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"Why the sudden questioning? If I give you my word, then you shouldn't doubt it," Apollo responded, looking at Odessa with a displeased expression. Although she wasn't wrong because Apollo's presence around the academy had been sparse, he wasn't prancing around.
In the time that he was gone, he was undergoing rapid and extensive changes. First and foremost, he collected a significant amount of pieces on this trip back to the Nihilistic Rings. Consequently, this also allowed him to experience extremely quick gains.
If he didn't seek out Furcas and Valac, there was zero chance of him reaching his current level in such a short time frame. First, to elevate beyond the Spirit Apprentice threshold required a substantial amount of energies to strengthen the mind.