Seeing that Atticus had nearly Comprehended the Illusion Element's Primary Law and the cost to upgrade was merely a million Potential Points, William gathered Illusion Mana once more and concealed Atticus' position.

Hopefully once his Companion Beast reached full Comprehension, Atticus would be able to hide from the Heavens on his own like he did in the Mortal Realms. He expected to lose another thirty percent of his Mana Reserve to this upgrade, but his Mana Regeneration should have no problems getting it back with time.

———

BEAST UPGRADED

Atticus: (SSR -- X)

Learned 15 new abilities.

Strength improved.

Speed and Perception greatly improved.

Defensive Abilities improved.

Stealth slightly improved.

Comprehension of the Primary Law of Illusion has reached one hundred percent.

Next rank up: 10,000,000 PP + 5 million Mana

———

After stagnating at SS-Rank for a long time, directly jumping to X-Rank made Atticus feel slightly uncomfortable. In a short period, Atticus gained access to many abilities, his stats improved in all aspects, and he could even transform.

This was the hardest part.

William laughed as Atticus tried to maneuver in Cat Form. The sensation of paw pads made Atticus extremely curious, but he had no idea how arms and legs were supposed to work. He twitched his muscles several times, contracting and expanding until...

"Bluegh!" Atticus threw up a hairball, tears forming in the corners of his eyes as the bitter sensation caused him to retch some more.

He didn't give up, though. Atticus wanted to master the form of being a cat, so he used his memories of watching other animals move until he gained some understanding of legs.

He stuck the front left paw forward, placing the paw pad flatly on the ground in front of him. Next, he pushed the front right paw aside it.

Then, he moved the front left paw again.

Front right paw.

He was slipping.

Atticus is slipping.

"Maasssster! I'm slipping!!"

Atticus yelled out anxiously as his paws stretched all the way forward until his stomach hit the ground. He frantically tried to get up, but he reverted to the muscle memory of Snake Form and looked more like an inchworm as he slid on the ground.

William couldn't help but burst out laughing at this point. Of all the animal forms Atticus could gain access to first, they all had arms and legs. For a snake, this was probably the worst outcome. If it were up to William, he'd have started Atticus off with the form of an inchworm.

I mean, he's pretty much doing it right now. William snickered while Atticus struggled to stabilize himself.

He approached his Cat-Snake friend and instructed him step-by-step, telling Atticus to slow down before each movement. If Atticus pushed himself to move too quickly, he'd never get a hang of movement.

"Start with your back legs. Back left, back right, front left, front right. The closer your legs are to your center of gravity, the easier it will be to get your balance." William instructed. While it was funny to watch him struggle, he did his best to help his little buddy grow accustomed to his new form.

"Like thiss?" Atticus wobbled nervously while taking careful steps forward. It looked awkward and completely unlike a cat, but it wasn't a bad start. At least, he didn't start inching.

William wasn't a cat himself and could only go off guesses.

Between a mix of testing and actual progress, William managed to figure out a system that allowed Atticus to move semi-normally. Once Atticus felt comfortable, he changed back into Snake Form.

"No, stay like that." William said.

Atticus showed a pouty face, "Maassster..."

"Don't pout. You're not going to get any better if you don't practice." William scolded.

Atticus' dual upgrades pushed his Cultivation to the peak of the Deity Realm, which was leagues above his previous strength. In fact, because Atticus now possessed a powerful bloodline and the Primary Law of Illusion, William wasn't sure he could beat him in a fight unless it was a battle of attrition.

That said, strength isn't everything if you can't land any attacks. He wanted Atticus to grow accustomed to his other animal forms as soon as possible so there wouldn't be any accidents.

Atticus begrudgingly returned to his Cat Form after William's explanation, also eager to improve and fight by his Master's side. He used Illusion Magic to reduce his size to less than half a meter, then perched over William's shoulder with his paws spread out in front.

To upgrade Atticus again, William only needed to spend five million units of Mana and ten million Potential Points but doing so would make it even more difficult for his Companion to adjust to his strength. Given Illusion's Primary Law, the upgrade was no longer limited by time and place, so he decided to upgrade Atticus once the Mythical Rat Snake felt comfortable.

-Fria has arrived in the Ascended Realms.

Where? William asked as he looked at his personal locator. Despite a number of amplifiers in his area, the locator was completely blank, meaning she was outside its maximum range of two million kilometers.

-I would tell you if I knew. Isn't that what those Arrays are for?

Seeing that the System's Ask Function didn't even trigger, William guessed that he was on his own for this matter. He couldn't say he was surprised, but the fact that the System couldn't detect her suggested that she was extremely far away.

How far away from the center of the Plane am I? William chose to ask a different question.

-Request requires 2 Ascended Points. Yes/No?

Yes.

-You are roughly 102 million kilometers from the center of the Plane.

William's eyes widened. That far?

At best, William assumed the Slightveil Plane was 40 or 50 million kilometers on its widest side. Now, the System told him it was more than double that just to reach the center. He chose to part with another Ascended Point for his next question.

How far am I from the closest edge?

-904 million kilometers.

"You said... WHAT?!?"