, "A favor I am doing to friends. You are dealing with a Demon King, not a Mary Sue."
Maggie cut in, "We accept."
Guts gave her a look, but remained silent. Meanwhile, Eden smiled, clapping his hands, "Always happy to help. Now, I got some business to do."
Saying that, he turned his attention to the table where Black Tower Players sat.